NY Times asks, "How does food affect your ethical life?"

[Robin Garr]

How does food affect your ethical life? Ariel Kaminer, the Ethicist at The New York Times Magazine is asking readers for comments about food-related ethical dilemmas. This is a challenging question. Click the link to tell it to The Times. And if you like, we can open a conversation by posting here, too.

http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/ ... of-eating/

What an awful article: the Ethicist asks the internet rabble to "write stuff here" instead of giving us an informed point of view about this or that topic. And, as sure as night follows day, there are 102 repetitive, dreary, pompous comments on all the usual topics (veganism, factory farming, picking up the check, blah blah blah).

I'm not sure what the writer wants. Is he/she asking if we cook true to our ethnicity? Or when we cook Indian, Spanish, French, do we keep the recipes true to the ethnic version? What?

[Robin Garr]

I'm not sure what the writer wants. Is he/she asking if we cook true to our ethnicity? Or when we cook Indian, Spanish, French, do we keep the recipes true to the ethnic version? What?

She said "Ethical," not "EthNical."

[Robin Garr]

What an awful article ... the internet rabble ... repetitive, dreary, pompous comments on all the usual topics ...

Got up on the wrong side of the bed, Jeff? Welcome back, by the way!

I'm not sure what the writer wants. Is he/she asking if we cook true to our ethnicity? Or when we cook Indian, Spanish, French, do we keep the recipes true to the ethnic version? What?

She said "Ethical," not "EthNical."

Sorry, just got some new lenses, eyes not adjusted yet.

What an awful article ... the internet rabble ... repetitive, dreary, pompous comments on all the usual topics ...

Got up on the wrong side of the bed, Jeff? Welcome back, by the way!

At least I'm getting up at the right hour, having overcome 8 hours of jetlag!

Thank you! Good to be back.

[David M. Bueker]

It doesn't.

End of story.

[Robin Garr]

Sorry, just got some new lenses, eyes not adjusted yet.

No worries, Karen! New lenses are usually good! It's like the world just got bright and clear.

Sorry, just got some new lenses, eyes not adjusted yet.

No worries, Karen! New lenses are usually good! It's like the world just got bright and clear.

Are you thinking new lenses in my eyes? My new progressive lenses are in my glasses....and usually there is a bit of adjustment that goes with the progressive part. Especially since these lenses are a bit smaller than my last ones.

[Robin Garr]

Are you thinking new lenses in my eyes? My new progressive lenses are in my glasses....and usually there is a bit of adjustment that goes with the progressive part. Especially since these lenses are a bit smaller than my last ones.

Nope, just new glasses. I get the progressives now, too, but I haven't had too hard a time because I don't have that much difference between the top and the bottom.

I notice a lot of the people responding to the article talk about their choice of veganism or vegetarianism due to cruelty to animals. Granted, I don't love the idea of animals being killed for my benefit, but I'm reading an interesting book called Inside of a Dog which is all about dogs' behavior. It also gives perspective about how we tend to cast human emotions on animals, even though we have no basis for knowing how or even if they think or feel.

The author, psychologist Alexandra Horowitz, talks about the movement toward the welfare of animals before they are killed (for food), such as free-range chicken and eggs. Her book states, "Conventional wisdom holds that no one, human or not, likes to be presseed up against others." She cites examples such as crowded subway cars. "But the natural behavior of chickens may indicate otherwise: chickens flock." She then cites an experiment which tested the chickens' preferences. They picked up individual chickens and relocated them randomly within their houses and monitored what the chickens did. The chickens moved closer to other chickens, not farther way. "Given the option to spread their wings...they chose the jammed subway car."

I realize she is only talking about chickens here and not the penned baby cow that becomes our luscious veal chop dinner, but I do think the concept is "food for thought," and I'd be interested in reading more about various animal's cognitive abilities. (I'm going to have to do some research.)