duminică, 27 februarie 2011

Are you gonna eat that?

Jonathan Safran Foer - Eating Animals, Back Bay Books, 2010

Mi se pare ca scriitorii americani au descoperit un bun surogat pentru talent: documentarea. Cartea lui JSF nu e vreo capodopera, e in schimb extrem de minutios documentata. Din cele 341 de pagini ale cartii, 60 sunt bibliografie. Citim, practic, un reportaj cu dimensiuni de roman. De altfel, autorul ne cam transmite, printre randuri si aproape scuzandu-se, ca lucrarea lui e mai degraba jurnalistica decat literara.

Pretextul marturisit al cartii a fost nasterea fiului autorului, eveniment care se leaga cel mai profund - in mintea lui cel putin - de hrana si de hranire. Asadar, JSF, un omnivor cu exercitiul ocazional al vegetarianismului, incearca sa-si raspunda la o intrebare cel mai probabil fara raspuns. Care e cel mai bun regim alimentar?

E o carte care te tenteaza s-o judeci dupa coperta, iar JSF chiar intreaba la un moment dat "La ce v-ati gandit cand ati vazut titlul cartii?". Puternic titlu, e drept, si chiar daca nu duce pe toata lumea automat cu gandul la o pledoarie pro-vegetarianism, e destul de clar ca e vorba despre obiceiuri culinare. Mi-a placut initial ca se pleaca la drum fara vreo prejudecata, ca omul isi propune sa ne prezinte doar fapte, nu si pareri. Spre final insa, cartea deraiaza puternic spre partizanat, devine artagoasa, incitatoare si partizana, si-atunci m-am detasat de mesaj.

Ignorand insa aspectele stilistice, continutul e o compilatie interesanta. E ca si cum autorul ar fi luat toate informatiile de 1-2 randuri gasite la "stiati ca..." prin tot soiul de reviste, brosuri, emisiuni TV, pliante etc. legate de nutritie si le-ar fi pus in carte. Iar acest mix este ingrozitor prin intensitate: 10 miliarde de animale terestre sunt omorate anual pentru hrana in SUA; un om mananca in media 21.000 de animale in timpul vietii; 250 de milioane de pui masculi de rasa ouatoare sunt distrusi la nastere anual in SUA; intre 80-90% din captura vaselor de pescuit sunt victime colaterale, pesti care sunt aruncati morti inapoi in mare etc. etc. etc.

In ce masura asta convinge pe cineva sa-si schimbe obiceiurile culinare e greu de spus. Autorul pluseaza cu descrieri ale tratamentului ingrozitor la care sunt supuse, de la nastere pana la ucidere animalele de ferma. Pe mine unul, nici asta nu m-a convins. Ah, da, saracii pui stau inghesuiti in custi. Ai fost vreodata la un concert rock, Jonathan?

Daca m-a convins de ceva, atunci mancatul cainilor este acest fapt. Spre inceputul cartii, JSF se intreaba de ce ne repugna ideea mancatului carnii de caine, cand exista atatea motive pro: in multe culturi s-a mancat caine, carnea de caine e gustoasa si hranitoare, cainii nu sunt cu nimic superiori porcilor, de exemplu, s.a. Evident, n-o sa ma apuc sa mananc caine, dar in principiu n-as avea nimic impotriva. Nu prea inteleg de ce ar avea cineva.

Ce-am extras din carte sunt mai mult cifre, socante prin dimensiunile realitatilor pe care le releva, si prea putin formulari memorabile. Am extras, asadar, "stiati ca"-uri. Iata-le:

15: "more than ten billion land animals slaughtered for food every year in America"

31: "If we were to one day encounter a form of life more powerful and intelligent than our own, and it regarded us as we regard fish, what would be our argument against being eaten?"

32: "Food choices are determined by many factors, but reason (even consciousness) is not generally high on the list."

34: "Globally, roughly 450 billion land animals are now factory farmed every year.(There is no tally of fish)"

40: "I felt shame for living in a nation of unprecedented prosperity - a nation that spends a smaller percentage of income on food than any other civilization has in human history - but in the name of affordability treats the animals it eats with cruelty so extreme it would be illegal if inflicted on a dog."

48: "What happens to all male offspring of layers? If man hasn't designed them for meat, and nature clearly hasn't designed them to lay eggs, what function do they serve?
They serve no function. Which is why all male layers - half of all the layer chickens born in the United States, more than 250 million chicks a year - are destroyed."

49: "The average shrimp-trawling operation throws 80 to 90 percent of the sea animals it captures overboard, dead or dying, as bycatch (Endangered species amount to much of this bycatch). Shrimp account for only 2 percent of global seafood by weight, but shrimp trawling accounts for 33 percent fo global bycatch."

115: "So how much suffering is acceptable? [...] How much suffering will you tolerate for your food?"

174: "farmed animals in the United States produce 130 times as much waste as the human population - roughly 87,000 pounds of shit per second"

190: "a 10 to 30 percent death rate is seen as good by many in the salmon industry"

193: "Although one can realistically expect that at least some percentage of cows and pigs are slaughtered with speed and care, no fish ever gets a good death. Not a single one. You never have to wonder if the fish on your plate had to suffer. It did."

196: "A vegetarian diet can be rich and fully enjoyable, but I couldn't honestly argue, as many vegetarians try to, that it is as rich as a diet that includes meat."

219: "The reality is that all food production involves altering the environment to a certain extent."

258: "compassion is a muscle that gets stronger with use, and the regular exercise of choosing kindness over cruelty would change us."

262: "animal products still account for only 16 percent of the Chinese diet, but farmed animals account for more than 50 percent of China's water consumption"

266: "Today's turkeys are natural insectivores fed a grossly unnatural diet, which can include 'meat, sawdust, leather tannery by-products' and other things whose mention, while widely documented, would probably push your belief too far."

Un comentariu:

Gia spunea...

Vreau si eu sa citesc cartea asta :) !!! :)