Kill it, Cook it, Eat it.

There is a nice farm in England where sheep, cows, pigs and any other number of animals are raised. There's a gentle slope to the hills, stone walls and thick bushes along the sides of the pastures looking more like a carefully manicured movie set than a real farm. There are any number of animals grazing, running, snorting and lying in the sun... you know doing the things that farm animals do best.

To me this is a real farm, not a monoculture where farmers concentrate efforts (in the name of profits) on one breed and species. Since I began dreaming of being more self-sufficient I have been drawn to anything and everything farm related.

So when my husband suggested watching a show airing on BBC called Kill it, Cook it, Eat it, I was intrigued. I am a proponent of people knowing where their food comes from. I feel if people knew what factories did to those cookies they would choose not to eat them. And if they knew what factory farms did to the animals they would choose more sustainable/ethical sources for their meat, or at least respect the life that was given so we can have protein. I am not squeamish and so the prospect of killing my food does not bother me.

The premise of the show is this: Six participants, two vegetarians, two fast food junkies, one young mom on a strict food budget and on country girl who makes her living from the land. Each week these participants are walked through the process of caring for animals, selecting which one will die, watching the animals' fate come to pass and then cooking and eating the resulting food.

Some where along the line the general public has been removed from this process. We no longer know how the animals we eat are treated or how they lived and died so we could eat.

Despite showing grisly close ups of blood and skin during the slaughtering process, this show seemed to candy coat it. The abattoir where the animals are slaughtered is a small family business, and where as most of the meat you find in your supermarket has not been slaughtered so... elegantly for lack of a better word. Most slaughter houses push through 300 animals a day to punch out junk meat for the local fast food joint or side street hot dog vendor, but I digress.

Eating animals has not bothered me. What bothers me is the industrialize mechanism our western culture has created to process tonnes and tonnes of meat. We are cutting down rain forests to create cattle ranches. We are using acres upon acres of prime land to raise a meat for those who can afford it, land that could produce enough fruits and vegetables to feed the world many times over. Raising meat is not as efficient as raising crops but alas, raising crops is not as profitable as raising meat. (Vegetables are labour intensive and can be finicky if bad weather plagues your region on year) All this I know. I know if I want to truly be a steward of the Earth I must minimize my meat consumption.

With this in mind, I watched. I witnessed the many debates between the country girl and the vegan. The vegan had many points with which I agreed and as the show unfolded I found myself disagreeing more and more with the country girl's point of view. She argued that many people depending upon the industry of animal farming. She argued that everyone should eat meat so these people could keep their livelihoods.

Well that's not a logical argument.

Am I denying a teacher their livelihood because I choose to homeschool? Am I denying fast food chain owners a livelihood because I choose not to eat fattening, cholesterol-laden junk? That's the joy of a free market economy. Consumers carry more say then they realize.

Even if everyone decided to boycott public schools or fast food restaurants (highly unlikely) there would be an opportunity for those in the industry to find other lines of work. Yes it would be difficult and yes certainly not the best case scenario but tell that to the millions in the manufacturing industry who lost their jobs last year. No one is immune to changing tides.

So the thing that struck me while watching this show was castration. It was painful to watch. I averted my eyes like watching a horror movie and found my stomach turning for the rest of the night. No anesthetic. No painkillers. Just the farmer, a piglet and a razor blade. And this is legal? Apparently it is.

The way in which the animals are killed unnerved me as well but I loathed to admit it to my Meat-a-terian husband. But he saw my reaction to the castration and was surprised that I was more affected. We talked for a bit about it after the show. And I realize that with numerous eco-friendly, personal health, and animal welfare reasons swirling around in my head, I was seriously considering becoming vegetarian!

When it comes to the farm (still in my dreams) I could focus on vegetables, fruits, berries, an orchard, a sophisticated green house and preservation system. I would be able to purchase fewer acres and perhaps I could even take charge of this extra weight I have been carrying around.

I spent the morning researching ethical farm practices but there is a sick feeling still in my stomach. My head is in spin. Even if I could avoid castration there are still any number of concerns I have with the meat industry and common farm practices. I sat down to watch the show not expecting to be affected by the premise at all. I emerged with a completely new perspective.