Today's MOZEN: Food for Thought - Literally

Words and photo by F LoBuono

It's a simple enough commercial selling the newest sandwich for one of the myriad fast food companies that have become staples of the American diet. This one is for Taco Bell. It's certainly not an offensive spot. It might even be seen as witty, especially in comparison to the other vacuous ads from some of their rivals.

At a trip to a Natural History museum, a visitor stares at the exhibit of a Caveman in the process of being crushed to death by the Wooly Mammoth he was attempting to hunt. The Caveman lies on his back, clutching a spear as the mammoth raises a huge leg to stomp him. As the visitor looks on in amazement, the camera zooms in to expose some type of food that he is holding in his hand. It's some kind of wrap or sandwich. He looks at the food and then back at the nearly trampled caveman in the exhibit and then back to the food again. The commercial's narrator explains that it was once extremely hard to get a good steak meal (obviously). But, now, Taco Bell, with its new steak wrap, makes all of that ancient history - literally. Its EASY to get a good steak meal if you would just go to Taco Bell.

A simple enough message. So, what could POSSIBLY be wrong with it.

Well, not everyone would look at it in this way (in fact, few would!) but, I see a problem with it. Some of you may know that I have done my best to stop eating meat. I've been at it for over four years now. I did so because I believe the way that food is processed in this Country involves extreme cruelty. Most animals that are destined for the slaughter house spend what little life they do have in horrible, inhumane conditions until they meet a most violent end.  Why should I view a pig in such a different light as my dog?  It's much more difficult to see it for the brutal industry that it is. It's easier to simply look away. People can choose to ignore this fact but I simply could not.  In good conscience, I could not write about love and compassion and be part of that system.

So, I made a very personal decision to eschew meat (I still eat fish - I'm working on it!). 

And, commercials like this one, as harmless as they appear, reinforce that message: you don't HAVE to look. All you need do is buy a clean, bloodless product. We will do all the slaughtering for you! There is NO DANGER here - at least to you. It's EASY! At least that's what the food industry would have you believe.

People have asked me, what about hunters that eat what they kill? I respond that, although I would prefer that people don't kill any living thing for their own survival, at least that is taking RESPONSIBILITY for ending another beings life. You eat what you have the skill, and the guts, to kill - just like that Caveman in the museum. If we were more connected to EXACTLY how our food is obtained, more people might think like myself and find other ways to get their nourishment.

When we make killing and slaughtering "clean" we lose the connection between ourselves and our environment. We lack compassion. Out of sight means out of mind. We don't see the suffering. So, we simply don't deal with it.

Paul McCartney, a vegan, has said that everyone would be a vegetarian if slaughterhouses had glass walls. I tend to agree. Open your eyes to ALL the world - and, make a difference where you see cruelty, greed, and violence - in ALL its forms.