Do You Care About What You Eat?

I had just read the “You Can’t Run Away From Harvest Day” chapter in Barbara Kingsolver’s “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” when I read a weekend piece in the Chicago Tribune about a writer who decided to personally witness the slaughter of every meet she eats.

It’s an intriguing mission. I’m not sure I feel compelled to do the same, though I figure, I’ve seen the humane raising and slaughtering of most of the type of meat I eat.

But it’s safe to say that my diet can be impacted by graphic images and information about suffering. When I was in high school, a friend told me the real story about veal. Young calves raised in confinement, sometimes their legs broken to limit movement thus producing some of the best, most tender meat on the planet. Was it true? Didn’t matter. I never ate veal again.

When my friend John moved on to learning about hot dogs, I told him to keep it to himself. I didn’t want to know.

I’ve been living in that “don’t ask, don’t tell” world for years. I’m in the information business. But I didn’t want to have to deal with the morality, the cost, the hassle of learning about U.S. consumption habits.

But when you are tied to a small farming operation, it becomes impossible to ignore these issues.

So here I am, devouring all that Monica Eng, Michael Pollen and Barbara Kingsolver can feed me.

Where do I stand?

I’m not a vegetarian and don’t intend to be. I’m also not opposed to large animal farming operations. That said, I’m seeing that confined feeding operations, hormone treatments and genetic modification can be a danger to health, environment and economy.

Photo at Hoosier Outsider’s Flickr stream.