Matthew's #4: From the sea to the table

Forgotten post from Galapagos: random thoughts on food.

What a fabulous world we live in that contains beasts like swordfish.  What must all the other poor miserable fish think about the fact that God and evolution denied them such a perfect weapon leaving them virtually defenseless against the various perils of the open sea? And yet even with his mighty sword and cocky attitude by 3pm one such beast lay defeated on the wet and bloody concrete killing floor of our local fish market at Pelican bay, much to the delight of tourists armed with Canons and local children wide eyed and typically adorable.  By 4pm when I walked past the market again the fishes great deadly head had been chopped off and was planted like some gruesome war trophy on the floor while his flesh was being sold to any landlubber with a couple of dollars, once again man triumphs over even the most bizarre and fearsome creatures of the earth. So as a good adventurous omnivore on vacation with access to a kitchen and a couple of bucks I bravely saddled up to the counter to buy a kilo of this mighty beasts flesh and assert my dominion over the beasts of the sea once and for all (for the absurd price of 2 dollars per kilo!). As I walked back to the apartment swinging my plastic bag of wild caught fresh swordfish my chest swelled with pride at the small part that I had taken in not only the promotion of the local economy but in the promotion of a true and sanctified ethic of food.

Seriously though, misplaced snobbery aside, what a gift to be able to participate in some small way in a simpler and more natural process of eating. As a middle class American suburbanite so much of the food that I eat seems to be more “food like” than something that actually comes from a living, breathing creature.  I can’t help but think that part of living a more compassionate life must be connected with how we experience the food that sustains us and that though I am quite certain that one cannot experience spiritual enlightenment in the freezer section of wal-mart it just might be possible looking into the eyes of a beheaded swordfish and buying the meat for dinner from the man who harvested it from the sea. Yet as I set about preparing this piece of fresh flesh harvested from the sea I couldn’t help but feel a bit unsettled, maybe it was the fact that I had looked into the huge creatures eyes (both before and after his head found its new home upright on the floor) or perhaps it was the uneasy feeling that something that came straight from the sea could not be as clean and hygienic as something that was processed in a factory in Toledo.  Despite the uneasiness Anna Lee and I survived the meal (and actually loved it) and I am inspired once again to connect to the earth, God and my fellow man through what I stuff my face with.