My meat has a name.
There are two questions I get asked frequently.
Why do you name the animals you are going to eat? and how CAN you eat them if you know them??
We need to talk about this.
There was a time when I still had to go to the supermarket to get food. If you would have asked me if I would want to know the name of the animal that is now that little slab of meat in the shelves in front of me I would’ve probably said no.
First of all because I probably didn’t care about the name of an already butchered being and secondly because I couldn’t envision eating something I care for (being an animal lover and around animals all my life).
This perspective is that of the average human (here at least). When they think of animals in agriculture they know they are in some sort of confinement “but it can’t be that bad”. And as far as food safety goes there is a big entity that protects us (with tight regulations “to protect us” but never take the blame when something DOES goes wrong. It’s the farmers fault then..)
If you would ask about my perspective now then it’s the total opposite.
I don’t want to eat what I don’t know.
What hasn’t changed is the love for my animals. Caring for them, giving pigs a belly rub or teaching goats to walk on a leash. I spend a lot of time with each of them. I know each character and each face and they will stay in my memory. So how come I can still eat them?
To me, this is the cliche “circle of life”, keep reading cause it’s broader than you might think. These animals, take my pigs for example, eat the waste (weeds, outside leaves of cabbage, overripe tomatoes etc.) from my garden, they help me get rid of excess bugs and some breeds till the soil and helping me prep garden beds. They fertilize and be happy lazy sunbathing pigs.
I am meat and I have a name: I'm called Wooly Willy
This circle of life is bigger then just being born and dying in the end to make room for new life. It is about finding the place you belong in this world and fulfilling the role that is asked of you. For an animal it means being in sync with the soil and plant life and me as apex predator (in charge of keeping other threats and infectious diseases away.)
Let me ask you:
Since when is a backyard or farm or any human owned green space an animal-less system???
We are quite arrogant in thinking that the laws of nature don’t apply in “our space”.
And then complain about the excess bugs and poor looking plants, unless you buy and KEEP BUYING fertilizer, weedkillers, bug repellents etc.
Health can’t be bought, period. (I hear you in my head right now talking about medicine, so let me offend you for a second:
Medicine doesn’t make you healthy, medicine covers up an unbalance causing you to function for a while.
Give it some thought at night while you’re angry at me.)
Back to the human greenspace ecosystem.
Just a few animals, enough for your own supply, fits right in. The beauty is that different animals stack functions. I run goats, pigs and chickens on the same spot but at different times, they all eat something else. Manage them properly and you’ll create a beautiful balanced system, this means you have to occasionally eat one. Lucky for us we humans can eat a long time from a single well raised animal, nutrient dense food satisfy us meaning we eat and need less of it.
We are meat and we have names: We're Dai'ichi and Jiro. We were raised as bottle kids, grow and play here, trim bushes and shrubs, steal strawberries and give our genes to the next generation. Our lives will end here too one day.
At this point some might say: well why don’t you just keep them as pets? If I do that then I am lying about me being a human. A human body is designed for both plants and meat, I am not going to deny who I am or my place in the ecosystem. I take responsibility for my needs, including meat and that doesn't come cheap, it takes effort to raise an animal well. Don't forget that the human predator also has the obligation to keep them safe and healthy, same goes for the lion and his pride, they will also fend off predators that otherwise won't stop killing , removing sick individuals and steering the herd to new ground.
I also don’t like the idea of an old animal dying and being wasted. I absolutely hate having an animal die on the homestead albeit a chicken, I don’t like burying someone I love and let it waste away in the soil.
All things will be recycled but the thought of being able to create things (from wool/skin) or feed new/other life is what I’d rather do. Animals have the need to reproduce, also for their health internally which means I have to control the population, both birth (assisting with birth or preventing pregnancy at other times) and death, even in my backyard ecosystem.
Too many animals is just as bad as too few.
