Editor,
We have come a long way since EB White’s 1948 piece in the Atlantic entitled “Death of a Pig.” EB White authored the classic book, Charlotte’s Web. We have come a long way, but maybe in the wrong direction.
There was a time when we might have known our food or where it came from.
The story of Wilbur the pig likely came about because EB’s real pig suffered illness and died before it became the Christmas ham.
We learn from life that it’s natural, the cycle of birth and death. EB’s pig suffered. That was a revelation for him even though he raised a pig a year for food. He knew of birth and the Christmas ham but not so much of the in-between.
My son, a vegetarian, just told me his kids may choose to eat meat, but they will know the life of Sally the chicken. They will learn the cycle of birth and death but they will also learn what a life is.
It’s admirable to be mindful of what we are doing. Eating. Consuming. Killing. To know the real price or consequences of it. With my son saying his kids will know the truth about their meat source, maybe we are heading back in the right direction.
Susan Pang