I just watched a bull die and it made me happy!

…

I watched a young woman shoot one of her Galloway breeding bulls with a hunting rifle, and the atmosphere, the ritual itself, and the logic behind it, as well as the surrounding area, which looked a lot like South Tyrol, the part between Italy and Austria where I am from originally, made me smile.

The little film had been made by the Bavarian TV station as an educational film. I wish we here in the US would show the rightful way to slaughter, sell, and consume meat in schools. We have organic farms here in Ohio, just like you can find some of them in every farm state across the country, but there are simply not enough.

I am a half-ass-vegan, that’s what my friend calls me because I eat fish, but I am not a pescetarian. Once in a while, I eat meat, healthy, organic meat that is. It is much more expensive and I have no problem paying for the quantity and for the quality. I have health issues, and I have to live a very disciplined lifestyle. No GMOs, no added sugars, and no meats that are pumped up with saline solutions to make us believe we get more than we actually do. The meat I buy and cook doesn’t shrink, it has a different color and a different smell.

Eating meat once in a while is now part of my AIP protocol. I reintroduced very carefully certain foods back into my diet that I had missed the most. In moderation and as a special treat I can have bacon or a steak. Chicken and poultry are no longer an option, pork depends on the cut and the farm we get it from.

I grew up on a farm and slaughtering and butchering were part of our everyday life.

Some farmers thank the animal before they slaughter them. It has nothing to do with religion or spiritual beliefs, it’s just a simple heartfelt gesture to say goodbye to a farm animal that you raised from the day it was born.

We eat meat and so we breed animals to later kill them. Nature gives, and takes and there is nothing wrong with it. According to my grandmother, every one of us should be able to slay an animal the right way, which means stress-free, as quick as possible, and painless because of the speed and way it is done.

Nothing in our slaughterhouses and our meat-producing factories is animal appropriate. The welfare of the livestock should be our main concern, not the quantity. Sadly this is not the case. If you want to stop eating eggs, I advise you to visit a chicken farm. When you see the chickens cubed up in darkness, you will never buy eggs or eat poultry from a chicken or a turkey farm. It is that cruel!

Visiting a slaughterhouse is hard to stomach. The way we mistreat cows, bulls, pigs, sheep, and everything else that we find on our menus is not just brutal, it’s heartless, gruesome, and so wrong on every level. No animal on this planet is as brutal as humans can be.

But the truth is, many city kids and their parents have never seen a farm or know anything about farming or farmland. for them, the meat comes from the grocery store and how it gets there, is something they don’t think about.

The farmers in the film talk in the Bavarian dialect. The CC for under titles can be changed to ‘yes’ and if you click ‘autodetect’ most likely English will be chosen – if you live in the UK, the US, Australia and Canada. Then you can read the translation (which is not bad) from the spoken German in English.

…

…

Listening to Sarah describing to the film crew her story, and how she shows them the farm and the livestock, as well as the way she interacts with people and animals, shows how much she respects every lifeform. That’s the way it should be.

The young woman from Gaensberg, near Blaiback (Upper Palatinate, Germany) tries to reconcile her love for the animals and her part as a farmer.

I have the utmost respect for Sarah. I know how much effort it took to get permission for pasture-slaughter and all the red tape that comes with it I assume was a nightmare. It takes a lot not only to raise the animals in a way that is appropriate to their species but also to give them a farewell that is as dignified and stress-free as possible.

I also respect the film crew for leaving the part about the bleeding in the film. Of course, they aren’t the prettiest pictures, but they are open and honest, because it’s part of the procedure, because the meat doesn’t just fly onto the grocery shelves.

With the ongoing climate crises, that so many understand, our awareness of our meat consumption has increased significantly in recent years, and I couldn’t be happier. We all -or most of us- have been eating too much meat and we didn’t ask enough questions.

I hope you will take time out of your busy day and watch the little film. I thought it was worth it, that’s why I share it here on my blog.

Advertisement