Ecology of Eating (Spencer Mottley)

     In our class discussion on the ecology of eating, it was stated that man does not eat something before 

he makes a product of it. This leads us to become alienated from the things we eat because we no longer

view the foods we eat as part of the overarching ecology and as fellow creatures, but simply as mere

abstract things that exist in a void of context. Although we no longer live in animality, we long for

intimacy. The plants and animals we eat have entered into an economy of exchange. Stripping us of our

intimacy to them in the process. It can also be said that tools like tillers and combines also strip us of our

intimacy with the food we eat and with nature in general, because when we use tools, we are dominating

over nature instead of partnering with it. One way in which we can restore relation with the food we eat is

ironically through sacrifice. This is because sacrifice removes a thing of its utility to us, and breaks the

notion that we are the center of everything. Similarly, we can find fellowship with other creatures by

thinking about death because, like them, we will eventually die to. After this discussion, I was left with a 

question and an answer to that question. How is eating healthy a way of trying to restore Eden? My

answer to that question is when we eat healthy, oftentimes we try to eat more food that is

unprocessed/minimally processed, and food that has not had to travel as far to reach our plate. By doing

these things we are restoring our connection to the foods we eat, by seeing our food as fellow creatures

instead of premade products, and by having a spatial relationship with our food, because it was

grown/raised locally. 

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