An important part of the journey to connect with our food is connecting with the animals that give their lives so we can have nourishment. That is, unless you choose to be a vegetarian. I have my differences of opinions with people and their choices, and let's just say that at the end of the day we can all agree to disagree. That is, as long as we respect each other's choices and just find ways to get along. Recently a vegan picked a fight with me, and this was very disconcerting, because I have become quite open minded about people's life choices and hope that people would respect mine, and mostly not act in a childish way. I eat a lot of meat, and am trying to find balance as part of my personal struggles with issues surrounding sustainability, and global cooperation to make our planet healthy. As with everything in life I believe there can be give and take, and that choices we make can offset other, less popular ones. 

I admit it, I have a problem. I LOVE MEAT. I am not willing, at this time, to have days where I go meatless, and some days I will eat meat 2 or even 3 times. I have resolved myself to this fact, and I need to reconcile this within my self. In order to help with my own personal struggle, on my list of things to accomplish has been a desire to reconnect with nature and participate in the ritual of "harvesting" animals in order to avail oneself of their flesh. Plain and simple, if I am not willing to kill it, then I am not willing to eat it. To this end I was blessed with opportunity, as it was "Kill Day" for the chickens who live(d) at the farm. They had 50 chickens, and the time had come for them to make the journey from the farmyard to the plate. So it was written, and so it shall be.  

I woke up early, on a gloomy Thursday morning to find Stacey already hanging out at the kitchen table waiting for the start to the workday. Shortly thereafter arrived Miho, a Japanese woman who was in The County for a Stage at Harvest Restaurant, and had stuck around to assist at The Unresto, a supper club run by the man in whose house she was renting a room, and a partner. Being on the farm is a stark contrast to my life at home in so many ways, but mostly I am not used to being so social so early in the morning. Thankfully, there was great coffee and quiet conversation to be had in the kitchen. As other people trickled in, including a woman that Tim had met on his trip to Italy, Theresa, and Fred, a retired schoolteacher who spends his Thursdays volunteering on the farm, I really started to prepare myself for the day ahead.  

Vicki expressed to me her desire to have the chickens know that they were loved and appreciated as much as possible, and that they were giving their lives to nourish her family that she loved so very much. This respect for the animal is very comforting to everyone involved in this process, and I very much respect this method and means of expression. The chickens are given free range in a spacious area, well taken care of, fed organic feed, and killed with compassion. I was honoured to be a part of this process. I wont go in to the details of the events that followed, but in machine-like fashion we took care of what needed to be done. 

I find it hard to express how I felt about killing chickens, because to say I enjoyed it means some people will judge me, but honestly, I don't care what people think. In the beginning, I was apprehensive and stood back to watch what was going on and how it all worked. Then, something just clicked and I jumped in to the action, and felt quite at home and at peace with being involved. It was an enjoyable experience, to truly connect with my food on every level. I say every level because not only did we eat one of those very chickens for dinner that night, and the leftovers in sandwiches for lunch the following day, I also have a bird sitting in my fridge waiting to be roasted and shared with my family.  

Believe me when I say that you want to taste this bird, and trust that it is like no chicken you have had in a restaurant or from a supermarket. A friend who does not eat meat claimed that this was a bird that she would eat, because of how it was treated when it was alive and how it was killed. She and I disagree about many things, going back to how I started this post, but at least we can agree that it is important to connect with, and respect our food.