In 2011, Facebook's Zuckerberg Only Eating Meat He's Killed Himself

I'm most interested that this struck such a chord with people.

One thing I will say for Zuckerberg's efforts is that he is more likely to reach a different audience than some of the other outlets for eating sustainably, etc. He has a younger audience, I think. One that is not as cognizant of the food movement right now because they don't have a family yet, they're not cooking every night, etc. Is eating a certain way because it's "cool" good? No. But if that's what sets those people on that path? I'm not going to complain, either.

As a small farmer I see both sides of the food politics scene and honestly, the sustainable/green/whole movement is huge, but not as huge as the media has us believing. There are still a LOT of people outside of the main market (people with young families and certain ethnicities) that know very little about food awareness. Reaching those people is an important undertaking, even if it wasn't Zuckerberg's initial intention.

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Diana Prichard is a freelance writer ( http://www.dianaprichard.com ) and farmer ( http://www.onolivehill.com )living in rural Michigan with her husband and two daughters.

I do hunt. Every November. With a license. And I am an "average" American. And I know hundreds of other "average Americans" who hunt, too - on similar budgets. And while yes, you *can* spend thousands on equipment to hunt you do not NEED to.

My shotgun is a used Remington 870 Express. It cost me less than $250. And that included a scope and both the bird and slug barrels. My husband hunts with a Maverick Arms 12ga. He bartered with a guy he knows for the gun so there was no money exchange at all. If there had the trade would have had a dollar value of less than $500. We can both take multiple deer with those guns every single year if we want. And, properly taken care of, they'll last generations. Our kids will hunt with these guns, the cost per deer overtime is nil.

As for the locked gun cases you cite. You can pick a rifle case up at wal-mart for less than $12.00, for less than $20 you can add two padlocks and your gun is secure. You can then stow it on any shelf, under your bed, wherever you want.

While there may be some states that require permits for the ownership of a long gun, I would confidently wager that most of the midwest states where hunting is common are not among them. In Michigan, for instance, all that is required for long gun ownership is a background check. It's included as a free service when you purchase your gun. There is no charge and there is no permit that needs to be maintained or updated.

A resident Michigan deer tag (the license you must carry while hunting and then attach to your kill) is $15.00. If you must buy a non-resident tag (if you are not a land owner) it will run you more, but there is free access to hunting on numerous large plots of "State Land". Anyone can use them. I know, I kick many of those "anybodies" off my land which backs up to one such plot every year. They tend to be carrying thousands of dollars worth of equipment but very little common sense or courtesy.

The orange sweatshirt I wear over my other clothes (warm clothes you probably own anyway if you live up here) was $15. The vests my kids wear out were $2.50.

Even if we pay for processing, which isn't necessary, we can still put meat in the freezer for less than $1.00 per lb.

So no, I'm sorry, but hunting is not elitist. I'll compare it to something anybody can relate to -- parenthood -- should we say parenthood is "elitist" because some people have hundreds of thousands of dollars into their 6 month of baby's wardrobe? Well that's just ludicrous! We all know just because a store offers a $500 outfit for a baby doesn't mean you have to buy it in order to have one. You can dress your baby for $1.00 from the nearest goodwill or yard sale and he or she can still be perfectly warm and safe. The same goes for hunting you can spend more than my family makes in a year on the bells and whistles or you can do on a budget. The problem is that most Americans are now so removed from the land, their food and the act of hunting for food they don't understand it but still talk about it as if they do. Don't believe everything you see in a sporting goods store is necessary to put a little food on the table.

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Diana Prichard is a freelance writer ( http://www.dianaprichard.com ) and farmer ( http://www.onolivehill.com ) living in rural Michigan with her husband and two daughters.

i guess he is just bored! just claim to be a vegan and get on with it... ho-hum!

While I applaud sustainable methods and am all for knowing where your food comes from, there is something very cold blooded about this Harvard drop out pulling out a knife and slitting a goat's neck.

I grew up on ranches-- fishing and deer hunting with my brothers. It was not uncommon to ride in the mountains for months before finding a deer. If you shot the deer on another ridge (and you were on foot ) it could take a full day to haul it out.

Native people have a tremendous amount of respect for Life. They never take it without reason. There is no sport in the kill.

For example, we have moles all over our property. We have bought every kind of humane deterrent. When I found myself face to face with a mole there was no way I could end its life. My desire to see them gone was not greater than its right to live.

