Meat.

If you know me you know I gave up meat a long time ago, when I was 16 on January 1st as my new years resolution. I did this for two main reasons, one being that my gallbladder doesn't function properly and because of that, high fat foods gave me an extremely painful belly ache. The second reason is that I feel really strongly about the ethical treatment of animals. When my hair started falling out due to lack of protein and was about a year into my relationship with Dan who is allergic to legumes (any kind of bean, including peanuts and soy products) I decided to start eating chicken. I decided chicken. I don't really have a good excuse for this other than chickens have smaller brains so I didn't feel as bad about eating them as I did cows and pigs (we used to have a pet pig). And now, after stumbling upon videos like this:

https://secure.peta.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=2521&c=11

I just don't feel right about supporting factory farms who produces dairy and meat from abused animals and who participate in inhumane practices. Because of this, I started educating myself on local farms that are grass fed, free range animals with a ton of acreage and hold themselves to high standards of food production.

I did some research and came upon Butter Patch Jerseys that sells to 14 Carrot here in Lexington. When I got there I got hooked up with a guy named Lou and he gave me tons of information on local meats, cheeses, eggs, and raw milk. EEEK!

Here's a quick run down of what he told me (I took notes..):
-Butter Patch- Raw milk delivered on Thursdays, good pork and beef.
-Caw Caw-Not as good as Butter Patch but Butter Patch's production has been low lately so they sell out super quick. Caw Caw would be his second choice for beef and pork.
-Eubanks- Good beef.
-Wilmore Farms- Eggs and raw milk

With this knowledge in hand I went hunting to find something good. I ended up getting.. BACON! WHAT?! I feel nutso. As far as cost goes, this bacon was $8/lb. So yes it's most expensive but think about what you're getting, fresh, unsalted, hormone free, delicious, ethically treated animals! I feel so good about this. I'm so excited.. well.. and nervous. I'll be more excited once I have some and don't puke. The meat comes frozen and you can't thaw it until the day you want to use it or let it thaw in the fridge about 12 hours before you want to use it. There are no preservatives so you really can't just let it chillax in the fridge for weeks. No bueno.

If all goes well, I shall start introducing meat into our diet slowly. But lets be clear here, I shan't be eating meat from mysterious sources.. only little animals where I know they had a happy life and were able to do happy animal things. Because I'm a tree hugging hippie. What up.