Are you gonna eat that?

The other night, Todd and I were watching Fast Food Nation, a film adaptation of Eric Schlosser's fantastic book by the same name. The movie was a little weird -- it made fiction of non-fiction and, as is often the case, was not nearly as good as the book. The last scene is a graphic depiction of a "kill room" of a slaughterhouse that I could barely watch.

Then, in a strange confluence of events, it turns out that there is a huge beef recall. What, did I forget to turn the movie off? Every time I turn on the news, I see footage of poor, sick cattle being abused by the workers at the slaughterhouse. More horrifying stuff that I can barely stand to watch. The best part is that most of the meat from this place has probably already been eaten by children in school programs.

What kind of a country/world do we live in that we feed ourselves and our children this shit? And what kind of a country/world do we live in that it is okay to treat animals this way? Yes, the plant was shut down because of the animal abuse. But this was just one place that happened to be sloppy and get caught. You'd better believe that this goes on at other slaughterhouses -- maybe not on such a drastic, horrible scale, but the lives the animals live until their deaths can't be exactly pleasant. And don't even get me started on how the workers are treated.

I fear that most people who see the news coverage of all this will be grossed out but probably not do anything about it. Maybe they still like their burgers too much. But you know what you can do? STOP EATING MEAT. Or, please, at least eat less of it*. Is your momentary pleasure in that rib-eye really worth all the pain and suffering to workers and animals and the environmental impact of it all? Go ahead and read Fast Food Nation, and watch the movie too. And be sure to keep your eyes open during that kill room scene.

Be sure to keep your eyes open, period.


*I'd like to say that I'm aware of the class issues involved in consuming less meat or being vegan/vegetarian. It really costs money to be able to choose something other than fast food or meat, and it horrifies me that the poorest people get stuck eating the worst food and not having other options. Which is why those who have money and choices should make good ones, and support programs that help feed the poor nutritionally sound food. Like this one.