Converting a Vegetarian

Several months ago I watched a show titled Silver Spoon. It's an 11-episode animated show created by Hiromu Arakawa, known primarily for Fullmetal Alchemist. It details the experiences of a 16 year old boy who decides to leave his city life to attend an agricultural school, involving livestock and crop management, maintenance and business. It's believable and realistic because the creator, Hiromu Arakawa, spent over half a decade on a farm before beginning her career as a writer/artist. Her experiences no doubt influenced the content of the show.

The main character, Hachiken, begins his time in agricultural school knowing nothing about farming, agriculture or animals. Since he came from a good city school his knowledge isn't appropriate for the subjects they take and so he has to learn it all from scratch. During the livestock lessons he feels sorry for a runty piglet that was pushed off the teet by its well-fed siblings. Hachiken raises the pig through its life before it's taken off to the slaughterhouse and turned into meat. Hachiken is confronted by the prospect of his cute little pig being killed and turned into food and to try and alleviate the pain he named the pig Pork Bowl, since that's how it might be eaten. He also shows an aversion to other food from farm animals because he found out where exactly it came from. He buys Pork Bowl before it gets sent to the slaughterhouse, but he organises to buy that individual pig in meat form, rather than as a live animal. He does this because he feels like it's his responsibility to eat the pig he raised. Through doing a confronting task he becomes more comfortable with animals dying and turning them into dinner.

Many vegetarians don't eat meat because they know where the food comes from and don't like blood. This may be because most vegetarians are women and they have a natural aversion to blood, but it could also be due to a lack of proper understanding about cattle and livestock. If vegetarians go through the same experiences that Hachiken went through they could be converted to eating meat because they will know that animals die to become food all the time. Carnivores and omnivores in nature have to eat meat to stay alive and become strong, so there's nothing strange or unnatural about eating meat. Another point to consider, though perhaps too philosophical, is that livestock is bred to be eaten. Those farm animals would have never existed if not for out need and desire to eat them. Perhaps even greater than that, to become our food is the greatest meaning the animals' could have. Animals have no free will, no God, no understanding of metaphysical concepts. Animals don't get to think about being vegetarians; they do what they must in order to fulfill their purpose.

It is my belief that Silver Spoon is a show that, through harsh experiences and tough decisions, can enlighten vegetarians about why people eat meat and why it's not disgusting, not scary, and not unnatural. Health benefits of meat aside, it's a point to consider for a type of person that is usually stubborn in their (food) ways. Hachiken struggled with the idea and eventually came around. Vegetarians are just future meat eaters that haven't realised that animals exist to be eaten.