Lucky Cloud, Your Sky

I’ve often considered the relationship of consumption to empathy. I have always been particularly fascinated by birds and reading an article about the ortolan has led me to a few questions.

The ortolan, a songbird and classic (though now illegal) French delicacy, reaches something of a poetic end. To prepare ortolan correctly, you pluck out their tiny eyes out with a tiny set of tweezers, leaving the bird alive. Next, you feed the bird until it balloons to twice it’s original size. Last, you drown it in cognac just before you roast it.

Eating an Ortolan must be as much of an experience as preparing it. You cover your head with a napkin and pick it up by the beak. You place the entirety of the thing in your mouth. It is said to be delicious and abhorrent at the same time. They say that you use the napkin to seal in the aromas, others say that you use it to hide your face from god. Poetic? Maybe. Heartless? Possibly. Plucking the eyes out of a small singing bird would not place you high on the list of the heroically empathetic.

Though, empathy only seems to come into question in matters of consumption when the living thing in question resembles a human in some way, or brings us some aesthetic pleasure prior to their being cooked and plated correctly. This is to say, no matter how beautifully colored a fillet of tuna might be, we in no way empathize with a tuna. The ortolan, though, is a beautiful singing creature. Is this why we shudder to think of eating it this way?

Not all birds are beautiful, the chicken holds no pathos. A dolphin is smart and beautiful, so we make sure to purchase tuna that includes any pieces of dolphin. We shouldn’t eat dolphins! They’re smart and capable of abstract thought just like us!

The pig presents an interesting dilemma. A lot like us, though we have no trouble eating it. Anyone who has spent time with a pig will tell you that not only are they very intelligent but they also make great pets. However, we have no problem eating them. The only rationale I can consider is that, on one hand, bacon is delicious, and on the other, empathy only comes into play when one is in direct contact with the source of their food. Though, this argument too falls by the wayside when we consider the blasé manner in which those accustomed to farm work will kill their pet pig and eat it. Why do we not feel the same empathy for the pig that we feel for the dolphin or the ortolan? Who knows. Did we evolve to love eating pigs for a reason?

Food must fall within a small, very specifically defined range in order for us to feel comfortable eating it. It should not be beautiful. It should not be so ugly that we shudder to see the thing whole. It should not be so like us that we have the uncanny feeling of eating anything remotely human. Or maybe its just me who doesn’t like the idea of eating sea cucumbers and jellyfish.

As a side note, a much less “thinky” one — HOW DO PEOPLE NOT FIND JELLYFISH TERRIFYING? They’re like extraterrestrials, but not the cool anthropomorphic ones, the crazy ones that latch onto your abdomen and lay eggs in your stomach. No thank you.