A benefit from maintaining your own animals is they generally don’t get sick (good garden= good food=good health) but if they do then I know how and with what I cured them. No surprises, no hidden chemicals and the like. (The european food safety authority released a report not too long ago about residues in supermarket food. Read it and you’ll never buy food again.)
Since we are talking about food now. One thing worries me a great deal.
People are no longer able to distinguish good food from food that’s gone bad.
All the artificial stuff coats the real food thus you can’t tell if something has gone bad. How many articles are there about (industrial processed) food that made people really sick? It’s not because food in general is scary or a high-risk product. Take REAL food and it discolors if it goes bad, it smells or looks off. It’s easy to tell when real food goes bad.
I can tell good raw milk from bad raw milk any day.
We might be food, or not: We all have names.
Can I ask one question to finish this talk. People often get upset if they get served a plate and have to taste something when they don’t know what it is.
So.. how come people are happy and content with the store bought mystery meat?
I’m odd, my meat has a name.
This article is written to raise awareness.
I realize the topic of meat both eating and raising can cause people to be offended.
I still think it has to be said and it's not a bad thing to literally put a face on it and view things from a different perspective.
Best thing I've read since @makinstuff's vonu post. That wasn't long ago, but I'm meaning to say this is awesome.
This week we got the news that our farmer is quitting the farm, so we're out of the fresh local pastured meat. We'll be checking local meat shops, but my hopes aren't high. That leaves one option:
I'm trying really hard to talk Melissa into buying a pig. Our plot here is half an acre, and about 0.3 acres would work as our "pasture." I'm thinking kunekune because they supposedly root less and do well on grass.
I have a lot of questions. If I make a mobile paddock out of cattle panels, would that be secure enough? Or would I need to fence my front yard by the busy street? (Yes, in town, no, haven't checked legality and don't care to.) Could a third of an acre support a pig? Two pigs? What else do they eat, besides everything and grass? Would a pen be better for my purposes than urban pasturing? If a kunekune is too expensive (they're kinda popular right now), what are cheaper breeds? Can you eat the "pet" breeds? Thy seem to be available for like $10 pretty often.
Sorry, that's a lot lol. I've got Joel Salatin's Pigness book, and I guess I need to read it.
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cattle panels alone won't work. Pigs put their nose under things and lift it up, no matter what size they are.
If you've read any of my recent pig-related posts you know I'm not a fan of kunes, also keep in mind they are very slow growing. I am afraid I have to keep my Kune over winter simply because he is way to small right now.
I would advice you to take two or three strands of electric fence. Pigs highly respect the spark and are perhaps the easiest animals to keep in. They will touch it once, some twice and won't ever go near the wire again. They are really smart and easy to move if you get them used to it.
Move the pig paddock two or three times the first week you get them and they'll know to follow the wire wherever it is. Right now I have this new six months old mangalica pig and he is NOT trained to move, it took us nearly two hours to get him through the gate while our kune went back and forth from the old paddock to the new area three times already. Once he stepped into the new area he immidiately started to follow the wire, I think he gets it now.
One more think about electric. I don't like netting, I have seen pigs getting their eartag stuck and getting entangled in it. Horrible. I never use electrified netting, not even for the goats (I keep goats in with three wires, four if there are baby goats)
As for the size of the enclosure. Is your third of an acre pasture? or woods, or leftover veggie garden? are you going to feed all the excess garden greens and weeds too? It really depends on what you want with them. If you have old milk even better!
I would recommend getting two pigs but would choose a (preferrably hardy )meat breed. These pigs grow way faster so it is easier to feed them to "freezercamp ready" within the growing season. Unless you want to spend a LOT of money on feed during winter. It's amazing how much 8 month old pigs can eat in a day.
Does that answer some of your questions?
Yeah, it does!
My yard is what I'd consider an oak silvopasture. Good tree cover, but enough sun to have grass on all of it. A few pine trees too.
