From: tara@socrates.umd.edu (Tara McDermott)
Subject: Re: where food comes *from* (was: What's wrong with free-range eggs)
Organization: University of Maryland University College
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1992 20:39:51 GMT

awkerr@zia.aoc.nrao.edu (Alan Kerr) writes:

>>>The boy was not sure but he said he thought they were pigs. and his father said,
>>>"That's right - that is where your bacon comes from". 
>>>
>>refuse to eat chicken when she learned this. The father of the small boy
>>you describe above probably thought the same thing - that bacon comes from
>>pigs - but not that bacon *is* pigs. I was horrified as a child to learn
>>that we killed these warm furry (or feathery) things to eat. 

>good point, Janet.  most children don't get to see a slaughter
>happening.  What *do* thay get to see?

>They get to see cows getting milked (on TV) and are told "milk comes
>*from* cows".  They get to see chickens laying eggs (again, on TV) and
>are told "eggs come *from* chickens".

>So when a father says, "that's where bacon comes *from*", it sounds
>like bacon is some other sort of product from an animal, NOT that is
>*IS* an animal.  Same with most other meat.  That's right, this is
>*not* "cow", this is "*beef*"!!  Most children are horrified (or at
>least greatly impacted) when they finally make the connection that
>"meat = dead critter".  I remember when I made the connection.... I
>wasn't really 'horrified'- it was more of a feeling of "they *lied*!!"
>This is NOT *from* a cow, this beef *IS* a cow, a dead one!

>I've seen tours of dairies and egg farms on Childrens Public TV
>showing where milk and eggs come from.  I haven't seen any tours of
>slaughterhouses showing kids where 'bacon' comes *from*.  Is it to
>hide the truth from kids?  ...or maybe the adults just can't deal with
>the truth and would rather not be reminded of where some food comes
>*from*.

This whole thread is a good point.  I hate seeing the "parental
discrention is advised" when a graffic item is shown on tv.  I think
children SHOULD see things for what they really are.  Children should
be able to see a cow being butchered in a slaughterhouse.  Yes, it is
graffic, and totally disgusting.  That's the point.  Children need to
see the truth and not be coddled.  Everytime I run into parents or
"adults" protecting younger people from seeing something that might
"bother" them, it bothers me!  A tremendous amount.  I think a lot of
things would be different.  I really feel that protecting children
from scary things like death, be it human or animal, part of war,
history, or what they might put in their mouth is damaging their
mental growth.  Children are a lot smarter than most people give them
credit for.  They're a lot more emotional - because of the fact that
they haven't had time to cocoon their sensibilities and intelligence,
by "what everyone else does" and "the rest of society".  

If people gave children responsibility, they'd probably act more
responsible.  Try to hide the truth from them, thinking you're doing
it for their benefit is just tampering with their process of learning.
I don't have any answers, but I really hate to see the way American
culture is destroying this world.

>Alan

>-- 
>Alan W. Kerr                               awkerr@zia.aoc.nrao.edu
>National Radio Astronomy Observatory       awkerr@nrao.bitnet
>Socorro, NM, USA                           uunet!nrao.edu!awkerr

Tara
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