Emma and Dwayne had told Maud and Sam almost everything about their trip. The one item still bothering Emma was what to do about the Klavan's situation. Well, there was no Klavan's "situation," anymore - they'd lost that battle. She meant what, if anything, did she want to do about factory farming, overall.
Sam had a question about that. "I see you're eating meat, now. I thought that 'Andi' had pretty well sworn off it."
"I never quit, altogether. Jim and Tom always cooked pork sausage and bacon, and those were just a little too close to home, the way I felt about the pig farming. But even when I was in Kingdom, I'd eat an occasional hot roast beef sandwich, or something, at the diner. You're a real meat eater, though, aren't you?"
"I really do like meat," Sam concurred. "I guess it's partly how you were raised. Even when my folks didn't have a lot of money, they tried to have a little meat with every meal. It still doesn't feel quite 'finished,' if there isn't at least a taste of it. I know you can eat too much to be healthy, but I think you can go overboard on greens and grains, too."
"I guess I'm pretty much like Sam, as far as meat is concerned," confessed Maud. "I have been known to pass up a burger for a salad, but it's more in consideration of my girlish figure, than anything against the meat. Even with the salad, I always think it's better with a little chicken chopped up in it."
Emma turned to Dwayne. "Well, my rabbit poaching friend, I guess I don't need to ask you if you like to eat meat."
He gave her a little smile. "I do like to eat meat, but I have my limitations. I have never hunted - for sport, I mean. I know a lot of nice people who do - who talk about how great it is to get outdoors, and to test your shooting skills - but, to me, saying you hunt for sport is the same as saying you hunt for fun. There has to be something morally wrong with killing anything 'for fun.'
"I hunted rabbits, but I never hunted rabbits to kill them. I hunted them so my mom and I could eat, and you had to get the rabbits and kill them before you could eat them. I hunted rabbits as long as we really needed them as survival food, then I hunted them a little longer to save some of our food money for Mom's medicine. After she died, I gave up hunting altogether.
"I'm often confused about what the meat-haters really hate. It isn't about the preciousness of all life, because I bet there isn't a vegetarian anywhere in the world who hasn't purposely squashed a spider, or killed an ant or a fly. Some who won't eat beef or pork might slip a fish or some chicken into their diet at times. I don't know why one is okay and not the other, but it comes across to me as if they think only mammals - like us - can really understand about pain and death. That doesn't seem right to me, because fish and birds - and even spiders and ants - do some amazing things. Is it all just instinctive, without any thought or reasoning behind it? I sincerely doubt it.
"Humans have always been meat-eaters. Anthropologists call the earliest humans they've studied 'hunter-gatherers,' because they went after meat when it was available, and plant material when they could get it. There can't have ever been many places in the world where one could have had enough fruits, vegetables and grains available all year long. Supplying enough food of any kind would have got harder and harder as populations grew. And remember, they didn't have safe food storage, refrigeration, preservatives - what was for supper was pretty much what you could find that day.
"Probably we should also consider that humans are omnivores - 'omni' meaning they eat everything. That isn't just preference. A lot of animals can only process meat, others only plants. Because of how our bodies are built, with - I don't know the details - special enzymes or something - anyway, we and bears and raccoons are among the species that can process both types of food."
Dwayne stopped, and look at them all watching him. "Sorry. I didn't mean to give a speech. I guess all I'm saying is that any group that's trying to get a lot of people to quit eating meat is bucking against history, biology, and tradition. It's the groups and people that are homing in on specific issues that are going to get the best results."
"Okay," said Emma, "How does this relate to me, and what I do?"
"I don't want to put words in your mouth, Em, but I'd guess that probably the subject you're most interested in is the cruelty of factory farming. Do you agree?"
"I guess so." She stopped for a moment. "No, you're right. I absolutely agree. I was kind of down on eating pork at all but, really, it was the treatment of the pigs that was what I was really upset about. It wouldn't have to be just about pigs. I know there are the same problems with horses, cattle, chickens, rabbits - well, just about anything they raise for food."
"Okay, then, there's probably not much you can do in person for a while - unless you discover a Klavan's type operation here in the county. Maybe you'll want to pursue a course in college that would eventually let you get involved professionally. For now, I'd say don't put much time or money into the organizations that are trying to cover everything from household pets to the elephants in Africa. I don't know for sure, but I suspect a lot of their effort is going into publicity - telling about the problems, rather than directly trying to solve them. What I'd do is find one of the smaller organizations that really specialize in factory farming issues - I'm sure there must be one or two effective ones, who are using their resources to bring lawsuits against companies, who are proposing laws to address the problems, who are supporting legislation being proposed, and who are working to make agencies comply with the laws that already exist. That would seem to me to be the best approach for you, for the time being."
Emma smiled at him. "So I should start looking around for some good groups to join? I think I like that approach - for the time being, at least."
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