What's in your food?

One of the advantages of moving to the country is that I am closer to small independent farmers who can provide me with meat and dairy. And small independent farmers mean better food as far as I am concerned. Whenever I see Khaiti at her farm or watch her piggie videos on her facebook page (L.T.D. Farm ), I am amazed about how happy these pigs looks.

All her farm animals get so much care and attention. You can just tell they are thriving and able to express their inherent qualities be they pigs, ducks, turkeys or goats. I know whenever I get anything from Khaiti, I am eating compassionately and lovingly raised produce.

This month I got a little closer to my food than I usually do. I participated in my first animal harvest, two ducks and a turkey to be precise. I was more than a little apprehensive but managed to get it together for the big day. I figure if I am going to eat meat, I may as well see where it comes from.

Although I am not suggesting that everyone ought to go out there and butcher their own animals, I think that it is a good idea that everyone experience it at least once in their life. It really brings home the connection. Meat is not lifeless, inert packages wrapped in clingfilm in the chiller case. It is the product of living breathing creatures.



Khaiti was great and took us through the whole process. She was wonderful with the animals and so compassionate and kind at the final moment. Plucking and eviscerating was frankly very interesting. I never knew how easy it was to pluck a bird, and the innards were a wonder. I kept thinking we are just like that inside but bigger. Nothing was wasted. The dogs ate the innards, the feathers were composted and I made away with wonderful meat.




You're probably wondering "is it really that easy to take an animal's life for your own enjoyment?" Whilst I will admit that when I held that little ducky in my arms and felt its heart beating against my chest, I did have a "is this really the right thing to do?" moment. But a prayer of thanks and a quick cut and chop later, it ceased being duck and started being dinner.

That doesn't mean I didn't think about it as I lay in bed that night. When you feel the life force of the animal ebbing away, you can't help but be amazed at the strength of the reaction. This force that is within all of us is truly amazing. But we are all here for a purpous and this was its purpous in life after all. And since Khaiti raised the animals, I knew they had had a good life. It was up to me to honour that purpous as best I could by killing them humanely and not wasting any of their precious gift.



And we certainly didn't waste a gram of those beautiful birds! The turkey made excellent roast, shish kebabs and burgers, not to mention the best stock and soup I have ever tasted. The ducks made a roast and Chinese noodle soup broth. Everything tasted amazing.



And it tasted all the better, knowing that it didn't come from the industrial food mill where animals (and the people who work there) are treated like shit and live like shit only to be slaughtered in massive, cavernous processing plants. If everyone could boycott our industrial food system to the best of their abilities, the world would be a better place in so many ways.



I have vowed to follow Khaiti's example and eat vegan off the farm wherever possible. If I don't know what's in my food and how it got there, it ain't going in my belly. I am not going to be dogmatic about it, but I will try and minimise my dependence on industrial food wherever possible.


And yes, my Limey friends and family, that does mean I WILL be making an exception for Entrecote when I get to Europe- it is just too freakin good and I have been looking forward to decent food every since I moved to the states!!!!! One step at a time :)