{"id":1784,"date":"2014-05-07T06:52:29","date_gmt":"2014-05-07T10:52:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localkitchener.ca\/?p=1784"},"modified":"2014-05-07T06:52:29","modified_gmt":"2014-05-07T10:52:29","slug":"book-review-the-mindful-carnivore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/localkitchener.ca\/2014\/05\/book-review-the-mindful-carnivore\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: The Mindful Carnivore"},"content":{"rendered":"

I spent much of this past Lent reading. \u00a0Madame and I also enjoyed The Hunger Games <\/i>series as audiobooks, which is definitely one of the best readings I’ve ever heard. \u00a0 Strangely the\u00a0hunting aspect of The Hunger Games <\/i>was paralleled in a much more personal way\u00a0in one of my main lenten reads, Tovar Cerulli’s The Mindful Carnivore<\/a>\u00a0<\/i>(available in Canada <\/a>too, and at WPL<\/a>) .<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

\"mindful-carnivore-tovar-cerulli\" <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

It took me a couple renewals but I made it through the book, and am happy to have done so.\u00a0 <\/span> The Mindful Carnivore <\/em> is an extremely thoughtful and meditative memoir about one man\u2019s journey from vegetarianism to veganism and finally back to omnivorism and hunting. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As a child Tovar Cerulli<\/a> spent his free time fishing and hunting frogs.\u00a0 He cooked and ate what he caught.\u00a0 Reading his accounts of what his days floating around on his quarry pond made me nostalgic for my own youth.\u00a0 There is a sense of freedom and limitless time that you only seem to feel when you\u2019re young, and I miss it.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t grow up fishing, but I had plenty of time to spend in the woods behind my home and to fill my days with exploring, building, and playing.<\/p>\n

Cerulli would go on to become a teenager who started questioning the factory farming system that provided his family with most of their meat.\u00a0 He became a vegetarian, giving up the fishing he had so loved as a boy, and within a few years had become a vegan, eating no animal products.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn becoming a vegan, I had been mindful of my diet\u2019s consequences for the planet and the beings who inhabit it. \u00a0I aimed to confront those consequences head-on, to see them clearly, to choose the path of least harm.\u00a0 I sought a respectful, holistic way of eating and living, a kind of right dietary citizenship\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 P.249.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

During his time as a vegan he was very concerned with the Buddhist mandate to do no harm.\u00a0 As a gardener he finds out how difficult it is to grow food without affecting other living creatures.\u00a0 He recounts how he grappled with the tension of deciding how to deal with both the animals and insects that wanted to eat the food in his garden.\u00a0 He realizes at one point that he had “contracted out” the killing of animals, when his favorite vegetable grower reveals that he has had to kill woodchucks that were obliterating his garden.\u00a0 Cerulli also discovers that\u00a0many deer are killed by farmers to preserve their crops.\u00a0 It seems to him that no matter what choices he makes regarding his food there will be the death of animals as a part of it.<\/p>\n

After a decade of veganism and amid concerns about his own health after some comments from his physician be begins to reconsider the eating of meat in limited amounts.\u00a0 Although he doesn\u2019t use the term<\/a>, he returns to meat-eating as an ethical omnivore, taking great pains to source small amounts of meat from trusted local, ethical sources.\u00a0 He returns to fishing as well, this time with much more thoughtfulness and deliberation, but with great joy too.<\/p>\n

Somehow the idea of hunting enters his head and begins to take over his thoughts.\u00a0 Cerulli is both consumed by the idea and troubled.\u00a0 This was the part of the book that caused me a couple library renewals.\u00a0 While his exploration of the history of hunting in America is very interesting at times it dragged on.\u00a0 I ended up taking a break from the book to read another (which I hope to review soon) I did make it through it eventually, and learned a great deal about hunting and its history.<\/p>\n

It was a couple of years after his decision to go hunting that Cerulli finally went on his first bow hunt, followed by rifle hunting a few weeks later.\u00a0 His accounts of his hunts are intimate and personal, full of his thoughts and internal tensions. \u00a0This is a man who makes few decisions easily, and his times in the woods searching for deer are both rewarding and troubling for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn becoming a hunter, my outward aim had been the same: to be mindful of the consequences of my diet, and to confront one of those consequences\u2014the death of animals\u2014with \u00a0my eyes open.\u00a0 I still sought a respectful, holistic way of eating and living, my decision to hunt shaped by the same concerns that shaped my veganism.\u201d\u00a0 P.249.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ultimately he reaches a point of eating that he feels balances as much as possible his own needs with those of the world around him. \u00a0He learns to live with tensions of life and death, and finds his place within the nature. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGardening and hunting reminded us that we were also part of nature.\u00a0 They gave us a felt sense of the elemental, inescapable relationships that sustained us.\u201d \u00a0P.250.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I recommend this book to anyone who has considered giving up meat, or who is considering returning to eating it.\u00a0 Really anyone who gives thought to what they eat should read it and realize that they most likely haven\u2019t given it as much thought as Tovar Cerulli!\u00a0 I also think it\u2019s fine to read portions of the book, and skim some of the center, which gets a bit bogged down.\u00a0 My Amazon rating is 4\/5, because I find the book very valuable, but found it a bit tedious at times.\u00a0 It is a book that challenges readers to look at their own beliefs about food and take some time to question their own diets. \u00a0After reading this book I also know that even though I make considerable effort to eat only local food, it is important to always talk to farmers and food producers to learn more about how they grow and raise the food I’m eating.<\/p>\n

