For years now, I’ve wanted to regain contact with the food I eat and feed my family. Gardening has been part of my lifestyle for a long time, so the transition to producing our own meat has been the next natural step.
“Getting in touch” with my food sounds nostalgic and homey. However, the reality of that endevour can seem harsh, especially to those who are far removed from coming to terms with where food actually comes from.
About three months ago, we purchased our first meat bird chicks, White Rocks. My 19 White Rocks have had 11 weeks of sunshine, non-GMO food, opportunities to forage and be with other farm animals, not to mention be loved on by my children. Although every one knew that these chickens weren’t going to be here as long as some of the other farm animals, they were always treated with love and respect.
From the beginning, they were being raised as food for our family, everyone knew that. Yet, on the eve of our first time processing, I found myself with a bit of an upset stomach. I didn’t sleep well and began to dread the trip.
Even though I had worked hard to provide excellent quality meat for my family, the entire project came into question in my mind again. Did I really want to be one taking the lives of these birds? Did I really want to do this at all?
As I packed the birds up to take on their “last trip”, I kept my “business” frame of mind. After all, that’s what these birds are raised for. They will never live a long life, regardless of my involvement, they aren’t designed to.
That said, I needed to repeat the logic behind this process to myself. Perhaps the thought process would be helpful for some of you who struggle with the whole life/death thing with raising your own meat.
As I see it, when it comes to consuming meat, you have 4 choices, they are as follows:
#1 -Be a Vegetarian
Enough said. If you’re a vegetarian, you don’t need to deal with how to acquire meat because you don’t eat it. This is a viable option for some and there’s nothing at all wrong with it. I was a vegetarian for 6 years. Problem was that it didn’t agree with my body and I was sicker than ever before at the end of the six years. I needed to reinstate meat into my diet.
When asked if he had ever considered becoming a vegetarian, Joel Salatin replied:
“Never crossed my mind,” he says. The problem that’s leading the “animals-are-people movement”, as he refers to it, is two-fold, in his view. First: “The industrial food system is so cruel and so horrific in its treatment of animals. It never asks the question: ‘Should a pig be allowed to express its pig-ness?’ And the second thing of course is the urbanisation of the world, to the point where people are not now connected to their ecological umbilical, so that the only connection anyone has to an animal is a pet cat or a pet dog. And that really gives you a very jaundiced view of cycles of life – death, regeneration.” Source
#2 – Close Your Eyes and Buy What’s at the Supermarket
Again, this is another viable option, I did this for years as well. I’m not saying that this is a recommended option, but an option nonetheless. You can ignore not only the abuse of animals in “Big Farming” but also turn your head to the link between dirty factories and food-borne disease.
“Food, Inc suggests some shocking links between big government and big business in the food industry, along with some appalling statistics. For instance, in the 1970s, the top five beef packers controlled 25% of the market; now the top four control more than 80% – meaning that if ever meat is tainted by bacteria or chemicals it has the potential to reach vast numbers of people; in 1972, 50,000 food safety inspections were conducted by the US Food and Drug Administration, and three decades later that number had gone down to 9,164; 70% of all processed foods have some genetically modified ingredient; in 2007, E coli from food affected 73,000 Americans – something the film correlates directly with the increase in consumption of processed foods and the scale and cleanliness of the country’s huge industrial slaughterhouses. But beyond the statistics, the sheer sight of carcasses being dunked in ammonia, endlessly and mechanically, would make any meat eater want to stop eating meat. The very banality of it – the fact that we could, the filmmakers suggest, change the world with every bite yet somehow refuse to – is horrifying.“
#3 – Support the Organic Farmer
Here’s a good option and again, I did this for years as well. Farmers work much harder than you’ll ever know, unless you become one. I’ve often wondered over the last 11 weeks of raising our first batch of meat birds why chicken doesn’t cost $20 per pound!! Just trying to keep these birds alive and safe from predators should earn $100K per year!
Supporting organic farming practices, whether you purchase organic at the grocery store or have a connection with a local farmer you trust, this is a good option for many.
#4 – Grow Your Own
This is your final option for meat consumption. You know, I think given the space to do it in, that many people would consider raising their own meat….except for the “processing” part. No one likes that.
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I’m quite sure that “processing” animals for meat never becomes a pleasant task. However, for those who want to see their own food being raised as well as be assured that they were fed and treated well, it’s a hurdle that must be overcome.
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Great post Kelly.
With the exception of being vegetarian I too have tried all three options. Between Food Inc and Fresh the Movie (neither of which I’ve seen entirely) it got to the point where I could no longer turn a blind eye. We too just finished harvesting our first 15 meat birds. My husband did most of the work, I just removed final feathers, washed well and bagged but there is a small sense of “is this right” that floated around for the first few birds.
I likened it to harvesting a deer. It has lived a life God intended it to live and will now now nourish my family which I am thankful for.
