Making choices

It started with a deer…and a chicken.

I had started down the slippery slope from decade-long vegetarian to semi-regular meat eater.

I gave up Beef-A-Roo sandwiches and all things meat sometime in high school. While it was a hassle then, especially for my family, it quickly became a way of life. In northern Minnesota I was offered a lot of salads when I told folks I didn't eat meat. But, living with two other vegetarians made life a lot easier. I fit right in when it came time for four years in an extremely veggie-friendly college community. That's where I got my first exposure to local foods- specifically local meat. Our college had a room dedicated to cleaning wild game for Pete's sake!

That college community is also where I met Farmer John. He introduced me to venison. After a trip home for hunting season (aka Thanksgiving) he came back with his bounty and cooked up some venison fajitas. The meat was organic, humanely raised, humanely killed and well…tasty. But, that was that, one meaty meal -not a change in lifestyle

Then we moved to the farm and got ourselves some chickens. We also got ourselves a Husky, who was prone to killing chickens. When your neighbors give you a sack of garden-fresh tomatoes and squash – you eat it, right? Well, when our dog gave us a fresh-killed chicken, we ate it.

Since then I’ve had to make choices about what I eat. I continue to stick to a primarily vegetarian diet, especially when not on the farm. However, when I know where and how the animal was raised, or the farmer that raised it, I’ll happily dig in.

Recently one of those big “shaggy coos” in the backyard became dinner. At first, this was just weird – knowing exactly which cow I was eating. Now I feel better about it. Our cows have a purpose, and they live a very good life in preparation of serving the purpose – feeding us and our customers. Instead of feeling weird each time I sit down for a beef-based dinner I feel satisfied. There is an huge sense of satisfaction at eating anything we've raised - whether it's broccoli or brisket. I'm proud of the hard work that went into getting dinner to the table, and I'm going to enjoy it.