Meet your meat is a PETA slogan that has been in use for years; it seems to have resonated with me because I kept thinking of it when viewing Food Inc., reading the excerpt from Omnivore's Dilemma, and Schnieder's essay on Slow Food, "Good, Clean, Fair." However, these texts remove some of the dramatization that alienates others considering how to act on the issue. Again though, the radical acts of PETA (and other environmentalists) have been instrumental to some of the progress and acceptance of perspectives like Pollan's, Kenner's, and Schnieder's. Groups like them bring hard issues to the surface.
The texts by Schnieder and Pollan fill in some gaps from Food, Inc. that I found particularly helpful to my inquiries. The details about feeding cows rendered animal fat and ignoring the instincts we have to keep food and fecal matter apart were very powerful in Pollan's excerpt--I can't wait to read that book.
Teaching the slow food philosophy was an interesting detail in Schnieder's essay. I though the example of Alice Waters showing Petrini the effectiveness of "school vegetable gardens" Can anyone really complain about teaching young students about vegetable gardening? Many probably would complain, but the connection to our health and longevity as a species cannot be denied. Furthermore, growing something with your own two hands alleviates depressive thoughts and emotions, as well as gives you a sense of appreciation for what you have and your abilities to support local sustainability.
Another more important quote from Petrini about the interconnectedness of food, culture, health, ecology and thinking:
I also like how this quote about the new gastronomy ties the readings together. Perhaps this is a new aim for food and culture programming on television; demonstrating sustainability and fine food working together and really emphasizing the origins of the dish's components.
Has our food culture gone out of control because of financial exigencies?
If it were only that simple . . .
Considering Omnivore's Dilemma, I am curious about what Pollan is saying about the details of how the federal farm bill should be considered a food bill. What does that entail?
The trope of the feedlot as a city is such a good metaphor that it is quite literal in many ways. The subsidization of corn and the fossil fuel need to generate and transport it is harrowing. Can we change this behavior or is out culture too resistant? I was near a pig feedlot in South Carolina a few years ago and the stench of sulphur and cesspits was ubiquitous and nauseating. Our culture hides this stuff away and it is something hard to support when you are informed.
I am also interested in understanding more about what Pollan in particular thinks about the farm bill being a food bill. Perhaps it is simply a shift in public perception. People need to understand that the "farm bill" is not supporting small American family farms but corporately owned industrial factories that exploit and bury their "owners" in debt. A "Food Bill" might shift the focus from the non-existent nostalgic farm to the harsh reality of our food system. I wonder what Pollan would say about Berry and Jackson's suggestion of a 50 Year Farm Bill: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/05/opinion/05berry.html
ReplyDeleteLike I mentioned in class, one chapter in The Omnivore's Dilemma focuses on the ethics of meat. In a rhetorically savvy move for appealing to meat lovers, Pollan begins the chapter with him eating a steak in a restaurant while reading Peter Singers' Animal Liberation. They eventually meet, Pollan agrees to go veg while exploring the ethics of meat. The argument that follows is fairly critical of Singer, PETA, vegans, etc. But in typical Pollan style, he very fairly (I think) considers the animal liberation arguments and takes a strong stand against factory farming.
ReplyDeletePETA followers despise this position. Jonathan S. Foer excoriates Pollan in his recent book on eating meat (JSF is a vegan).
Slow food is not anti-meat, although it is anti-factory farming. Pollan and the slow foodies see meat as tied into cultural identity going back millenia.
I like the approach of this post very much. You have a number of interesting points there that are worth developing. The quoted question, "how the federal farm bill shoud be a food bill" and what does that entail is thought-provoking. I think Pollan's slow-food rhetoric may have something to contribute to your answer. And I'm curious about how you would answer the qestion, and if you are planning on unpacking it into a passage or a piece of writing. Besides, the visual aid really comes in timely.I think it can be a good essay of eco-rhetoric.
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