good clean food

misty weekend mornings. good for sleeping in and drinking tea. taking the goats on a leisurely wander and calling relatives. and for making chicken stock. my first one. a new era of health- building the blood, nourishing the bones, and honoring the animals that make me feel better. after more than 12 years of being a vegetarian, my body asked for something different. i was weak after working in the fields, adrenally drained all the time, unable to remember the simplest of things, shakey, tired constantly with an upset stomach, a lack of appetite and just an overall frailty. i didn't feel good.
i was never a strict vegetarian because i believe that you should eat what you want, listen to what your body needs, take advantage of unique opportunities, and respect the traditions of other cultures (like eating raw buffalo liver in lakota ceremony! chewy!) and of course because bacon is so delicious and very linked with comfort for me-sunday morning breakfast is my favorite of all time. but the whole reason i vowed to give up meat with gavin levy in my basement bedroom when i was 17 was because of factory farming. the unacceptable reality of tortured animals in the hands of big corporations making a buck on brutality was just not ok. of course the effects on our bodies after consuming this meat is equally deplorable and so i boycotted that shit.
and now, all these years later as i slowly introduce meat back into my world i'm still boycotting those conditions, those big businesses, and making choices that support the change i want to see. for me that means buying local from farmers that treat their animals with respect, let them eat what they are meant to (NOT GMO corn) with some fresh air and a dignified life. the way it used to be-the old norm. it's kind of a big deal for me to eat meat. i still struggle with it a bit, but i think food is medicine and i'm feeling better with meat in my life. so thank you to that beautiful four pound chicken for feeding and healing me.