The Ethics of Eating
Annual Service Auction Sermon
Based on the book Vegan: The New Ethics of Eating 
by Ecik Marcus
written by the Rev. Eva S. Hochgraf, 30 August 1998.

Meditation:
From the Zen Temple in Ann Arbor, comes this Mealtime Gatha
This food comes from the labor of 
Beings past and present.  
From this, our body-mind is nourished; 
our practice sustained.  
Gratefully we accept this meal.

Sermon:
With accompanying  text--Golden Super Shape Book "The Farm Book," 1964.

It was shortly after the book Diet for a Small Planet by Francis Moore 
Lappe was published that I became a vegetarian. I didn't actually read her 
book.  And I must admit, that although I sure had heard of vegetarianism, I 
sure had never considered it as a lifestyle to emulate.  In fact, I 
remember thinking that the death of animals to feed me was really just the 
way of the world--a cycle of life and death--and that I just couldn't see 
the point of vegetarianism.  But I went away for a backpacking trip and one 
of the group leaders was a vegetarian.  All of us quizzed him (and yes, 
teased him) as we tried to understand why he had chosen to be a vegetarian.  
It was only then that I learned that being vegetarian was a lifestyle 
chosen for reasons other than concern for animals.  He spoke to me about 
how much grain it takes to create one pound of beef (that's 10 lbs., for 
those of you who don't know), and he spoke of the destruction of the 
environment that was caused by agriculture.  And I learned that without so 
much consumption by people in the US, the rest of the world could easily go 
without hunger.

Despite the fact that being raised UU, and not eating grapes for half my 
childhood due to the grape boycott in solidarity with the migrant workers, 
it never had occurred to me to think of the environmental and political 
consequences of eating.  This was a powerful message for me in two ways.  
First, that we actually are a willful part of the supply and demand 
picture.  And second, that what we eat truly is a big part of the 
environmental picture.

I held onto both of those ideas, trying to find ways to make them sing in 
my life.  Some of you may know that my first degree is in agriculture--in 
Integrated Pest Management.  My dream was to work with agriculture to 
reduce the environmental destruction caused due to the overuse of 
pesticides, fertilizers, and short-sighted farming techniques. And some of 
you may also know that I have had a principally vegetarian diet ever since.  
Although I have walked away from working directly with agriculture, I still 
feel that in both of these ideas are messages to hold in one's heart and 
one's mind.

You may think this sermon is about eating, and what you eat.  But it's not, 
really.  What it really is about is justice, and about your vision of a 
just world.  That's why I had us sing the song "We'll Build a Land", 
because I want you to open your minds to the vision of a just world as 
brought to us by this book.

Sometimes it is difficult to listen to another's moral argument when it 
runs counter to what we are accustomed to.  I think that Merian's Friends 
have been struggling with this issue a lot.  It is hard to get people to go 
beyond their initial gut reaction to the issue, or a word--like "suicide"
and truly grapple with the morality of the issue. What is needed is to give 
it a human face, a story, --things you can connect with-- to begin to get 
people to think about justice. And that is why the group carries the name 
of one of our friends, a member of our congregation who faced these issues.

I think that this is the biggest problem that Erik Marcus faces in his 
book.  It is very difficult to get people to take the idea seriously enough 
to open the cover.  Once you do, however, you will find that he does a 
great job giving the various ideas a story, a face, good ways to grapple 
with the issues.  Perhaps he won't convince you, but for having read this 
book, you will have thought long and hard about your eating  habits and 
your eating morals.

Let me speak a bit on morals, and then I'll speak on habits.

How is that we are called to be moral--called even above and beyond the 
call of reward and duty?

I think differing Unitarian Universalists would answer this differently.  
Surely some would say that God calls them to be moral.  Others might say 
that the call comes from a deep connection with the Earth and all of 
creation.  Others might answer that history, the deep knowledge of 
humankind's story, calls them to be moral.  Others look to religious texts, 
like the Bible, the Qu'ran, or the Lotus Sutra.

But it is important to ask yourself this question, "How is it that I am 
called to be moral?" and from the answer will come more stable, reliable 
answers to your own moral questions.  You will also be able to address 
moral questions, such as those spoken in this book, not only from your gut-
-but with the conviction of your own sense of being rooted in a moral 
framework.

And now on to habits:
You may think I'm going to talk about the habit of cooking and eating meat, 
toasted cheese sandwiches, quiches and the like.  It is true that you will 
have to address those habits.  But I don't think that that is all too 
unsurmountable.  There have been cook books out for years, and support 
groups to join.  The real problem is the habit which underlies the 
motivation  to change your diet.

Now many of us really don't want to change our habits. And are 
uncomfortable with the death that's required to be a meat-eater.  So we 
don't want to think about what it is really like these days for the farm 
animals. We know, if we read the news, that the American family farm is in 
jeopardy (disappearing at an alarming rate)--but yet we don't ask ourselves 
what that means for the animals that feed us.  We still imagine that our 
eggs, neatly boxed, come from chickens that are wandering around in barn 
yards, that our milk comes from the friendly dairy farmer of childhood 
storybooks, that our pork comes from a swine just a little less fortunate 
than Wilber in "Charlotte's Web".

