A few words on my thoughts about animal eating.

I'm not really one to push my ideals on anyone. I like the way I do things, but that doesn't make them wrong or right. It just makes it the way I do things. Eating meat has often been looked down on because of several factors ranging from spiritual to ecological. I don't think it's a secret what my stance is on eating meat as I often post recipes and food photos of some creature I've devoured. But, that's not to say that I don't think about it.

I've recently been giving it even more thought because of my head cheese experiment, and today in fact as I was dismembering a rabbit. I know that some of you are, at this moment, cringing at the thought and just reading these words makes you a little upset. For that I am very sorry. I will say this, as I process these animals it is very difficult for me to do so. To see them go from shapes reminiscent of animals to piles of meat on a plate. It's difficult for me because I love animals. I think pigs are cute and rabbits, even more so. You might ask why I would do such a thing then. Why go through the process of quartering a hogs head, with it's human like skin, and eyes that seem to have a soul? Why take apart a rabbit and turn it into legs, ribs, back, and spine?

This year I purchased a hunting rifle for the hopes of learning how to process a deer from snout to tail. I have this feeling that I/we have lost touch with the animals we eat, because we now have huge slaughterhouses that take care of the less desirable process of killing an animal and giving them to us as porterhouses, loins, filets, etc. The thought doesn't even cross my mind that the animal I'm eating was very recently living and breathing the same air I breathe.

Somehow, by taking the time to learn these skills of processing animals, takes me in two very different directions. On one hand I feel as though I'm justified because I've looked the beast in the eye, and I've done broken the animal down myself. On the other hand it makes me feel as though I'm all wrong. I feel stressed out, uneasy, upset, and I wonder why I have to eat these animals at all. I feel as though I can almost feel the knife cutting through the skin and tendons and bone.

This discussion has gotten deeper into my psyche than I thought it would. But, in a way I'm glad I put the words down for the world to see rather than have them bouncing in my head. I do intend to take a deer this year. It may be the only deer in my life that I take down. It may be my last day as a omnivore. It's all very uncertain. I do know that if I do continue this path of eating meat, by taking apart a rabbit or quartering a pigs head, I've learned so much about myself, and learned to be so thankful for the animal before me.

--Joe Kwon

Comments

[Kate]

I can empathize Joe, growing up on a farm and shooting rabbits to eat. In fact, I believe the first time Sinae visited in 1993, I told Mum she was a vegetarian and Mum replied "Yes, but she eats chicken right?" A true hunter feels and honors death, even rabbits :)

[Wesley]

Great post, Joe! My wife and I have been strict vegetarians for 4 years now, and your approach to meat-eating here has always made the most sense to me. I feel that if someone eats meat, they should also be able to kill and process an animal for meat. Not for all the meat they ate (buying the rest locally, not from factory farms), but at least once to make that connection to the death of the animal and bring a level of respect and gratitude for the food on their plate. Although not quite the same(!), I started growing my own vegetables. We are losing that connection to our food and local economies. It has also led to the indifference, or ignorance, about factory farming and GMOs.
If I ever decided to eat meat again, it will be when I am ready to process an animal myself.
Thanks for the words!

[Taryn]

I have the same thoughts as Wesley. I've been a vegetarian for 4 years, for many different reasons over the years. I'm fully comfortable harvesting my own vegetables but I'm not sure how I'd feel butchering meat and right now, it doesn't feel right to eat meat. I would love to support my local pig, chicken, cow, etc farmers, but I'm going to wait until I have access to land and a way to raise chickens myself until I try eating meat again. All of the farmers I work with eat meat and most of them wouldn't be comfortable harvesting their own animals, which I find to be interesting and representative of how our society views food. Your thoughts on food are admirable, and I always love to see people taking action when it comes to their food supply. Go Joe!

PS: Some local hog farmers outside of Ithaca, NY have a little butcher shop in town called "The Piggery" (also the name of their farm). They make all their own charcuterie (is make even the right word?) from their pigs and it always reminds me of your blog/pictures of food!

[Jessica Gutierrez]

You should read 'Eating Animals' by Jonathan Safran Foer. I'm not a vegan nor a vegetarian but this book helped me understand why we feel internal controversy when we meet our meat (so to speak) and what you can do about it. Through research and narrative he rationally, accurately, and at some points humorously sheds light on why we eat meat and modern meat production. He does all this in such a way that really opens your mind and begin to question your own personal relationship with meat and more importantly, taking to heart the act of conscious consumption.

[Em]

In the same way that society separates us from our meat, society also separates us from our own hunger. How different a living thing must seem to someone who is hungry, and I mean really hungry in the way that most of us have never been hungry.
I admire vegetarians for their environmental contribution most of all, because I think all the rest seems murky and dependent on the status of the society we live in. A contribution to the environment is a contribution to the future, and that is where the real "meat" of the debate lies in my opinion. Ha, "meat", get it?
Thanks to all of you for taking one for the team.

[Jonathan]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this. I'm in a very similar place, especially in the ways you talk about feeling pulled in two directions at once. I think a lot of people who aren't vegetarians but who do greatly value life, the planet, animals, etc. are in the same boat. As you're comfortable with it, please continue to share your journey and thoughts on this- a lot of us would be interested and empathize.

[Lori M]

A great post. I think many of us have contemplated similar thoughts. I do believe that people who hunt and process their own meat are far more respectful and much less wasteful of the animal than those who purchase packaged meat. And yet, it's tough to look into the eyes of an animal and pull the trigger. A true dilemma. My 9 year old daughter took a pledge one year ago to not eat "her friends", and has been a strict vegetarian since. Either way, I think those who eat meat that they hunt or those who choose not to eat meat at all are far more advanced in their soul searching than most of us.

[Donna Brundage]

You voice well what I too feel. Thomas Keller is one of my heroes also and he holds a very similar perspective on taking an animal's life with his own hands so that he never takes their life for granted. As he slay the rabbit he wept...

[Kendra]

I am a vegetarian and have been for over a decade now. I grew up in small town NC where that was a totally foreign concept. I try to never be the preachin kind of vegetarian and all that matters to me is that people think and that is what you have done. My motto in life has always been "ask why" and if you can answer yourself and it feels true to you, go for it no matter what it may be. Whatever side of the coin you wind up on, thanks for asking why.

[Becky]

Perhaps you've seen this already, but if not, I thought you might be interested.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/06/magazine/the-ethicist-contest-winner-give-thanks-for-meat.html