To kill, or not to kill. That is the question.
Why is it that humans have this sense of morality when it comes to food? We're not the only creature out there that has the ability to understand self-consciousness. Apparently, dolphins, chimpanzees and a few other animals can understand that they are seeing their reflection and even use a conveniently placed mirror to check themselves out.
What really intrigues me is that many of the points that Pollan makes regarding the disconnect between harvest/slaughter and consumer are present in my life, and allow people to eat freely without truly thinking about the morality of what they are doing. Let me explain why that is the case.
When I first arrived in Asia on January 3rd, 2015 I was greeted by a city that was slightly a little more foreign than I expected, but I liked it. Hong Kong is like New York on steroids.
Now, when you are in Central you tend to be in a higher concentrated area of foreigners and English proficiency tends to be quite good. When you live in Shatin, New Territories (40 minutes out of Central & 15 minutes SouthEast of China) you see more local and middle class Chinese people.
Throughout all of Hong Kong you can see barbecued chickens on display in storefronts with head and feet still intact (chicken feet is a delicacy in China). In the New Territories you can also see pig feet and full pig legs (with the skin) that have the Chinese symbol for prosperity stamped on to them. The moment I had first started to question the morality of eating animals was when I was confronted with this daily sight of fully intact animals ready to be cooked.
There is also no shortage of medicinal stores that sell seafood products, vegetables, and herbs that have a smell so potent that when first encountered may be unbearable to those with a weak stomach. Fish stomach & intestine, as well as deer antlers can frequent stores across the city and happen to be pretty pricey as well. Yet, when the food/medicinal item doesn't resemble the creature it came from it does not truly strike you as odd or out of place.
In Vietnam, technically a developing economy (between 1st & 3rd world), we saw some stuff being done to animals that I will never be able to forget. Vietnam, Hanoi specifically, was the only place I had ever seen dog on the menu... in a restaurant. Now, I'm definitely not culturally ignorant and I believe that each culture and religion has the right to do and eat whatever they want, but that was slightly unsettling. Especially as our tour guide on our $20, all you can eat food tour explained how dog was best served fried with squid ink and a side of rice. Fortunately, we never ate dog or saw it being served but I was still uncomfortable. We also saw how other animals such as fish, birds, and even turtles were prepared to be consumed. That had to be one of the most scarring sights I had ever laid my eyes on.
Anyways, the nail on the (moral dilemma) coffin was in Koh Rong, a small island off of Cambodia. We rented a boat for the day to take us to the uninhabited side of the island known as Long Beach. Before heading to the island we managed to squeeze in some time for snorkeling and fishing. We had caught about 10 fish before landing on Long Beach so we decided to have fish for lunch. When I asked our boat driver if we could take the fish to a grill that some locals had set up on the beach, he handed me a dull axe and knife that probably could have cut through styrofoam.
Fish in hand, I was a little shaky as I had never done this before. It took me few times before I could actually dismantle the fish and clean what was left in the ocean. Only after we had grilled the fish and enjoyed the fish between a company of 5 did I truly recognize how much we take for granted. When you come face to face to your animal, your food, your meal it becomes a lot more difficult to put aside morality and prepare what was a living being a few minutes beforehand.
So what I am really trying to ask is why? Why do we have this sense of remorse or grief for the animals which we eat? Is that a new plan of environmental activists in society, or is it hardwired in our DNA? Are we "smarter" than nature or have we been fooled into thinking we control plants and animals while they actually domesticate us?
Now, when you are in Central you tend to be in a higher concentrated area of foreigners and English proficiency tends to be quite good. When you live in Shatin, New Territories (40 minutes out of Central & 15 minutes SouthEast of China) you see more local and middle class Chinese people.
Throughout all of Hong Kong you can see barbecued chickens on display in storefronts with head and feet still intact (chicken feet is a delicacy in China). In the New Territories you can also see pig feet and full pig legs (with the skin) that have the Chinese symbol for prosperity stamped on to them. The moment I had first started to question the morality of eating animals was when I was confronted with this daily sight of fully intact animals ready to be cooked.
There is also no shortage of medicinal stores that sell seafood products, vegetables, and herbs that have a smell so potent that when first encountered may be unbearable to those with a weak stomach. Fish stomach & intestine, as well as deer antlers can frequent stores across the city and happen to be pretty pricey as well. Yet, when the food/medicinal item doesn't resemble the creature it came from it does not truly strike you as odd or out of place.
In Vietnam, technically a developing economy (between 1st & 3rd world), we saw some stuff being done to animals that I will never be able to forget. Vietnam, Hanoi specifically, was the only place I had ever seen dog on the menu... in a restaurant. Now, I'm definitely not culturally ignorant and I believe that each culture and religion has the right to do and eat whatever they want, but that was slightly unsettling. Especially as our tour guide on our $20, all you can eat food tour explained how dog was best served fried with squid ink and a side of rice. Fortunately, we never ate dog or saw it being served but I was still uncomfortable. We also saw how other animals such as fish, birds, and even turtles were prepared to be consumed. That had to be one of the most scarring sights I had ever laid my eyes on.
Anyways, the nail on the (moral dilemma) coffin was in Koh Rong, a small island off of Cambodia. We rented a boat for the day to take us to the uninhabited side of the island known as Long Beach. Before heading to the island we managed to squeeze in some time for snorkeling and fishing. We had caught about 10 fish before landing on Long Beach so we decided to have fish for lunch. When I asked our boat driver if we could take the fish to a grill that some locals had set up on the beach, he handed me a dull axe and knife that probably could have cut through styrofoam.
Fish in hand, I was a little shaky as I had never done this before. It took me few times before I could actually dismantle the fish and clean what was left in the ocean. Only after we had grilled the fish and enjoyed the fish between a company of 5 did I truly recognize how much we take for granted. When you come face to face to your animal, your food, your meal it becomes a lot more difficult to put aside morality and prepare what was a living being a few minutes beforehand.
So what I am really trying to ask is why? Why do we have this sense of remorse or grief for the animals which we eat? Is that a new plan of environmental activists in society, or is it hardwired in our DNA? Are we "smarter" than nature or have we been fooled into thinking we control plants and animals while they actually domesticate us?
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