And yes, by “food” I am talking MEAT *gasp*
A recent conversation and a few odd FB chats are the reason for this post.
I am an Omnivore, I love my veggies and I’ll happily scarf down a medium rare steak or a rack of BBQ ribs right off the grill. I’m not ashamed of this, I don’t feel bad about it. It’s nature and I’m pretty happy with my lofty position on the food chain.
To the Vegans & Vegetarians out there…. I happily salute you & respect your choices. There are immense benefits to a proper vegetarian/vegan diet and in all honesty some of my favorite veggie dishes are recipes I got from my vegetarian friends. I don’t think your choice is wrong, unhealthy ect. ect.
You do your thing, I’ll do mine.
Anywho, on to a snippet from one of these annoying conversations.
While looking over some FB pictures of the goats, this person, we shall dub her “Lady B”, asked “Where are the two black baby goats you have pictured on FB?”
Those would be Tootsie's twin bucklings born in December who went on to "Freezer Camp". I did not need to retain a buck for future breeding purposes & neither one of them had the qualities to make them an asset as a herd sire for another herd….. So I explained that we grew them up for food and they are now in the freezer.
My Gosh!! The shock, outrage and hysterics that followed such a simple statement were ridiculous.
“How dare you?!?!”
“How could you?!!??”
“That is so cruel, disgusting and inhumane!”
“Why don’t you just BUY meat from the store?!?!“
Yaddia Yaddia Ya…you get the idea on how this conversation progressed.
The funny part of this tirade is my dear Lady B is a meat eater just like me. I’ve seen her eat meat, she’ll happily order fajitas at a Mexican restaurant & I know she loves her fish, steaks, bacon & sausage just as much as I do!!
So why did her ridiculous outburst annoy me so? Well because of the ignorant hypocrisy! If a vegan or a vegetarian wants to rage against me on this, I RESPECT that because they at least live by their convictions, they don’t consume meat. When a fellow omnivore wants to have a hissy fit though, it’s not an argument I respect, they simply look like fools in my eyes.
I tell these people to take a tour of a feed lot or slaughter house. In most cases you see stressed animals unloading from trailers, bewildered by the sounds.....the horrifying smells and the fear is immense. Conditions are generally cramped, pens are full of feces and who knows how these animals were raised.
Yep, this misery and less than ideal conditions is where your burger came from. Just because you CHOOSE not to acknowledge the process doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. By chowing down on commercially prepared meat, you fund & support those practices.
Then there is the meat quality itself. Do you know how that animal lived? What it ate? What medications it was given? No, of course you don’t….Yes there are “regulations” in place for food safety, but I have very little confidence in such regulations and acknowledge there is always room for human error. If you really want something to be outraged and disgusted about check out Pink Slime & Meat Glue **Gag!**
In contrast, lets take a look at my twin bucks that are sitting in my freezer. They played in an open, clean pen. Nursed their mother right up until the end, even though they didn’t HAVE to. They ate fresh hay, alfalfa pellets and a whole grain mixture that was whole oats, black oil sunflower seed, barley and a bit of cracked corn. No antibiotics, hormones or chemicals were used on them past their early deworming that was done 6 weeks prior to butchering. They were never packed into a trailer full of unfamiliar animals & smells…they never had to step foot on a dirty, cramped feed lot & never had to hear the sounds or smell the smells of a slaughter house.
They had a great life and only one, very brief, instant “bad” moment. This moment was one they didn’t even have time to think about. One moment they were head down, blissed out by the unexpected bucket of their favorite goodies, the next it was over. An instant, pain free, respectable demise. A good worry free, spoiled life and a quick, pain free end… I don’t see any way I could have offered them more.
Do I like this part of life? Do I enjoy it?? Of course not…… In fact I still haven’t worked up the courage to do the deed myself, but I do find this alternative a far better option.
We’ve raised meat rabbits & goats. Both make fine, healthy additions to the dinner table (or in the case of the rabbits, they were part of my Dane‘s RAW diet). I’m not ashamed of it.
In fact, my ultimate goal is to raise all of my family’s meat. Any bucklings from next year’s kid crop that are not claimed as bottle babies by 2 weeks old will be wethered and are freezer camp bound & we’re hoping to raise a few turkeys for the freezer as well......Beef is still not an option for us to raise ourselves, no room for a cow, but I do hope to go in ½ on beef or perhaps trade for some farm raised beef.
My children were not present for the processing of the animals. But they are well aware of what they eat and I tell them which animals are destined for the table well in advance. They realize and understand what animals are "pets" and which ones are not. Equally, they understand all the animals, despite their purpose are to be treated humanely.
Some think this is awful. I on the other hand refuse to raise my children in ignorance. I want them to appreciate where their food comes from. I want them to understand the work involved. I want them to understand that compassion, even for those destined for the table is essential.
So, to those who consume meat, but want to rage against my choice to raise my own. Think hard on this. Until you consume not an ounce of flesh from another living creature, your railing against me is nothing more than the highest form of hypocrisy.
On a lighter, kind of funny, but sad note…. Chatting about the chickens with another acquaintance, the topic of eggs came up. A few snippets from that one are below:
“You don’t want to consume brown eggs, they are contaminated with a bacteria that causes the shell to turn brown.”
“Those eggs are not healthy as they haven’t been pasteurized and they could have salmonella!”
“No, thank you, I only get my eggs from THE STORE!…Don’t you know the eggs from your chickens come out of their BUTT?!?!
-Really, and the eggs from the stores come from where? The egg fairy?!? Geez….
Oh and I had to inform her that eggs are not “pooped out”, the explanation of where all eggs come from grossed her out even more (How sad is it that an adult is ignorant of basic biology?!)… lol
Actual farm fresh egg facts can be found at the bottom of this blog post.
I guess I wouldn’t be so shocked at statements like the ones listed in this blog post if they came from uneducated, clueless about everything people…But these insanities are spouted from highly educated mouths and the complete detachment many have from their food supply is quite sad.
