The Rural Voice, 1995-09, Page 29it means the same thing — there is no
way to pretty it up. And now I stand
in my kitchen staring at six tiny goat
chops, and I know where they came
from. I was in at the birth, held the
creature in my arms and helped it
live, caressed its head when it
scampered up to be fed, and now I
am going to eat it.
This is the unromantic part of
farming. I am not Miss Molly the
Milkmaid. I am not Farmer Brown,
and the animals do not talk to me or
dance jigs in the barn. This is reality.
I am a meat -eating human, and I am
about to dine on an animal I was
1 would rather
nourish myself, if
am going to eat meat,
with the flesh of an
animal which I know
was raised lovingly,
fed unstintingly,
given freedom to
move about, and
killed, 1 hope, quickly
and painlessly.
acquainted with. Strangely, I do not
feel bad about this. A little
sentimental, yes, remembering
Christmas — the season tends to touch
any event, particularly birth, with
mythical significance, but I am not
going to throw the chops away out of
sentiment.
I would rather nourish myself, if I
am going to eat meat, with the flesh
of an animal which I know was raised
lovingly, fed unstintingly, given
freedom to move about, and killed, I
hope, quickly and painlessly. It is
hypocritical of me to say that -I should
have been in at the death as well.
Had I been called upon to end
Photike's life I would have opted for
mung-beans instead, but there you
have it. The Big Waffle. It is better
this way, though. I am no longer
interested in buying nameless,
supermarket -sanitized slabs of
something wrapped in styrofoam,
mindlessly cooking and chewing it,
without bothering to consider its
origins.
I grill the chops, prepare the salad,
and set out my meal with a kind of
reverence I have never felt before.
Before I cat, I contemplate the great
chain of being, the big circle, and
offer quiet thanks to a small creature
whose life was, and still is, in my
kecping.0
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ti
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CUSTOM SEED CLEANING
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LONDESBORO 523-4399 Bob Szusz, Proprietor
SEPTEMBER 1995 25
Stratford & District
Agricultural Society
presents
STRATFORD'S 154th
FALL FAIR
SEPTEMBER 21-24, 1995
IVCome.....,
�Rides
Fun ./ ToThe 1°' ' Shows
For The
Entire 1 if Games
Family l isplays
o'o.to,
"The Great Pumpkin Caper"
TRATF OR
OP Since 1841
FAIRGROUNDSP
271-5130 or 271-5832 Fax: 271-0062
SEPTEMBER 1995 25