Eating Animals

I'm on pg. 57 of Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer & these are ideas and/or quotes i think are worth noting so far:

when was the last time you

touched a pig, chicken or cow

that wasn't dead & cut up?

how much do i value creating a socially comforting situation,

and how much do i value acting socially responsible? p.55

26 POUNDS OF OTEHR SEA ANIMALS WERE KILLED & TOSSED BACK INO THE OCEAN FOR EVERY 1 POUND OF THIS SHIRMP. pg.49

...all male layers (chickens that lay eggs) - half of all the layer chickens born in the United States, more than 250 million chicks a year - are destroyed. pg.48

Animal agriculture makes a 40% greater contribution to global warming than all transportation in the world combined; it is the number one cause of climate change. pg.42

I felt shame for living in a nation of unprecedented prosperity - a nation that spends a smaller percentage of income on food than any other civilization has in human history - but in the name of affordability treats the animals it easts with cruelty so extreme it would be illegal if inflicted on a dog. pg.40

Whether we change our lives or do nothing, we have responded.

To do nothing is to do something. pg.38

What we forget about animals we begin to forget about ourselves. pg.37

factory farming

...a system of industrialized & intensive agriculture in which animals are genetically engineered, restricted in mobility & fed unnatural diets. ... 99% of all land animals eaten or used to produce milk & eggs in the United States are factory farmed. pg. 34

There is something about eating animals that tends to polarize: never eat them or never sincerely question eating them; become an activist or disdain activists. pg. 32 (lord isn't this the truth?)

I'm easy; I'll eat anything" - can appear more socially sensitive than the individual who tries to eat in a way that is good for society. pg. 32

In America, millions of dogs & cats euthanized in animal shelters every year become the food for our food. pg.27

"If nothing matters, there's nothing to save." pg.17

We were honest people who occasionally told lies, careful friends who sometimes acted clumsily. We were vegetarians who from time to time ate meat." pg.9

I know that I have always struggled to answer the question

"Why are you a vegetarian?"

when it inevitably comes up.

(pescatarian, truthfully - I eat fish. although I'm thinking this may quickly change).

my response has always been:

"it's a personal choice".

..which it is. one that I have never tried to impose on others, nor have I ever taken offense to the personal choices my friends & family have made in terms of their meat, or non-meat eating habits.

reading this book though, Eating Animals, I am realizing that maybe my hesitation to become an activist or to defend my dietary decision in any other way was simply due to my own personal ignorance with regards to the issue. I am learning so much about the environment, the treatment of animals - an entirely new way of thinking about animals (because YES, that "steak" or "bacon" or "mcnugget" or "burger" IS or I guess WAS an animal - a creature capable of feeling many of the same sensations & emotions as human-beings *pain, happiness, companionship, ect).

It's just fascinating.

I also love how the author points out how so often, people become VERY defensive when it comes to the issue of vegetarianism. Ignorance is bliss, right? And it seems to be my personal experience that people do not want to hear about the cow that was slaughtered to bring them their $1 double cheese burger or about the chicken who was genetically engineered to grow at such an unnatural rate that its legs broke under the ever-increasing weight & left him suffering until death. it's easier not to think about these things, not to educate ourselves about these issues - so that we can just enjoy our chicken nuggets & go on with our lives.

it's not my place to judge, nor do I mean this as a personal attack on anyone - I'm just digesting (play on topic!) what I'm reading & realizing that yeah, maybe I stopped eating meat to piss off my parents when I was 15, but now I see there's so much more to it, so many more reasons other than the angst of a hormonal teenager to consider vegetarianism as a way of life - for health as well as environmental & overall-earthly-wellness reasons.

at least consider giving the book a go, you might learn a thing or two as well.