I fish and I hunt for my family’s dinner table because I want my family eating healthy meat from fish and game animals that have been living naturally and eating what they evolved to eat.
When possible, I’d rather my family didn’t eat meat that was raised in a filthy congested feed lot or fish farm where they were fed unnatural foodstuffs and as many chemicals as the law would allow, all designed for unnaturally-fast muscle growth.
Health-conscious people know to read labels looking for indications of unnatural feed and chemicals. Meat packers know how to disguise those details, while managing to stay within the letter of the law.
I like to stay out of that information quagmire and go take critters for food out in their natural environment. Our wildlife managers work hard to manage critters for sustainability so we can continue to do this and so can our children and grandchildren.
Then there is the spiritual side, which to me is all about appreciating that critter whose life I took to feed my family. I quietly thank the fish or mammal or bird for its life and dedicate it to the life and health of my family.
I’ve read that various cultures considered this an important part of living with critters, and I’m told some of those cultures were among our own Native American tribes.
At places like McDonald‘s, such activities can raise eyebrows. How many people really think about an animal having to die so that a hamburger can be eaten? I think we all pretty much know the answer to that.
I am not just surprised, but truly shocked when I see signs that some folks don’t understand the death-for-life deal we struck with critters and plants as we fought and killed our way to the top of the earth’s food chain.
We shouldn’t hate ourselves for being on top as a prime predator, but we should be appreciative, and for me that requires a spiritual sense.
I was stunned to be forwarded a snippet from a newspaper where an anonymous person wrote: “To all you hunters who kill animals for food, shame on you. You ought to go to the store and buy the meat that was made there, where no animals were harmed.”
That statement went quickly onto Facebook pages where one person replied, “Folks, just remember as you read this, that this person probably drives, votes and may have already reproduced.”
Let us accept and think about the fact that a critter had to die when we eat meat. Don’t hate ourselves for it, because we are prime predators, born and bred. What works for me personally is to quietly thank a critter for giving me its life to feed me and my family.
Each person deals with this moment in his or her own way.
— Capt. David Bacon operates WaveWalker Charters and is president of SOFTIN Inc., a nonprofit organization providing seafaring opportunities for those in need. Visit softininc.blogspot.com to learn more about the organization and how you can help. Click here to read previous columns. The opinions expressed are his own.