When my brother was young my father said: " Never shoot until you see the whites of his eyes." My brother came home crying : Dad deer don't have white eyes!"

or something like that...

What I mean is that with the bazillions of dollars that Zuckerberg has at his disposal, he could advocate for better food sources for the masses. How about starting community gardens in inner cities? Lobbying major supermarket and agribusiness chains to provide healthier choices? School lunches???

But of course, that's not as sexy as killing a goat.

Race/Ethnicity Section Editor Grace Hwang Lynch blogs at HapaMama ( http://hapamama.com ) and A Year (Almost) Without Shopping ( http://www.blogher.com/ A Year (Almost) Without Shopping ).

Weird. So much to say, but I'll just stick with this: I think I'd be more impressed if he pledged to only eat fruits and veggies grown in his own garden, by his own hand!

~Wife and Mommy ( http://wifeandmommy.com )

It's a better trend than divorce/remarriage/shackup/reshackup/adultery/moreshackup that a lot of well-known (and lesser-known)people have chosen as a diversion. He earned his money himself, after all - right out of his own head. I admire that tremendously.

As for hunting - it's only expensive if you have chosen to live in a large city. For many of the rest of us, it involves sitting on the deck waiting for the herds of deer to thunder from one side of the road to the other. We don't hunt, but we do allow friends to hunt on our property IF THEY ASK PERMISSION FIRST, and if they plan to eat what they bring down. Sport hunting is for sadists. We call the sheriff on strangers or other trespassers. Just because it's woods doesn't mean it's public, which a surprisingly lot of people don't seem to understand.

I don't see the point of getting upset - or even involved - in other people's choices, unless they insist on proselytizing them, or if a choice hurts someone.

I think sometimes that people with money can't win. Personally, I wouldn't know, but I do wonder if there would be all this uproar if he were nobody, like me. After all, the man isn't doing anything that most people I know have always done, themselves. Maybe this is a slicker knee-jerker?

Now, if he were to brag about killing Bambi and leaving him there to rot after ripping his antlers out, you'd have my attention.

"Don't be content with being average. Average is as close to the bottom as it is to the top."

Jane blogs as "Mamacita" at Scheiss Weekly, ( http://janegoodwin.net/ )hitting the fan like nobody can.

From now on I will kill my own lettuce!

Marsha, that bit totally cracked me up. I mean, I've also "killed" mussels. Plenty of 'em. At least, that's what it means under that definition. ;-)

--- Genie, The Inadvertent Gardener ( http://www.theinadvertentgardener.com )

I applaud anyone's efforts to move away from commercial food production, in whatever ways one is able to do so. And, I'm thrilled that a well-known person is bringing this issue even more into the mainstream. For me, it's been in my "mainstream" for many years and I'm working toward the day when ALL my food will be self-produced or from small local farms. For some, obviously, it's a moral choice and for others, it's a healthier way to eat. I'm in both camps on that one.

I moved to rural Kentucky from in-town Atlanta several years ago. My husband and I now have a larger piece of land and will have chickens, both for eggs and eating. We regularly eat venison and fish and we're able to buy locally raised free-range beef. I've had a garden for years and will expand it, now that I have more space. Another goal of ours is to have a family milk cow.

It's interesting that several folks have raised the idea that eating this way is elitist. I can tell you that for most of the people who live in my area of rural Kentucky, this is a way of life for many low-income families. They certainly aren't doing all this work for the trendiness of it; they're doing it so they can have food on the table all year long. And, as far as hunting being expensive, maybe so, if you need a designer gun and all the trimmings, but around here, having your gun is a necessity - you may not have a car, but, by God, you have a hunting rifle - many times handed down from generation to generation - and and a box of bullets. Your life may depend on it. And, fathers and mothers teach their sons and daughters how to hunt and fish - it's a rite of passage in the country. My son grew up in the city and I regret all that he missed experiencing first-hand of the cycles of nature and the gifts of the earth.

Mark Zuckerberg is about the same age as my own son and as I see my son testing out ideas, theories and philosophies in his own life, I can only guess that Mark is doing the same at the tender age of 26 or so. All twenty-somethings do this, remember? I'm not sure that it has anything to do with his wealth and more to do with him finding his way. It must be challenging for one's growth and experimentation - both the successes and the missteps to be lived in the public eye.

Enjoyed the post, Genie!

