General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Hunting, just a bad idea to go after this as if it were evil. [View all]pipoman
(16,038 posts)approperate..LOL
We are all products of our life's experiences, let me introduce you to someone with completely different life's experiences than you...(apparently)
Born in a farming community on the plains in Nebraska in the mid-1960's, it was a wholesome setting, acres and acres of corn in the summertime, cattle grazing in pastures, farmers harvesting vast fields of grasses to feed their cattle herds through the winter. The corn used to feed people around the world. Some of the highest yields in the nation, home of more acres of corn to be used as seed the next year for farmers around the world than any other county on the planet.
A farmer, like the child's grandfather, could raise a family on the production from 180 acres. A flock of chickens produced enough beautiful brown eggs for the farmer, and the child's family. Every spring the farmer would allow 3 or 4 of his laying hens to brood a dozen or so eggs each. The child awaited the hatching of the chicks. They were so cute following their very protective mother around. As the chicks grew, it became apparent which were cockerels (immature roosters) and which were pullets (immature hens). At around 22 weeks the pullets would start laying eggs. The cockerels were big enough. The farmer would go out and evaluate the flock. He would pick the hens which have become older and their egg production had waned, the cockerels (because the flock only needs 1 or 2 roosters), and a few of the pullets to get the number of laying hens back down to a level of production of eggs that was needed and insure enough coop space for the flock. The family would have a butcher day starting in the morning after a good breakfast, grandpa would start a small fire and grandma would fill the scalding pot with water. The pot would go over the fire and the water would get very hot. Dad would get the first chicken and cut it's throat and hang it to bleed out, then the next and the next until all of the birds were hanging. Grandma would take each chicken and dip it in the now boiling water, then hand one to the child to pull the feathers off...everyone but grandma and mom pulled feathers. Grandma and mom ast at a table and cleaned the organ cavities of the birds, putting the liver, heart, and first stomach (gizzard) into one pan, and the rest of the internals into another, then carefully washing the carcass, and placing them into bags. Ater a while mom would start cleaning the gizzards, cutting the stomachs open and cleaning out the contents of gravel and crushed grain and peeling the membrane off the inside. At the end of the day, maybe 60 birds had been placed in the freezer to last until next year. The old hens were marked for soup and a more delicious and flavorful soup just can't be made using store bought 12 week old chickens, the broth is deep yellow, the farm fresh noodles made with the day old eggs makes a dish which makes you glad you butchered chickens in the fall.
Late winter was calving season, the calves run and play in the late winter sunlight. Out of a herd of 40 or 50 cows one or two don't make it through the birthing process. Feeding the orphans from a bottle every morning and evening the child gets to know the orphans. Carrying them food and watering them every day for a year and a half the child knows the animals. One day the grandpa is ready to castrate the young bulls making them steers. A steer will develop better meat marbling and grow to a heavier weight quicker than a young bull will. After a year and a half it is time to take the animals to market as slaughter cattle some steers, some old cows which are no longer productive mothers. Grandpa takes 2 of the orphan steers to the local processing butcher. Grandpa and the child's family have meat in the freezer. The sirloins are like none other, as tender as a rib eye.
December is deer season. Grandpa has identified around 8 deer on his small farm. He knows this is too many because it will result in 14 next spring. We buy the tags from the state to kill 4 deer, bringing the population to a manageable size. Some years there are only 3 deer, on those years grandpa listens for some other farmer neighbor who has too many deer and we cull his population. Either way, after deer season everyone has deer in the freezer. If we harvest more than we can use in a year, we take some to the food bank, or give it to neighbors who will eat it. This has been the process for over a hundred years. Deer populations have never been healthier, and disease from over population never been less.
This is the reality of food production around the world, since the beginning of time. Well over 90% of the world's population eat meat as a staple in their diet. The meat in the grocery store was once, not too long ago, a living, breathing creature.
This is my story. I have always known where my meat comes from, even when I buy it in the store, so do my children. We don't waste meat because we know where it came from. Others take their trip to the store completely for granted...or worse, they think they are somehow more humane by buying their meat at the store rather than producing it themselves...it would be laughable if not so sad.