I used to just dream about a country property that could be used as a farmstead/ farm-stay operation. I had intention of raising some livestock, but not to be culled. I thought of chickens for eggs, dairy cows for milk, bees for honey and some small produce. Any other animals on the farm would purely be for companionship.
However, I was lucky enough to attend a farming conference earlier in the year. I was so inspired by the farmers I met. I was like a sponge, taking in every bit of information I could. Meeting and talking with a few farmers in particular changed my view on livestock. People are going to eat meat. It is a fact. Sadly though, many people don't care about where their meat comes from. They don't know the source of the food they consume. And chances are that if they don't know the source, it is probably a good thing. (I say that loosely.) Factory farming is a terribly sad existence for animals that end up on our plates all across America. I'm guilty of eating meat that isn't organic, isn't farm-raised, isn't grass-fed. Most Americans are. So... What can I do about it?
Well, if people are going to eat meat they should be able to have more choices in what they eat. Biodiversity. They should be able to buy local. They should have an opportunity to know their farmer, if possible. I want to start a farm. I want to make an income. Do I necessarily dream of raising animals for meat... not really. I don't love the idea of an animal dying at my hands. However, I realize that there is a need... a need for what I'm wanting to do. Couple that with a shifting view on eating local. More and more people are beginning to care about where their food comes from and what they are feeding their families. Again... people are always going to eat meat. So I can meet that need, but in a better way. Instead of just raising livestock for meat, I can do it in a humane way. I can raise these animals in a caring environment. I can let them live as they should, on a pasture, not in cages or factories. I can let them forage and graze as nature created them to. I can supplement their diets with real food, not fillers. I can give them the best possible life until their time comes. And when it does, it'll be humane.
About that time as well I became interested in the Slow Food movement and Ark of Taste. I then started to develop my idea about the type of livestock I would potentially like to raise. I started to find my niche.
I started to develop my thinking and therefore my long-term plan into something more substantial, sustainable and profitable. My new(er) plan focuses on heirloom cultivars and heritage livestock breeds. If I'm going to raise livestock I am going to create a niche for myself. I'm going to raise pigs that produce a different tasting bacon. I'm going to raise cows that produce a richer milk. By doing this, not only am I helping keep heritage breeds around, I'm also helping the consumer have more choices... and hopefully making a decent income for myself.
Slow Food is an international movement founded by Carlo Petrini in 1986. Promoted as an alternative to fast food, it strives to preserve traditional and regional cuisine and encourages farming of plants, seeds and livestock characteristic of the local ecosystem. It was the first established part of the broader Slow movement. The movement has since expanded globally to over 100,000 members in 150 countries. [1] Its goals of sustainable foods and promotion of local small businesses are paralleled by a political agenda directed against globalization of agricultural products.
The Ark of Taste is an international catalogue of heritage foods in danger of extinction which is maintained by the global Slow Food movement. The Ark is designed to preserve at-risk foods that are sustainably produced, unique in taste, and part of a distinct ecoregion. Contrary to the most literal definition of plant and animal conservation, the Ark of Taste aims to maintain edibles in its purview by actively encouraging their cultivation for consumption.[1] By doing so, Slow Food hopes to promote the growing and eating of foods which are sustainable and preserve biodiversity in the human food chain.
Foods included in the list are intended to be "culturally or historically linked to a specific region, locality, ethnicity or traditional production practice",[2] in addition to being rare. Which foods meet these criteria is decided by an adjudicating committee made up of members of the Slow Food non-profit organization; all candidates go through a formal nomination process which includes tastings and identification of producers within the region.[3]
Since the foundation of the Ark in 1996, 800 products from over 50 countries have been included. The list includes not only prepared foods and food products, but a great many livestock breeds as well as vegetable and fruit cultivars. All foods in the catalogue are accompanied by a list of resources for those wishing to grow or buy them.
Still have full intention of having a farmstead, down the road, where I can welcome guests to my property to stay and appreciate the farm life and the beauty of nature. But in the meantime I am developing a plan whereby that property can be more profitable by raising livestock on a larger scale for a niche market.
More to come... :)
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