Animals, Ethics, and Dinnertime

It doesn't take long, upon meeting me, to know that I am an animal lover. In fact, my house seems to be a hub for four-legged friends, including three beastly dogs and two cats, and then two "aquatic" friends I have mentioned in previous posts. Growing up, my grandparents ran a cattle farm, raising and selling beef for slaughter. I didn't think twice about it, however, I don't think I really even knew what was going on until much later in my childhood. I was naive, or maybe I just chose to be in that case. I recall my Papa had a bull named Willy B. This bull was "there" every spring, in the barn, yet, he would occasionally change personalities. "Oh, Willy's ornery today, don't visit him" I'd hear. I am slightly embarrassed to say that I didn't know until about age 13 that there had been about 8 different Willys in my lifetime.
Okay, where am I going with this? Well, as a teenager, I made a devout commitment to vegetarianism. This lasted for a few years - no meat at all. I took pride in the fact that a girlfriend and I could annihilate a Veggie Delight footlong at our local Subway in 8 minutes, flat.
When I moved to Georgia and got married, however, I decided that my husband might want to eat a steak, once in a while, and so on and so forth until I eventually caved and became a carnivore once again.
Flash forward: three weeks ago.
My son Isaac is passionate about the humane treatment of animals, particularly livestock. He was horrified at the 4H fair to see the bunnies in cages, panting in the stifling heat of the afternoon, despite the use of deafening fans in attempt to cool them. He hated seeing the cows lined up against the wooden walls, their tails swishing and their heads baying while, in front of them, their "prize" weights were displayed on brightly colored posterboard. I get that it's a farm-kid's past time. I understand that, I do. It's just I understand my kid's heartache for them too, because I've felt it all my life.
It all really came to a head on a drive to church this summer, when a cattle truck passed us on the interstate, full of those beautiful brown eyes and wet noses trying to sniff the unfamiliar air from the tiny holes in the trailer. Isaac asked, with some hesitation in his voice, "Why is that truck full of cows, Mommy?" I considered my options. Moving to a new farm? On a field trip? How about, oh, just headed off to some slaughterhouse where, in a matter of days, they'll be in the beef case at the grocery store.
I took a deep breath and explained that the cows, unfortunately, were not going to live much longer. In the most censored way possible, I told him they would be killed, and their bodies would be used for meat. Hamburgers, steaks, etc. He stayed quiet. So did I. A few minutes later, in a shaky voice, he said "and what happens with pigs, the same thing?"
I nodded.
I stuggled, internally, with this conversation for days. I hadn't actually eaten pork or beef in quite a while, mostly because of the stomach aches I get when I do eat it. I've been working toward semi-vegetarianism again, and I wondered if it would be okay to suggest it for my kids, too.
Flash forward: today.
Since the incident with the cattle transport, we have had many discussions about the ethical treatment of livestock. A wonderful woman in our church even brought up kosher meat, and suggested that we learn about it. Isaac and I watched several clips on youtube.com about keeping kosher, and although we aren't Jewish, we consider it a viable option. However, the interest has also sparked in Gabe, my three year old, and he put it simply: "We don't kill animals, Mommy. Dat is so not nice. So we not gonna eat dem, anymore." (I should note, he does not think that chicken nuggets are animals, which, they're probably not, but we're not going to go there).
Semi-vegetarianism it is. Lacto-ovo is what I'd like to be, but I think the protein is really important and I don't think I could completely remove fish and poultry from my kids' diets just yet. I realize there is inhumane killing of chickens and turkeys, too, but I'm trying really hard to buy into the fact that some of these cage-free farms are actually killing humanely and that it's not just one giant way to get people to pay three times as much for a chicken. I found that you can also order kosher chicken and turkey online from Jewish markets.
Tonight we had Boca burgers, corn and potato wedges. Isaac beamed and ate every bite, proclaiming more than once that it felt "so good that he wasn't eating any cow."
Trouble is, Gabe has taken the notion to an extreme: tonight at dinner he burst out, "No, we NOT gonna eat cows, Isaac, or kill dem. We just be NINJAS and we will kill all da PEOPLE dat try to kill da COWS!"
Um, yeah, I'll work on that.