How would you describe your personal relationship with the animals that you eat? As a society, do we have a healthy relationship with the animals that we eat?
Your assignment is to reflect on these questions, demonstrating both subjective thoughtfulness and awareness of the objective issues involved in these relationships. Thoughtful reflection includes qualifications and conditions - it is not only acceptable, but often necessary to include any doubts, counterarguments, or even contradictions in your own thoughts and behavior. You must also demonstrate awareness of the larger, objective issues - particularly the public health, environmental, ethical, and cultural aspects - involved in eating meat.
The following series of questions are meant to help you investigate your own thoughts, beliefs, and behavior. You don't have to address each of these questions in your own essay. Simply use them to challenge your assumptions and prompt reflection.
Consider your own habits. Do you eat meat? If not, why not? If so, what animals, cuts, and preparations? How often? Where from? If you eat meat, what are some animals that you don't eat? Do you not eat certain types of meat simply because the taste or texture or does the thought of some types of meat gross you out? Why? Think about the different reasons you have for not eating certain animals and/or parts of animals.
Consider your context. How much of your eating habits are the product of individual choice and how much are the product of your context? What food did you grow up eating at home? What influence has that had in shaping your eating habits? Consider where you grew up, any cultural influences, your religion, etc....
Consider your own experience. Have you ever killed an animal that you've eaten? What effect did that have on you? Have you ever seen one killed either in person or otherwise? Does knowing how an animal lived and died make you more or less comfortable eating it? Does seeing raw meat have an effect on you? What specific experiences have shaped your eating habits?
Consider the ethical issues. Have you ever thought about the animals that you eat? What lines do you draw between "acceptable" and "unacceptable" treatment of animals raised for slaughter and consumption? How are animals treated on "factory farms"? What are the ethical issues involved? What are the differences between the animals that we care for as pets and those we eat?
Consider the environmental impact. What impact do CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) have on the environment? How does global demand for meat affect the environment? With a growing global population, can the planet sustain our current level of meat consumption?
Consider public health issues. What are the issues involved? Do any of the practices seen in Food, Inc., for example, concern you as they relate to health and safety? What are the working conditions like at slaughterhouses? How does eating meat impact the obesity epidemics in developed nations as well as the problem of famine in developing nations?
Consider our cultural attitudes. What are the prevailing cultural attitudes towards eating meat? How are these attitudes manifested in advertisements, on television, and in personal interactions? Generally, do Americans know where the animals they eat come from and how they were raised? Do they care?