FOOD THAT RESTORES
It didn’t hit me until I had children.
I wanted them to grow up clean. I wanted to arm them with the ability to sustain themselves. I wanted them to know where food comes from. I felt responsible for not only teaching them how to live healthy, but to provide them with a healthy lifestyle.
Suddenly, I felt this insatiable urge to produce my own nutritionally rich foods.
A NEW GENERATION OF HOMESTEADERS
As I have grown in my homesteading knowledge and skillset, my children have accompanied the journey. Either by will or happenstance, the four, not-so-little people residing in my shadow have learned volumes.
Most importantly, we have all learned that food matters.
And, believe it or not, whether you are a vegetarian, vegan, omnivore, or carnivore, it all begins with the land.
THE LAND
From the day we moved onto our farm and planted our first seed, my goal was to do my part to properly manage the land and drive sustainable agriculture.
This begins with attending to the soil. All of our livestock are handled with the earth in mind. We fertilize our fields, flowers, and gardens directly with the foundational application of natural compost. The most nutritious, black compost is created, decomposed, and utilized on our property.
The cow’s manure is collected and composted over-winter for use every spring. The rabbit’s cold manure is used to top-dress the gardens at any time of year. The chicken litter is utilized to warm up the cold ground in spring and fertilize the worst clay soil. The garden scraps, kitchen scraps, and canning scraps are added to the compost weekly so nothing organic is wasted.
Our daily lives revolve around improving the land and deeply caring for livestock, wildlife, and using the natural resource we have been blessed with. The earth can not help but produce the healthiest foods when the soil is deep rich and intentionally maintained.
When the pastures and fields are healthy, the animals are healthy.
We make it a priority to keep well-maintained barns, shelters, and pastures. This means we regularly remove manure from the earth. Leaving manure in fields to break down can be a functional approach, but only when plenty of pasture is available. When acreage is limited, it is crucial that the fields are well maintained. Leaving large amounts of manure in smaller fields can cause parasite problems, insect infestations, and actually kill the grass.
Simply scooping up the manure and moving it to a ‘compost’ location will keep fields and livestock healthier. This system also will provide plenty of the richest compost a farmer has ever seen for use elsewhere (like in gardens and containers).
THE ANIMALS
The quality of the food is completely related to the quality of the animal’s life. What was the animal fed? How did it live?
We raise our meat.
We often are rebuked for this decision, however, we enjoy consuming meat and have decided as a family that we do not want to remove this part of our diet.
Furthermore, from the research I have done, I feel meat is an excellent part of a healthy diet. Meat is easily digested by the human system, and the minerals and nutrients are easily absorbed. Bone broth from pastured meat provides ample servings of collagen, protein, and numerous vitamins. Meat and it’s products (organs, broths, dairy) provide gut-healing properties and impressive restorative nutriments.
When animals are raised in an environment conducive to their natural habitat, they will thrive and produce a healthy product for consumption. We keep our livestock on pasture, with unrestricted access to quality hay and free-choice minerals. Even our pigs (who don’t easily digest hay) have the pleasure of living in grassy fields (A-hem, until they destroy it) so they can root, grub, soak up the sun, and roll in the mud.
Our animals exist to provide food for us, eggs, milk, fat (lard, suet, tallow), and meat.
The quality of these products is directly related to the lives of the animal. If animals are kept in feedlots, fed antibiotics, kept in small cages, sick, stressed, fed a poor diet, or prevented from getting fresh air and exercise – that animal will not translate into quality food.
THE FOOD
Food is restorative.
Whether you are eating meat or vegetables, the environment where they were raised is paramount.
“Let thy food by thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food”
If naturally raised, organic foods are like medicine then perhaps, pesticide-raised, processed foods are the opposite.
It Matters
- Produce raised without the help of pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides are higher in antioxidants.
- Grass-fed meat and dairy is higher in CLA, filled with Omega-3’s, higher in vitamin D, higher in vitamins, and reduces the risk of cardiovascular problems.
- Organic foods are higher in vitamins, minerals, and essential nutrients.
- Raw dairy products from pastured cows are higher in natural probiotics, easier to digest, filled with probiotics (good bacteria), and substantially better for you.
- Consuming raw dairy can help you lose weight, fight cancer, and maintain a healthy gut microbiome.
It is a fact that when we eat real, living, healthy food (that lived a healthy life) we are healthier.
You are What You Eat Eats
If the cow ate healthily and lived a healthy life, it will be good food.
If the chicken is free-ranging, the eggs will be superior.
If the garden was organic, the vegetables will be higher in nutritional value.
So much of the food from stores come from other countries, is picked before it is ripe, travels for miles, is stored in refrigeration, and is radiated to bring about color before it hits the grocers shelves. By the time we consume these foods how much nutrition is actually present?
Is it hard to say good-bye?
Of course, it is. It is the hardest part. But we feel it is worth it.
Not all of our animals are raised for meat, but many of them are. To us, this does not lessen their life. If anything, they are giving the most significant sacrifice. We feel their lives matter, their comfort matters, and how they live counts.
If you are not in the market to raise your own food just yet, you can still make a difference.
You can help farmers by purchasing a half or a whole grass-fed cow. You can shop at farmer’s markets. You can buy pastured and organic products from your supermarket.
Organic may cost a little more. Grass-fed may be more expensive. But you will know the food was raised conscientiously and your dollars are well spent.
Be well!
XO,
Candi
