In recent years studies have shown the harmful affects that the large amount of meat consumption has on our planet. This hurts me deeply. I have loved the livestock industry my whole life. I love the cows that I raise now. I have spent my whole life trying to be right were I am at this very moment. I am standing in my pasture watching my cows recline in the shade in the tall, cool grass while their calves prance around me. I am preparing to spend the next week in this very position. My life’s goal is to make a living at this very act. As I read the reports of harm created by commercial ag, I can think that it is not me. I am a small time operator. Those guys are creating the problem not me. But I am a link in their chain. I buy (and sell) their products. I sell them my calves.
I hate the fact that my desire feeds their system. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about it. It is these times where the other struggles in life don’t drown this out that I can ponder where I am and where I am going and where I should be going. As with all important things, there is no easy answer. I am a visionary. I can see where I want to be, but I can’t see the path. It reminds me of when I used to drive a tow truck in college. I spent many hours driving down familiar roads, but when I lifted my gaze past the hood of my truck I could see the beauty of Missouri. You would be surprised how far you can see from sections of I-70. But you have to remember you are on I-70. Even now, my eyes wander to the far flung skylines.
I wanted to express the cognitive dissonance of being an environmentally conscious cattleman, but I think I may have failed. I long for a time when a farm could pay for a farm. When you only needed 40 acres to provide for a family. When life started and ended in the same place (for people and animals). When we had sustainable agriculture. That has not been in my lifetime, my parent’s lifetime and only a portion of my grandparent’s. So I see my choices as behaving like the majority of american’s and pretending there is no elephant in the room or changing what I do in a drastic way. I don’t know what that entails. I can see the endpoint, but no path.
I hate the fact that my desire feeds their system. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about it. It is these times where the other struggles in life don’t drown this out that I can ponder where I am and where I am going and where I should be going. As with all important things, there is no easy answer. I am a visionary. I can see where I want to be, but I can’t see the path. It reminds me of when I used to drive a tow truck in college. I spent many hours driving down familiar roads, but when I lifted my gaze past the hood of my truck I could see the beauty of Missouri. You would be surprised how far you can see from sections of I-70. But you have to remember you are on I-70. Even now, my eyes wander to the far flung skylines.
I wanted to express the cognitive dissonance of being an environmentally conscious cattleman, but I think I may have failed. I long for a time when a farm could pay for a farm. When you only needed 40 acres to provide for a family. When life started and ended in the same place (for people and animals). When we had sustainable agriculture. That has not been in my lifetime, my parent’s lifetime and only a portion of my grandparent’s. So I see my choices as behaving like the majority of american’s and pretending there is no elephant in the room or changing what I do in a drastic way. I don’t know what that entails. I can see the endpoint, but no path.
