Well, I officially finished my last paper tonight (actually I still have to proof read it, but close enough) so I thought I would contribute to the Chris (rarely) and Amy (mostly) blog. As anyone who has been around me in the last few weeks knows, I have been reading a great book by Michael Pollan called The Omnivore's Dilemma. Pollan tries to follow four meals from their most basic forms to the final product. His discoveries about the McDonald's meal is quite a bit disturbing (one word: corn); his clarification of what an organic meal (specifically from Whole Foods) is was very helpful; his support of local growers and sustainable farmers was insightful; and his attempts to forage and hunt for his own meal were pretty funny. But I think the thing that struck me most about the book is the moral dilemma involved in being omnivores.
The dilemma for Pollan emerges when we lose track of the process involved in the production of our food, especially meat. Once we begin to see meat as 'cuts' rather than death animals we inevitably lose sight of dilemma and once we forget that death is involved in nearly every meal, we are unable to be deeply grateful for it. This gratitude allows us to cherish a meal rather than just consume it. We are able to eat, mindful of the consequences of our meal. I know I will be thinking more while I am eating now.
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