Oh, Babe!

As a kid, I always had a pet. Usually it was a cat, but sometimes I would even catch a snake, buy a rat, care for a hamster, or play with a guinea pig. Basically, I loved animals. Like really loved them. I collected Beanie Babies and still have them on display in my room today. Yes, I am almost eighteen but what can I say? Animals are just too cute and cuddly.

So, you can probably guess what happened to me and my perfect little image of the world when I watched movies such as Shiloh and Babe. Yeah, usually a lot of tears were involved. Especially during Babe. For some reason, I absolutely fell in love with that cute little pig. I felt so sorry for him and his mom, being separated like that and all. To me, he was the sweetest animal. I begged my mom for a pet pig and even own a few pig Beanie Babies to my name.

The film moved me so much as a first-grader that I decided to give up pork. I remember just not being able to imagine eating a “Babe” ever again. And that was that.

It has since been almost twelve years since I have last consumed a strip of bacon, a slice of pepperoni pizza, or any other food substance that contains pork. I was never really fond of the taste anyways, so my own personal pork taboo has really not been too much of a struggle; it’s just something that I’ve grown up doing. I am so used to this lifestyle that I do not think I will ever be able to go back to eating pork, especially after reading the chapters about pig farms in Michael Pollen’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma. "Farmers 'dock,' or snip off, the tails at birth [...]  Piglets in these CAFOs are weaned from their mothers ten days after birth (compared with thirteen weeks in nature" (Pollan 218).  The treatment received by these piggies is even worse than revealed in my diet-changing film, Babe. This would mean that not only would Babe have been separated from his mom, but he also would not have a tail.  

However, if my same logic were still to apply, then not only would I discontinue my consumption of pork after reading Pollan’s work, but I would also be completely vegan, as this is the only diet that eliminates the harming of animals. Even dairy cows and laying-hens are treated terribly, as pointed out by Pollan.  

So now what? If the makers of Babe had come out with films about chickens, dairy cows, lambs, and turkeys, would I also not be eating them? Or was it just my seven-year old mind that predisposed me to my decision regarding pork?

And here in lies the omnivore's dilemma, as all of these questions that I am asking myself are the direct intentions of Pollan as an author. He does do a great job pointing out both sides of the vegetarian argument, giving justifications both ways.  "It is better for these animals to have lived and died than not lived at all" Pollan quotes Joel Salatin on page 327.  Sometimes I find even that hard to believe.

More reasoning from Pollan about the pros of omnivorism that I am in accordance with (he can say it much better than I can!): "To give up eating animals is to give up on these places as human habitat, unless of course we are willing to make complete our dependence on a highly industrialized national food chain.  That food chain would be in turn even more dependent than it already is on fossil fuels and chemical fertilizer, since food would need to travel even farther and fertility-in form of manures-would be in short supply.  Indeed, it is doubtful you can build a genuinely sustainable agriculture without animals to cycle nutrients and support local food production.  If our concern is for the health of nature--rather than, say, the internal consistency of our moral code or the condition of our souls--then eating animals may sometimes be the most ethical thing to do" (Pollan 326-327). 

However, after the astounding facts he supplied about the treatment of our meat, it has really led me to second-guess my omnivorous diet. Since reading his book, I have definitely been more wary of meat, but have decided that I am not ready to cut it out of my diet completely. The reason I now consider becoming vegetarian or vegan is because if the animals I am consuming are so unhealthy and unhappy themselves, then it just seems to make sense to me that it can not be healthy for me to consume them in their current state. Not to mention all of the apparent harm raising animals has on the environment, but I’ll save that discussion for later.

But at the same time, am I really willing to change the way I live my life? I have not contracted any diseases or ever become sick from eating meat. I do not have diabetes from eating too much corn. So far, I do not have any visible side affects from my diet of choice. So is it worth the extra effort, the extra attention to make my diet more environmentally friendly? As Pollan points out, there are other ways to go about this rather than cutting out meat and dairy altogether. Growing your own garden, buying cage-free eggs and range-free meat, as well as eating goods with short ingredients lists are all definite possibilities. Maybe not at this point in my life, as I am currently an unfortunate slave to the dorm’s cafeteria menu, but at least I feel that I have a better foundation for my future. Hopefully, later in my life when I support myself, I will have the opportunities to make those crucial dietary decisions and change the way I eat if I see it fit to do so.

Photo Credit: http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/225000/images/_225543_babe_150.jpg