Yes. It is that time of year again. The time for the Plonkers to exit stage right.
So John has backed the Black Mariah up to the barn door and I have begun to get the pigs familiar with running down the pretend corridor and jumping up into the trailer – by putting their food in there. Then they get to know the trailer and load into the trailer without anxiety. So far I have never had an animal panic. And I don’t intend to have that happen either.
It is important at this point to note that these pigs were bred for the family freezers. If I did not grow my own meat I would not eat meat here. When I am not milking my cow I do not drink milk, I eat very little butter and no ice cream at all. Off the farm I don’t eat meat that I cannot trace. And now that GE salmon has been approved in America, fish is falling off the menu too, so when I am not in my own house, I am (quite happily) a vegetarian. I tell you this only so you will see why I have chosen to grow my own meat. As well as the factory conditions these animals live in, it is the feed that these animals are fed that I find shocking.
Every year I send animals off to the abbatoir and every year I get attacked by certain groups of people for growing animals for meat. But I have an open farm, you can visit anytime and see the conditions my animals live in. You can work here or I will show you around. I have nothing to be ashamed of. I grow meat and milk the way it should be grown. Gently with dignity.
If we were all asked to look our dinner in the eye, (which I do and many of The Fellowship do) we simply would not eat as much meat. We would treat our dinner with respect. (I know that sounds weird but that it is how it should be). But we would eat LESS. And THAT would solve a lot of problems. In many ways. There would be no need for feed-lots or enormous hog sheds. And our backyard vegetable farms would be big vibrant spaces again. Modern man eats too much meat.
Of course this is just my opinion.
Love celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
85 responses to “Stage Right”
You are so right.
I use a Local Butcher who sources his meat Localy. His meat is off a very good quality. His mince especially is good not bulked out with fat and other unmentionables. Draycottnear STOKE ON t
Some errors in the posting. Have just recenly returned from three weeks touring NZ. Main food eaten at Lunch time hot PIES from the local Bakers.
Oh how I miss PIES~~ and the bakeries!.. lucky you.. c
You often make me go to Mr Google to compare Australian and American conditions . . . workday or not, today no different! I have largely been living on kangaroo meat lately: no feedlots, lean meat which grows on the land like yours . . . yes, well – not all OK in that ‘paradise’ either. And we are getting more and more feedlots for cattle . . .tho’ they photograph ones which look way better than yours! GM salmon . . . being a doctor and nutritionist I firmly believe in salmon, sardines, mackerel etc at least 2-3 a week to avoid so many illnesses . . . but I know that even in the pristine waters off Tasmania all is not ‘kosher’ . . . . healthy pork for Yule for all of you will be wonderful . . .
Yes those oily fish are so good for you – c
I am fortunate enough to live in the Pacific Northwest, where the only salmon, steelhead and crab I eat are either ones me and my husband caught ourselves or our friends did. We also have a small local slaughter house, and buy our beef from a pasture-raised grass-fed cow from a local guy who only raises two cows at a time. My only conundrum now are the chickens and pigs. I haven’t found a source for the meat and.or eggs as of yet, but try to buy organic and humanely raised when I can. Other than that, one can only do what they can with the resources they have, and I’m afraid my family would never go the vegetarian route. But I have made much progress over the years in this area! Hugs to you Celi.
HUgs for you too ! c
We are very fortunate to have 3 small butcher shops within 50 miles -2 within 8. I also have a local farmr who raises pastured beef pork and chicken and I’m always invited to meet the meat. (Ummm, I think not-ha). I have my own chickens for eggs.
Right now my John has been in hospital 7 hrs from home for 1-1/2 weeks for a heart attack while hunting (not the vacation break I was thinking of-a hotel by myself, ha) and I’m amazed at the hospital food. There seems to be no concept of fresh and natural food at all. There seems to be an obsession with low fat, and margerine and no idea of the benefits of the good fats from naturally raised animals. They still have vending machines with soft drinks but they’re all diet. Apparently chemical sweeteners are ok. It truly boggles the mind!
You know my thoughts on those people, Celi. They’re not worth our time nor keystrokes.
My neighborhood suffered a big loss when our butcher closed shop about 2 months ago. He and his partner should have retired years ago but there was no one to apprentice and eventually take their place. It’s an unfortunate sign of the times here and, I imagine, elsewhere. The neighborhood butchers are disappearing, one by one. Time to find another and give him/her/them as much business as possible.
You are right Celi .. Modern man eats way too much meat. I know how much you care for your animals .. They are the lucky ones. Sadly those hog sheds are about money .. Horrid places. Hence I only eat free range pork and chicken .
I hate that you must justify yourself and your practices to anyone. I read your blog, in part, to soothe the scars of growing up on a feedlot farm, to know you as an farmer who treats all her animals with compassion. Butchering should be hard. It should be a prayer of thanks to the plonkers whose antics we’ve enjoyed. We get to see what clean, stimulating lives you give them, free from fear and suffering, and you tell us from the beginning that they are not pets, but livestock. Thank you, Celi.
And thank you Sandy Sue – you know more than us about these things.. you are right – if it was not hard we would not be the people we are.. c
We need to support and encourage famers like you to do what you do the way you do, and say so 🙂
It is easy to forget in this world where we can be very detached from where our food comes from that the animals and plants that we eat depend on us as much as we do on them. There is a truly reciprocal relationship at work here, and in this way when you do look your meals in the eye (and weed around them) I believe that you have actually earned your dinner.