“It’s always possible
to wake someone from sleep, but no amount of noise will wake someone who
is pretending to be asleep.”
I’m a carnivore. I don’t own a pet. I’ve
never had a calendar of kittens hanging from my wall. Why would a book called Eating Animals be the most
influential book I’ve ever read? Why would I even read it?
The answer is good writing. I enjoyed Everything is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by
Jonathan Safran Foer. When you find a writer who can carry you solidly through
a book, you stick with him despite the fact that you normally read fiction and Eating Animals is most definitely not.
Eating
Animals was written by a soon-to-be father fretting over the best way to raise his son. While considering what values to
teach him, what food to feed him, Mr. Foer also wanted to be able to explain why
it’s acceptable to eat pigs but not the family dog. So he started on a journey
to answer the question; what does it mean
to eat animals in America?

It’s sadistic, skin-cats-alive-and-throw-them-out-a-window
kind of shocking and there are many factors contributing to it. Animals are
being raised in buildings under tortuous conditions and employees are being
forced to process them at rates exceeding their ability to do it humanely. The
screaming, the trembling, the guilt and the stress is causing desensitization and psychopathic behaviour in the caregivers.
Now before reading this book I assumed that
yes, animals being raised and killed for meat is not entirely pleasant or perhaps
necessary, but that government agencies must be monitoring the treatment of
these animals…especially in rich countries. It turns out many countries
including Canada are allowing farms to self-regulate and define conditions of cruelty
and humane treatment. Auditing is done under appointments.
I’m awake now.
I’ve been reading about the farming
industry and I’ve learned that Switzerland has precise laws on how animals are
raised, transported and slaughtered (‘strict’ with respect to European Union standards). In addition
to government intervention there are animal protection agencies made up of
farmers, engineers and vets, which will impose further requirements and random audits
on farms that want a ‘Naturafarm’ or ‘TerraSuisse’ label on their products. The
seal qualifies the farm to receive subsidies from the Swiss government,
providing a financial incentive to treat animals well when there isn't a moral
one.
This helps our household change it's buying habits so that now we only purchase ethically farmed
meat and fish from companies that have pledged to respect their livestock and
the environment they live in. Because it's the most expensive meat on the shelves, we’re also eating less of it. Eventually I will have to stop eating meat in
restaurants (especially outside of Switzerland) where I cannot be certain where
it comes from. I will have to insist on vegetarian meals from my friends and
family who do not have the same convictions. I’ll probably end up paying for
turkey dinners. I’m ok with that.
It would be a far-flung promise to say that
I won’t eat meat ever. Perhaps this will change in the future but for now I’m
going to concentrate on the promises I’ve made. Most influential book, ever.
Thanks for sharing this influential book. You've made an awesome step in the right direction. Our family has gone whole grain, plant-strong for health reasons, but I am also horrified by the mistreatment of animals raised for the food industry. The more we are aware, the more likely we are to change and to demand change.
ReplyDeleteI'm really impressed with your whole grain approach. You're way ahead of me!
ReplyDeleteYou'll get there, N. Baby steps!
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