.read.- “The Ethics of What We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter” September 17, 2008

…can also be found on Wordy Laundry!

.authored by something.of.substance.

WARNING: This article contains content which could be disturbing for some readers. The video clip provided at the end is extremely disturbing. Watch at your own risk.

.food ethics: the final frontier?.

Americans like to think of themselves as a moral bunch of people. In the United States, we monitor others religious choices, fashion statements, waist lines, and, especially, sex lives. We make sure that convicted criminals don’t “suffer” when put to death by the state and we practically dish-out vigilante justice anytime a child is allegedly harmed. However, when it comes to eating, not many consider what they eat to be much of a moral or ethical issue. As Peter Singer and Jim Mason put it in their 2006 manifesto The Ethics of What We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter, we hold a “belief in dominion – a God-given license to use [animals] as we see fit – and a sense of alienation from nature that is at the root of many of our social and environmental crises”. If having a God-complex over what we perceive to be less sentient beings isn’t an issue of morality gone awry, I’m not certain what is.

This graphic and easy-to-follow book co-written by Singer and Mason, one of whom is a Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University and the other whom is a fifth generation of family farmer and lawyer, tackles our morality-dismissing excuses head-on. Not only are these men qualified to discuss the ethics of food production as representatives of their respective professions, but they present extensive research including their own undercover work to bring you the facts. These men, clearly, know what they are talking about.

The book traces the diets of three “typical” American families from grocery store back to the farm. The first part of the book is dedicated to what is known, colloquially, as the meat-and-potatoes diet or, formally, as The Standard American Diet (SAD). If eating a meal plan short-termed as a negative emotion doesn’t clue you into its harm, then Singer and Mason’s depictions of life for the animals and workers involved in producing your SAD meals should light up your ethical consciousness like fireworks on the Fourth of July. Shopping mainly at Wal-Mart because it’s so fast and cheap and easy, the mom purchasing food for her household doesn’t really care about where her food comes from, but would if it didn’t require her, as she puts, “be less lazy”.

.holy chicken. September 10, 2008

.authored by something.of.substance.

.praise poultry.

I never realized Chick-fil-A was such a big deal. Being vegetarian, I don’t find much need for restaurants- fast food or otherwise- that offer chicken, chicken and more chicken. But, one night, I turned on the local evening news to find a Guns N’ Roses Reunion Tour-esque pandemonium in a parking lot in Masadonia, OH. Literally hundreds of RVs, campers, tents, lawn chairs, sleeping bags, and other semi-temporary habitats were strewn across lined asphalt. Hundreds of people were tailgating in a linear formation. Why, you ask? A Chick-fil-A franchise was opening in that particular strip mall in three days. As the NBC Nightly News panned the nearly frenetic crowd, a long retired couple wearing matching visors and endearingly sloganed t-shirts (“World’s Coolest Grandma!”) stepped in front of the camera. They explained excitedly that they used their retirement savings to buy a recreational vehicle so they could follow Chick-fil-A as franchises opened around the country. “We’re loving life through Chick-fil-A!” Mrs. Retirement gleefully exclaimed.

.cirque de fil-A.

Flourishing in the South, Chick-fil-A franchises are only beginning to creep into the already crowded fast food scene in the Western and Mid-Western parts of the United States. However, this restaurant chain inspires, arguably, the most fanatic following and loyal employees (the turn-over rate of even hourly wage workers is lower than some white-collar financial corporations) as well as tapping into the niche market within the fast food sector of serving only chicken (or chicken-wannabe) products. Chick-fil-A garnered an even larger following when, in October 2003, it publicly announced in a major ad campaign that a new store, opening in an Arizona mall in mid-October, would offer coupons for a free combo meal every week for a year to to the first 100 customers through its door. Along with the year of free meals promotion (which was heavily featured on the Internet), the company funded a carnival including free ice cream, prize raffles and karaoke to accompany the store opening. The combination of free chicken and free fun spawned a craze and the aptly-dubbed “First 100” promotion is now held at the opening of every new Chick-fil-A restaurant. It was for this promotion that Mr. and Mrs. John Q. Golden Years and countless others camp out outside store openings to ensure their place in line.

To say that this franchise of approximately 1300 restaurants is something of a cult is to downplay the devotion both employees and customers have to this private corporation. People travel great distances to worship at the alter of Chick. This realization is especially ironic given the corporate mission statement issued by S. Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-fil-A, and maintained on a plaque at the company headquarters: “to glorify God…and to have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A.” If that strip mall parking lot in Ohio was any indication, you would think Chick-fil-A was handing out autographed photos of Jesus with every meal purchase.

.check your morality at the drive-thru. August 18, 2008

.authored by something.of.substance.

Perusing the local newspaper at my parent’s house during my last visit, I came across this stunner of a letter submitted to the editor:

“We Cannot Support Restaurant Chain

From time to time, my wife and I used to enjoy taking our grandchildren to McDonald’s.
However, we will no longer be doing that. The reason? McDonald’s has become one of the
proud sponsors of the homosexual agenda, including the gay and lesbian pride parade held in
San Francisco every June.

Since we cannot knowingly and in good conscience support a business that helps promote themoral demise of our culture, we will no longer be frequenting McDonald’s. It is my hope that thoseof you who read this will also carefully consider what your response should be to the disappointingaction that been taken by this organization.” -Don Smith

After re-reading this marvel of modern society and taking a few moments to pace back-and-forth heatedly, I composed the following letter and submitted it to the same editor:

.have it their way. July 31, 2008

.authored by something.of.substance.

I don’t know about you, but I like to think about what I’m putting in my mouth lest I encounter something unfit for consumption. Wise cracks about my social life aside, it disturbs me when celebrated chefs such as Anthony Bourdain state in interviews* that given the choice between eating mud-caked warthog anus- again- or a McDonald’s Chicken McNugget he would really consider eating the unwashed rectum because at least it was identifiable. When poo gets a winning vote, it may be time to re-think our food ethics. More plainly, if it can’t be identified, scientifically, why would I think my body could do any better of a job of figuring out what to make of it?

All of this rumination begs the questions: Are we what we eat? Or, are we what we think we’re eating? I decided to investigate the possible answers to the latter question by visiting my local Burger King.

I don’t spend a whole lot of time frequenting fast food restaurants. That’s a lie. I don’t spend any time haunting the tubby-sized soft drink bars or mud-covered, cracked plastic booths of these salutes to the American way which, incidentally, appears to be “cheap, fast and full of crap”. And, I’m not riding my high horse all the way to the drive-thru. When I was in high school, McDonald’s and Wendy’s provided my minimum-wage working self a fast, friendly meal. Well, maybe not so friendly considering the long-term consequences to my body, the middle-of-my-shift crash in blood sugar and the surplus of larger size pants I had stocked to deal with the immediate after-shock of bloating up like Snoopy in the Macy’s Day Parade.