The Lord is My Shepherd
Schuyler and Elizabeth haven't left town yet, but tonight Schuyler decided that instead of mixing cocktails for us, he would serve everybody some just-chilled sparkling wine since the holidays are upon us. Thankfully, non-alcoholic sparkling wine is easy to find, and he had several bottles available for those who don't drink.
Quite a few of us are gathered in the great room, but many couples and their children have left to spend the holidays with relatives in other states and even other countries. One of our main rabble-rousers isn't planning on going anywhere, and we thought tonight he'd naturally bring up some of the really dark things that are going on in the White House, so we were all surprised when he said he wanted to talk about the kindness we owe animals. Yes, you could have heard a pin drop, the room grew so quiet. Out of respect for his privacy, we never mention him by name, but over the years we've had a chance to grow close enough to gain his confidence and trust. We've also learned a lot about his life, and that's why we protect his privacy. Tonight, we'll be speaking a lot for him, though of course you know that he's the one who proposed that we talk about kindness to animals.
Our neighbor was so brutally abused as a child, that fifty-five years later he is still in treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. That, to us, seems like an awfully long time to suffer, but it does explain why this neighbor in particular would choose to talk about kindness to animals. We've learned, over the years, that he has made a "career" of adopting severely abused animals and nursing them back to health. Back in the early eighties he at one point had as many as fourteen dogs the nearest animal shelter asked him to "foster" until good homes could be found for them. Today, out here on a farm, with the room to do it, he takes in horribly abused horses who have had such cruel things done to them we can't even stand to think about them, yet he spends years little by little, small step by small step, building up their trust and gaining their confidence.
One of the ex-race horses has been so completely transformed that today his behavior is more dog-like than horse-like: he follows our neighbor around wherever he goes, and if given a chance, licks him all over, just like one of his dogs would, and that tells you why tonight our neighbor wanted to talk a bit about kindness to animals. After all, Elizabeth said, for those who are Christian, you cannot ignore all the animal symbolism that fills that particular religion. Not for nothing is Jesus referred to as a shepherd, and not for nothing are we called his flock.
The kindness for animals that we really wanted to talk about tonight has much to do with the season. A lot of feasting is going to go on over the next week or two, and as you know quite well by now, we do an awful lot of eating of flesh out here on our farms and ranches. Our neighbor does also, but only because of the way we deal with such things out here: any animal that is butchered for food, has, first, led a life without fear, without confinement, and without cruelty. Secondly, at the time of its death it still is dealt with humanely and with no foreknowledge of impending death.
Not just our neighbor, but now, all of us, have the same ethics. There is absolutely no reason to tolerate cruel treatment of animals intended for human consumption. Not all of you are as lucky as we are, since we control every day of our animals' lives, but you do have a choice. You can choose to buy cheap cuts of meat, which guarantee that the animal you are about to eat led a horrific life and met a horrific death, or you can be a bit more choosy and decide to spend just a bit more money and buy only flesh that comes from animals who have been dealt with humanely throughout their lives, and most importantly, at the time of their deaths.
Today, there is more awareness of how the industry deals with farm animals, and maybe this is a good time of year to make all of us, and all those people we know, more aware. There are more breeders, farmers and ranchers who are willing to give their animals a decent life and a humane death. Cut out a beer here or a cappuccino there, and you can buy beef, chicken, pork, fish or what have you from certified humane sources.
Our neighbor wanted us to make sure and tell you about a very short but extremely poignant little "cartoon" that is on the internet on how horribly we are allowing farm animals to be raised and killed right now. Please, be humane, and go to your computer and find www.themeatrix.com Please watch it and follow some of its suggestions.
Also The Humane Society of the United States has a good web site that is full of suggestions on how to go about eating the meals you like while ensuring that the animals that feed you led good lives and had humane deaths. Please, our neighbor begged, tell everybody to go to www.hsus.org/farm_animals
Because of the time of year, many of us will be having turkey, among other dishes. The Humane Society web site has so much information about Organic BreadBasket of Winnipeg, who have merited their "Certified Humane Raised & Handled" label. These turkeys are sold under the tradename Pop's Farm. Please, our group entreated us to write, try and get these turkeys. There is still time, not much perhaps, but if you try you can still get them. For those of you fortunate enough to live close to a Whole Foods Market, you can find them there,
For the holidays, regardless of your religion or lack thereof, you can do something worthy of this time of year: pressure your local grocer so that together we can all put pressure on the shameful U.S. Department of Agriculture to enforce the ban on the inhumane and unspeakably cruel way in which our food animals are slaughtered. It's such a small thing to do, but such an important one. Why, we all wondered, would you want to eat an animal who was only partially dead before it began being deboned? Why would you want to eat an animal who was being boiled alive? Why would you want to have a holiday ham, knowing that the poor beast was strung up on meat hooks by one of its legs and swung on a conveyor-like contraption long before it was fully dead?
