I decided to get involved and support the weekend experience community today as there is no time like the present. There is an interesting set of topics this weekend with one that stood out head and shoulders above all of them.
Meet the Meet
This is my topic for todays post as if a law was passed saying in order to eat your meat then you need to kill it and prepare it yourself. I love animals and would never dare of killing one unless they were causing damage, being a threat or I needed to feed myself and my family. I am not squeamish and has never really bugged me killing something whereas some people cannot even squish a mosquito.
My mum is a vegetarian and that did not rub off on me as have you seen a 120kg 6ft5 vegetarian as that is not happening.
My first experience of culling for food was when I was in the army when two colleagues and myself were given the task of slaughtering a few thousand chickens for the kitchen. Not a job I would have volunteered for and was just something that needed to be done. This was extreme and if anything was going to turn me into a veggie this was it.
I love my meat and will have no worries having to harvest my own food as that is just the cycle of life. Here is my food from my restaurant outing last week where I had a whole peri peri chicken.
We were given 1 knife which I was not exactly happy about as I thought you just twisted their necks. The only instrument I had on hand was a big bunch of keys and to be honest was more humane than the knife or breaking their necks. A quick flick of the keys to the head and literally the chicken was down and out instantly. A job that would have normally taken a morning to accomplish was completed in a few hours. That night the kitchen served chicken pie.
This was my initiation which did have an impact on how I saw food and where it came from as I couldn't eat chicken for a few weeks. This is not like catching a fish or a lobster as for some reason they don't really count in my book even though they are living.
I had one other occasion in the army when a sheep that was being raffled for charity escaped out of his pen and was on the run. Not thinking I caught him and was instructed to take him to the kitchen and not back to his pen. This was another level from the chickens and you get to understand very quickly the purpose of animals and where they sit in the food chain.
My son eating healthy as he went for meat with the veggie option.
I know I would struggle being a farmer breeding animals in order to be sold and slaughtered, but at the same time would have no problem killing one or two every now and then to feed the family. This would be different as you could use a rifle and not be the one holding a knife or a bunch of keys which I think makes things easier.
I could never be a veggie as the love for meat far outweighs the taste of what even the best vegetables can offer. I know there are discussions and some crazies around who would like us to eat insects instead in a type of superfood. I have eaten insects as a meal and can tell you they are so overrated and definitely not a fan and besides from swallowing the odd fly by mistake will not be eating anymore.