Food *should* be a concern and a matter for consideration

[GlennR]

Having finished another lunch that I had to plan and prepare myself, I got to thinking that not only are we eating what we were evolved to eat (for the most part), in the process we are giving due and appropriate consideration to what we were evolved to really, really care about: food. When food is so easy to come by -- a matter of paying for something over the counter or popping open a lid -- it loses its value somewhat, there is no satisfaction. You can dig through a ginormous bag of chips and not even think about it, not care one way or another. I mean, what's it to you? A couple of bucks.

 

But when you have to work for your food, think about it, plan for it, even be a little anxious about it, the satisfaction of finally digging into the final product is so replete. Granted, the anxiety doesn't rise to the level of "Will I manage to hunt down or gather or scavenge or harvest enough food to eat tonight?" -- still, the process of having to focus on the matter lends itself to real enjoyment when you finally, successfully put something on your plate and start stuffing your face. We sink back into our hindbrain and know the simple -- dare I say, primal? -- pleasure of once again having skillfully manipulated our environment to fill our hunger. We re-experience a little of what it is to be fully human.

[Tom Denham]

I just started reading Food and Faith: A Theology of Eating by Norman Wirzba. Here is a quote from chapter 1: Eating involves us in a daily life and death drama in which, beyond all comprehension, some life is sacrificed so that other life can thrive. It establishes a membership that confirms all creatures as profoundly in need of each other and upon God to provide life's nutrition and vitality.

 

I'm not sure yet what I think of a theology of eating, but I am finding the material interesting so far. I agree that it is good for us to be thoughtful about our food and eating. 

[AllyB]

As a grassfed beef farmer, I find this topic very interesting.  So I can relate to that quote you posted Tom.  When it's time to process a steer, it's often a sad day.  I've taken care of that animal for 2-3 years and know them quite well before they take their final journey to the processor. There is definitely a sacrifice so that my family and customers can eat cleaner.  When I sell the beef, I try to make sure every part is used.  If people buy in bulk, I ask if they are going to eat the less popular cuts (liver, heart, tail etc).  If they say no, I ask to keep them.  I feel that the best way to honor the sacrifice the animal gave us (without his permission) is to not waste anything.  I've gotten good at cooking less popular cuts because we often eat the parts that my customers don't buy.

 

Buying our food in the supermarket often removes us from the sacrifices and work it took to get that food to us.  Meat products are not alone in their sacrifices.  Growing vegetables and grains requires sacrifices from animals as well.  Land cleared for crops destroys habitats, pesticides kills bugs and probably the birds that eat them.  Fertilizers used on the crops pollutes streams and rivers, killing the aquatic population.  We can't avoid the fact that in order for us (humans) to eat, there are sacrifices all along the food chain.

 

A couple years ago, I had a James Beard nominated food blogger visit the farm.  Her initial trip was to visit a grassfed farm and her husband took cute pictures of the spring lambs frolicking in the pasture.  As we talked, I challenged her to _really_ learn everything about her food and accompany me to the butcher the next time we processed a steer.  She agreed, but when the day came to actually ride along, she seemed apprehensive.  But to her credit, she came, even though there were times during the trip that were obviously uncomfortable for her.  I've included the link to the second article she wrote about our farm...the day we took the trip to the processor.

 

http://www.bunkycooks.com/2012/04/honor-the-animal/

 

Whenever I sell beef in bulk, I always offer the customer to opportunity to ride along to the processor.  So far, no one has taken me up on it.  I think it's psychologically hard on us (as human beings) to really face the fact that there was a living being that supplied the steak sitting on our plate.  But I also believe it is important for us to use that uncomfortable feeling to be mindful of what we eat and the sacrifices that were made in order for us to survive.

[GlennR]

Hunter gatherer cultures always honored the animals they hunted, in their myths and rituals. It was vital for their psychological health to celebrate and thank -- and even apologize to -- the living things whose deaths sustained their lives. Most of us in the modern age have the luxury of being removed from the process.

 

I honor your work, Ally, for dealing in the deaths that help sustain our lives.

[Noelle]

Your post really spoke to me, Ally. I was vegan for 5 years before coming to Whole30. While I know death is part of every plate of food and I know that adding meat back into my diet literally saved my life, I still struggle with the reality of the sacrifice these animals make. Or, rather, the sacrifice we humans take.

It's been immensely helpful to me to be mindful not only of how much I'm using and not wasting anything, and also thinking about the animal as a whole. I was rubbing salt and pepper over a roast last night and kept marveling at the fact that this thing in my hands was (is) a muscle. It helped a real, live animal stand up!

It's my own personal history talking, but making that connection between animal and meat has been one of the cornerstones of healing both my body and my relationship with food.

[wendelina]

While I've never been to a processor, I do think a _lot_ about food (heck, I don't think any of us would be here if we didn't).  I try to engage the farmers at the farmers market, I'm going to try to volunteer this summer, and I've been thinking more about going to a processing plant, just to see.  It started after reading about it in "The Omnivore's Dilemma," and it's only been growing in my mind as I've started Whole30 / paleo.

 

On the other hand, though, even putting in more work to _cook_ food makes me a lot more mindful about every aspect of it.  When food is something you have to labor over, at all, even if not talking about the living animal, it becomes more meaningful.  My husband and I do a lot less eating on the couch since we started our Whole30, we take the time to really enjoy and savor our meal.  And I, at least, find that I enjoy food more, because I have labored over it, smelled it as it's cooking, chosen things with some care to "go together."

I wonder sometimes if that sense (I enjoy food more if I cook it, and smelled it cooking, than if it was prepackaged) is more primal than just the ingredients being better, if somehow that smell starts my digestive processes and makes things more appealing, since we've been around cooking a LOT more than we have around ez-open cans.

 

Sorry for rambling.  Just ... I wonder about these things.  This seems as good a place as any to air these random thoughts!

[mangio_bene]

I also appreciate your post, Ally.  I personally hate liver but some of the other organ parts are fine for me to eat.  I love properly prepared tripe, for example.  I have been to Europe a number of time and one of the things I have noticed over there is that they sell all parts of the animal.  I've seen goat heads in the meat cases and watched a butcher skin a rabbit in a large farmers market type of place.  In the US it seems like we sanitize our food.

[AllyB]

Yes, we like sanitary food.  I had a friend that thought store bought eggs came out of the chicken brown and then were bleached to 'clean' them and make them white.  (As a side note, she only bought white eggs cuz they were 'clean'.)  This was from a relatively well educated person. I showed her kids some eggs from my chickens.  There were a couple in various shades of light brown and a green one.  She expertly explained to her kids that the brown ones were brown because they hadn't been bleached yet and the green one was green because it was rotten from being out in the heat too long.  I laughed out loud and said "For real???"   I told her green eggs were green cuz that's what the chickens produce...same for brown and white eggs.  She didn't believe me.  We had to resort to google to settle the dispute.