Just Five More Minutes

When we picked up our chicks, our girls asked what we were going to do with them.  Hubby and I explained that we would cuddle them while they were small, but that soon they would be very big and unfriendly chickens … and that we would eventually eat them.

Our youngest, Charlotte, was silent for a while after hearing this.  We worried if this had been a rather abrupt introduction to the reality of food.

Finally she nodded to herself, and announced,  “That’s okay, but I don’t want to eat any eyes.”

Fair enough.

Our friends, who raise chickens in their backyard, invited us to invest in fifteen chicks that will be raised for the freezer.

Today was the chick pick-up day.  The chicks, which hatched only yesterday, arrived in a cardboard box.  Our girls were thrilled to have a box of peeping chicks in between them as we drove to our friends’ place.

Each chick had to be introduced to water.  Funnily enough, they didn’t need to be introduced to food:  these chicks are bred to eat, and as soon as food was put nearby, they dove in.

If all goes well, in 8.5 weeks we should have a freezer full of chickens.  Looking at these cute balls of fluff, their intended fate seems rather horrible.  Fortunately they only stay cute for about a week, after which it becomes easier to contemplate their upcoming demise

But for now, they have a rather pampered life of cuddles, lots of food, and a warm bed.  Not too bad, really.

If, like me, you haven’t been able to watch Food Inc yet, you might be interested in watching it online at CBC.ca.

It’s a sobering documentary that examines the food system from a number of angles. It’s also a hopeful one in that it shows how much we consumers can change things by making different purchase choices. Both Michael Pollan (In Defense of Food, The Omnivore’s Dilemma) and Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation) contribute to the film, which I appreciate. They are intelligent, passionate advocates for a healthy food system, yet avoid that radicalism that can be so off-putting for those of us who live in the real world of limited time and limited budgets.

Watching this has made me grateful again that I have the opportunity to buy good food and grow a small but mighty garden.

Last year wrought a lot of changes in my own view of food, and by extension, the kind of food my family eats. I went from thoughtless grocery store spending to buying food because it was cheap … to eventually buying food because it was good for us.

And good food, I’ve found, is close at hand. Our garden, of course, keeps us in fresh veggies in the summer. But beyond that, we are blessed to live in a rural area where many farmers produce wholesome food. We’ve made some wonderful discoveries, and learned some important lessons about finding food outside of a supermarket.

Here’s what I’ve learned from our adventures in enjoying local food:

• Labels (like “organic” and “free range”) aren’t nearly as meaningful as what you can learn by visiting a producer, asking some questions, and observing their practices.
• Start small with a producer to test things out. Hubby and I purchased a heritage, organic, free-range, ridiculously expensive turkey, and were disappointed to see how dirty things were when it was … um, prepped for the freezer. We wished we’d observed a few smaller birds before jumping in on a big turkey.
• A good producer is priceless. She or he will have a wealth of information about the value of the food you’re purchasing, the difference between methods of producing the food, and even how to cook it.
• Carefully produced food is going to taste better than you imagined.
• Good food is going to be more expensive. You’ll save a bit by buying in bulk, but just expect it to cost more than your average supermarket fare. Even for those of us on a tight budget, it’s worth it.