Response to Bryan A

Bryan asked, "What is the most practical way to get people to experience the actual process of getting meat to the dinner table?...Do you think this would change people’s attitudes towards eating meat?". I think he answers his question a bit in his own post and I have answered it in a previous. However, I think his answer was arrived at a bit differently.

I say this because I truly do wonder if humanity would have as much "trouble" killing an animal as they would actual trouble. Let me clarify this otherwise coded little statement. I believe that the United States is a society based on aggressiveness and violence. Our television shows, video games, movies, our international policies, and even our very own food system reflect this. It is obvious that we as a people have no problem killing things. However, we would have trouble actually learning how to track down and kill an animal. Therein lies your "trouble". There are a very small percentage of people who would actually know how to gather the meat they desire. And the few people who did would dominate. This couples with my assertion that a return to hunter-gatherer system would create a whole new feudal system.

I don't make this assertion blindly. Anyone who has read Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemna would realize this to be true. The whole point of his book is not just to point out corruptions in the food system, but also to examine if it is possible to create a meal through "hunter-gatherer" methods. He spends a significant amount of time in the hills of Northern California trying to hunt wild boards and finds it to be more than just a challenge: it's near impossible, even for his hunting companion who has been doing so for several years. On top of this, he cannot gather the mushrooms or yeast for the rest of his meal. If my memory serves me right (though please correct me if wrong), he had to buy things from a store to complete the meal for his guests. Thus, proving my assertions in literature.

So in short, there really is no 'practical' way to get back to hunter-gatherer methods. And even if there were, I think you would see people eat less and less meat by far. Slowly, the factory farm system may even collapse on itself.

Thus, I raise the question of if it is possible to incrementally eliminate the factory food system with the slow push of the hunter-gatherer method? Should we teach this to our children instead of grocery bought foods? Or is it too late? Several questions here, but I'd really like to see the discussion and thoughts because it's something I have given a lot of thought to.