Ethology

Ethology is the study of natural animal behavior. I have been thinking about it quite a bit lately, in terms of not just animal behavior but human behavior as well.

I seek out grassfed meats because it allows the animals to live according to their natural behaviors. When raised in an ideal manner, grassfed animals, especially bison, are basically undomesticated and almost living as they would without human oversight.

When they are able to live according to their natural behaviors, it actually nourishes and improves the soil, unlike commercial farming. People like to think that by going to a vegetarian diet, it will be better for the environment. But it is actually natural herds of animals that improve the soil. Tilling soil for agriculture does not enrich it like the natural behaviors of herding animals.

In the same token, I wish that humans too could be allowed to live according to our natural behavior. We are not meant to sit at a desk and type all day! I think there are natural human instincts that we have rejected, and I do not know if that is healthy for us or the earth.

I believe that male humans up until very recently, had a natural behavior to hunt in a group. For 170,000 years or so prior to agriculture, males would hunt in a group in order to take down the megafauna such as mastodons to feed the tribe.

And I think that is was, until recently, natural behavior for female humans to tend to children, elderly, sick or injured members of the tribe, and craft housing, clothing, and prepare foods.

I want to understand more about the human behavior of killing animals for survival, and why it seems like it would be very difficult for me to do personally. I have started reading "Meat Eater: Adventures from the Life of an American Hunter" and "The Ethical Carnivore: My Year Killing to Eat." I have also read multiple books on slaughtering and butchering. Currently, I am reading "Butchering Poultry, Rabbit, Lamb Goat, and Pork." A while back I read "The Vegetarian Myth," and articles by Temple Grandin on slaughter.

In the movie "Tracks," a true story about a young woman who walked across Australia with camels, there is a scene where she is going to butcher a kangaroo for food. But her Aboriginal male companion stops her, explaining that it is for men to do that, not women. Is that sexist, or is it natural human behavior and the natural division of labor?

Way back in my 20s, I was vegan for about 7 years, so I have always had that concern for animals. I still acknowledge my own natural behavior to want to care for animals, not kill them. But I also must acknowledge my own health, and the health and sustainability of the environment. Cargo ships and trucks running on petroleum to bring us coconuts and avocados does not seem environmentally sustainable. But raising grassfed local lamb is sustainable and provides a livelihood for the families of the farmers who I have come to know. So these are all things to consider.

I will continue to study and research and try to find out what works best for me. For now, it seems, zero carb keto is working best for my health. In fact, my bodyfat and weight have gone back down to normal now, after a short experiment with coconut. So it definitely seems that for now my body still functions best on meat and fat!

Grassfed beef brisket with sea salt