Today’s New York Times had a piece by its City Critic about the “humane” slaughtering that certain privileged turkeys get. Apparently, fancy Hudson Valley birds (as opposed to the gazillion others that are killed without the “special treatment”) get a one-two blessing of a higher authority and a swift chop-n’slice. The idea is it’s a better way to go.
Or so we tell ourselves. Ariel Kaminer describes her experience as “gross” and said it made her feel “crummy.” Yet, it seemed to connect her to what eating a (formerly) living creature signifies. As she put it, ending this being’s life with the goal only of deliciousness was “a strong corrective to dislocation and alienation of our industrial food system, a chance for once to understand what we are eating and where it came from.” Huh – sounds like waking up to us.
Apparently, the bird was extra-special, needing only salt and pepper and was not quite like the concentration camp birds with chem-butter flavor most of us ate as kids. And presumably, these turkeys really are better in many ways. But, is it humane? Uh, depends on what (or if) we think.
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| Let’s Get Some Wings! |
It is possible, as noted in the column, that the act of killing our own meat could create a spiritual connection with our dinner. Hmmm. We wonder. Maybe we should set up some home-slaughter centers and see how it goes. We bet it’s sure to free up some of the enormous resources devoted to mass-meat throughout the globe… and maybe we could even use them to feed the millions and millions of starving people. Just a thought.