What Does Processing the Christmas Turkeys Mean?

This is the response I sent to a message from one of my Zaadz (Gaia) friends, who wanted to know what this activity means to me - the friend is vegetarian and does not agree with humans' killing and consumption of animals.  She also appears to have removed me from her friends list over this issue.  Here is my reply to her, and for all my Zaadz friends (including those I don't know yet):

Thanks for your message.   I appreciate that many people object to the killing of animals for food or any human purpose.   No, I don't consider it fun.  It is a great deal of work for the humans involved, keeping the animals in conditions that are clean, safe and humane.   It also makes for extra work to ensure that the conditions of slaughter are as humane as possible, which is what we try to do on the farm where I live and work.   No, it's not fun.  No one here enjoys the killing.  It's very serious work.  

It is also part of my personal spiritual path to be connected to the food I eat.  I choose to eat meat, and I choose to be completely aware of what that choice means.   I  help care for the animals from the moment of birth, to the moment of death.

Please be assured these are questions I have considered, in depth, over many, many years of study and reflection.   I practised vegetarianism for two years when I first discovered my personal conflicts on this issue.  Those conflicts are ongoing, however my main objections centre around the meat industry, and the treatment of animals in the industrial production of meat (and dairy), not on the eating of meat as a philosophical question. 

I have not eaten “industrial” meat for many years, except occasionally at a restaurant or a special event.   All the meat eaten on this property is grown, slaughtered and processed here, under conditions controlled by the owners, who are committed to providing the most humane and healthful conditions possible.

My current position on the question of whether or not to eat meat is that meat is a natural part of the human diet (if you study our teeth in more detail, you will find that they are not herbivores' teeth, nor carnivores' teeth, but something intermediate).  Paleontology and archeology support a long history of an omnivorous diet throughout human evolution.   Current nutritional research suggests that a small amount of meat is a healthful addition to the human diet, especially if that meat is from animals grown in “natural conditions”, i.e. allowed to live in a free-ranging environment with daily access to pasture, natural light and freedom to move around.

I also choose to have cats and dogs as companion animals.   Even if I was to choose not to eat meat myself (which can be a healthy choice), it would be cruel and neglectful for me to choose a vegetarian diet for these animals, who are carnivores.   They absolutely require a diet of animal origin in order to survive and live long, healthy lives.   So animals will continue to be killed for food as long as I continue to have carnivores as companions, regardless of my own dietary choices.

I hope this answers your questions, and helps clarify what I mean by Processing the Christmas Turkeys.

Best Wishes for a Joyful Season and a Happy 2008.
Vicki