We've got a good rotation on milk, but could easily up it to use some as feed. How much do they like? What's good butcher weight? I don't necessarily want a pair of 400# animals to maintain, so I'm thinking a smaller breed would be okay with me. But I agree, definitely don't want to worry about overwintering animals either.
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One thing we ALWAYS do first is put a solid physical barrier immediately behind the electric fence. If they go through the fence, get burned, they are NOT going to go back. There's no way we can chase pigs. Photos to show how we set up fencing.
We have 2 on a 1/4 acre turnout and it's fine for them. We do not feed supermarket waste, only organic feed. A good source of lysine is going to be the limiting factor on how well and quickly they grow.
The barrier outside the fence (white stakes to anchor it to ground, not for wire...):
Wire set at pig nose height:
Quarter acre turnout and they don't ruin the space with overgrazing? That's super encouraging! I've got a bit in the back yard inside an existing fence that could probably do well with that.
Do they smell? Are they like chickens, where if it starts smelling funny, just add carbon? Pigs won't jump a low fence? Do you need two like with goats or chooks, or will they do okay alone?
I'm considering pigs because chicken and beef are usually more readily available with grass fed, pastured, organic, etc, but good pork is harder to come by. And because I can't pasture a beef cow on a quarter acre lol.
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This was last year after 4 complete months. They still had over 2 more months to go, before we had Freezer camp. (Note we had taken down the black barrier. We only leave it up for 2 weeks, then store it for next year.)
Our pigs have never smelled. But yes, if there's odor, add carbon.
Our fences were set up for horses/cows, so there are upper strands and always was. But the most important one is the one at nose height. It MUST be kept HOT at all times. Ours test it nearly daily; we know because we hear the squeals when they hit it! You must also check the entire thing daily, as they do root in places and can cover it with soil.
Yes, you should have 2 as they are a herd animal and do better with companionship.
The quality of your meat will depend entirely on how they are fed. Junk from the supermarket (bread, vegs, etc) will affect the flavor and composition of the meat. How fast they grow will depend on the quality and amount of lysine in their food. We count on ours reaching the optimal butchering weight of 200 - 225 lbs in 6 months, no later than October here. That's why we had no pigs this year, they would not have finished by then, but in February instead.
Nice setup! Having 8 week old piglets tossing dirt on the bottom wire can be a thing yes. We raise it as they get a little older but I agree all fences should be checked as part of a daily routine. We use the Gallagher S10 solar panel for years now and even though it should not have a very strong spark we did not have any breakouts. I love these little mobile things. We also have a mobile pig shelter. I still need to put gutters on there to collect rainwater. Winter project.
One thing to add is that pigs can't take heat so they need shade and a mud bath (keeps their skin in good condition). If you pour water somewhere they will dig the hole themselfs but some people use kiddie pools. Note that they will flip over any sort of container even if you put a brick or something heavy in it so make sure to secure whatever you are using.
Oh, yes! I intended to mention the mud necessity and forgot. Thanks for covering it!
This is a wonderful reflection, and I share your perspective. I am trying to harvest as much of my own meat after being a vegetarian for over a decade. You said it perfectly, it is a close and natural relationship. I don't name our livestock animals but our kids do.
Fantastic post! I don't eat any of my animals, but I certainly respect those who do. I would much rather eat something that I know for a fact had a happy and healthy life than the mystery meat sold in the stores. Most of our meat comes from people we know, so even though I didn't raise it myself, I know how it was raised. I appreciate how cautious you were not to be offensive. There are many who are offended at the very idea of eating meat. Their perspective is just as valid as mine and I'm willing to listen as long as there's no shouting or shaming. Bless you for being the kind of farmer who truly values animals as individual beings, not as investments. I think that's the key difference.
Thank you very much! I really appreciate what you wrote here.
Sometimes we need to touch on these topics to open the dialogue or at least show another perspective.
I agree. And if we can have a dialogue without rancor, we might actually learn something from each other! I mean people in general, not you and I specifically. ;)
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