An odd epiphany I had last night: part of the reason I don’t like most meat is because I don’t know where it comes from. Let me explain.
Tldr; growing up by a farm/ knowing hunters means I feel more comfortable eating meat that I know comes from local/ sustainable practices.
I was raised pretty much entirely vegetarian. My mom doesn’t allow meat cooked on her stove and was the primary cook, so that translated to my sister and I preferring a vegetarian diet. We did occasionally try meat at common meals with our neighbors, but we generally didn’t eat meat. Today my sister is a vegetarian, while I mostly describe myself as vegan for various reasons, but will try most things at least once (I’m not actually vegan but it’s easier than going on an at minimum five min rant). I’m not gonna insult my host by flat-out refusing to eat something unless it triggers a dietary issue for me.
Over the years I came to realize that I mostly like the various versions of pig and not cow or chicken. Now I tend to avoid eating pigs, since they’re highly intelligent and also my dream pet, so I end up not eating meat 99% of the time. I’ll eat it on special occasions though.
One of those special occasions is the farm End of Year Potluck. Every year one of the farm people makes venison. And it’s consistently the best meat I’ve ever had.
He kills the deer himself, often in the woods by my house. He prepares the meat, marinates it, and then finally slow cooks it to perfection.
I don’t eat a lot, since meat fills me up way faster than my regular diet. But I will always get at least one slice of the venison. I know exactly where it came from and that it was killed as part of the deer cull. The county has open season to keep the deer population down so they don’t overrun everything in suburbia. Part of the regulations is that you have to use a crossbow instead of a gun, since the places people are hunting are mostly residential.
When it comes to eating meat on other occasions, most of the time I don’t know where it came from. Sure, someone bought it in the supermarket, but where was it raised? In humane conditions? Who killed it? Were they fairly compensated? The lack of answers to questions like these, plus my knowledge of how the mass food industry works, is often a factor in whether I’m willing to eat the meat. Let alone whether it’s a type of meat of which I actually like the taste.
As mentioned previously, I didn’t have a lot of meat in my palate growing up. That’s my theory as to why I tend to not enjoy the taste of most meat now. And unless I have a fairly good idea of where it came from/ that it was raised and slaughtered humanely, I won’t go out of my way to eat it.
I have similar questions about my vegetables and other foods, though in those cases it’s almost entirely about the people farming them. I try to eat more organic and fair trade foods, as they have greater regulations and often have less toxins. And people tend to be treated better and paid more fairly. Not always, but it hopefully helps.
Of course it’s impossible to be constantly vigilant. All of the things I’ve said are broad generalizations. We live in a society where more and more often the food choices available to us have already been made for us. Like many industries, there is only the illusion of choice between companies. But I do believe that by consistently buying products that represent the world I want to see, there is a small difference made in the long run. After all, commercialist capitalism means that we vote with our purchases. After years of only seeing organic products in more expensive stores, they’ve become a staple in all grocery stores. And brands that started as niche health foods have become more mainstream. So maybe there’s hope