Final Food Assignment

Bonnie Black
Final Food Assignment

Throughout this Food Culture unit, I think we have just seen more and more of the gluttony of Americans. It has shown me how little of an actual culture we have of our own, and how we as a people treat food as something disposable and wasteful, as if we have a never-ending source. We do not respect the earth enough to honor what we are given from it in order to survive. We are extremely selfish when it comes to the existence of other animals and act as if we are superior from the rest of the world and therefore more than justified to treat animals and food the way we do.
The video Cows With Guns by Dana Lyons, pokes fun at the industrial food culture. The first line shows an example of how people often see the animals that we use for food, “Fat and docile, big and dumb They looks so stupid they aren’t much fun”. We look down on these animals that we are slaughtering, maybe in order to feel as if we are not hurting anything that really has the right to be alive. The next line in the song also shows how we have this selfish one track mind, as if all animals are born simply for the purpose to feed us. “They eat to grow, grow to die, die to be et at the hamburger fry”. The song then begins to discuss what would happen if the cows were to turn on us, seeking out the revenge they deserve because of all the slaughter and torture their kind has had to endure. It’s ridiculous for us to think of, because we know that a cows marching through town with guns is impossible, however it also brings up the point that these cows were not put here simply to fill our needs. We shouldn’t see them as these lifeless things that would not care if they were to live or die. The song hopes to make the listener consider the idea that the animals that we are treating so brutally do actually have feelings and should be treated with respect just as we would any person. In a video about oppressed people, we would cheer as they joined together to rise against those who are keeping them down, and that is how we should react to the idea of the animals rising up against those who has treated them so horribly.
I think the American people are the worst when it comes to treating animals unfairly. The level of obesity in our country is disgusting and it’s all due to our selfishness and laziness. We want food that is quick and ready for us as soon as we want it. According to Pollan, because we have been brought up in a country that has no clear, specific, dominant culture, we have also not been brought up with any specific connection to any type of food. We’re such a melting pot of cultures, that it is the same amongst our food. Because of that, we are left with an overwhelming about of options, and therefore often opt for the quickest and cheapest meals we can find. Meals have become something we do in passing, rarely actually partaking in the making of it, and even if we do, we eat it in such a rush so we can get to the next thing. I believe that is something that has really taken away from our food culture, because we have become so disconnected from the process. We rely on other people to make it for us and serve it to us so we can get it quick and then move on with our day. Unfortunately, those kinds of meals are the most fatty and the ones that have used meat that has most often come from slaughter houses.
In class we watched a video about the animal cruelty that occurs within the slaughter houses. The animals were treated horrifically, their throats being slit while they are still alive, beaks being cut off, being kept in horrible conditions. It seemed as though the people were simply going through the actions as they brutally killed or tortured the animals. I would often have to look away because it was too disturbing, but I would continue to hear the sounds of cows or pigs crying.
After the video, a few people around me proclaimed that they want to stop eating meat because of the video. Although I think I was just as affected by the video, I also think it's difficult for someone to say that they will entirely change their eating habits because of it. I think eating meat is a natural thing, as it's something many animals do out in the wild. However, what I do not think is natural is how the humans involved in these slaughter houses seem more interested in torturing the animal than using it for food. It seems that with industrial food, it's become more about torture and money and excess than the basic necessity of some kinds of food. I think their treatment of fellow animals exemplifies the superiority complex humans have developed when it comes to other animals. That along with their basic selfishness is what has led to them being capable of such disgusting things. I think if we didn't view ourselves as being so superior to other animals, and saw it more about respecting other animals that we need to help us survive, it could be a much more moral process.
It is not only the animals that we abuse in the process of eating. In class, we also watching a children’s movie about farming called “VROOM- Farming for Kids”. It played happy music for the kids while these giant tractors that weigh a ton tear apart the earth in order to get some cabbage. These giant tractors have been made to speed up the process of farming and to make it easier. However, it just rips apart the earth, or as some may even say it “rapes” the earth.
I think respecting the earth and the things in it that we need to eat to help us survive is a major thing that we have lost in our culture. I feel that if we were to do that, and view ourselves as a part of the world, equal to all the other living things, rather than these superior beings sent here to take advantage of the world and what it has to offer, then the whole food process can become much more humane and spiritual. Eating is something we do so often in a day, and yet I feel it’s become something we barely acknowledge. It’s such a basic necessity, that I feel we should really treasure. I think we should respect the earth and the places we are getting our food from. I think people should cook more as well, so they can feel more connected to the process. It should become something more sacred, rather than something we just do in passing.