IF you’re a heavy Netflix user then surely, with the release last week of its original movie Okja, you’re already considering becoming a vegetarian or vegan, even if you haven’t gone the full hogless. Either that, or perhaps you’re spitting carnivorous venom at the fact that it’s hard on Netflix to avoid stumbling across some anti-meat propaganda, whether that be in the form of Cowspiracy, the anti-beef and dairy documentary that has turned people vegan in their droves, or Okja, the new satirical drama which follows the story of a lovable genetically-modified superpig.
Both these films are difficult to watch while sitting on your sofa chowing down on a burger or bacon butty. As is, for that matter – should you think you can comfortingly escape by switching to the BBC iPlayer – Simon Amstell’s Carnage, a comedy-documentary set in 2067 in which a vegan culture tries to come to terms with the horrors of its carnivorous past. If there’s one medium more than any other that seems to be leading the charge against meat-eating, it appears to be television.
Okja has been hailed as the first vegetarian action movie. Watch the superpig frolicking, entirely free range with her best buddy, a Chinese girl called Mija, and chances are you’ll pause before shovelling down that next forkful of animal product, and consider what quality of existence the former living thing had. Many involved in the film appear to now be vegetarian or eating less meat, though meat was served on set. Jon Ronson, the writer, is a fully-fledged vegetarian while actor Lily Collins eats fish but has “vegan tendencies”.
Director Bong Joon-ho has described that during the process of the film he gradually moved towards pescatarianism. However, he has also said: “I don’t think, after watching this film, [you’ll say] I want to convert everybody to veganism. Even Mija, the girl in the movie, her favourite food is chicken stew. We’re just like her. We have a lovely puppy in our house but at lunch we eat steak.”
The fact that a medium as mainstream as television is all over the issue suggests to me there’s a shift going on. Cutting out, or cutting back on meat, or eating only the products of animals reared a particular way, is being entertained in quite a different way than it has been hitherto. I’ve been flirting with it lately myself. Meat minimising is what I have been calling it, though I’m aware how half-hearted this seems. Why just minimise when you could eat none? It seems there is a word for my current approach, and I hate to utter it – flexitarianism. Yes, I’m one of those.
It’s not been a dazzling personal shift – more a matter of introducing a few cartons of oaty milk and only caving in to the meat option when my husband had made a particularly delicious-looking chicken casserole. I start to wonder if I’m becoming a caricature of myself. Many people assume I already am veggie. But that’s not really me at all. I come from meat-rearing stock, raised on a farm, an occasional killer of small animals, like fish and chickens, for consumption. In my family not eating meat has been, and still remains, a form of heresy.
That I’m even considering it is probably part of a wider shift. Veganism and vegetarianism are both on the rise, particularly among the young. This is partly because the number of arguments in favour of it are proliferating. You no longer need to be compelled towards vegetarianism by a love of animals and distress at their suffering. You may also find you are concerned about the impact of meat-farming on the environment, contributions to global warming, and the question of what diet can sustainably feed our still growing population. Is there a diet, I find myself thinking, that is good for the planet, good for me, and also good for the other humans involved in its production? And might that diet also be one that results in less suffering of animals?
That’s not to say that the answer to all these issues is a no-meat society – after all, the arguments around any issue in our acutely interconnected world are always complex. Working out the right thing to eat for your own health, and the health of the planet, while also considering other ethical issues like fairtrade, is a mind melt of humongous proportions. On one level it’s easier not to think about it. But with films like Okja and Cowspiracy out there, it becomes impossible not to. The only way to avoid such questions is to switch the television off, or surf over to watch House Of Cards, where Frank Underwood does seem to enjoy his macho meat, and keep eating the burger and milkshake. But even then you still know they’re there. That whisper is still out there and getting louder – and it’s saying no meat, or less meat, or let’s pay attention to the history of this piece of meat.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel