food

While the topic of food may not be considered a traditionally "social justice" topic, I have been thinking a lot about it and I think, certainly, justice can be applied to animals, at least in some ways. See post on lemonscarlet.diaryland.com title "animal friendly" (early March 08) for the general idea.

All I want to do here is pose a few questions for you to consider.

Where is your food coming from? Down the road? Across the state? Country? China?

How much fuel and storage is involved in what you eat? How much of what you are paying goes to those costs?

If you are eating meat, what was that animals life like before it died? How did it die? If you've already decided you don't care - that fine. But have you considered that you don't care just because you are so far removed from that living animal? What if you had to watch it die? Or kill it yourself? Would you feel differently?

Are there hormones in those meat and dairy products? What about antibiotics? Are you ok with that? Have you thought about how that affects your body?

If the food is a plant, what was sprayed on it? Who picked it? From where? Would you recognise it if you saw it growing in nature?

What about the place you bought it from? Do they treat their employees well? Do they support local nonprofits? What is their role in your community?

Just some umm, food for thought. I like to think that I am living thoughtfully and responsibly. I realize this is an area that needs some more thought and probably some real changes for me. Are you willing to consider these questions and allow yourself to consider that you might need to make some changes to live with a truly clear conscience?

Discuss.