I completely agree. While it's great that he gets that many people in this country are very separated from their food source (and perhaps that is part of why we as a society eat such a ridiculously high quantity of meat in the first place) and his celebrity status may help keep the spotlight on this subject, in the end it's just people caring about what he does because he is rich and a celebrity.

I think the best thing he could do would be to donate money to either support CSA and organic foods in local school lunches, support a community farm which feeds a disadvantaged neighborhood, donate to local organic farmers, or something else along those lines.

Especially since he makes money off every single thing we do, as Facebook and Twitter take up so much time and attention from us and we sell our information for free to them and their apps.

Polish Mama on the Prairie

http://polishmamaontheprairie.blogspot.com/

@PolPrairieMama

I like the idea of promoting sustainability and eating less meat and more locally obtained food, but this? Another rich guy hobby. When I first heard that he was only going to eat what he killed, I thought, "I didn't know you could kill those little juice boxes of Muscle Milk."

Mona

kirida dot com ( http://www.kirida.com ) : from saipan to seattle

Does that mean he put it in a boiling pot of water? I thought that was cooking.

What's the next challenge, after spearheading a multiquatrillion dollar business? I guess it's to talk about killing a goat in order to eat it. So many layers of something, here.

Laurie
LaurieWrites ( http://lauriewrites.typepad.com )
Photos on Flickr ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/rubyshoes )

I was waiting for your comment -- had a feeling we'd be in the same range of perception/opinion.

I'm not impressed by his choice, beyond bow I feel about anyone taking any kind of action that reflects a belief or a realization. You just realized where your food comes from and you're adapting your behavior as a result? Cool. But I'm not going to congratulate him, especially because I have some issues related to privilege here -- what he's able to do, as you referred to. I'd be very impressed if he used his tremendous wealth and influence to support the options of others.

Laurie
LaurieWrites ( http://lauriewrites.typepad.com )
Photos on Flickr ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/rubyshoes )

Honestly, where do people think food comes from?

For the majority of the world you go out and bring back dinner dead or alive. Doesn't matter if it is plant or animal.

Something dies so that you can sustain your life. It is okay if the focus of what he is doing is to better understand the relationship to food consumption but lets get real.

Mark just kills. He doesn't butcher or deal with the blood, bones and offal. Zuckerberg isn't spending time cutting up and freezing meat.

The dude isn't standing over the stove rendering fatback for lard or soap.

If this bring awareness that food is a living organic system that is fine.

But why did folks so upset about the GoDaddy dude killing an elephant and not with Zuckerberg killing a lobster, pig and a goat? What will you think when he wants a side of beef ribs?

Gena Haskett is a BlogHer Contributing Editor. My Blogs: Out On The Stoop ( http://outonthestoop.blogspot.com ) and Create Video Notebook ( http://createvideonotebook.blogspot.com )

Many of us live in a privileged world that allows us to pick a side in the world of food politics -- and it seems that when we do, we point fingers at those who haven't joined our team.

Those who only eat free range/organic/local point fingers at those who don't.

And here comes Zuckerberg, the most privileged of the privileged, making a choice and causing us all to point at him and stare at him and take a side.

It's troubling. I'm kind of tired of finger pointing. I'm tired of divisive nature of food politics (and all politics, now that I think about it.)

The side I'd like to see us all on is the one where we feed the hungry -- Those whose only choices come from the dumpsters behind restaurants & grocery stores, (and there are fewer of those now that businesses are moving to locked dumpsters), or how early to get in line at the food pantry/shelter, or how to find the cheapest food at the local convenience store because you've only got $20 to feed your family for a week and that convenience store is the only place you've got to shop.

If Zuckerberg wants to kill his own meat or eat vegetarian -- more power to him, my son would LOVE to do the same darn thing but he can't afford it. I hope Zuckerberg learns a lot from this experiment and that what he learns helps him find ways to help those who are lucky to see any type of meat in a week.

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager
Life. Flow. Fluctuate.

Kären Davis www.cantsparethechange.com/blog ( http://www.cantsparethechange.com/blog )

Good for Mark! Maybe while he's killing his own meat he might figure out how to kill his ego too?

I also wonder what the big deal is. If he were a chef with an accent and some snotty tattoo ("Farm 2 Table 4 Ever") then the legions of jackass foodies would fall over themselves to also kill their own meat.

Solidarity.

