Eating

diachrony's rec of Michael Pollan's essay has reminded me that I highly recommend his book The Omnivore's Dilemma to anyone who eats. Or who eats and reads; nothing better than a good book, a sunny lunch hour and patio table at a good restaurant. *wistful sigh*

I became a vegetarian, more or less, 7 or 8 years ago, give or take. Ever since, I've become more interested in what I eat, and gradually gotten more 'health foody' reaching a peak of boorish dietary righteousness a few years back and thankfully now on the downhill side. Since I've often wondered how 'free range' my extra-expensive eggs actually are, I was thrilled when one of my fav authors decided to find out for me. He also looks at fast food, processed food, foraged food, and the ethics and consequences of each.

I was particularly excited about this book because I read an essay by Pollan on vegetarianism before the book was released. I began this essay with a weary cynicism that persisted as he cited all the standard questions about the ethics of killing an animal. Does being smarter than they make it right? Does being another species than they make it right? Does an animal's own lack of complex ethical behavior make it ethical to behave toward them unethically? I had no doubt that he would say yes to all of the above. He's a smart, educated guy, I thought perhaps he would put a new twist on the old refutations, or perhaps concede the point, but say it just didn't matter, 'Sure killing animals is wrong I guess, but they taste so darn good!'.

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