01/30/2025
I can eat meat and love animals.
The fact that I butchered a cow, doesn’t mean that I didn’t care for that cow. That doesn’t mean I don’t respect the life taken or that I don’t feel grief over their death.
I have pet pigs, and I raise butcher pigs. They are both raised the same. Same feed, same bedding, same belly scratches.
My freezers are filled with beef, pork, duck, venison, elk, bear and cougar that were all taken by the hands of this household. Each life taken, mourned, valued and prioritized. Every ounce of usable product was gathered and packaged. There were no butchers involved, no packers, no fuel to transport, no feed lot, no high stress environment. Literally from field to table. My footprint is as small as can be, and I know the quality of life my animals lived. I know they were all healthy, I know they all felt the sun and slept under the stars. I know they all left this world without knowing they were exiting. I know they never suffered a physical or emotional ailment alone. I know that they felt comfort in my presence every day of their lives. I know the game we hunted was wild and free. I know that every single life taken to nourish my family was taken with respect and dignity.
I have rescued and fostered. I’ve stayed up countless nights working and worrying about injured or sick critters. I’ve volunteered and donated. I focus on endangered livestock for our own breeding. I have dedicated quite literally my entire life to my livestock.
Just food for thought before you consider jumping down a farmers throat.
📸 Bear ham