Having a Relationship with My Food

I wasn't raised as a hunter, but I guess I wasn't raised as a farmer either. I know a lot of people have mixed feelings about hunting or hunters. I completely understand those who aren't aligned with those values morally, or even choose not to eat meat entirely for ethical reasons related to the conditions in which animals are raised.

The conditions of our modern meat industry are part of what led to me deciding to start hunting. I try to buy from local farmers, or at least farmers that follow sustainable and ethical processes. The larger catalyst in my evolution as a hunter was the fact that deer (and groundhog, but I'm not that brave), have consumed well over six figures worth of produce since the farm's inception in 2018.

Frustrated by them constantly eating into my already limited gross-sales, I went out with my grandpa's old rifle. I guess this will be the arrangement, they eat my produce, and I'll eat them, it seemed transactional and made sense to me. Having worked on various farms, I've had to witness or take part in a lot of unpleasant jobs involving death and thought I was mentally and emotionally prepared for the moment.

However, I was not ready for the wild emotional rollercoaster that comes with taking the life of something so majestic, beautiful, and cunningly wary as the whitetail deer. The reverence, the sense of sadness and loss from taking a life, the relief that there was no suffering, the primal feeling of providing meat for the family all rush over you. This is a very intimate connection with my food, and it gives me such a great appreciation for the animal.

I think the romantic side of me craves this connection to my food, growing it, foraging and hunting for it, learning all of these skills that people have possessed for thousands of years, thinking about what it looked like for them… this is what led me to leave my Grandpa’s rifle in the barn and pick up a bow.

The intimacy of the moment without being bastardized by the loud BANG of the gun and the understanding of how much work goes into it. The challenge of getting that much closer to an animal whose senses and instincts are far superior to ours, the meditative aspects associated with it, the discipline required… clearly I caught the bug.

And of course, then being able to creatively pair all of these flavors and ingredients together to feed my family and friends is a beautiful thing.

I appreciate all of y'all's connection to your food, and choosing to have a relationship with this farm.