And What About Meat?

My immediate family is not vegetarian; we usually eat meat at one or two meals a day, and only have a meat-free meal one day a week or so. These meet-free meals are not conscious choices, they just happen. Lately I have been forced to contemplate the impact of our meat eating choices. There simply has been way too much chatter out there in the universe regarding not only the ethical aspect of eating meat, but also the environmental aspect.

First, some background on me. I grew up on a farm where, during various points in time, we raised chickens, beef cattle, and hogs. This was a very small operation, as farming was my dad's "hobby," but still we had 100 hogs all throughout high school, and as a junior high student I frequently had 25ish hens for egg laying.

Our neighbors, however, were all full time farmers, eking out a living from the land. One neighbor had a dairy farm. Another neighbor had a decent poultry flock, selling eggs at farmers market as well as butchered chickens, turkeys, geese, and ducks - which I frequently helped kill and clean. So, I am intimately familiar with the small, Mom & Pop method of raising animals.

But the small farm operation is becoming a rarity. Large "livestock mills" are taking over our livestock production. Computers are making it easier to automate feeding, milking, cleaning, butchering and virtually everything related to taking care of and processing animals. My "reality" of farm life is really an outdated mode. (which says a lot about my age as well as the development of our food chain!)

I am forced to rethink my values. My knowledge of what happens in the large farms is really unknown. Yes, I have seen documentaries, and heard stories. But really, that is all second hand. I do not *know* how these animals are treated and raised. And this is beginning to bother me. On many levels.

I do care about how the animals are treated. I do not expect livestock to be catered to like a family pet, yet I do expect the food I eat to have been treated with respect and care ... like all our animals were on the family farm. We named some, simply because you notice personalities after taking care of them every day for months in a row.

When one was acting "different" I took the time to see if it was sick, which in hind sight, sick animals were really rare on the family farm. But they were kept clean, and fed and watered almost individually. They were able to roam outside, and come inside for shelter if the weather was cold, wet, or hot. They were able to eat grass, bugs, or whatever their "natural" diet should be. Granted we fed them grain (a whole 'nother topic of discussion) and other supplements, but they were allowed, heck - encouraged - to eat on their own too.

So, now I am looking at the rows and rows of meat in my local grocery store, and I am becoming more and more turned off. Where did this stuff come from? What kind of life did it have? And how much of the animal was cast aside as "by-product" because we Americans only eat the prime cuts of meat. Lets not even get into the carbon footprint of raising these animals, because that is a big issue I am dealing with too. Large farms concentrate waste in small areas. Sigh.

I do like meat, and I cannot imagine changing that part of my diet right now. And, what would that do to our economy too? If a large sum of people stopped consuming meat, what happens to our farmers that are part of that food chain? I have thought of only buying local meat, from farmers I know and trust. And using the entire animal. But what IS the entire animal? Do I make headcheese from a pig? Do I pickle heart and tongue? (Well, I actually do like that, but liver, blech!!)

Anyway, I am just contemplating how I am going to rectify my dietary concerns with my ethical concerns. It is a big issue to contemplate and come up with an appropriate response, one that I feel comfortable with. Because right now, I do not have a good answer.