A vegetarian agenda

The theme of 10th grade is social justice, but I don't think anyone has given much thought into what that looks like in practice, particularly given the state of the school district's budget.  My daughter has been assigned "Eating Animals" by Jonathan Foer as her first honors English book (other than 3 books assigned over the summer) of the school year.  

Frankly I think a different aspect of food production could have been explored as a social justice issue given that a significant portion of the student population receives free or reduced lunch.  The uneven access to healthy food or the rates of diabetes, elevated cholesterol, obesity among urban residents...these are topics that are much more relevant to urban children.  The companion book to "The Weight of the Nation" might have been a good place to start.  

I read "Eating Animals" very quickly (from cover to cover in a couple of hours), hence this is more of a response than a review.  I will state my bias from the onset - from a religious perspective, I fundamentally disagree that eating animals is inhumane. God clearly instructed us on the animals that are intended for human consumption and those that were not, who are we to question God's judgement?  That's not to say that we should go about raising and slaughtering animals willy nilly.  

As I've stated before, in the early 80s my family belonged to a co-op and ate no sugar, salt, beef or pork...we ate organic and "whole" food before it was fashionable. As time went on we slowly began to consume everything except pork.  Over the past decade I have transformed the way I eat largely because of my academic training coupled with the undergraduate courses I teach.  Because I love food, I can't help but bring food into the conversation; unfortunately those tethered to the factory farm system are unable to enjoy unadulterated food...so I teach about tropic levels, dairy farming, animal husbandry, aquaculture, the prevalence of corn and soy, and all of the "science" that gives us more food in shorter time. However, that hasn't hindered me from eating animals...as long as I "know" the source. I don't follow a one-size-fits-all diet, I do what feels right based on how my body responds...some meals are meatless, some are raw, and the majority are quite tasty. 

I do agree with Foer that industrialized agriculture (produce included) is environmentally degrading, both to the natural and human spheres. The food system has become a capitalist enterprise that is so out of control that some people are starving while an obscene amount of food makes its way to the landfill daily.  The food that is produced by agribusiness is virtually void of nutritional value and the multitude of health diagnoses provide evidence that you are what you eat.

I agree with Foer that factory farming exists because people are disconnected from food and have a mythical view about the source/production of food, if they consider it at all. Hence my food philosophy is one of "farm to fork" and I use "table fellowship" to propagate it. Obviously I don't eat food from every "farm." We try to support local farmers as much as possible and if you visit PA's Farm Show and look critically, the burden on animals is evident.  I am literally scared to death of mass produced meat and fish, but because I enjoy it, I source it as carefully as I can.

Foer claims to be a proponent of both vegetarianism and "honorable omnivores," however there are no examples in the book, unless I overlooked them by reading too quickly. It was not until page 244 that he overtly stated his bias and I'm a little concerned that his narrative about factory farming is not well documented (despite the lengthy "bibliography"). I think there are more objective exposes on the market about the factory farm system.  This book clearly arose from a complex relationship with food. His grandmother's uneasiness with food as a result of her ordeal escaping Nazi Germany and his I/Thou dilemma with animals. Just as my food philosophy arose from a complex relationship with food.