Lunch 200102

      Joyce made one of her wonderful dishes today with a whole chicken, baked potatoes and salad.

      I was sitting eating this delicious chicken when my Buddhist studies came back to me. I was eating this once sentient being that never had contact with its mother. It was taken away as an egg and put into an incubator. It never had a chance to feel the warmth of its mother's feathers. It never got to walk on a free range or learn from its mother how to survive. It lived in a cage for about 6-8 weeks and then that sentient being felt the pain of plucking and its neck being cut off. It was still alive when it was placed upside down into a funnel on a line and next had its head whacked off. I still ate the delicious carcass, but somehow the bloom was off the rose while I ate.

      I know I am a human and I require protein, so I ate in silence as I consumed this once sentient being. Joyce tells me it is an animal's job to be raised for food, but somehow that doesn't ring for me. I raised a 64 chicken flock for eggs and grew to appreciate them, but that was years ago and this is the first time I have thought about this after two decades now. Tomorrow I will have chicken soup and hopefully not think about it. I have had this feeling about cows and pigs, but they never had anything but a nasty disposition in my mind. When we raised sheep they were not so personable but I had a rough time eating them and that was also due to my long ago Buddhist studies.

Copyright Bill Weber 2006-2026 and beyond.