Literacy

Recently I've taken up the habit of reading, as if I were a literate person or something. I was at the airport headed to California a month ago so I stopped by Powell's and picked up what I thought would be a quick, interesting, and easy read: The Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan. It turned out to not be quick or particularly easy - in fact, it was pretty dense - but it was incredibly interesting. A coworker had recommended it to me about six months ago or more and I recognized the title in the bestseller's shelf. It took me much longer than that weekend to read the book, but it engrossed me the whole time.

For those of you who don't know, the book is about the different systems we have for obtaining food in America. It is mostly an expose of the sorts of things we know about but don't like to think about too much, such as what factory farmed animals go through as well as how far from humane the conditions that Certified Organic animals are raised in. Most of it contrasts the industrial agriculture that owns the great plains, with a farmer in Virginia who uses a method he calls "Beyond Organic." I learned a lot, even though none of the general concepts were new to me, the details were. I have to say that after having read the book, I feel closer to Nathan's dream of having our own farm, something I really didn't want before. I'm pretty conflicted in that, because I need people around me. I wouldn't want to live like I did in smaller towns I've lived in, where I felt so alone because there weren't enough people to choose from, and so I couldn't find commonalities.

Anyway, I'm reading the second book he wrote: In Defense of Food. My co-worker recommended his works to me because after I started getting really touchy about vegetarianism and veganism, and losing the amount of patience I once had, I began ranting to co-workers (who would sit still long enough and not show hostility) about my dietary politics, and the reasons I defend my choices. She calmly listened, agreed where she could, and recommended that I read these books because of the added information they could give to what I already thought. "The Omnivore's Dilemma." Well, that kind of says it all to me. Even though the book didn't delve into vegetarianism as much as I would have liked it to, and it didn't arrive at the conclusions I thought were so obvious, it was probably mostly out of diplomacy on the author's part. And I can understand that. Not everyone is the foaming-at-the-mouth fascist that I am. That's ok, tolerance is a virtue and I wish I could have held on to mine longer. I say I once had tolerance, but growing up the way I did, vegetarianism was always framed as something highly negative and I can't help but hold onto that as an adult. No disrespect intended to vegetarians I know.

In fact, I came to a conclusion the other day. People with political ideals, whether they pertain to religion, governmental politics, or dietary politics, tend to group together and talk about their ideas only in the safest of environments, where everyone agrees with them. I call it "yanking each other's dicks" (sorry for the crassness - but that's what's going on). So my new policy, if vegetarians and vegans will accept it, is that I really want to have open-minded conversations about the why of our dietary practices with them. When I mean open-minded, I mean it. I want to stop being so judgmental at the outset (which I have really tried in actual conversations to no avail) and really try to discuss the morality or immorality of my beliefs. And have the other party just as willing to de-construct their own beliefs. That's my goal, now I just have to find some willing vegetarians or vegans. Easier said than done.