Having the farm has been a thoughtful experience. By that I mean, I have given thought to concepts, ideas, and problems that I never really considered before embarking on this journey.  Hence the meat question.

For awhile, in my younger days, I was a vegetarian. Not because I didn’t want to eat animals so much as because meat made me feel sick after I ate it. I think I went without eating meat for about a year. Then I began to eat it again, though not often and usually just chicken.

In all honesty, I had never really given much thought to where the meat I bought at the store or at a restaurant came from. Sure, I knew when I picked up a pack of ground beef it was from a cow, and yet, somehow…it wasn’t really. And eggs- forget it. Never gave a thought to where those eggs came from- or rather, how those hens were raised.

In the past few years, I have come to see that many, many people never think about where the meat they eat comes from. I will talk with people about our animals and they say how it’s so nice and cute. Mention eating those animals though and the reaction changes to…ewww!!!!! Gross! I’m not placing blame- I understand. I do.  I think that we, as a society, are so far removed from our food sources that we no longer think about what we eat and where the food comes from- especially meat.  I wonder sometimes how many people in a restaurant would order that burger if the waiter paraded a cow by the dinner table first!

Back to my dilemma- meat or no meat? Currently, we eat meat. But not so often, and the more animals we get, the less we eat. We bought some baby chicks not long after moving here. We planned to have eggs, and eat the roosters…we did in fact eat a few of the chickens. The meat was fine- very different from “store” chicken though. However, we felt bad- the chickens were our friends. No, we hadn’t named them (those with names are still roaming around the yard!), but still…

Then came the pigs…in case you were unaware, a pig is a heck of a lot like a dog. They love to be scratched- and will lay down and show their belly. They come when called. They squeal when they see you coming. They play. They love to dig…

Somewhere along the way, in our research on farming, best practices, animal husbandry and the like, we stumbled upon the factory farm. If you’re unfamiliar with factory farms, go Google the term. Go ahead, I’ll wait…..

Nasty business. Of course, you must consider the source of the information. Of course. So try to find an unbiased site. There are some. What you’ll find on these sites should make you think twice about the meat question- not only because of how the animals are treated, but also for what these farms to do the environment.

What to do…this is a question I ask myself often. We raise our animals in the best possible conditions. They are treated with respect, well fed (the antibiotic laced feed is a post I’ll write soon…), have full access to the outdoors, raised on pasture…you get the idea. We have decided, if we cannot eat the meat that we raise or that is locally raised by a family farm, then we will not eat meat at all.

So, that leads me to the vegetarian problem…no animals mistreated there right? Well, yes…and no. I read an editorial a few months ago in MEN (Mother Earth News) that made me think…the author pointed out that vegetable farms displace animals too- the deer, rabbits, birds and such that would have been living there. I’d never thought much about it, but it’s true. Additionally, farming crops is often harsh on the environment- excess pesticides and fertilizers….and don’t forget about the often poorly paid workers that that pick those veggies. Then there’s the diary industry…I’ll write a whole post on that soon!

Ugh…the whole thing can depress me. What we’ve decided is to try to grow most of our own- what we can’t grow, we’d like to buy from local farmers- people we can meet at farmer’s markets and roadside stands. We “U-pick” often too- the kids like to go and pick and we know where the food comes from. It’s the best we can do for now.