I want to be a farmer

So I am finally reading a book that has been on my reading list for way too long. It is by Barbara Kingsolver and I am in love with it. I know it is a major influence on my life when I just want to rush home from whatever I am doing to continue reading. This book as well as an article I read in Newsweek has shifted me to wanting to be a vegetarian or at least more concious of where my meat comes from.

Basically the concept is that the food we eat as Americans is very wasteful and inefficient. We too often get our vegetables from all across the globe and when they are out of season. As a result we are hurting our local farmers and local economies. We instead should be buying from local farmers markets and coops. It makes a lot of sense and who cares if it costs more, you are helping a fellow neighbor. I know Stella and I were doing this in Cambridge and I dont see why everyone can at least try in their own lives.

As for the meat subject, I am starting to feel really horrible about how many of the animals are treated. Not the fact that they are killed, but that chickens are often packed so close that they either peck each other to death or have their beaks removed. Pigs have their tails cut and are shot up with so many meds they dont realize they are alive. And many of these animals never see the light of day their entire lives.

I instead suggest that rather than polluting an area with super concentrated animal factories that create too much waste and destroy an area that we return to how animals are supposed to live. I would rather pay more for free range meat. It is not only more humane but healthier. These animals are often not the homogenized genetic beasts, but classic breeds with their own flavor and traits. Also, they dont need to be pumped with many different drugs to keep from getting sick because they have the space to live. Furthermore, these animals are eating their evolutionary diet rather than being force fed corn which only increases medical problems and puts more fat in the meat we end up eating.

I am not saying that I am giving up meat, only that I believe that free range is more humane and in the end healthier for the animals and for us. Also as for being a farmer, I want to keep one going where ever I live and there are just so many to chose from. In my journal now I have a growing list of 26 different species and that is not even getting into different variations of fruits or vegetables. I could spend my whole day working in the field and this thought makes me happy. Maybe I need to think, rather than having my garden as a hobby, it could be a lifestyle.