Dr. Temple Grandin is a fascinating woman, diagnosed with autism early in life, yet able to overcome the limitations of that condition to earn a doctorate, teach at a university, and write a number of best-selling books. The lastest is Animals Make Us Human: Creating the Best Life for Animals in which she considers our relationship as the human animal with other animals. She considers those creatures we describe as pets, or companion animals, the ones we eat (pigs, cows, chickens, etc.) and the animals of the wild. With her co-writer, Catherine Johnson, she offers her perspective on the minds of all these creatures, and I have found it quite interesting. I have assumed that there is no "rhyme nor reason" to what my cat does, but she argues that felines have behavioural patterns that explain a lot. Really.
The section of the book which intrigues me most has to do with the treatment of animals raised for food. I don't want to be a vegetarian, as two of my children are (for the most part) but I am uncomfortable with the ethics of treating animals the way totalitarian regimes treat people they want to eliminate.
Dr. Grandin has helped establish standards for the way food animals are raised and killed that have been adopted by a number of big corporations including MacDonalds restaurants. Michael Pollan addresses similar issues in his book The Ominvore's Dilemma, also excellent.
Over time I have come to realize that I can eat less meat, and no meat in some meals. I can also make the effort to consider whether the animals which end up on my plate have lived a reasonably life and had a merciful death. Since I claim that God has made all creatures, how can I pretend that they began life on a styrofoam tray? And hey, what if I have to meet them again in heaven?
The section of the book which intrigues me most has to do with the treatment of animals raised for food. I don't want to be a vegetarian, as two of my children are (for the most part) but I am uncomfortable with the ethics of treating animals the way totalitarian regimes treat people they want to eliminate.
Dr. Grandin has helped establish standards for the way food animals are raised and killed that have been adopted by a number of big corporations including MacDonalds restaurants. Michael Pollan addresses similar issues in his book The Ominvore's Dilemma, also excellent.
Over time I have come to realize that I can eat less meat, and no meat in some meals. I can also make the effort to consider whether the animals which end up on my plate have lived a reasonably life and had a merciful death. Since I claim that God has made all creatures, how can I pretend that they began life on a styrofoam tray? And hey, what if I have to meet them again in heaven?
3 comments:
Dr. Temple Grandin has to be one of the most interesting people on earth. May put those two books on my reading list.
Is there anyway of buying meat from a grocery store that is treated/slaughtered humanely or is it only through independent sources that one knows the circumtances of the animals life and death? I have always admired the native wisdom of thanking the animal before turning it into their dinner....somehow seems respectful of both the animal and the amazing cycle of energy through the ecosystem/food chain.
Yes, Temple Grandin is a remarkable person and a "poster child" letting us know that our limitations don't define us.
Unfortunately it is next to impossible to know at the supermarket meat counter whether our beef or pork or chicken has been raised or slaughtered in a humane fashion. Chickens seem to get the worst treatment, while hogs are highly intelligent creatures who get little opportunity for true, inquisitive "piginess." We buy our beef from friends because we have seen how their cattle live, and know their commitment to humaneslaughter.
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