Open Letter to Ariel Kaminer and the New York Times
Dear Ariel Kaminer,
I am writing in response to your contest, “Calling All Carnivores.”
Why must the NY Times encourage readers to eat meat? Why was the contest not called, ”Ethical Reasons to Stop Eating Meat?”
Those two are rhetorical questions. The answers are because the NY Times does not want to award people for insisting eating meat is unethical. On the contrary, this contest is strong evidence the NY Times wants to reward people for insisting eating meat is ethical.
In your article, you assert that “those who love meat have had surprisingly little to say.” How can you make this assertion and live in the United States, where every meal is pig, chicken, fish or cow, and where bookshelves are crammed with titles encouraging popular but illogical “compassionate carnivorism?”
My complaint is not that you believe meat fans are silent, or under-represented. As a meat eater, you are likely as unshaken by Turduckens and bacon as the rest of America, so your belief that meat-eaters have “had surprisingly little to say” is understandable.
My complaint is about the end goal. The result of this contest, intentional or not, is an article which causes readers to think, “Ah-hah. So that why eating meat is ethical. I knew I was right for doing it.”
The world does not need more reasons to eat meat, much less a contest recruiting the most convincing and popular logical fallacy. The world is not better for increased demand of dead or dying animals.
The world needs people who, as you said in another article, feel crummy when unnecessarily ending the life of another, and it needs articles from those people saying why they refuse to repeat the act.
Related reading:
- More than a Main Course: Dissecting Discourse around Killing a Turkey by Nekeisha Alexis-Baker
- The Main Course Had an Unhappy Face by Ariel Kaminer
- Calling all Carnivores, also by Ariel Kaminer
Creamy Asparagus Soup
If you like asparagus, this is a great side to a grain or starch-focused main dish. It also goes great on its own, with crackers or fancy bread of your choosing.
As an extra-curricular activity, try putting your television on the Food network and hold back the vomit as they prepare Bacon Something Something Wrapped With A Maple Bacon in Pork Tur-duck-ham Bacon Glaze.
Ingredients
- 1 bunch (2 to 2.5 cups) of chopped asparagus
- 2C almond milk
- 1C water
- 2T nutritional yeast flakes
- 1T Bragg’s liquid aminos
You know about proteins, right? Those things North America is insane with consuming far too much of? Well, there is one amino acid called asparagine, and guess where it gets its name? No, not an Italian racecar driver; the name comes from asparagus because is so full of this compound [1].
Stuff You’ll Need to Do
- Chop asparagus into 2” long cuts
- Steam 10-15 mins until soft but not mushy
- Combine water, almond milk, flakes in pot and heat to gentle simmer
- Once simmering, add in the asparagus
- Turn off burner
- Let sit with occasional stirring for about a half hour. (You can skip this step if you’re in a hurry)
- Scoopy 1C at a time into a food processor, but don’t do like I did and overload the thing or you’ll have a watery green explosion all over your kitchen.
- Pulse the food processor it each load of soup is smooth.
- Pour through a strainer into another pot or serving dish.
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