A few months ago we explored the culture of hunting with Stephen Rinella author of “Meat Eater.” He asserts, as does Michael Pollan who wrote “The Omnivore’s Dilemma & Cooked,” that Americans are losing their connection with the way their food finds its way to their tables. Hunting, Rinella argues, is intimately connected with our humanity; and assuming responsibility for acquiring the meat that we eat, rather than entrusting it to proxy executioners, processors, packagers and distributors, is one of the most respectful and exhilarating things a meat eater can do. Thursday we explored this idea from the other direction, talking about vegetarian and vegan culture with a panel of vegetarians & vegans and a former vegetarian.
We invite you to respond to the following questions: Should we eat meat at all? Why are you vegetarian or vegan? Or why do you eat meat? Do you think about where your food comes from? How does this affect your eating decisions? Do you feel a connection to the food you eat? If you are a vegetarian or vegan how far do you go and why? Some vegans don’t use leather or eat honey, for example. How do these two cultures, meat eaters and vegetarians, accommodate each other? Are conflicts likely to increase? Do members of either culture seek to impose their views on the other? What are the likely environmental and economic effects of an increase in vegetarianism/veganism?
