Asalam Alaikum,
Yesterday was the 2nd anniversary of my reversion to Islam, and also of my Nikah(Islamic marriage). It was the first time that I have actually seen the goat involved in the Sacrifice, and the experience was not anything like I had been expecting.
In America many people have never seen the cow that their steak came from, nor seen how it got to their plate. Food is a very sterile and distant thing, it comes from the grocery store on a little white saran wrapped tray. On Eid I saw the living goat, I touched him, and I saw how he got to my plate. I thought that I would be grossed out or something, but I was not. It did give me more respect and appreciation for my food, and I think that because of that my food tastes better.
As a side note, I think that if every person had this experience maybe we would all be a little healthier. I mean think about it, 100 years ago the way we got food in America was different, and portion size was smaller as well. Anybody else think there might be a connection?