How is it that we get food, if the American farm is dying off?  Where does 
it come from?  Shopping at a grocery store, everyone knows that food is a 
business. Not a 1800's business, not a 1890's business, not a 1930's or 
even 1950's business, it is a 1990's getting close to year 2000 business.  

This book is a wake up cry to everyone who eats, to think about the reality 
of having big business in charge of producing what we eat.  It is fine in 
giving us a product at a reasonable price, but what price do the animals 
pay that are a part of this agri-business?  Can we trust big business to 
treat the thousands and hundreds of thousands of animals they are producing 
humanely--or merely as products?  What price is there to the environment in 
the face of producing food in this way?  It is all too easy to fall prey to 
the images set clearly in our brains from early childhood about farm life--
and not let the reality of the agri-business sink into our consciousness.

This book will clearly give you the details of that reality.  You will 
explore the raising of egg-laying chickens:  the males thrown into a 
garbage bag to die at an early age, unneeded,  the rest debeaked and 
fattened, then caged 3-5 in one tight cage to live the rest of their lives 
until death or becoming unproductive--thousands of chickens to a shed, 
often experiencing massive die-offs in the heat.

You will explore the reality of the slaughterhouse and the effect of big 
business on the sale and slaughter of animals.  You will learn about the 
raising of meat chickens, hogs, and of beef.  About the over-crowding and 
absence of veterinary care in these business environments.  You will learn 
about the terrible devastation of our environment--due to hog farms (which 
has been in the news) and range-fed cattle (which hasn't to the same 
extent).  You will even learn about some of the devastating side affects of 
our love for meat--like government paid killing of wildlife by the 
thousands, such as gray foxes and black bears, wildcats and prairie dogs.  
The author interviews many people working in these various areas, gleans 
their expertise so the book is a compilation.  But he also learns about 
their history, their life story, and how they came to be involved in this 
particular area of advocacy.  I really liked these personal stories, which 
helped put a face and heart into the problem.  These stories also make the 
book glow with hope, for what is being done, as it also pulsates with rage 
for the unbearable suffering wrecked on animals by a largely 
unknowledgeable public and a largely indifferent business environment.
  
Beyond all these details from various areas of agri-business, the book also 
clearly acts as the small child in "The Emperor and his clothes."  The 
author calls out to us to see that the message of health we've been taught 
in the respected environment of our schools is actually advertising 
propaganda aimed at selling us another product.  It just so happens these 
products, instead of being Nike shoes, Nintendo games, or Windows '98 
software, these products being sold are milk (think of all those milk 
mustaches!!), meat and the concept of the 4 food groups.  We learn in this 
book that this advertising, in the form of health information, does not 
correspond with actual scientific studies about health.

We learn that a low  protein diet, a diet with no dairy, eggs or meat; and 
high in vegetables and fruits has certain health benefits.  This diet:
  can stop and in some cases reduce the damage done by heart disease because 
there is no cholesterol in fruits and vegetables-- as taught by Dr. Ornish,
  aids in cancer prevention--as taught by Dr. Campbell,
  works for maintaining weight even in those who have dieted all their lives-
- as taught by Dr. Shintani of Hawaii,
AND
  reduces the calcium loss that leads to Oesteoporosis, while high protein 
diets cause calcium loss. 

That's a lot for you to digest in a minute's time, but don't take my word 
about it.  Read the book.  Its in there in detail.  And consider, it is 
easy for the dairy industry to advertise to get you to buy and drink milk.  
Who is there to buy the advertising that calls us to stop eating and 
drinking so much protein?  Or the advertising to include a lot of 
vegetables and fruits in your diet?  

 It truly is easy to be blind to nutritional needs, even when we feel like 
we are studying nutrition.  Its hard to know the influence of advertising 
dollars on our health.

I think clearly the biggest question of the morning is, "Does it matter 
what I eat?"  I think this book answers with a resounding "YES."  The 
primary reasons it matters on an individual basis are health factors.  

But once you start exploring the effect of altering the diet of many, than 
you can see the incredible environmental and humane reasons surface. There 
are several answers to these greater issues, and one certainly is to 
boycott all such food. Its will be good for your body.  But others may feel 
called in other directions.  its clear that buying milk and eggs from small 
farmers would certainly help the problem of humane treatment.  Its also 
clear that legislation should be worked for to outlaw the cruelty and 
environmental degradation.

Many of the worlds religions have pondered the ethics of eating.  The 
Jewish scriptures clearly try and establish a sense of right and wrong with 
eating.  The Muslims have strong dietary code.  Hindus, Buddhists, and 
Jains, in the practice of ahimsa, non-violence, have a clear sense of 
bringing their religion into the kitchen.  Perhaps, if you haven't already 
begun, it is time to consider what your own sense of this is.  And if 
you've already begun, reaffirm you path.  Learn more, teach more, and share 
with us your vision of a just world.


Copyright 1998, Eva Hochgraf
All rights reserved.