Eating Animals is
more of a documentary from a curious citizen then a journalist. Foer looks into
the ethics both in theory and in practice of eating meat, so he can think about
what he should be feeding his son. This is an important fact while reading it
because Foer comes in with little to no bias, and is not trying to prove a
fact, and comes to the conclusion to become a vegetarian (he probably would
have rather found out he could eat as much meat as he wanted to). First he goes
through the theory of eating meat. It was at this part that I did not really
hear his arguments. He tries to extrapolate from the fact that some meat,
namely dogs, would seem disgusting to many of us. Is a dog different just
because you might own one? Maybe a chicken should be looked upon the same way.
I don’t feel that this line of reasoning is fair because if anything it is the
opposite that may be true. I am absolutely not going to start eating dog, not
only because its not kosher but because it would be nasty to me, but I have no
problem if other cultures or peoples do. It isn’t a theoretical disgust but a
cultural one that Foer is talking about.
Specifically, Jewish culture, at least American Jewish
culture, has no problem eating meat. While there are certainly those that are
vegetarian, on the whole it is not surprising to see Sabbath meals with
multiple types of meat, whether in chulent or not. This culture is so strong
that I have heard of friends who have turned down meals when they found out the
meals where going to be vegetarian. It has gone beyond the obligation to eat
meat as part of the requirement of happiness on the Sabbath and entered into
it’s own. Inherently, I don’t see any problem with this. It seems clear from
the Bible and the Halakha that animals can and should be used for human
consumption. While certainly commandments against making the animals miserable (Tzar Ba'alei Chaim) and a slaughtering method that is as
painless as possible are stated, these are ways to put as
little harm in the animals, but it assumes that we have the right to eat the
meat in the first place.
The second half of Eating Animals is a much more practical
discussion of how meat and chicken is processed nowadays. I am not going to go
through all the details of what he discovers but it is truly disturbing. After
reading what goes on these farms, I have done a lot more research since reading
the book and I really cant believe the atrocities that go on. It is
understandable to some extent because as a nation we are asking for so much
meat that it becomes necessary to be as efficient as possible to serve the
country. However, this has come as a complete detriment to all the animals and
the environment as a whole. Foer comes to the conclusion that he can not
participate in this madness and so vegetarianism is basically the only option
in America. He believes that if all these bad things are happening he cannot
give money to them, eat their meat, or feed it to his son, on moral grounds. I
certainly understand this, but I don’t see it as the only conclusion. Just like
I feel that I can use and add to the internet for lots of good things even
though so many bad and inappropriate things happen on it, I can eat meat as
long as I don’t succumb to the problem.
While I was reading all the bad things that happen at these
plants, I wondered to what extent these problems exist in kosher plants. Some
of them could not as they would completely invalidate the meat. At the same
time much of the problems in how the animals are kept and even some of the
others are still there.
It’s
for this reason I decided to limit the amount of meat I consume. At this point
I allow myself to eat meat on Shabbat and one other meal during the week. This
seems to me something that I can change and do my part while still being sustainable.
How could I never have Chickies or Golan ever again? The idea originally came
from the idea of being a weekday vegetarian. One does not need to go to
extremes. If we all just ate less meat, much of the environmental problems that
exist would no longer. We don’t need to become vegetarians or radically change
our lifestyles to do this, but we can not make the demand of meat in this
country dictate how poorly they are treated.
At the same time as I have been
limiting my meat intake, I recently started taking a course in YU on ritual
slaughter which by the end would certify me to slaughter fowl. The main reason
I wanted to do really had nothing to do with eating meat. Ritual slaughter is
part of the Jewish tradition and I had the opportunity to learn this skill that
has been in the tradition for ages. At the same time it also would allow me to
make sure the meat that I eat is treated as fairly as possible. Before
beginning the course, I visited a Muslim slaughterhouse where a friend of mine
goes to slaughter his own chickens. Since it is done on a small scale, it
wasn’t depressing as the videos and books show (most of our meat does not come
from places like this). While at first it looked disgusting, it wasn’t
depressing. What amazed me was how moral my friends slaughtering looked. Even
compared to the Muslims, who were very friendly towards us, and have extremely
similar customs, it was over quickly and with great meticulousness to make sure
the chicken was pained as little as possible. Hopefully, in our days the meat
industry will come to the point where it will have to treat its animals with
more respect. What you can do is not make them feel like they have to supply
you with all of it.
