Jonathan Safran Foer Webinar

Jonathan Safran Foer Webinar

On October 28^th, 2014, our class was lucky enough to view a live video chat with presenter, Jonathan Safran about his book, “Eating Animals.” I thought the category of his webinar was rather informative with a little bit of persuasiveness. Safran informed us with some interesting facts and views that I had never quite thought about. Although not trying to completely change our views on weather eating animals is right or not, he purposed questions that made my perspectives differentiate about its ethical purposes. For example, When he mentioned how the animals are locked in tiny cages where they barley fit, just to die for our own consumption.

Three stand out moments

1.      Something I found interesting was when he mentioned that mostly everyone knows the cruelty and torture animals go through, however they don’t like to hear it, and continue eating meat. Also he says people are ignorant to the fact and they won’t fix the problem because Americans are known as “selfish” and will only care if it applies to them. This I find is quite sad because as being an animal lover, I find animal torture no different than humans being tortured.

2.      The second stand out moment was when Safran said that, “You can eat meat your whole life without being able to read or watch about the animals affected and the issues that come along with it.” I found this bizarre because who would not want to know what is being put into their own body? The first concern people have is just the taste, but they don’t even bother to know what’s inside, it could be a rat for all they care.

3.      Lastly I found it interesting when he said that children don’t make decisions for themselves like this when they’re young. I agree with this because a person’s eating habit when they are young determines how they will eat the rest of their lives and it’s all up to the parents. A parent can feed their child only meat, cupcakes, and donuts, and that’s usually how they will eat all their life. Or, a parent can feed their child healthy with plenty of fruits and vegetables, and that will guide them throughout their life as well. I believe it all starts with the parent’s lifestyle to pass on to their kids.

This presentation can relate to my life because it makes me consider now what I am putting into my body. Previously, I have attempted to become vegetarian, only to later give up because my mom cooks a delicious meal containing meat. However, I do watch what meat I’m consuming, and have cut certain meats out of my diet. Nonetheless, I think it would be hard for me to cut meat out of my diet completely. This webinar made me especially think about animals and the cruelty they go through because I am a giant animal lover.