Why I'm comfortable being a meat eater

I got into a discussion on a friend’s Facebook page today with one of their friends about humane farming practices, particularly slaughter. Here is essentially what I shared with my experience as a farmer and why I’m comfortable being a meat eater.

All animals – and people – live and die. That is the basic fact of life. They can either die and provide nourishment to another or they die in vain. In Mother Nature, there is no such thing as humane slaughter. When a wolf or a coyote kills a rabbit or deer, the act is brutal. There is suffering. Mother Nature is brutal. She is graphic. I’d love to see some undercover video of that – or just check out National Geographic.

In farming, we harvest (kill) our animals in the most humane way possible to prevent stressing the animal. Not only is it the right thing to do, animals who are stressed at harvest can yield meat that is inedible. So a stressful slaughter would cost a farmer money. Not only do our morals encourage humane harvesting, economics encourage it too.

I’ve been able to witness animals be butchered by small local butchers and I have also seen the kill floor of a large beef processing company. I’ve heard some people worry that seeing an animal killed would make them a vegetarian. For me, it actually made me more comfortable with the process. It is calm, very quiet and quick.

Sometimes an animal dies as a result of sickness and never gets to be a part of the food chain. I absolutely hate to see animals die for no reason. An animal that dies from sickness provides no nourishment and has essentially died in vain. To me, these animals that die without a purpose are tragic. As farmers, we all work to prevent these deaths with no purpose. And yes, it hurts economically when an animal dies in vain too.

For people who are concerned about how meat is raised or animals slaughtered you have a few options. You can become a vegetarian or vegan or you can get to know a farmer. I’d encourage you to get to know the farmer. We are good people, doing the best we can by these animals.

I love cows, I love raising them and I love to eat them too. As a farmer I respect them in life and in death and for the nourishment they provide to me, my family, and my customers. I’m a life long beef eater and animal lover.

Happy Veteran’s Day

My grandpa was taken prisoner the night of November 10th, which makes November 11th his first full day of being a WWII POW.  I didn’t realize that until a few days ago when I found his POW story while cleaning out a box. 

  The moment her was captured when like this, “I felt a German boot in my back … At that moment I experienced the feeling of complete helplessness, knowing that for the immediate future I must relinquish the freedom I so much cherished and had been willing to give my life for.”  Like many veterans, my grandpa didn’t talk much about his experience in the war but he did write it down.  I’ve read it several times over the years and each time I am more thankful for the sacrifices of all of the men and women who have served in our armed forces included both my grandpas and my dad. Grandpa has a powerful story – he was a prisoner for 5 months and lost 90-100 pounds there is much more to it than that, but he knew what it was like to not have freedom.  And he would do it all again to know that the next generation would have that freedom he had to give up.   

I am proud to be an American and proud to have so many brave men and women who have fought for our freedom.  While I may not agree with everything that is happening in this country, I will always support the men and women in our military.   

Thank you veterans!!!

Camo Initial

Last weekend was the opening of Duck season.  Ironically, my duck hunter hubby was bear hunting.  The weather around here hasn’t been ideal for duck hunting, but it will get there soon enough. 

This summer, I decided to make an initial with the intention of hanging it on a wreath on our door during duck season.  I don’t have the wreath I pictured, but it is still awesome sitting on a shelf in our living room. 

Here is how I made it:

The only supplies needed are a wooden initial (I got an S for Schwall), some fabric (I used an old dog bed in Michael’s camo of choice – Advantage Wetlands Max 4), some adhesive (I didn’t end up using the gorilla glue only the spray adhesive), and a hot glue gun.

Put the initial on some newspaper in a well ventilated area.  Underneath the initial put some square thumb tacks or chunks of cardboard so it doesn’t stick.  

Follow the directions on the spray adhesive bottle.  My bottle said to spray it on then let it dry for 10 minutes. 

Position your fabric and press firmly. 

Let dry then cut out the general shape.

I let mine sit a week or three while I figured out how to finish it. 

Hot glue the edges and onto the back – you will need to do a small section at a time.  Depending on your initial, you will need to do some cutting to have a smooth edge.  Keep your scissors handy. 

I didn’t take pictures, but I also painted the back brown – it makes it look more finished but nobody is going to look at the back, so that is optional. 

The finished S!

I just realized the S is upside down in these pictures (notice the tulles are growing down) but it still looks amazing! 

Very simple and I can now make an initial with anything I want on it for only a couple of dollars!

What do you think?

1st day!

Last week was our first day of school! 

I planned to make a cute frame and take a picture of each of my students in it on the first day of school – but, I was lazy and didn’t.  I did however, take my camera to school so I improvised and had them take pictures with a blank whiteboard.  That way I can write whatever I want on it in picmonkey. 

Yes, it kind of looks like a prison photo but the pictures of my kids are much cuter – you’ll have to trust me on that!

Happy Birthday Ma!!

Today my amazing momma turns 60!!!

We celebrated last night with a BBQ (burgers, corn, and watermelon – all were amazing) and some awesome cake!!

Happy Birthday ma!!!  Hope you have an amazing day!!

Summer Goal Accomplished!!

One of my personal goals this summer was to wear shorts … seems like a silly goal but I NEVER were shorts in public unless they are knee length.  I just feel like I weigh too much and I am not comfortable even buying normal length shorts.  Thanks to my protein smoothies and exercising I’ve lost about 20 pounds!  More exciting than that I went down 3 pant sizes!!  The shorts I bought at the beginning of the summer are too loose now!

Today is my last day of summer.  It flew by, but this school year should be amazing, so I am kind of excited to start back to work.  I decided to share these pictures on my last day of summer: 

 

I’m not wearing makeup, I didn’t brush my hair, my shirt looks all funky, and I am pale – but I LOVE these shorts!!! 

I went from one knee length pair of shorts to three normal short length shorts.  I’ve worn all three pairs in public and felt comfortable in them (even with my pale legs).  

As soon as Chance saw I was taking pictures in his spot, he ran over to claim it.  He is such a funny puppy!!

I still have a few pounds to shed to reach my ultimate goal, but I am happy, happy, happy that I reached my summer goal!! 

Did you have a summer goal?

Heman in Motion

Last weekend we spend the weekend up my my sister.  My nephew, Heman, has a game he likes to play – keep the bone or the stick or whatever the dog wants to have throw away from the dog.  Heman loves this game and played a few times while we were there. 

Notice how he has the bone up in the air?  Smart little man!

When the dog stopped following him, he would go back and find him and say look at this, look at this. 

Then he would start running again.

Look at that tongue sticking out!  

This was not the end of the game, it was just a break.

It is pretty hard to take pictures of a toddler in motion!  But, he sure is a cutie!