May 24, 2011 - 8:19am — quadraptor
The other day I went to my local grocery store and had to pick up some deli meat. I approached the counter and asked for a pound of ham and a pound of turkey.
While I waited, I looked at all the different kinds of meat there. Turkey, chicken, beef, pork, salami, and so on.
It took me a moment to understand what I was actually looking at. Animals. I'm so used to looking at the meat in the deli and meat departments as nothing more than globs of protein that I often forget what these sources of food truly are. The same can be said any time I eat chicken nuggets or pizza with pepperoni on it.
It isn't my intention to be impolite to these creatures. I just forget. We all sometimes forget.
It simply takes a strong heart to remember.
I may never know what it is like to be an animal. I dream of it as many do, wondering what it would be like to live in an open plain where I could live off of grass and enjoy the gentle breeze. I dream of looking to the sky and wondering what clouds are, and having a moment of triumph protecting myself from a predator such as a wolf or a coyote.
I dream of life as simple, not so complex as I understand it now. I know that to some, that would be an odd request - to refuse wanting to learn vast amounts of knowledge rather than wanting to understand anything and everything. I'd rather be able to live off of instinct than knowledge.
I begin to realize how many chickens, turkeys, cows, and pigs lose their lives to feed our country. I think about all of the grocery stores, fast-food chains, and restaurants there are in America. It's impossible to even imagine.
My order of ham and turkey meat is handed to me. And as I place them in my shopping cart, I look back at the packaged globs of protein behind the glass there. I simply forgot what you were.
I may never know what it is like to be an animal, but I do think that those behind the case would prefer their bodies be used and eaten than go to waste. It is a belief I hold to strongly, and why I feel no shame eating the protein they provided.
I only wish...that I could have met you before. Things would be much different if I had the chance to pet your side and enjoy your company. Then I would never forget that you are an animal and not just a glob of meat packaged at a grocery store.
If it has never been said to you, and to any animal I have eaten from through the years I have lived - thank you for your sacrifice. I hope you lived a life of wonder and joy, one free of pain and suffering.
And those days that I forget what you are, please forgive me, I do not intend to forget.
♥
Quote:but I do think that
My thoughts pretty much... or at least I think that it matters a lot more what happened to the animal and what was it´s life like before it died than what happens to the corpse... I always try to eat all the meat on my plate rather than throwing any of it away though.
It is a very good thing to remeber where the meat comes from though, and I admire you for undrestanding and respecting that sacrifice. If people simply had more respect to animals, they might be treated better just for that little change of attitude.
Mm, many people forget the
Something to remember though: most animals we eat haven't lived a long good life... rather the opposite, unfortunately. The meat industry is not a very nice one.
I will admit that I often
I need to be more respectful toward sea creatures, too. I'm bad at eating a plate of fried shrimp without remembering they were once alive too. Just gotta remember.
Thanks for the comments.
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[Edit] To explain the poem a little bit: it sort of makes fun of how we have come to see the meat industry as a kind of "God," and prefer not to think about the animals behind our packages of meat.
Ahhhhhhh okay, I was really
Thanks for sharing that poem, I've never read it before!
I was blessed with a father
From the start, I saw the animals whole, with fading glossy eyes, and fur, and watched them be butchered and turned into my meal. I would often ask to feel the insides, or hold the feet, or touch the eyeballs. I think that since I was very little, it was how I processed that it was no longer alive. Because it wouldn't blink, its heart did not beat, and its feet were cold. These things didn't scare me, I wasn't old enough to have preconceptions like that.
Thank you deer. Thank you Rabbit. Thank you squirrel. Thank you Turkey. Thank you Dad, for feeding us.
I don't like the way the meat industry treats animals. I don't buy meat from the store (save rare occasions when I am feeling starved for protein). I always eat meat that is served to me in whole. The meat I get for myself is often rescued from dumpsters in winter or acquired from local farms where I know the animals are treated well.
This is how I am an omnivore. And how I remember.