Vacaville, California – May 2010
I wanted to write a blog post about this farm tour to highlight the circle of life and death. The San Francisco Chapter of the Weston A. Price Foundation visited the chickens at Soul Food Farm and I photographed them as they were separated on the farm throughout their life cycle. It was the first time I'd seen newly hatched chicks as well as full grown hens foraging outside and laying their eggs. Then we enjoyed chicken salad for lunch.
Yes, there was no hiding from the fact that the chickens that were alive and well on the farm would someday be nourishment for people. I am at peace with that fact. As a former vegetarian and at times vegan who lived on soy imitation foods, I've learned that not all animal foods are created equally. These omnivorous chickens enjoyed a life outdoors eating their natural diet of insects, worms, slugs, grains, seeds, and grass. They weren't debeaked, declawed or caged like their conventional counterparts who don't ever see the light of day and are forced to be vegetarians. As I've heard a farmer say, they live a beautiful life with one bad day. The day they are humanely killed to provide food for us.
There are vital nutrients only available in animal foods, and I've concluded that eating both pasture-raised and wild animals, as well as organically grown plant foods is as nature indented. See the album I created from the tour. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to log in/sign up and leave a comment!