The USDA is just another word for Sick Nazis. Do you know how many obscenely ill animals they allow to enter the meat market? Again, just as with inhumane treatment, only we can make a difference, the animals cannot speak up for themselves. Do you think, our neighbor asked, you are too busy to write a letter, make a phone call or make a donation? And you call yourself a human being? Think about it: The Lord is My Shepherd, and who is the shepherd for all those millions of animals being inhumanely being raised and slaughtered?
http://www.ncseonline.org/NLE/CRS/abstract.cfm?NLEid=61299
The Internet address we cited above is important, please visit this site. Please be a Shepherd, helpless animals need you. We, on our farms and ranches, have found that we need each other, and caring for our animals has helped our souls in ways too mysterious to explain, but when we go to bed at night, if we've had a good visit with our neighbors and know that we have been kind to our animals, we have a beautiful night's sleep, and wish the same for our animals and animals everywhere, after all, we are human beings, and human beings can be shepherds too.
Lastly, just before going in to dinner, our neighbor asked us to beg you to please, also, search these last two web sites. He thinks there is so much we can do for animals, who without help from kind human beings, are always, inevitably, mistreated. The sites are:
www.farmsanctuary.org and www.nodowners.org
Thank you for your patience with us, distant neighbors.
Dinner Gong and Hungry Teenagers
With so many of our neighbors already away for the holidays, we had the fireplace in the dining room roaring and all of us, adults and teenagers, were able to sit together. This doesn't happen very often, the pleasure of having three generations all sitting at the dining table at the same time. Our first course was an exquisite Artichoke and Angel Hair Pasta Frittata. A frittata is simply defined as "an unfolded omelet often containing chopped vegetables or meats."
Our eggs, of course, come from our free-range chickens, so we could have our Frittata knowing everything was o.k. with this dish. The parmiggiano-reggiano cheese was superb, making this simple appetizer rich and unforgettable. We felt terrible, enjoying our frittatas with some delcious sherry while the teenagers could not have any. European-style, however, the oldest ones do get the occasional sip of sherry because when they come of age we don't want them thinking good wine or liqueurs are some kind of forbidden, taboo pleasure that has to be consumed immoderately; we want them to think it's just an additional pleasure to be consumed in moderation with good food.
Tonight, with so many of our friends gone, we thought we'd have a simpler dinner, and we thought this simple soup would be easy to prepare (well, for some, like Max and Charlotte) and satisfyingly warm: Consommé with Agnolotti (filled with shrimp and crab.) The consommé is made with Martini & Rossi Vermouth, so the adults had a small glass of vermouth with theirs.
Our next, and last course, was Tagliatelle with Mushrooms and Bell Peppers, a very satisfying pasta dish. Because we were having far fewer courses than we normally do, the large, beautiful Italian bowls we used tonight were filled to overflowing. We chose a Côtes de Provence Rosé for the dish, which wasn't heavy enough to warrant one of the heavier Tuscan wines. The rosé was fresh and fruity, perfect for a lighter pasta dish.
Winding Down
We went back to the great room to have Orange Madeleines with our after-dinner coffee. We are so used to our large group that the room might have felt a bit empty if it hadn't been for the large tree we had set up. In a small way, it made up for the absence of our good neighbors and friends. Tomorrow we'll have a special meal, and then the last few neighbors planning trips will be leaving.
Summary:
Today, there is no excuse for human beings in this country to accept anything less than the most humane treatment of animals destined for our consumption. This humane treatment needs to occur throughout the animals' lives, and especially as the hour of their slaughter arrives. They should never, not for an instant, have to feel fear or panic. If we can't do that for them, then we don't deserve it for ourselves. This is the "holiday season" and all we can say is: eat responsibly, eat compassionately.