--Kristina

www.OnBlank.com ( http://www.OnBlank.com )

I could go into variable vs. fixed costs, but outfitting oneself to hunt legally is not cheap. Responsible gun ownership requires permits, locked gun cases, clean and well maintained equipment, ammunition, etc. I know people with thousands of dollars worth of equipment for hunting.

That said, going a whole winter without having to buy meat would be great and possibly cost-effective after the fixed costs are paid off. But like so many things, you have to look at the big picture.

Rita Arens authors Surrender Dorothy ( http://bit.ly/Qp0sS ) and is the editor of Sleep is for the Weak ( http://tinyurl.com/9pg62e ). She is BlogHer's assignment and syndication editor.

Rita, I totally agree with you about the elitist nature of this whole thing. I've never looked at the cost of hunting, but yeah -- it's definitely not free, and I probably would not be that surprised at how expensive it actually was.

The whole story has caused my eyes to roll back so far in my head I'm not sure they're ever going to come back out.

--- Genie, The Inadvertent Gardener ( http://www.theinadvertentgardener.com )

Jenna, ah...poor, forgotten Tom. ;-)

I applaud your and your husband's effort to keep yourself in sustainable meat! It's a big deal...and honestly, I don't know that I could bring myself to hunt, but I am a supporter of those who are able to make the effort.

--- Genie, The Inadvertent Gardener ( http://www.theinadvertentgardener.com )

We commented at the same time, Jenna. Just to clarify: I don't have a problem with hunting, but it requires a unique set-up to carry out. And maybe a deep freeze. :)

Rita Arens authors Surrender Dorothy ( http://bit.ly/Qp0sS ) and is the editor of Sleep is for the Weak ( http://tinyurl.com/9pg62e ). She is BlogHer's assignment and syndication editor.

Thanks, Julie...I'm still shaking my head about all of this. ;-)

--- Genie, The Inadvertent Gardener ( http://www.theinadvertentgardener.com )

I do get what he's trying to prove. I do. But I feel the same way about this as I do Sarah Palin boasting her family eats only freshly-killed moose stew: It's pretty elitist. Where would the average American find herself a well raised goat to slaughter for dinner?

I'm very much in favor of CSA, farmer's markets, locally grown anything and organic living -- but I recognize how fortunate I am to have access to them because I have, oh, a car. And I don't work an hourly position on Saturday mornings. And I can spend $1 on a pepper if I really want to.

Hunting (done legally) requires a license, which costs money. You also need a gun or a bow and arrows or a trap, all of which cost money. You need time. You need access to designated hunting grounds. If you're Sarah Palin, you need a helicopter. If you're Mark Zuckerberg, you might have your lambs for the slaughter delivered like lambs for the slaughter. Walk through any hunting store: I've been bowled over by the sheer cost of outfitting oneself to kill one's own food, at least here in the Midwest where the hunted animal is deer.

I hope he makes a big old fat donation, too, Genie. Great post.

Rita Arens authors Surrender Dorothy ( http://bit.ly/Qp0sS ) and is the editor of Sleep is for the Weak ( http://tinyurl.com/9pg62e ). She is BlogHer's assignment and syndication editor.

17 year old me would have joined in the ruckus. I cared more about celebrities at that age and I also didn't ever make the connection to live animals being killed for me to eat. Then I married my husband and now prepare venison and other meat. The deer meat lasts us until September/October each year, thus providing us with a healthier, leaner option than beef for 10-11 months out of the year.

Anyway, I believe the whole ruckus is more about his "celebrity status" and less about killing anything ever. I mean, let's be honest: If this was Tom from MySpace, no one would care. (And if you just said, "Who?" Well, you proved my point.)

Family Section Editor Jenna Hatfield (@FireMom ( http://twitter.com/FireMom )) blogs at Stop, Drop and Blog ( http://stopdropandblog.com ) and The Chronicles of Munchkin Land ( http://thechroniclesofmunchkinland.com ). She is a freelance writer and photographer.

But I don't get the uproar. As far as I'm concerned, Zuckerberg's just another famous guy with a new hobby. Two years ago, his equivalent project was wearing tie every day. A tie. Last year, he learned Mandarin, which at least is a little more challenging than donning an accessory. I'm glad the dude sets goals, but I fail to see anyone's getting exercised about the fact that he made chicken stock out of chicken feet. Regular people make stock like that every day...but an Internet mogul does it, and it's news?

Well said, Genie!

aka Honeybeast
Managing Editor, BlogHer