Child Abuse and Endangerment... OH HOW TIMES HAVE CHANGED

My sister shared this great picture of all of us kids. This is a photo of our annual chicken slaughter. As stated earlier these types of traditions started to die out when I was very young BUT I do remember a few of them. As a family we all had jobs ranging from slaughtering to gutting to de-feathering. We all worked as a family to make meat. Chicken though for what ever reason was quickly phased out and we switched to only harvesting pigs for meat. These memories are some of the main reasons why I have a passion to further my homesteading life style.

Now fast forward 20+ years and I now have kids of my own and I want to share with them the same experiences I fondly remember as a kid. So I started getting chickens, rabbits, turkeys and harvesting wild life. My kids LOVE IT! BUT as stated earlier TIMES HAVE CHANGED.

Back on the farm and in the community we lived in making meat as a family was just a way of life. But when I shared with friends and friends of friend that I make my own meat and my kids were involved I get a much different response. I have been accused of everything from child abuse to child endangerment.

One of the most profound events happened when one of my friends wanted to have a grill out at my house. At the time we had rabbits turkeys and chickens. The "farm" we had was in a very urban setting. We were lucky in the fact that at the time we had about .25 acres of land to work with (now we have A LOT LESS). All the animals were well taken care of and very healthy. Well we were having a good time grilling, eating, and talking. The friend of the friend was impressed that we could keep such healthy animals on such a small piece of land. BUT THEN ENTER AT THE TIME MY YOUNGEST.

She loved the animal but she loved even more that these animals were going to become our "chicken nuggets" (for here even the rabbits were going to be chicken nuggets, she was 3 and all meat was chicken nuggets) She took this lady around and explained to her about how this turkey was named Christmas, that one was Easter, and that one was Thanksgiving. Next came the rabbits and than the chickens. Well after that the mood changed.

The story goes on from there but you get the moral. We were bad parents in that person's eyes. Not to mention we were bad people too. Mind you this is just one story of many. But this one was one of the worst.

It's funny how less than a generation or two the only way to put meat on the table was to kill and clean it yourself. Even going to the butcher meant you had to wait around sometimes has he "filled" your order.

But besides that history lesson what the person failed to see is that all the farming activities were done as a family for us. My kids didn't watch much TV they went outside in the fresh air and helped with caring for the animals. My kids learned the what it took to have food on the table. My kids understood that everything on the earth had a purpose. They also learned some valuable life skills. If times ever got tough I know that my kids could survive not because "well you know I could if I had to" But I know that they could because they HAVE DONE IT ALREADY.

We have lost touch as a people. No longer can we do for ourselves. Instead we handicap ourselves to the magic of the supermarkets of the world. This is one of the driving reason why if at all possible I will restart the family farm despite all the new limitation we have. I firmly believe urban farming and family farmer on only makes us better parents but it also makes us stronger as a family!!