Wilbur

Imagine walking into your boyfriend's graduation party ... you're excited because he's worked so hard for this, and everyone is there - including his parents, brother, and all his friends who live in the area. And everyone is saying hello and giving him their congratulations, and you look to where everyone is staring ...

Front and center is an entire, 55 lb, pig, spinning around on a metal spit over a pit of coals.

I have to say it was a bit like a train wreck - I just couldn't look away. And I didn't have the reaction I expected either. I thought I would look at it and think, yummy! But instead I was feeling for that animal (nicknamed Wilbur) and thinking about how he died.

I've long since been of the mindset that we were meant to eat meat. I back this up with my degree in genetics. And common sense - look at our teeth, lettuce is not meant to be our primary source of nutrition. Additionally, there are certain proteins our bodies require that we can only get from eating flesh. But I digress.

Being the good Texan omnivore that I am, I've always enjoyed salad and steak. But this past weekend, I felt a little understanding for the vegetarian's plight. It is a little distressing watching the animal you are about to eat roast for ten hours. It makes it very real that something had to die for you to be fed.

All that being said, after my shock wore off, and Wilbur was ready to be eaten, I chowed down. And he was delicious. Definitely worth the effort. Everyone else thought so too - there was very little leftover. However, I didn't take any pictures of the pig on the spit - I thought I'd spare y'all that reaction.

So, I learned that I love meat, but I don't want to be a part of the killing process.

And I'd prefer it to be cut up into small pieces before I eat it. Like, I don't want to say to myself, "Wow Wilbur's hind quarter is really tasty!".

Stu's graduation party was a blast, and the ceremony was great too. Here is a picture of us next to his project.