My cousin is a monkey

As I semi-jokingly told my guest last night at dinner, I eat animals that don't have well developed brains. Thus I eat fish, but not cows, pigs, horses, or chickens. I want to give Nick Kristof kudos for the article (linked above) on animal rights. As usual, he serves as one of the consciences of the upper middle class. But, as someone who hasn't touched a burger in 25 years, I wonder why it's taken us this long to talk publicly about the cruelty of our slaughterhouses and farms-to admit it into a more conventional place in our public discourse. Yes, novelists have been writing about slaughterhouses for a long time. And yes, PETA certainly has been excellent about creating controversy. Whether that helps the cause or not is an open question. But the fact that folks like my ex are now considering whether to buy free-range chickens instead of the shrink wrapped ones at Genuardis? That's big. As for Kristof-I hope this is just the start of his journey on this particular issue-because once you let the reality of factory farms seep into your imagination, veggie burgers seem like a far more compassionate choice.