Sacramento Bee Article
Apr 9th, 2009 | By | Category: Out & About | Comments | 21 Comments |So the Sacramento Bee’s Blair Anthony Robertson wrote a profile of me that appeared today. Overall I think he did right by me, and I appreciate the Bee for doing a story on a way of living that is — as I well know — controversial in many circles (Just look at the comments section).
Nice to see that the Humane Society of the United States did not torch me (Thank you, Jennifer Fearing!), although I suspect she meant that she has “less quarrel” with me than just about any other meat eater, as opposed to any other person in general (Fearing is a vegan).
And Holly certainly did not think hunting itself was a crazy endeavor before she began — she thought the idea that we could stop buying meat from the store was a bit over-ambitious. But these are quibbles.
I think the fairest criticism of what I do comes with commenter “mstrand,” who correctly points out that not everyone can hunt and gather for their food supply. (Blair asked me this question, too.) As Michael Pollan notes in The Omnivore’s Dilemma, there are too many of us and not enough of them — “them” being edible plants and game animals.
But it is still useful to know how to hunt, to fish, to gather, and to grow. Even if you don’t need these skills to live, I would argue that possessing at least one of them places you closer to the natural world than those who lack this knowledge. And that, to my mind, is a very good thing.
I realize that there are more of us than of them, then I look up and count twenty deer on my neighbor’s lot at the same time.
I’ve also got a woodchuck problem. Trapping and drowning the sucker is legal, trapping and moving him is not. Go figure, too much trauma to the animal I was told.
We can’t discharge firearms in town Which frankly knowing how most people handle weapons is good. I’m from the school that there is only one answer to the question ‘Is that gun loaded’.
Hey, congrats on the Beard nomination. When we lived in the city my wife was a member.
Congratulations, Hank! Nice piece, I thought. And belated congratulations on the Beard nomination.
I’ll just keep on nodding with approval and leave it at that.
I saw the article in the Sac Bee and was interested in learning more. I congratulate Hank on his nomination. Very good. I have also linked this article to my column at Newsvine dot com to further spread the news…with links to our ‘foodies’, ‘gardening’, and ‘California Issues’ groups…just spreading the good word as they say.
Hank do you hunt with bow and arrow?
Hi, Hank! Congratulations on your nomination and best of luck on May 3. I still fondly recall meals at your place in St. Paul, and i look forward to reading your blog (which i learned about today). amy
Hank,
I love the blog, love what you do. Congrats on the nomination. It is well deserved.
Thank you for pointing out mstrand’s comment. I think it’s critically important for us to remember that most people aren’t in a position to adopt the majority of these practices or even buy very much (if any) of their food from local and/or organic producers.
I was reading some of the other comments to the article and one thing the ruffles my feathers every time I see it is comments like “I’m against factory farms”. I’m not a fan of them, but to be “against” them implies we should do away with them… now. I think we forget that those “factory farms” feed the masses… and we need them to. And we’ll need them for a long, long time (if not forever). Yes, there are problems with them. No, the food isn’t (usually) as good or healthy as small local producers (though I do sometimes see lousy produce at farmer’s markets, too). But consider what the cost of food would be without them. Consider how it would be distributed on a large scale throughout large cities like New York, or sprawling suburban areas like Chicago.
Honestly, I have a general issue with how much farming (not just factory farming) pollutes our ecosystem. Even the best farms impact and alter the ecosystem quite a bit, especially the water supply (ground water and otherwise)… but I also don’t have the answer to fix it. But simply campaigning “against” something with no /practical/ solution to it is counterproductive. Pressuring and helping them to find solutions to their problems and/or in the meantime doing what you can to support local producers to make them more accessible to others (who can afford them) is.
IMHO, on the broader scale what’s considerably more important than attacking factory farming is educating people on what they eat and how to eat smart so that they understand things like… it doesn’t matter if it’s HFCS /or/ sugar it’s still bad for you in large quantities and “low fat” doesn’t make up for “more sugar” or “low carb” doesn’t mean that a chemically laden food is good for you.
Anyway… apologies for soapboxing a bit, but would love to hear your thoughts.
Keep up the good work.
John
Nice piece. I agree that hunting is not for everyone and that there are too many of us….. but when I have a good hunt I would rather share my game with people that know how to properly care for and cook it. So now I will direct them to your blog and they won’t have any excuses.
Well, your writer sure came out of the gates sounding like he was ready to provoke, then strangely was all kid gloves over the most provocative aspect of all hunting, that the hunter does what most other carnivores don’t or won’t, which is kill what he or she eats. People may can say that not everyone can live like you, but I’ve grown up knowing plenty of folks who hunted because they were poor and it was the only way their families could afford to eat meat — fresh, natural meat to boot. Hunting is hardly the elitist preoccupation that farmers markets and local, seasonal food can be, if class distinctions must be drawn. Anyway, I’ll only ever do a fraction of all that you do in the kitchen and garden, but I read your blog because your writing always inspires me to do more. That’s the point. We don’t need for all the rest of us to ‘be’ you.
