Food. It is an amazing thing food. We can't live without it, yet we all take it for granted. It comes in so many different forms, fruit, veg and meat and all of the sub-categories of that. I sit hear typing this, while eating pasta my wife made from home laid eggs and organic flour, organic pasata, home grown herbs and home grown asparagus and drinking some homebrew. A vegetarian meal, but I ask you, did any animals die for me to be able to eat and drink this food and beer? Absolutely! Hundreds of insects, snials, slugs and worms died for me to be able to eat this food and drink this beer and so long as I eat, then animals no matter how small, will die.
My family and I are trying to live as a sustainable life as possible and that means growing our own food, growing fish, raising our own chickens for eggs and chickens for meat. Although I am yet to dispatch one of our own chickens, fish I have done plenty of times. Today however was a first. No no, not our own chook, but a friend of mine. We gave him three trout and I got one of his roosters. I have seen my father dispatch a chook before and it left me uneasy, but the interesting thing is that I have done ducks before woth no issue! Maybe it has to do with the twitching nerve thing...
Anyway after preparing the area, cleaning equipment, sharpening knives and heating up the water, the rooster's time on this planet was coming to an end. I got him ready and said a little sorry and thank-you to him and did the deed. I bled him instead of taking off his head and this is humane and nowhere near as unsettling. There was no spasmidoc twitching and thrashing and he looked peaceful as he went. There was one last jerk as the nerves kicked in momentarily but only lasted 2-3 seconds max. After this, the plucking and cleaning took place and I think I did a pretty good job of it.
The rooster is now in the fridge resting to allow the muscles to relax. I will leave it there for 24 hours and then freeze it. As it thaws, the mucsles will further relax, naturally tenderising the meat.
In my head I was constantly saying that if I could not do this, then I could not justify and bring myself to eat chicken again. If I eat meat, then I think it is nessesary that I at least see the process from start to finish but better yet, to do it myself. Until then, I cannot get a full appreciation for the food I eat and will continue unconsciously taking for granted all that I consume. And yes I will do the same for any animal I eat if possible. At the very least I will watch the process take place and hope that the animal lived a good life while alive and died peacefully. I owe it that at the minimum.
I know this is not one of my chickens. Better for me to be slightly removed from my first chicken kill, a bit easier on the emotions. Soon it will be my chicken's turn... a tough day that will be...
My father taught me not to be unappreciative for what I have. Understand and do as much as I can and then I will begin to fully appreciate life and living. He is a wise man.
hey cuz, it's lee-ann here! while i have no doubt that nick could dispatch any animals we had for food, i most definitely couldn't. absolutely, this makes me a hippocrite for still eating meat, but i feel better about the whole situation because over the last year or so we have pledged to eat less meat, and now we only eat meat a few times a week and don't feel the requirement (or desire) to have it with every meal.
ReplyDeletehaving said that, i wish everyone could see the process where an animal is sacrificed for food. i remember your dad preparing some sheep you guys had for some function you were holding, and i couldn't bring myself to eat it afterwards - or for the next year. my father helped my mum sacrifice some chickens that we had up in qld, and he couldn't eat chicken after that either. for many many years.
i wish everyone would be more appreciative of where food actually comes from. it's so wonderful what you and Hayley are doing.
Thanks Lee-Ann! I shouldn't jump on my high horse about this but after having kids and teaching kids, I see how sooooo many kids have no idea where their food comes from, no idea how their food has been raised and harvested or dispatched and no idea what is actually in their food and I don't want my kids to be the same! As much as possible, I want them to understand, appreciate and enjoy their food and how it got to their plate. I know I won't be able to do everything in terms of raising and killing animals, or grow everything that I can, but I will do what I can! It is actually heartening to hear that people are starting to take this issue seriously and so many people at work are at least more aware of their foods. The idea of this blog in particular, is to show people it can be done and hopefully inspire someone to change (even a little bit) the types of foods they eat and be aware of the process of growing our food, for us and the environment.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you, in that we do not NEED to eat as much meat as we do! Thanks so much for the positive comments! It's hard work (but fun!) doing all of this, and sometimes I wonder if it is all worth it...but one look of the kids collecting eggs, or munching into a carrot or picking peas is all I need to know that it is!
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