Why I Want To Farm - Part 1: Meat

What do you picture when you think of a farm? Do you see cows grazing on a hillside? Chickens pecking the ground between goats and sheep? Lush vegetable gardens and red barns? Or do you think of large factory farms with hundreds of chickens confined in large buildings that never feel grass under their feet, and pigs standing shoulder to shoulder in cages barely big enough for them to turn around?

I know which I prefer.

There are many different kinds of farms and many reasons to farm. One of my personal reasons for farming is simple - I don't want to be part of the problem anymore. 

I eat meat. No offense to any vegetarians out there, but science shows that our bodies are made to eat meat, and I'm generally not one to go against science (also meat is delicious). Unfortunately, at least here in America, people are eating an unsustainable amount of meat and that has caused quite a few problems. Factory farming is basically a necessary evil in order to keep up with meat demand. How that ground beef in your grocery store or sausage on your pizza got there is probably a horrible story (and not one I'm going to detail here - look into it). Aside from obvious animal cruelty issues, large factory farms are not sustainable and they cause a lot of environmental harm, and they're not going away any time soon.

Unless you always buy free range and organic meat, you're part of the problem. I'm still in that category myself, and like you when I bite into my chicken breast sandwich I try not to think about the animal it once was and the life it lived because it's an unpleasant thought. However, that's exactly why this problem exists.

As a society, people have a disconnect from the origin of their food. When you can buy everything you need to survive in packages from a grocery store, you rarely stop to think about where it came from and how it got there - you just cook it and eat it. Someone else took care of the rest. It's easier now, less to think about. Some would say it's better this way, especially the baby boomer generation. That's when convenience really took off and took hold. Unfortunately all those chemicals and additives are likely causing a lot of the illnesses and disorders we're seeing today, but that's a different topic.

The problem is we've lost an appreciation for our food. Once a year at Thanksgiving we come together and give thanks for our meal, but the rest of our days are spent opening packages and eating whatever looked good at the store (dat marketing). When you stop appreciating your food, you stop caring about where it came from, and that's what allows factory farming to continue. They rely on that disconnect.

I don't want to stop eating meat, but I don't want to be part of the environment-destroying animal-abusing problem our society has created. Right now buying organic is out of my price range, and I feel a little guilt when I eat meat I'm sure came from unsustainable farms (that's why ignorance is bliss - sorry if I ruined it for you too). Yet still even with that knowledge I eat it because I have for years and it's still relatively easy to take comfort in that disconnect. Old habits are hard to break, but I'm going to try.

I want to farm because I want to raise my own meat so I know exactly where it came from and can ensure the animals live a comfortable life, at least until harvest time. A lot of people have trouble when it comes to the idea of harvesting animals you raise yourself. My mom has told me she could never do it, that she would get too attached, and I wonder that about myself too. I've been hunting and fishing since I was a kid, and I still feel bad (and sometimes even say "sorry") when I have to whack a fish on the head to kill it quickly. However, I think the act is an important part of being a meat eater because it instills a sense of reverence. You become less wasteful. You appreciate that animal's life more because you took it, because it's going to sustain you. It places you back in the grand circle and you become part of something that's been taking place for generations, long before grocery stores ever existed.

Raising livestock for food is really just hunting without having to chase down the animal. The entire reason there are so many people on this planet today is because long ago people figured out that it was easier to keep and breed meat animals than it was to constantly chase them in the woods and fields. 

Breeding, raising, and harvesting chickens, rabbits, turkeys and maybe pigs for meat is not glamorous, but it is sustainable, economical, and it puts meat in the freezer that's way better and fresher than anything you get from the store. Instead of being part of the problem, I want to create my own solution. I want to farm.