Enjoyed the article on you in today’s Sac Bee. I wish all hunters had your morals and outlook, but perhaps I’m mixing “hunters” up with “poachers” – too many of those in my neck of the woods. Keep up the good work!
http://www.thebutterflymind.com
Congratulations on the nice article in the Bee and also the nomination for the James Beard award.
NTSC: Woodchuck is by many accounts excellent braised. No, really. I’d eat one if given the chance…
Deborah: Thanks for the kind words. And no, I am not a bowhunter.
Amy! Long time no hear. And I see you got married. Congrats! As much as I am glad I live in California, I do sometimes miss the North Woods…
Audrey: I too know of many rural folks who hunt and fish because they need to — but remember they are few compared to the multitudes who live in cities and the ‘burbs. One high-rise in Manhattan can have as many people as a rural county. And thank you for your last point — it is exactly what I hope happens when people read this space.
John: I disagree that we “need” factory farms to feed the masses, although we certainly need farms. I will give you that it is far easier to feed everyone using this model, but it is by no means preordained or necessarily here forever. Sometimes morality is sacrificed on the altar of efficiency. Only willfull denial by the majority of the population allows that system to exist.
On your broader point, yes, I totally agree that what is most important is to think about where the food in your fridge comes from. That’s why I don’t spend much time in this space talking about the politics of food or the aspects of the industrial food chain I dislike — what I do here is think about a better way for me to live and then set about attempting to make that happen, if sometimes to an obsessive degree.
I agree with your last statement about how it’s useful to know how to forage and hunt. When I was living in Tokyo I ran into people who were so far removed from this they couldn’t even pick-up a cat (not to eat it!) because they had only touched ‘stuffed animals’ and one that was living freaked them out.
I also like your blog because you don’t spend much time talking ‘politics’ about how it would be better to do this or that but JUST DO IT.
Antihunting people have bothered me for years.
I’m glad to see a blog that puts it all in perspective. Ted Nugent is probably watching ! Thanks for the blog! –Mike T.
Joy of Cooking states that woodchuck can be cooked using most recipes for chicken or rabbit and then goes on with several pages for rabbit. I’ve done a pate with rabbit.
Believe me I’ve thought about it.
How long are you going to be in NYC?
“Sometimes morality is sacrificed on the altar of efficiency” – Here, here.
I do think it’s possible to reverse some of those morality problems in factory farming, if we as a society chose to, but it would likely not resemble what that it is today. Industrialization got us to where we are (for better or worse… or a little of both) and I do believe it’s our obligation to refine what we do to become responsible (and moral) stewards of our environment on all levels. However, I will certainly concede the point that “need” is the wrong choice of word.
And your point about willful denial is taken and I agree.
From the other direction, though, I think we need to be careful to not pull the rug out from under the feet of those that need that low-cost food. Some would say that’s an equal (or greater) moral obligation. I’m on the fence there. Regardless… careful, thoughtful change is key.
So… nuff said on my end. I’ll shut up now and just read.
John
Hank, it’s true that hunting & gathering can’t replace the industrial food chain, but one thing everyone on the planet can eat, and benefit mightily from: weeds.
(Actually, to be fair, I don’t know this to be a fact, but I suspect it’s true.)
“Discovered” you in the Sac Bee story.
Congrats on the blog and the award.
A line I have used for years is that too many people think milk (or meat) comes from Safeway and 2x4s come from Home Depot.
Wow! The comments on the article at the Sac Bee site sure are eye-opening. Saying everything from buying meat at the supermarket is normal while hunting a healthy animal and killing it yourself is sick and psychotic to saying that factory farming is simply “the real world” and criticizing it is simply whiny and wimpy.
I never realized your blog was “fairy tale beliefs” at best and “the wimpy cry of personal impotence” at worst. Here I always thought it was honest stories about honest food, provided and prepared with much intelligence and skill.
Yowza! Congrats on your James Beard nomination! Well deserved–and very thrilling that someone with your philosophy on eating/living is being recognized. I’m rooting for you!
Very good story in the Bee. The Beard award! Deserved! Now please publish your recipe for Eurasian Collared Dove. Invasive species. Could be tasty. ECD Roti! Also four and twenty European Starlings baked in a pie/pizza, recipe please. My barely domestic cat discovered the joy of fresh young spring squirrel some time ago but refuses to share. Do you train cats?
Anasasi