I agree with you! I feel like if I am eating meat, I should be raising it myself. We do support our local farmers on occasion by buying meat from them, but it is quite a bit more expensive than what we are able to budget for. So, instead we eat a lot of beans
I’m not entirely sure that I could process animals that we raised for meat, and that is where it gets cloudy for me. We have a lovely place to bring animals to be butchered, but I feel like if I am going to eat it, I should really be aware of all the steps, not just the cute ones up front or the cooking of said animals. I’m just not there yet! Instead, we are raising chickens for eggs. Our ladies are happy, and we are getting a good source of quality protein…without any bloodshed 
Some folks argue the true sustainability of raising broiler chickens with the dependency on hatcheries, feed mills, and for some folks a processor. We raise our broilers on pasture and push them to forage as much as possible, reducing our feed costs. We process our birds ourselves which frankly isn’t hard at all when you know that this is your primary if not only source of meat. The best way to get accustomed to the “process” is to go to a farm that does their own processing and help out. It’s great that someone raises their own animals for meat, but how connected to the meat is that person if someone else is doing the “dirty work”?
Have you considered butchering them yourself instead of taking them to be processed? I have been butchering my own chickens and feel that it something that everyone should attempt at least once. You know that the bird dies before it knows that there is something really wrong going on here. I also know that the processing is clean from start to finish. It is an incomparable feeling to know that you can do this yourself.
I know that not everyone will choose to do this, but you may be surprised at how much more confident and self reliant you feel after processing your own chickens.
Lisa and Daniel,
I’ll respond to both of you since your points were similar.
I guess I could have gone more into the story in the post, but it was my intention from the beginning to butcher the meat birds myself. I watched a number of videos and felt ready (mentally) to do it. I also didn’t want to pay the processing fee and take away a good chunk of my savings.
However, the time and equipment just wasn’t coming together. I just couldn’t find an entire day to dedicate to it no matter how hard I tried this time.
The farm I took the birds to let me watch the entire process and frankly, it was about what I expected. I feel more prepared to butcher my next batch of meat birds, due here in a couple of weeks.
I agree that doing the butchering yourself is a HUGE part of the “getting in touch” and brings closure to the entire experience. Hiding from that part was not my intention. Actually, I firming believe that before you raise animals for meat, that you make a decision to process your own, whenever possible.
Daniel, I would agree that dependence upon the hatchery is something I want to move away from. My birds forage most of the day and eat our kitchen scraps, then we supplement with feed. Although when I talk to “old timers” about raising chickens, much of the time feed wasn’t an option, yet they say the chickens laid just fine. I would like to know more about that, in keeping with healthy birds.
Thanks for calling me on this Lisa and Daniel!
I completely understand! I hope I didn’t sound arrogant when I asked…not my intention at all. But going back and reading my comment, I’m afraid it sounded that way.
I question my own ‘sustainability’ with all of the feed we go through here. On just one acre, it is hard to raise grain to feed the chickens.They do have a large pasture with more grass than they can eat, and they get kitchen scraps too, as well as any bolting lettuce, etc from the garden. But feed is a big expense. Also, I have to buy the day old chicks vaccinated against Merick’s disease…since that is a problem in my flock. So are we sustainable?…no. But I hope to be much less reliant on outside help when we can move to a larger place. I am also interested in finding ways to feed less bought in grain. Maybe a good subject for me to research and post about
I think it is great that you stayed and watched the processing from beginning to end. Some folks ship them off to a factory and pick them up in wrappers…ready to pop in the freezer. So kudos to you for sticking around and turning it into a learning experience!
Great post. The closer I get to the life/death process, the more I struggle with the choice. But I personally don’t feel like going vegetarian would be an answer for me, since there is a huge life/death circle there too. I know there are “retirement” homes for older laying hens in urban areas, but that’s not sustainable. And on the dairy end of things, male dairy animals really have no use, nor do the aging milk animals. Which leaves veganism, and I just don’t think I could keep up the full workload of staying balanced nutritionally (or if it’s even possible to do so).
One of our city friends is learning vicariously about where his meat comes from, and so he picked out a few of the meat chicks from our last order. This past weekend, he helped process a few of them and was really fighting his emotions, and where he wanted to go next with his food choices. His first thought was to not eat the “smarter” animals like cows and pigs, but I told him…some of our chickens are pretty darn smart, and have great personalities. Where do you draw the line?
Almost daily, I struggle with the choice to take another animals life in order to sustain my own, but I like knowing that they were running around happily, eating organic food scraps and feeling the sun on their backs until that day. And there is no other way to guarantee that life, than to raise them yourself.
We just butchered our first two pigs. they were such sweet and wonderful pigs and I feel like we (the pigs and my family) can be grateful to have each other. They had a great 6 months where they got to root and be pigs and I got healthy meat to feed my family. I like knowing that my pigs had never once for a minute felt fear. They only knew the world and people to be good and kind and that meant a lot to me to know that they were healthy HAPPY pigs. I did not allow myself or my three little girls to be sad about it…(sniff, sniff!) I know it will get easier with time!!! I’m looking forward to raising my girls with a healthy relationship towards food and animals.