Today I experienced my first slaughter. I was the accomplice to taking the life of a pig.
My job: stand by, wait for the deed to be done, take the rifle to a safe place and collect the blood. And later to help clean the animal.
It seemed maybe grotesque, inhumane, and violent. But the reality is, I experienced something totally different. As a person who does not particularly find myself to be religious, this experience was definitely a spiritual one. It was the first time that I ever thanked the universe for providing food and felt that on a visceral level. I thanked the animal for his sacrifice to nourish us. I thanked the farmer who put a great deal of care in humanely raising the healthy pig. And I thanked the chef who performed the slaughter showing gratitude for the animal and to be sure it would not suffer through the process.
The reality is, this is the process of every piece of meat that we ever eat. And when we go to the supermarket, as much as we want to truly believe that we know meat comes from an animal and not from some cute farm-elf factory of man-made meat goodies packaged-up in little white Styrofoam packages, delivered by some jolly farmer overnight and placed for our convenience on the shelves for our dinner needs; the truth is somebody had to kill that pig.
I needed to take off my rose colored glasses, understand and justify why I eat meat.
I thought for sure during the kill I would be nauseous or cry. But neither happened and it was as if an ancestor was dictating this ritual to me, telling me to "move fast and work clean" in order not to waste and citing some prayer into my mind while we stood over the animal collecting his blood, moving and cleaning him. I remembered that the spiritual reference of blood signifies charity and as we were doing the deed this charity was not lost on me.
As soon as we got into the truck for the ride back, I took a deep breath and thought how ritualistic and natural it felt. There had been evidence found in Tanzania that man has been hunting meat for two million years and domesticating and raising meat for agriculture for over 10,000 years. Remembering that hunting and foraging for food is in our genetics helped me to be OK with feeling calm and natural throughout the process.
As we returned to the restaurant on the farm, I realized we had a long day ahead of us. The second part of slaughtering an animal is cleaning and preparing for human consumption. This involves a few hours of scalding and scraping down to the dermis. You need a team of folks to steadily hoist, turn and work in a timely manner to create clean and wholesome food. The preparing of this animal with a group of people felt like a bonded ceremony, where only we would understand this animal and all it had to give.
Later, the pig was split, the viscera was taken out, and it was to be hung and refrigerated for a few days to set into rigamortis. And only after that can it be butchered, broken down and sold as the meat products that we are so familiar with like bacon, tenderloin and pork chops.
Closing Thoughts: While I was accomplice to the sacrificial slaughter of an animal today, I have a new found appreciation for all of the work it takes to make good, wholesome food for all to enjoy. There is some irony in my newfound belief that I could be happy never again eating mass slaughtered animals, as I can't imagine there is somebody with gratitude standing over it's dead body performing prayers of thanks. However, I do understand that we should be thankful for any animal who has given it's life to feed us should and as we stand at the grocery store we need remember that the meat products we buy came from an animal and many people had to work hard to provide us with that.
I found peace in knowing where this pig came from and knowing he was raised well. I know that it is in our ancestry to provide ourselves with food and therefore raise and harvest it. I see it very clearly now, there were no elves or surreptitious Santa-like farmer who drops of perfectly packaged meat in the night. There was just a farmer, a chef, a pig and me.
Meal Prayer adapted from Buddhist Teacher Thich Nhat Hanh
May the food we are eating make us aware of the
interconnections between Universe and us,
Earth and us, and all other living species and us.
Because each bite contains in itself the life of Sun and Earth.
May we see the meaning and value of life from these
precious morsels of food.
Special thanks to Chef Vincent Nattress, Farmer Bruce Ekholm and friends Amy and Karn for sharing this experience and so that others may enjoy the bounty of what we produce here on Whidbey Island.
My job: stand by, wait for the deed to be done, take the rifle to a safe place and collect the blood. And later to help clean the animal.
 |
| Photo Courtesy Eckholm Farm |
It seemed maybe grotesque, inhumane, and violent. But the reality is, I experienced something totally different. As a person who does not particularly find myself to be religious, this experience was definitely a spiritual one. It was the first time that I ever thanked the universe for providing food and felt that on a visceral level. I thanked the animal for his sacrifice to nourish us. I thanked the farmer who put a great deal of care in humanely raising the healthy pig. And I thanked the chef who performed the slaughter showing gratitude for the animal and to be sure it would not suffer through the process.
The reality is, this is the process of every piece of meat that we ever eat. And when we go to the supermarket, as much as we want to truly believe that we know meat comes from an animal and not from some cute farm-elf factory of man-made meat goodies packaged-up in little white Styrofoam packages, delivered by some jolly farmer overnight and placed for our convenience on the shelves for our dinner needs; the truth is somebody had to kill that pig.
I needed to take off my rose colored glasses, understand and justify why I eat meat.
I thought for sure during the kill I would be nauseous or cry. But neither happened and it was as if an ancestor was dictating this ritual to me, telling me to "move fast and work clean" in order not to waste and citing some prayer into my mind while we stood over the animal collecting his blood, moving and cleaning him. I remembered that the spiritual reference of blood signifies charity and as we were doing the deed this charity was not lost on me.
As soon as we got into the truck for the ride back, I took a deep breath and thought how ritualistic and natural it felt. There had been evidence found in Tanzania that man has been hunting meat for two million years and domesticating and raising meat for agriculture for over 10,000 years. Remembering that hunting and foraging for food is in our genetics helped me to be OK with feeling calm and natural throughout the process.
 |
| Photo Courtesy of Orchard Kitchen |
Later, the pig was split, the viscera was taken out, and it was to be hung and refrigerated for a few days to set into rigamortis. And only after that can it be butchered, broken down and sold as the meat products that we are so familiar with like bacon, tenderloin and pork chops.
Closing Thoughts: While I was accomplice to the sacrificial slaughter of an animal today, I have a new found appreciation for all of the work it takes to make good, wholesome food for all to enjoy. There is some irony in my newfound belief that I could be happy never again eating mass slaughtered animals, as I can't imagine there is somebody with gratitude standing over it's dead body performing prayers of thanks. However, I do understand that we should be thankful for any animal who has given it's life to feed us should and as we stand at the grocery store we need remember that the meat products we buy came from an animal and many people had to work hard to provide us with that.
I found peace in knowing where this pig came from and knowing he was raised well. I know that it is in our ancestry to provide ourselves with food and therefore raise and harvest it. I see it very clearly now, there were no elves or surreptitious Santa-like farmer who drops of perfectly packaged meat in the night. There was just a farmer, a chef, a pig and me.
Meal Prayer adapted from Buddhist Teacher Thich Nhat Hanh
May the food we are eating make us aware of the
interconnections between Universe and us,
Earth and us, and all other living species and us.
Because each bite contains in itself the life of Sun and Earth.
May we see the meaning and value of life from these
precious morsels of food.
Special thanks to Chef Vincent Nattress, Farmer Bruce Ekholm and friends Amy and Karn for sharing this experience and so that others may enjoy the bounty of what we produce here on Whidbey Island.
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