The Ethics of Raising 'Edible Pets' - Novella Carpenter

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/06/18/Farm_City_Novella_Carpenter_with_Michael_Pollan

Michael Pollan questions Novella Carpenter on how she is able to slaughter the animals she raises on her urban farm. "I don't think there's anything wrong with loving them, feeding them, and gently killing them with love," says Carpenter. "That makes meat more of a sacrifice, which is what it should be."

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Novella Carpenter discusses her book, Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer, in conversation with author Michael Pollan. This program was recorded in collaboration with Berkeley Arts and Letters, on June 18, 2009.

Novella Carpenter grew up in rural Idaho and Washington State. She majored in biology and English at the University of Washington in Seattle. While attending Berkeleys Graduate School of Journalism, she studied under Michael Pollan for two years. Her writing has appeared on Salon.com, Saveur.com, sfgate.com, and in Mother Jones.

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[studio7manga]

"She'll let cats sleep on her bed, but treat pigs like food."

Cat's aren't nearly as tasty.

[ANDREWEHUNT]

At least she's honest and not disconnected from the meat she eats. You have to admire that. Most people are in a total state of denial and have no philosophical qualms about having somebody else do their dirty work for them.

I went vegan, after a lifetime of eating meat. Good riddance.

[contreeman]

CAN YOU GET MORE BACON OUT OF A POT BELLY PIG. BECAUSE I LOVE BACON ON ALL MY SANDWICHES. WRAPPED AROUND PORK ROAST, ON HAMBURGERS ON TURKEY. JUST FOOD FOR THOUGHT. MY PROTEIN LEVEL IS HIGH TODAY.

[RareJavahn]

hey dick-face andrew; you talk about eating meat as being natural; there's nothing funny about killing an animal for survival...we do it but anyone who thinks it's funny is a bitch who deserves to be killed, eaten and laughed at themselves!

[Del249]

@ANDREWEHUNT the fuck, you became a vegan?! what a completely retarded way to needlessly torture yourself. seriously, meat is THE tastiest meal on this whole damn planet and to be honest, its pretty hilarious to eat the meat of some animal that hopped happily around a while ago.

besides, humans are omnivores, we are designed to eat both meat and fruit/vegetables so you are going against nature. its not like wild animals arent butchering the living crap out of each other for food anyway.

[Lotusflowerism]

@studio7manga

right, and very little meat compared to their size!

[LilyISay]

meat shouldn't be a casual dalliance...I like this woman's ethos. 

[grundkvist]

"You are walking down the street then suddenly picks up an animal and kills it.. That seems Crazy!" HAHAHA

[takadi]

@MononofuBlood

You are a fucking idiot. The T rex, as well as most other reptilian predators, have eyes on TOP of their heads that face forward, despite *appearing* on the sides of their heads. You are right about one thing, you don't have to be religious to be ignorant of evolution, you just have to be a contrarian moron

[mavaddat]

In fact, it seems you are simply wrong about low rates of osteoporosis in Iceland. For example, Kanis JA, Johnell O, De Laet C, et al. report in "International variations in hip fracture probabilities" that the highest risk of hip fractures due to osteoporosis are seen in Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Denmark and the U.S.

Even if it were true that this correlation deliberately set aside anomalies, that is the nature of statistical correlation anyway! You draw trends from the most common case.

[mavaddat]

MD's are relatively ill-placed to make judgements on nutrition. In North America, MD's (including family doctors) do not take more than one upper level class on diet or nutrition, and further study is not required. Only dietitians and nutritionists are academically qualified to recommend healthy eating plans.

The source I cited is science based, not biased. France and U.S. consume almost equivalent amounts of dairy product, but the U.S. consumes twice the beef and poultry. Do the math.

[MichaelnChristine]

@mavaddat I'd also point out the claim that "Osteoporotic bone fracture rates are highest in countries that consume the most dairy, calcium....." deliberately sets aside anomallys that the scientific community can't figure out. Like the low rates of osteoperosis in Iceland. They aren't the highest, or even close. However they eat 250lbs of fish, 140lbs of lamb and massive amounts of diary, per capita. So if the link was there they'd have to be the worst. They aren't.