A diary of the projects, hurdles, rewards and family life at we recorded at Wise Acres, our former homestead in Horsefly, BC. (Careers and teenagers have forced us back into the city, at least for a little while.)

Monday, March 24, 2008

Warning to My Vegetarian Friends...Carnivore content follows...

When we met, Erich was a vegetarian and shortly after we both started eating vegan. It was fairly simple to maintain this kind of diet being just the two of us. When I got pregnant with Gwenna, we headed down a slippery slope back to being full carnivores. After not even thinking about meat for so long, I had overpowering urges for not just fish or chicken...no but prime rib or any cut that would equally appeal to Fred Flintstone. With the many food sensitivities of Gwenna's that we discovered, we found it difficult to ever go back to eliminating meat as we had to rule out so many other sources of protein and iron. It was always at the back of my mind, something that we would go back to when 'things settled down'...well three children later and here we are. We still enjoy a number of vegetarian meals in our repertoire but regularly have meat on our menu. Last Fall we were fortunate enough to be able to purchase a half of a cow from our family that raises grass fed, free range cattle. Because of this, I think I can finally feel good about including meat in our family diet. This beef looks better than any I have had before and tastes outstanding.

















This past week-end we decided to share our cow with my family...it feels great to feed our family food that we know exactly where it comes from, how the animals are fed and cared for. This where Bessie spent most of her days ...
..it is also the place where our sustainability journey began and where we get so much continued inspiration from some incredible folks...but that is a story for another day.

For some great reading about just why you might want to avoid certain packaged meat...check out this Mother Earth News article.
This one about grass fed beef is good too!

2 comments:

  1. So glad that you two are writing about your adventure so that we can all "share" in it. What excitement!! I grew up with well water, and really long for it again - the good, the bad, the dryspells, and all. We used to have to haul water each Summer, and is that ever a good motivator to learn how to get by with less water. Is there a creek on your property too?

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  2. No, no creek - we are a bit bummed by that, but now we're looking at maybe setting up a natural pool like they talk about here.... of course, that wouldn't be a water supply. But it may allow us to bathe during dry spells!

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