Is America going too far with everything and everyone becoming super sized? The portion sizes are considerably bigger in comparison to the portion sizes of the UK for example; I mean the difference in size must be more than double. In fact if you take Dale Bolinger, 43, from Florida, he’s taken the concept to the extreme by actually becoming a cannibal.
Bolinger, by day is a supermarket worker whose role is to process a customers shopping basket through the tills in order to pay the bills. Although, it will become apparent that he is now taking elements of the job home with him in order to support his super size meal lifestyle. In his normal Suburban home he has set up a catwalk style runway in which he’ll get models to parade up and down; he will then choose between the models and decide which one he wants to eat. The element of his job is brought through the form of having the models dress up in food he has collected from the store he works at.
The supermarket worker has grown up with good values, with the sense of right and wrong; yet he doesn't see that eating people is a wrong and immoral thing to do. I decided to delve deeper in to the world of Bolinger in order to gain a fuller understanding of his thoughts and reasons behind the way he lives his current life in comparison to the normal childhood he once lived. At first it would seem that he had a regular upbringing by his parents Gill and Robert Bolinger both aged 72 who also both now retired from their careers. His mother was a nurse whereas his father was an teacher in a local school near to where the family lived. It was only when he grew up that his life change in to the life he is currently living.
So I decided to call Mr Bolinger for an interview and he happily agreed to meet up with me at his place of work, Walmart. I waited in the staffroom for him to finish; when he came through the door he was full of smiles and happy to meet me; he looked like any other person who works at Walmart. Then I began to ask him questions about his life….
So Mr Bolinger what do feel about your upbringing, do you feel you had a normal childhood?
It was just the same as any of my friends the same age as me, in fact I feel I had a better childhood than what some children go through at a very small age. For example I have never experienced any violence or domestic abuse, and it’s quite sad to say that I’ve known friends be subject to this.
Would you call yourself a cannibal?
Well in a technical sense I would have to call myself a cannibal as I have in fact eaten the flesh of another human being which is what a cannibal is described as. However, I see what I do as a way of living and it’s just another meal, nothing more, nothing less; I don’t see the topic as something special or shocking.
Why wouldn't the topic be shocking! you are eating the flesh of a human!
Well it’s become natural to me and therefore it just seems a normal thing to do, whereas I can understand to outsiders that the act of eating human flesh would be quite unusual and quite frankly strange. But to me is it as normal as having a slice of toast in the morning or having a coffee which are seen as normal daily actions.
When did you start to become a cannibal?
I first started to become a cannibal about 5 years ago, so when I was around 38 I guess.
What was the reason for you becoming a cannibal?
I was thinking about my life in general as I was gradually getting closer to the big 4-0 and I thought to myself about what I have achieved in my life and all the missed out opportunities. Then I began to think about the future and it came to my attention that what would we do if our resources were to run out? What would we eat? How would we survive? We rely too heavily on animals to provide meat for us for our consumption, this is when I began looking for alternatives which is when I stumbled across the idea of becoming a cannibal.
We all know that resources are running low as the consumption per person is rising, however don't you feel that we should tackle this issue before we all turn into cannibals?
This problem if solved could also be seen as wrong in a sense, as for you to lower the consumption impact that humans have, the government would have to limit people on how many children they are allowed in order to lower the population and therefore lower consumption. China have been criticised for doing this exact thing, so imagine what up roar there would be if this was a worldwide situation. Also being a cannibal is an alternative to eating poor defenceless animals.
Why don't you become a vegetarian if you feel so strong about killing animals?
As much as I value animals and I don't necessarily want to eat human flesh but I feel it is important to have protein in your diet. I know you can live without having it in your diet but I feel you are healthier when you do get protein in your system.
Do you think you could ever stop?
It is possible but I’m used to this lifestyle now and I think it would be hard for me to change how I live; although if it was found that there was a better alternative I would be open to try it just like I have tried this lifestyle.
Thank you for meeting up with me Mr Bolinger and giving your time up, I hope you do find this alternative way of life for yourself.
Your welcome, I was happy to clear up any issues that have come to light through the media.
So the question to us all, what will the future hold for us in terms of what we will eat; will we become cannibals or will we seek another alternative? It has been interesting investigating the life of Mr Bolinger as it’s so far from normality and the general publics lifestyle. I wonder if this will become our way of living in the distant future but for now it is just the minority and in my opinion it should be kept this way.
