Hannah Orloff - American Camino Quote Discussion

 In today's society, there is an extreme disconnect between people and the food they eat. This is something that I never really understood, or believed, until I took on caring for three hens in my yard. I had gotten them as chicks and cared for them until they were six months old and began laying their first eggs, which then quickly turned into dozens that I became eager to give out and get rid of for the sake of fridge space. However, more oftentimes than not, people would ask me if eating the eggs were safe. Sometimes I would get a weird look after replying that some mornings I'd go out and grab an egg that is still warm and then turn into my breakfast. It was in these moments that I realized how disconnected people are to the food they eat. Most people go to the grocery store and retrieve their food there, with little to no knowledge on where that food came from or how it was produced. Then throw in the idea that the meat present in the store came from living animals, and it horrifies people even more. I've heard the argument that a person will still eat the meat from the grocery store because it doesn't look like the animal it came from any more, or they just try not to picture what had happened for the meat to appear. The truth is, however, that in order for that meat, milk, or eggs to appear in that aisle, another organism had to give up some or all of itself to produce it. It may seem sad or for some reason wrong to picture or understand this by some people, because it is sad to think that an animal had to give itself for our survival, but that is just the natural exchange of life on this planet. As Dr. Redick quotes in chapter 3 of American Camino, "to live requires a sacrifice, one who is alive must die so that one who is dying might continue to live." In order for an organism to obtain energy to live, they must consume another organism, whether that creature is in the form of a plant or animal. Energy cannot be created nor destroyed, but only transferred, so because of this we as organisms are required to behave the same way and gather our energy from other living things. When people gather their food from the store and do not think about where it is coming from, the sacred meaning and appreciation for food is oftentimes lost. If we think the grocery store is just displaying food to grab, we are less inclined to appreciate it being offered, but if we think to how an animal may have given its life for our survival, then we become more appreciative of that sacrifice. Many people will understand this sacrifice as sad, but it is the way of life and the reason why people can continue to exist, so instead of being sad people should be appreciative and respectful to that animal. By not acknowledging what the organism had to give to provide us food, we are disrespecting the sacrifice of that creature. 

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