Apparently, Mark Zuckerberg’s new challenge for the year is only eating meat from animals he has slaughtered himself.
As he spends so much of his time working on the company he founded, Facebook, he says that every year he tries to invest some regular time on a different personal challenge. Last year it was learning to speak Mandarin. This year it’s eating meat from animals killed by his own hand, or not at all.
In an explanatory email to Fortune, Zuckerberg said,
“This year I’ve basically become a vegetarian since the only meat I’m eating is from animals I’ve killed myself. So far, this has been a good experience. I’m eating a lot healthier foods and I’ve learned a lot about sustainable farming and raising of animals.”
My attention was drawn to Zuckerberg’s new challenge by various tweets I saw about it in my twitter-stream. Some people were supportive and others found it to be pretty weird and disgusting.
Personally, I don’t conceptually have a problem with it. As Zuckerberg points out himself, many people don’t want to face that the animals they eat used to be alive, and many people tend to ignore where their meat comes from. He’s facing up to the whole process.
What he is committing to is certainly a confronting way to take responsibility for that. Perhaps he will become a bit more thankful and respectful in the process. At least that’s what he says his aim is. Is that weird or disgusting? Not in my book. It’s just that not many people do it these days, as there is not the necessity for most.
Zuckerberg seems to have approached the challenge with some care too – seeking advice from a well-known Silicon Valley chef, who has advised him on how best to go about killing his first chicken, pig and goat. He has also been introduced to nearby farmers.
Having said that, I understand his first go at killing his own food was boiling a lobster alive, if the Fortune article is correct about that. I thought putting them in the freezer and having them freeze to death is the most humane way to kill them, and boiling them alive is pretty awful. But what do I know about that? Reportedly, he has also slaughtered a goat by cutting its throat, which is apparently the “most kind way to do it”.
If you eat meat, would you be prepared to look the animal in they eye, and then kill it yourself before cooking and eating its meat? It’s certainly something to think about if you like eating meat.
Via Fortune
Image CC licensed by mauricesvay
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