“We talked about nothing in particular, but it felt like we were talking about the most important things...”

“Whether we're talking about fish species, pigs, or some other eaten animal, is such suffering the most important thing in the world? Obviously not. But that's not the question. Is it more important that sushi, bacon, or chicken nuggets? That's the question.”

“I didn't want to hear about death. It was all anyone talked about, even when no one was actually talking about it.”

“We need a better way to talk about eating animals. We need a way that brings meat to the center of public discussion in the same way it is often at the center of our plates. This doesn't require that we pretend we are going to have a collective agreement. However strong our intuitions are about what's right for us personally and even about what's right for others, we all know in advance that our positions will clash with those of our neighbors. What do we do with that most inevitable reality? Drop the conversation, or find a way to reframe it?”

“It's just that sometimes we make things up just to talk”

“We talked for hours, but we just kept repeating those same things over and over and over.”

“He shrugged his shoulders, like he had no idea what I was talking about. I loved that.”