Chicago Foodways: Civilized Dining Philosophies 3/14 @ 10 AM

Chicago Foodways Roundtable

Civilized Dining Philosophies:
We all have our truths, is mine the same as yours?

Presentations by
Colleen Sen and Bruce Kraig

Saturday, March 14th, 2009
10 AM
Kendall College
900 North Branch Street, Chicago
(West of Halsted Street, North of Chicago Avenue)
Free Parking

Cost: $2 per person, free to Kendall students and faculty with ID.

Culinary Scholars Colleen Sen and Bruce Kraig presentations were themes presented at past Oxford Symposia on Food and Cookery.


Indian Vegetarian Traditions

India has the world’s most ancient and deep rooted vegetarian traditions. The followers of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism avoid meat not only for moral and philosophical reasons but also for physical and spiritual benefits. However, there are gradations within these religions and only Jainism, which developed in the 6th century BCE, is unconditionally vegetarian. Jains even avoid eating certain plants that are believed to contain the seeds of life. This talk will examine the origins and role of vegetarianism in Indian philosophy, religion and daily life.

Colleen Taylor Sen is a Chicago-based food writer specializing in India and Asia. Her articles have appeared in Travel and Leisure, Food Arts, Chicago Sun Times, Chicago Tribune, Yoga International, Toronto Global and Mail and other publications. She is the author of Food Culture in India and the forthcoming Curry: A Global History.


Why Not Eat Pets?

American carnivores, maybe the greatest on our planet, are faced with a dilemma. Many are concerned about the ethics of eating. The effects of our industrialized food systems on health and environment, sentiments about animal welfare, and just plain cost of animal protein as food are major topics in public discussions in many forums, especially the media. Yet, one food source that meets all ethical criteria is taboo: dining upon companion animals, or pets. As such, anyone who rejects so sensible a plan is nothing less than a carnivore hypocrite. This talk will persuade one and all to dig into a good plate of doggie.

Bruce Kraig is a food historian, the author of papers on insectivorism and cynophagy, and the recent book Hot Dogs: A Global History.

This program is hosted by the Chicago Foodways Roundtable. To reserve, please pM Cathy2 with your name and how many people in your party or e-mail: [email protected]

Hi,

In today's talk on the ethical boundaries of eating companion animals, there was a sidebar discussion on Australian's aversion to eating kangaroo. The credit goes to a 1960's television series called 'Skippy' featuring a lovable kangaroo. I bumped into a film clip of the opening credits.

Bruce Kraig mentioned meeting the show's producers who said the kangaroos were untrainable. They had to simply film kangaroos doing kangaroo stuff, then edit them into a scene. Occasionally they had Skippy do activities no kangaroo could do, such as dial a rotary phone. For this occasion, they used rabbit feet to simulate the activity. I found this clip with the rabbit feet standing in as Skippy the kangaroo performs as a drummer.

The unpredictable behavior of Skippy the Kangaroo is illustrated in this episode where he jumps with his companion from a hot air balloon. In the water, the kangaroo sort of takes off in a different direction while they are in the water awaiting rescue.

The Skippy television set remains, there is a short documentary and plea to preserve it here.

Of course, we have our own animal cultural icons in Flipper and Bambi.

Regards,

This lecture is available to listen to here:

Civilized Dining Philosophies: We All Have Our Truths -- Is Mine The Same As Yours? with Colleen Sen and Bruce Kraig, recorded March 14, 2009
http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/Conte ... ioID=33175