The Ethical Dilemma of Teaching Kids How the Sausage Gets Made
I don’t want to tell my kids what to eat — but maybe I should tell them why I’m vegetarian
My daughter and her best friend are in the kitchen rummaging through the cabinets. They find what they’re looking for: gummy bears.
“Those might be old,” I say.
We don’t care.
“Fine, but before you eat them I want you to watch this video.”
I’ve been meaning to show my daughter this video, but the timing never seemed right. When is it ever a good time to get stung in the eye? (“Now that everyone’s finished eating pie, can someone bring in the bee?”) I retrieve my phone and pull up the clip. Midway through, my daughter buries her head and cries. Her friend, motionless, stares at the floor.
My regret is instant and sharp. I am the worst mother ever.
I haven’t shown them anything particularly graphic: This is science; this is how gummy bears are made. The video shows dead pigs strung upside down on a factory conveyer belt. Their skin is being shaved with a butcher’s electric saw. The pigs face an incinerator and begin to melt near the inferno — then the camera cuts away. Surely two sixth graders have seen animals roasted before. There’s a…
