#1: Eating Animals

Eating Animals caught my attention simply because of the title. I was hesitant at first because the last thing I needed to read was a one-sided book about animal rights that was written by a stubborn radical who worships PETA and its extremities. Then, I discovered the book was written by Jonathan Safran Foer, the author of other great literary works. I decided that because he has such a unique, opinionated voice, I would see what he has to say about this very controversial topic.

I was extremely glad that I decided to read this book because Foer puts complicated concepts that typically surround eating and put them into a perspective that anyone can comprehend. Whenever someone, usually one of my family members, boldly decides to engage in an animal rights debate, I am always amazed about one subject: eating dogs. To some people, eating dogs are two words that should under absolutely no circumstances be paired together. Despite the fact that it's completely legal in forty-four states, most people cannot fathom how anyone could eat man's best friend. The fact is, we are one of the few cultures around the world who shun dog eating. For example, Eastern Indians would never lay a hand on their cows, but they sometimes eat their dogs. Foer cleverly explained the average human's reasoning by using a passage from George Orwell's Animal Farm. Orwell wrote, "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." You can try to set rules such as "don't eat companion animals" or "don't eat animals with significant mental capacities," but then you just end up contradicting yourself. Dogs are normally companion animals in America, but they're not domesticated in all parts of the world. If you claim that you shouldn't eat smart animals, then you've just led yourself into another loophole. If a dogs fall under "animals with significant mental capacities," then you must also include pigs, cows, chickens, and many sea animals. And, sadly, it would justify eating severely impaired humans. So tell me, please, how do you choose which animals are considered ethical to consume and which ones are considered unethical to consume?

In America, millions of dogs and cats that are euthanized in animal shelters every year become the food for our food. Safran points out that if we leg dogs be dogs and breed without interference, we would create a sustainable, local meat supply with low energy inputs. From an ecological standpoint, dog is a realistic food for our environment. But how can we do that? I just can't get over my sentimentality when thinking about my dog, Bailey, in a pot. But realistically, dogs are plentiful, good for you, easy to prepare, and reasonable to process. On one page, Foer includes a classic Filipino recipes: Stewed Dog, Wedding Style. I won't go into all of the details, but first you kill a medium-sized dog, cook it fur-less, cut the meat into 1" cubes, add some peppercorn and pineapple, do some more boiling, and lastly, blend in puree of dog's liver and cook for an additional 5-7 minutes.

Eating animals seems invisible and irrelevant when it's actually the most relevant thing. Thinking about dogs and their relationship to the animals we eat is a step towards making sense of why we eat animals.