This year we've raised geese, lost our guineas to predators and neighbors (accidentally?) and turned over our flock. By this I mean that we've put some in the freezer or found them new homes. There is an old saying that a good farmer friend told me, "On a farm, where there is life there is also death". It stuck pretty deep in my head and I am thankful of that on slaughter days. I don't always want to part with a good chicken, pig or other animal that has gained a special place in my heart. I have to remember the main reason that we ventured down this path into farming, to create our own food. I purchased or hatched that animal, fed it and raised it the best way I learned how to. Most importantly, I have given that animal the best life I could. In the end, it was the best life they could have hoped for, with a certain end.
It's funny how so many people think of animals being slaughtered and cringe. I have had relatives tell me that when they come to visit they are not eating here. I dismiss their ignorance. I think to myself, so they are going to go out to eat and dine on an animal that they have no idea how it was raised, cared for, or how it was slaughtered. They would never know how horrible that is in comparison. I won't drown this post in p.e.t.a. proverbs or the such. The truth of the matter though, is so disgusting I suggest you don't eat while you research my facts, heck- put your fork down now.
Chicken- from nugget to roaster- When you purchase this you are buying meat that has been hatched by the hundreds if not thousands. Chicken eggs take 18-24 days to hatch. Companies will chose a day in that period, and if a few dozen don't hatch 'on time', they are thrown in the trash; sometimes to hatch and die there. Within a day they are let loose in a very large, dark 'garage', but not before having the tip of their beaks clipped off. This outbuilding will house ten thousand chicken each, or more. There is only two steel doors and no windows. a few giant fans in the walls brings in the only fresh air these chickens will feel. Feeders (stuffed with feed that contains antibiotics and steriods) and Waterers hang from cables overhead, motorized to move when they are 6 weeks old. By that time, they have the bare minimum room allowed by law, a measly 4' x4'. Thats like 8 of us humans standing on a twin mattress. At 6 weeks old, the chickens meet the only humans they ever will, as they are grabbed by any part of their body, two or three in one hand, and stuffed into metal or plastic crates. They are shipped for miles until they reach their demise by machine. The meat is injected with a "water solution" that is compromised of mostly water, salt and chemicals to keep it fresh and looking larger, giving it more weight, and prettier until purchase. Then it is shipped again to your store, where it is put in a freezer until being putting out for sale. Most poultry on store shelves is at least 2 weeks old. Yum.
Beef- Any cut- Young calves and heifers are bulked up as much as allowed by the little there is of law in this. Steroids, additives, etc. are added to cheap feed. Sickly get auctioned off or sent to slaughter early, while the healthy live their lives mostly in cramped paddocks off grain alone. From slaughter to table=2-3 weeks. "Aged" beef (specialty cuts) can be much much longer.
Pork- any cuts- Sows are forced to birth as many piglets as possible, the piglets are taken as early as 4 weeks old and the runts are normally culled. They live their lives on feed bulked up with more additives, steroids and medicine, on concrete flooring in small fenced spaces, sometimes not even big enough to turn around in. Once they hit a certain weight, they are electrically prodded into trailers and shipped off to slaughter. Their waste? Hosed down into drains that a special 'tank' feeds sprayers with this stuff as fertilizer on their other crops in the field. Time from slaughter to table? about 2-4 weeks.
Those 'other' crops I mentioned? Think about that salad that sounded better to you at the beginning.
You don't need a farm or to be best friends with a farmer to eat something that sounds as great raising as it does to actually eat it. You can have the worst green thumb and still make a small contribution to your own food, or your childrens. All you must have is knowledge. Take time to read labels; they all must have certain information somewhere on the packaging. The place it came from, the ingredients (which if your buying poultry, for instance, should only have 1 ingredient- poultry). Proper handling instructions, and the company selling it. Look up that company! Does it have a good reputation? Pictures? facts? free tours? If you cannot drive to the company in a comfortable amount to time, is it still a good idea to buy food that has to get to you in the same amount of distance?
Having a close friend or farmer that raises your food in their backyard eliminates the guesswork. You see everything, from beginning to end, or close to it. That's why we started our own small version, for us and our friends and neighbors. We raise both meat and egg chickens, pigs, and lots and lots of fruits, veggies, herbs, flowers and nuts.
I want to apologize in advance if any pictures, wordings or the such has offended anyone. However- on the same note, if the truth hurts, we all have the power to change it. A small pebble thrown in a lake sends ripples in all directions- just like a small change by everyone would send waves.
In my next post I will give you a great idea that I use every year in my own garden. "How to make your own seed tape".
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