A Digest of  The Omnivore’s Dilemma Part 5: Eating Animals
or
“Should People Eat Tasty Animals?”

“Every good hunter is uneasy in the depths of his conscience when faced with the death he is about to inflict on the enchanging animal.” -Ortega y Gasset

For his book’s journey Pollan ate (and explored) a McD’s meal, a supermarket “organic” meal,  and then a local, organic,  sustainably farmed meal.  His final meal requires two hunts: One hunt for fungi, and another hunt for pig.  I learned a whole lot about fungi, but what I mostly want to talk about is the hunting of animals.

I’ve never killed a mammal for food.  I’ve know many who have, and have tasted of what they killed.  I even once ate a deer hit by a truck (thanks to my friend T-Dogg).  When I was little my dad took me hunting but I didn’t have the patience for it.  The same went for fishing, although I remember chopping the heads off a couple fish before my dad cleaned them.  I’ve always wanted to go through the experience of hunting just once.  It fascinates me now.  In one way because of the art and poetry of going off into the woods and hunting for food, being alone, accomplishing the hunt, performing an activity older than buying cooking.  Another way it fascinates me is the almost sadistic attitude some hunters have, and how some people hypocritically look down on hunting yet eat meat that is killed in less authentic ways than hunting.
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