11/25/2025
Economics and feeding the masses actually precludes raising animals as portrayed here. It will take a major shift in government funding for big ag to change their ways.
Every dollar spent supporting smaller farms who raise their animals humanely, is a vote for change in the system. Go to a farmers market, support local ranchers by buying locally raised meat, join an egg & dairy co-op, learn to hunt. There are many options for clean food!
Someone in a homestead group was arguing that we shouldn't consider "emotion" in livestock raising. This over a personal post about a cow I love dearly.
I believe you shouldn't raise livestock at all if you don't have emotions about it.
What sets you apart from a Concentrated Food Operation (CAFO) if you have no care for the beings that you are responsible for? If you have no concern for their own well being or living conditions? Is "a little better" enough or are we doing our best to put their needs over our personal wants?
I have met a certain Mr Salatin several times through my homestead learning journey. We heard him recite this poem for the first time. He had written it on his flight into an event we attended many years ago. At the time I was still "star struck" with those pesky blinders that we sometimes have for those we look up to. For many reasons, I'm no longer a super fan like a lot of people are. I will say, he is a great speaker, & influencer. Hearing him read this, was very cool. I share it every Thanksgiving season because it does matter.
Any time I am harvesting a life we raised, I reflect on all the things I've done wrong, as well as right. I am always challenging my thoughts so I continue to learn & to do better each new season.
We vote with our dollars. Purchasing sad meat, creates a demand for more sad meat. A living animal deserves a good life & will provide a longer one for your own family in return. That sad meat is not healthy for you, for the animal involved, for the economy or for our soils. It all matters.
Instead of arguing politics or religion at this year's gathering, let's reflect on our own personal roles in a world we share with so many amazingly different, flawed but beautiful humans. Placing blame on one side, one person, one way of thinking, one way of living is so much easier than looking in the mirror & acknowledging that any change starts with the one person you do have control over & that's you.
I hope everyone has a wonderful, healthy Thanksgiving this coming week. may you take a moment to honor the nourishment of the beast you feast on.
Here's a picture of my beautiful Holland Whites living their best life.
Poem by Joel, written 10/23/17
TURKEY
Does it matter? Do we care
About that turkey lying there
Oven roasted and golden brown
Stuffed and dressed in festive gown?
As we prepare to sit and celebrate
Should we not properly contemplate
How this turkey had a life
Before being placed on fork and knife?
Did this creature live in one big crowd
Or dance in pasture under fluffy cloud?
Did he breathe in daily f***l pall?
Does any of this matter, at all?
Do we desecrate this sacred sacrifice
If the turkey's life was nothing nice,
If its lungs were filled with f***l soup
And it lived all day in its dreadful p**p?
Did this turkey ever see the sun rise,
Scratch the grass, or chase down flies?
Long before he gave his life for us,
Did we care, or is that too much fuss?
What about his chance to express turkiness,
Experience joy, discovery, and happiness?
Or was it just one dull crowded feathery mass,
No sun, no bugs, no worms, no grass.
How do you feel now, staring down
At that turkey, golden brown?
Does his life before the festive platter
Actually, truly, really matter?
If he's just an inanimate machine,
A pile of protoplasmic protein,
Then it surely doesn't matter
What occurred before the platter.
Food is more than stuff and treat;
It's always life before we eat.
How we sacrifice for each other
Is the mark of a true brother.
So the turkey's life before the table
Clears our conscience, makes us able
To morally appreciate, to celebrate
This turkey's final abbreviate.
Does it matter? Do we care
About that turkey lying there?
The moral point is we must
Before we, ourselves, return to dust.
