Turkey

At the school I attended last year, I saw turkeys get slaughtered for our Thanksgiving festival. Seeing the slaughter was an experience like no other, because it made me think a lot about food. When most people sit down to dinner on Thanksgiving, they have only seen the turkey wrapped in platic, or on the plate.
If everyone who celebrates Thanksgiving were to witness a turkey slaughter, people would think more about what they are putting into their bodies. The meal wouldn't just be thought of as calories. The turkey would be thought of as an animal that was once alive and breathing.

I don't think people fully appreciate the fact that an animal died to be on their plate.
Whenever I eat meat, I am fully aware that animals gave up their lives, for me to eat.

Thanksgiving

As Thanksgiving dawns upon us, I am thinking about the food that is eaten.
This thanksgiving will be just like every one prior.
It will be another meal at which the diners will be blissfully unaware of where their food is from.
It will be another meal at which people are unaware of the horrors of factory farming.
I will most likely be the only one who cares about where food comes from.
I am always the only one, in that regard.

Farm to Table.

I was looking at the blog of Sterling College, in Vermont, and I read about a summer program being offered, which is the Farm to Table Program.
The program will cover production, food writing, food entrepreneurism,a Field Study in Vermont Food Systems, and Whole Farm Thinking. I am not sure whether these programs are only for college students, but I would be very interested in this program.

I am thinking about starting a rooftop garden, on our rooftop deck. I am thinking about just growing a few vegetables. Because our deck is not massive, I wouldn't be able to produce very much, but it would be a good experience to grow some produce.

Selling my ceramics

Over the past few years, I have done ceramics.
I have sold in three stores in California.
I have decided that I will start to sell my ceramics through my blog.
If you are interested in purchasing some of my ceramics, email me @ drouault.ceramics@yahoo.com

Living the urban life

Sorry for the lag in posting. I've been trying to keep my head above water in the urban public school. I am trying to adjust to living in such a crowded place, but it is challenging.
I came from a place where life wasn't so rushed.
I came from a place where people enjoy learning.
I came from a place where people aren't afraid to get dirty.
Many natives of Southern California seem afraid of getting their hands dirty. If someone steps in a minuscule puddle of rainwater, they are on the verge of tears. Where I'm from, a large puddle of mud is nothing to fret about, because you just walk through it.
If people weren't so precious, they would be better off. When talking about attending a school with an agricultural component, I am looked at as if I am crazy. I recieve looks, and feel like I'm of a different species. My desktop background on my laptop is a Holstein calf. When anyone at school looks at my desktop, I hear a snicker.
My alleged peers read Vogue, while I read Hoards.

Oh well, what can you do?

Why Farm?

At a recent dinner, I was with my grandparents. I was asked if I knew what my future profession might be. I responded that I was interested in agricuture. My grandmother said that people still need food, and was encouraging. My grandfather, however, said that "times have changed." When saying that times have changed, he meant that we now have supermarkets, and that growing food isn't a necessity nowadays. I didn't want to create animosity at the table, so I just nodded my head.

Yes, times have changed, but people still need to eat. If we didn't have farmers, there would be no food.
I am going to be a farmer, because I believe that people need to eat, and someone needs to grow the food.

Cultural Stigma Against Farming.

Joel Salatin, from Polyface Farm in Virginia, was interviewed by USA Today about farming, and he brought up something that is quite disheartening. He said that there is a stigma against farming, and it's viewed as a profession for the students with bad grades, and that most farmers are viewed uncouth and declassé. The assumption that farmers are stupid is so narrow minded, and so arrogant. The professions that are looked highly upon are the ones where you don't get your hands dirty, except from the ink on the New York Times.
There are people who think that they are too "good" to be a farmer. When I hear such an attitude, I am repulsed by the hubris. If you aren't too "good" to eat dinner, then you aren't too "good" to farm.