Mark Zuckerberg eating only what he kills

More from the Journal of Celebrity Affairs: Mark Zuckerberg, billionaire founder of Facebook, is getting a little primal.  His personal challenge this year is only eat meat from animals that he kills himself.  

Zuckerberg's new goal came to light, not surprisingly, on Facebook. On May 4, Zuckerberg posted a note to the 847 friends on his private page: "I just killed a pig and a goat."

And he's eating more nose-to-tail:

Zuckerberg and his longtime girlfriend, Priscilla, have been cooking what he slaughters, eating what many people would not dare consume. He recently ate a chicken, including the heart and liver, and used the feet to make stock. He posted a photo of the bird on his Facebook page, along with a list of the dishes he made from it.

Organ meats and chicken stock.

Here is part of Zuckerberg's explanation:

"This year, my personal challenge is around being thankful for the food I have to eat. I think many people forget that a living being has to die for you to eat meat, so my goal revolves around not letting myself forget that and being thankful for what I have. This year I've basically become a vegetarian since the only meat I'm eating is from animals I've killed myself. So far, this has been a good experience. I'm eating a lot healthier foods and I've learned a lot about sustainable farming and raising of animals.

I started thinking about this last year when I had a pig roast at my house. A bunch of people told me that even though they loved eating pork, they really didn't want to think about the fact that the pig used to be alive. That just seemed irresponsible to me. I don't have an issue with anything people choose to eat, but I do think they should take responsibility and be thankful for what they eat rather than trying to ignore where it came from."

What's next?

He's told people that he's interested in going hunting.

Here's the full article.

I really like this move.  Yes, it's moving him in a vegetarian direction -- I know, vegetarians are evil, blah, blah, blah.  But he's manning up and slaughtering animals himself, looking death square in the eye.  I like that A LOT.  

Over the long run, I think he'll start to eat meat that he didn't slaughter himself.  Other considerations will come to the fore.  Perhaps he'll decide that it's worth supporting farms that slaughter animals ethically, and help them get off the ground.  Or perhaps he'll realize that plants have a blood footprint too - birds and squirrels and little things that have died under the thresher.  Or that doing right by animals isn't just about the slaughter, it's also about raising and feeding an animal in the right way.  (Of course, the influence of his girlfriend is the wildcard.)

Either way, it's a great experiment, and I'm sure it's a rich phase of his of life.  Kudos to Zuckerberg.

Thanks to CJG for the pointer.