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“Because we do watch,” wrote Klinkenborg. “That’s part of the job. It’s how we come to understand what the meat itself means. And to me, the word ‘meat’ is at the root of the contradictory feelings the pig-killing raises. You can add all the extra value you want—raising heritage breed pigs on pasture with organic grain, all of which we do—and yet somehow the fact that we are doing this for meat, some of which we keep, most of which we trade or sell, makes the whole thing sound like a bad bargain. And yet compared with the bargain most Americans make when they buy pork in the supermarket, this is beauty itself.”
Then he got an e-mail from a concerned functionary at the Illinois Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Meat and Poultry Compliance asking some very pointed questions about his plans and referring him to the state Meat and Poultry Inspection Act, which forbids the sale of meat that doesn’t come from a USDA-licensed slaughterhouse. Cuevas told the woman the dinner had been cancelled, but planned to go ahead with it anyway.
