Harvesting Food

I definitely think that harvesting or hunting one’s own food creates a stronger connection to food compared to buying it from the grocery store. I liked the example that someone shared in class where they raised a turkey to make her daughter realize where the meat came from. The connect there was so strong that she thought her daughter would have been so overwhelmed because she bonded with the turkey. I definitely think that it is a good thing to have this connection. It helps us realize what exactly we are eating. Also, harvesting one’s own food can often be healthier than buying processed food from the grocery store.

As I mentioned in my first post, my diet mainly consists of processed food from the grocery store and eating out at restaurant chains. I am taking an environmental science class this quarter and a lot of focus is put on seafood and fishing. Even though we care for many species that are endangered we learned that bluefin tuna which is often used in making sushi is close to extinction. I don’t think that people take the issue of declining fish populations as seriously as other endangered species because we are so disconnected from the ocean and know so little about it. I like to eat fish but I can start making more educated decisions about what I eat. I also believe that it is justifiable to hunt animals because we have hunted throughout our evolutionary history and humans get a lot nutrients from meat. I think that it is important to preserve all species and have laws in place to avoid extinction and over hunting. Technological advances have allowed us to easily over hunt and now that we see the repercussions we have more knowledge to adjust how much we can afford to hunt in order to sustain animal populations. If hunters decide to hunt less is another question.

Rubin, Lawrence C. Food for Thought: Essays on Eating and Culture. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 2008. Print.

Sasha Issenberg. The Sushi Economy: Globalization and the Making of a Modern Delicacy. New York: Gotham Books, 2007. Print.