You owe it to your meal?

Not to talk about food again but something interesting has been going on at the place I work at. We have a listserve at my job which basically means you can send out one email to everyone who works at my place of business. This sounds like a great idea and it is when you want to get important information out to the masses. However, people have been using this list-serve to have....disagreements with other people. Disagreements is putting it nicely by the way. I love a good debate but to me there is something disingenuous about having an argument on email? Is it just me? I mean, if you're going to argue with somebody about something and you see this person in your daily interactions do it face to face. I don't think people should hide behind their computer screens. That's why when I'm bothered by somebody and I talk to them directly and then I blog about it for everyone else to read.....

Anyways, here's the argument and it goes so much further then food by the way. While you're reading this I'd like you to think about how you're feeling and why you are feeling that way. You'll understand as you read further.

So some people in this country eat dog (I forget the name of the dish) on special occasions. It's a pretty big myth that all Korean or Asians for that matter eat dogs and cats. It's not just a myth its kind of a way to dehumanize an entire group of people. Because we attach such great importance to our pets we can not understand why any one would eat one. So if a person does eat one they are obviously inferior to us, right? Well, no, that's just another trick used by the MAN to keep people apart and scared of each other. I'm already getting off track here though.

OK. So some of the people at my work were thinking about getting together and going out to try some dog at a place that serves it. Well the listserve was jumping with action when this came to light and someone posted a U-Tube video of how the dog is prepared and how the dog is treated before being served. He then said that the people who were thinking about eating this meal "owed it to their meal" to see how it was prepared. It was this statement that made my eyebrow raise and I'll tell you why later. Anyways, I did some research before I came to Korea on the whole dog thing and these dogs are really put through the ringer. They are beaten and burned and tortured and killed very slowly. This is all done to increase the amount of testosterone and some other chemical in the dog meat. I will say this right off the bat. I too, could never eat a dog or a cat or a horse for that matter. I have attached to much emotion to these animals. I also couldn't eat a cow or a chicken if I had to kill it myself. I just don't have the stomach for it.

So lots of westerners banded together at my job and were trying to stop some other westerners from going out and trying dog. OK....whatever! But then this Korean teacher here got kind of sick of they way people were talking about it and asked people to stop posting messages on the listserve and to use it for work purposes only. The Korean teacher then said "If you don't like the culture then don't eat it". I found myself reading between the lines of this message. In a very Korean way this teacher was telling non Koreans to shut the fuck up! I can appreciate her position on this. Even though I find the way these dogs are prepared stomach turning I can't as easily denounce it in the way so many other Westerners did. Maybe it's because I'm Black. Now some of you might be saying "What does being Black have to do with anything right now Chris?" Well be quiet and I'll tell you. Pretty much everyone who commented on the listserve was White. Actually, everyone has been white who commented about the barbaric practice of eating dog. When the Korean teachers chimed in with her two cents she was instantly attacked (on email) by one of the foreign teachers. It was a very personal attack actually. This teacher basically called the Korean teacher a coward for not putting her name at the end of the email and then proceeded to tell her that she was wrong by saying eating dog was a part of Korean culture and she has Korean friends who can prove it. Historically, the practice of eating some dog is here. I don't think the Korean teacher was saying that it's a major part of Korean culture or the Korean diet. I think she was getting sick of people who are no Korean looking down on a practice that has been done in Korea. We (by we I mean people of the WEST) have this way of trying to force our ideals on other people. Usually we do it in a very abrupt and very clumsy fashion. I think this most recent event is a perfect example of this.
Now here's the thing. I'm torn because I find the way these dogs are treated to be extremely disturbing. But I eat meat. I don't just eat it, I love it. Do we treat chickens that well before we kill them? No. Sometimes we dont' even let them move. They never see the light of day. Some beef ranches treat their cows like shit. and I have a feeling don't appreciate being knocked on the head and gutted! The thing I find most ironic is that the people who had a problem with the dog thing eat meat. As a meat eater I find it hard to open my mouth on the matter. I owe it to my meal to know where it came from? Very interesting, and I agree with the statement. But I don't like the way it was used. If I owe it to that meal I owe it to every meal. I owe it to the cow, the chicken and the fish. Turkey's are stupid and they deserve to die so I don't owe them a damn thing! But you know what, even if I don't eat meat, do I not still owe it to my meal to know how it came to be on my place. Do I not owe it to all those workers who picked or pulled my food from the earth? Don't I need to fess up and acknowledge the horrible conditions in which some of these people live to provide me with my life giving meal? Don't I need to open my eyes and see that by them being paid pennies an hour for hard hard labor I'm able to eat my apple very cheaply.
The problem isn't eating dog, the problem is failure to understand that we are all connected to each other. It is difficult to take your blinders off on one issue and keep them securely fastened on the others. I don't like the practice of eating dogs because I like dogs. I dont' like the practice of abusing any animal. That's my personal opinion. I also understand that as a consumer I'm a huge hypocrite on the issue.
We all have our hot button issues. For some it's eating dogs and the way they are treated before they die. One of my hot button issues is female circumcision. I don't like it, I don't understand it and I think it's wrong. You're not going to convince me otherwise. It's abuse. It's just that simple for me. Women are being abused by this practice. I am willing to own that statement completely. I am also willing to sit down with people from cultures who practice this act and have a conversation with them about why they believe it's important. Will I judge them for it....absolutely. But I will also listen to them and I will not ridicule them for their beliefs. I realize this is very easy to write and not so easy to put into practice. I think we owe it to ourselves to try and understand those who are different then we are.