This article is a good read, especially for those of us (viz. me) who have abandoned almost 20 years of vegetarianism relatively recently. I still like to eat seasonally. My twin sister taught me the habit of looking to see how far a vegetable has travelled before I eat it. But, it does surprise me how eating meat has come so easily. Yes, I am fussy about how an animal is reared. But I would eat most meats I thought had been produced 'responsibly'. What does that mean? I still err on the side of vegetarian for the quick sandwich on the run, you never know where the meat in those things hails from. And do I feel sorry for lobsters? Well, I have never eaten one. But, probably only for a moment before working out how to eat him. Once more into the moral maze my friends. This time at the dinner table. It is worth revisiting these themes every now and then. As for the morality of feasting and fasting, I have more to say on that, but I am saving it for Lent. :)
2 comments:
I love this bit "But by reducing man’s moral nature to an extension of our instincts, Pollan is free to present his appetite as a sort of moral-o-meter, the final authority for judging the rightness of all things culinary. He shoots a wild pig, for example, hugely enjoying the experience."
I like to think of vegetarians as going against natural animal instinct because of more developed morality, like advanced humans.
I guess that is right. Vegetarianism is an all round gentler way of living. For that, above all other things, I really miss it.
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