Conscious eating inspired this blog I originally wrote on April 15 of this year just after taking our roosters to be culled. Today I was reminded of that day as we received our ten chickens a friend had raised and culled for us until we have the proper space to do so on our own farm.

There is so much discussion and dissension out there these days about what diet to follow; vegan, paleo, primal, traditional just to name a few. This blog is not about what is better for you or for the planet but it’s me sharing from my heart how I came to value and care about where my food comes from. No matter what way of eating you adhere to or your beliefs, your food has to come from somewhere and that for me is the most important piece that needs to be looked at. By doing that the good for you and good for the planet part automatically falls into place.

So let’s take a trip back to April of this year…

A Foray Into Farmsteading

This morning I took our two roosters to be culled. As I said a prayer to release their spirits, thank them for nourishing us and expressed my gratitude for the nourishment they would provide, I couldn’t help but feel a flood of emotions. I cried a bit but not so much from sadness and to be honest I’m not sure I could say which emotion had me shedding a few tears; all of them perhaps?

This was a first time experience for me. Just as raising chicks from a day old was when we first started our flock. Two of the chicks turned out to be roosters that grew up to be loud, obnoxious, mean, nasty and abusive to the hens. We had already decided when we got the chicks that if we had any roosters they would become dinner eventually. So what was I really expecting? And how does this tie in with conscious eating?

I don’t really know what I was expecting to feel about this whole process and I was curious to see what would come up at the time. When I made the choice to change my life and start heading into a lifestyle that connected me more with dirt, food, nourishment; where it comes from and what I really needed to survive and live, I dreamed of growing my own food, raising chickens, collecting eggs, getting goats and having milk, butter and cheese, possibly some ducks, a dog, barn cats. I desired to start off in the direction of farmsteading and if I could handle that move towards homesteading.

Farmsteading by the way is defined as: producing food to support your family and for sale. Picture the farmer with a part-time or full-time non-farming job. Homesteading is producing food, electricity, heat and everything else you need to support yourself and your family. A self-sufficient lifestyle, off the grid. Well sure enough dreaming about something and the reality of it turned out to be quite different. It is turning out to be more amazing than I ever imagined! Every day I learn something new about myself, about the life that surrounds me and am left in awe. Every day I feel closer to and learn more about the dirt I stand on; what grows in it, what’s it feel like, look like, taste like. (Yup; I do on occasion.)

I teach conscious eating to the individuals I coach and through my educational programs. This means different things to each individual and it applies whether you eat only plant-based or include animal-based nourishment as well. At its basic level though it is removing the naivete around where the food you eat and use to nourish yourself comes from. As you pick up each item while shopping for your groceries realize that it didn’t just magically appear in the store as this inanimate object; take a moment to think about where it came from and how it came to be.

Ask yourself these questions: where did it come from; local or trucked/flown in from far away? Who grew it/raised it? How did they grow it/raise it? How was the life in this item nurtured and nourished so it would provide that nurture and nourishment for me? Was it made in a lab? Is it something that grew in nature or was it made in a mass producing factory? Is it real food (something that occurs naturally) or something that was manufactured? If you shop local farmers markets, get to know the farmers and vendors, create relationships with them, go visit their farms; see how they do things. My famous saying, the one you’ll hear me repeat over and over again is life=life; how alive your food is equals how alive you are; it’s that simple.

For me conscious eating had reached the point where I wanted to grow, raise, produce as much as I could of my own nourishment, of what sustained me. I had discovered the joy, delight and taste of going out and picking something from the garden and eating it; the magic of planting a seed and waiting, watching for it to sprout and mature; there was no turning back. Though the foundation and majority of my diet is plant-based, I do eat small portions of animal products. I prefer to eat plant and non-plant based foods that have been raised/grown ethically, had a happy life, been allowed to pasture or grow in their most desirable habitat, experienced love and kindness from the people that raised them/grew them, free of all intentional chemicals, hormones, antibiotics and fertilizers. Plants deserve to have a good life too and they reflect that in the nourishment they provide you!

And so this leads me all back to this morning and standing there watching someone else cull my chickens. Since this is the first time and we needed to do it quickly, we decided to have a local farmer down the street do it for us who had a set up for such in their backyard. As I watched the process I felt a little bit sad that someone else was doing this since we had raised them and prepared them for this. I’m thinking next time maybe it should be one of us who cared for them or at the very least someone we know.

I felt a little primal, a bit of wow I’m really standing here and this is happening and we raised meat chickens omg!, tons of gratitude for the nourishment and sustenance they will provide our families. Grateful that I knew what they had eaten, how they had been raised and cared for and wait! did I really just raise my own chickens for food?! Gratitude for who I am becoming; the emerging farmsteader. Gratitude for our little farming life we are creating and for the community around us we are getting to know.

This chapter of my journey is only beginning and I so look forward to it with an open and curious heart anticipating so much learning and expansion, fun and not so fun times, beautiful people/relationships and a deeper connection to this earth that graciously hosts us. I look forward to sharing my journey with you all as well in hopes that you will be inspired and I can continue to support you to be your most vibrant self and live your life to your fullest.

December update: besides hens, dogs and a barn cat who is now a house cat we have a couple of alpaca and three little pot-belly pigs. Everyone has a their job. The alpacas are supposed to be the guard animals, the pigs are nature’s rototillers and the hens produce eggs. Our gardens have expanded a bit and a greenhouse is in the works. In the spring we’re looking forward to a couple of goats, ducks, real barn cats, our own meat chickens on site and who knows what else. This way of life has a way of surprising you; you have your plan then life happens and it all changes! Looking forward to seeing how it will unfold.

Live Vibrantly!

ps. Curious to know more about how to get the most nutrients from your food and make the best choices? Then I invite you to check out my book,  “Live Vibrantly! 10 Steps to Maintain Youthfulness, Increase Energy and Restore Your Health”. Go here for more information and how to get your free bonuses.