Cognitive Dissonance
When what you eat gives you pause
Dear Dad,
A lot of modern human eating behavior can be described by cognitive dissonance. We believe eating healthy is important; we know what foods are healthy; we just don’t eat them. Then, we get aggravated by our declining health.
When behaviors contradict beliefs psychologists describe the mental tension as cognitive dissonance. These feelings usually arise after learning new information that changes a current paradigm. For example, as a child I loved eating at restaurants. I used to beg you and mom to go out to eat. I thought that when I grew up I would go to restaurants for as many meals as possible. Now, as an adult I still enjoy dining out but I also enjoy making wise financial decisions and groceries instead of restaurant dining is clearly cost effective. Thus, I’m pulled in two different directions and this tension only manifested once I got to the age where the waiter was bringing me the bill.
One of the biggest culprits leading to cognitive dissonance when eating is aeen in one of the most controversial topics in the whole nutrition debate…
I wish I was there in person but I heard stories from those who were. It was last summer at Chic-fil-a and your 8 year old granddaughter was enjoying her chicken nugget meal. For whatever reason, in that moment her brain connected two-dots. The tasty chicken nuggets she was eating for lunch came from the same source as the chicken she loved to feed at the farm.
The glass shattered.
Many pages of my letters have been dedicated to encouraging you to employ a more mindful approach to eating. To think about nourishing your body rather than just counting calories. Understanding incentives of food producers and what that means for the food that they provide. And creating an environment that encourages you to be present when you eat.
When it comes to eating meat this line of inquiry leads many people, me included, to an uncomfortable bout of cognitive dissonance. Unless you are regularly hunting, fishing, or butchering your own meat there’s a good chance that you are quite detached from the process of farm, to slaughterhouse, to butcher, to table. This thought-gap is necessary for those who enjoy a nice barbeque but also generally care for the well being of animals. It’s not about being an animal rights activists by any means; but, a large swath of the population, me included, generally tries to live harmoniously with animals and take a kind-of-don’t-bother-me-and-I-won’t-bother-you approach. Such a mindset is thrown into disarray when eating them.
I think it’s important to sit with these thoughts on occasion. To really think deeply about the policies, incentives, and behaviors that you promote with what you eat. Many industries, systems, and policies have a lot on the line when it comes to your food choices. 3x a day, 7 days per week, 52 weeks per year, for 70+ years, plus all the snacks and drinks in-between equals a lot of economic opportunity. In recent years you’ve seen the rise of free range chickens, grass fed beef, and other methods of “sustainable agriculture” all as economically driven producer reactions to consumer behaviors.
So, the next time you confront some cognitive dissonance when about to bite into a tasty cut of meat there are three questions worth considering in reverse order of difficulty. Can we eat meat? Yes (obviously), humans are omnivores meaning capable of converting both plant and animal products to energy, unlike tigers which are carnivores (meat only) or gorillas which are herbivores (plants only). Can we survive without meat? Yes (less-obviously), humans are capable of getting everything needed from 100% plant sources. Modern food prep has evolved in a way that warrants smart supplementation but that’s a whole rabbit-hole not worth going down for now. Of course, of chief concern when it comes to the plant based diet is the ability to eat enough protein which is not a problem. Plants have all the protein that you need if you chose to go that route.
So, the million-dollar question: Should we eat meat?
Next week.
Until then, as today is 2024 primary day in New York, remember to vote with your fork!
With Love,
JSR
