12/02/2024
This is incredibly written and explains exactly why we choose to raise, care for and process our own food. Snowy River Farms 🫶🏽🌱
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/15g6PDed6k/?mibextid=WC7FNe
It's hard for many people to understand how someone could raise an animal, love that animal, and then take its life. But I feel that it is really important to participate in this difficult part if I am going to consume meat.
Because buying a steak from the grocery store doesn't change the fact that the animal had a face, a personality, and deserved love and respect throughout its life - it just makes it easier to pretend that you are not participating in an industry that is demonized for not putting in enough time and care while also being forced to do so cheaper. It's easier to think of it as a steak, or a roast, or a chunk of ground meat rather than a cow.
I know that many people will say "well, I just don't need to see how the sausage is made" but I would disagree. We have come to a place where not seeing how the sausage is made means that we can ignore all of the time, money, and heart that is put into the growing and butchering of meat for your table.
This weekend we processed Baxter.
I was there when he was born, I have scratched his neck, moved him from pasture to pasture, hand milked his mother while he nursed and fed him apples and swiss chard. On Sunday he ate carrots and turnip and then he was gone. He had a life that knew no fear and no stress and that is exactly what I want as an omnivore for my food.
It's hard because you know his name and because you saw him grow up but he is no different from the packaged meat in the grocery store. They all have a face and a personality and deserve kindness while they are in our care.
This isn't me trying to stop people from eating meat (and if you don't eat meat this obviously is not a post directed at you) but it is me trying to slow down this idea that our food is supposed to be cheap. That's not actually what you want when you stop to think about what cheap livestock production means. It's just what you want when the cashier tells you your total.
It's difficult to afford a lot of necessities these days, life has gotten very expensive and we feel that here as well. But paying food producers less will only lead to our world having less food producers.
And I think food is pretty important.