\n <\/div>\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I spent much of this past Lent reading. \u00a0Madame and I also enjoyed The Hunger Games series as audiobooks, which is definitely one of the best readings I’ve ever heard. \u00a0 Strangely the\u00a0hunting aspect of The Hunger Games was paralleled in a much more personal way\u00a0in one of my main lenten reads, Tovar Cerulli’s The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p44Qm1-sM","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2180,"url":"http:\/\/localkitchener.ca\/2014\/10\/book-the-third-plate\/","url_meta":{"origin":1784,"position":0},"title":"Book Review and Giveaway: The Third Plate","date":"October 3, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Where We Began is not Really Where We Began The classic (North) American meal: a delicious, mouth-watering plate with a big piece of meat, preferably cooked on the grill, a potato or hunk of bread or ear of corn, and some small side of vegetables, like carrots or something else\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Books"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/localkitchener.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/The-Third-Plate-13.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":888,"url":"http:\/\/localkitchener.ca\/2013\/07\/liebster-award\/","url_meta":{"origin":1784,"position":1},"title":"Spreading the Liebster Award Lovin'","date":"July 2, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"This took me a while.\u00a0 Sarah from Flour and Spice\u00a0very graciously named me as one of her 11 Liebster blogs about two weeks ago and I kind of sat on it for a while.\u00a0 But now I will keep the Liebster love moving forward! The Liebster award is about showing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/localkitchener.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/07\/scan0050.jpg?w=350&h=200&crop=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1954,"url":"http:\/\/localkitchener.ca\/2014\/07\/5-plant-based-changes\/","url_meta":{"origin":1784,"position":2},"title":"5 Plant-Based Changes in My Life and a Book Giveaway","date":"July 24, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Several months ago I was given a book recommendation by the farmer\u00a0who runs the CSA that we joined this year, Fertile Ground Farm.\u00a0 Shortly after talking with her about Farmacology\u00a0I put a hold on it at the library. Although\u00a0Farmacology\u00a0came out in 2013 it has remained popular at our local library\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fermented Foods"","img":{"alt_text":"farmacology_4","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/localkitchener.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/farmacology_4-1024x682.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1993,"url":"http:\/\/localkitchener.ca\/2014\/08\/barley-kale-tabbouleh\/","url_meta":{"origin":1784,"position":3},"title":"Michael Smith's Family Meals Review and Barley Kale Tabbouleh Recipe","date":"August 6, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cIt\u2019s never optional.\u201d \u00a0Cooking, that is, and so Michael Smith begins his latest book, Family Meals (available now locally and on Amazon and Amazon.ca). I completely agree with him.\u00a0 Feeding my family is one of my main responsibilities as a parent and the food that I give them should always\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Kitchen'r Garden"","img":{"alt_text":"michael smith family meals","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/farm9.staticflickr.com\/8696\/17130350498_300ae0652c_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2609,"url":"http:\/\/localkitchener.ca\/2015\/02\/california\/","url_meta":{"origin":1784,"position":4},"title":"California","date":"February 2, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019ve been trying to wrap my head around California.\u00a0 We returned a couple weeks ago from ten days visiting the state that is more populous than the country we live in.\u00a0 It has been hard to decide what to write about the experience.\u00a0 Mostly if I try to sum it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Travel"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/localkitchener.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/2015-January-69.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1381,"url":"http:\/\/localkitchener.ca\/2014\/01\/new-year-new-site-and-new-blank-book-giveaway\/","url_meta":{"origin":1784,"position":5},"title":"New Year, New Site, and New [Blank] Book Giveaway!","date":"January 14, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"This blog began a bit less than a year ago and in that time it has ebbed and flowed, much like the seasons around me.\u00a0 I began blogging shortly after moving to Kitchener, Ontario with my wife and two young boys.\u00a0 Prior to our move I was working full time\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Books"","img":{"alt_text":"makeabook_001","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7442\/11935654843_3632ef749d_c.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/localkitchener.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1784"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/localkitchener.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/localkitchener.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/localkitchener.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/localkitchener.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/localkitchener.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1784\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/localkitchener.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/localkitchener.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/localkitchener.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}