I am a BIG fan of kids knowing where food comes from.
From the earliest age when my kids have asked where a truck load of cows was going I would tell them "Off to be killed and made into beef burgers."
Does that make me sound like some militant vegan mum?
Were they upset?
Not really, at the age of 3 or 4 your concept of death is vague but now they are a little older (10, 6 and 6) they understand a lot more.
I don't show them graphic factory farm pictures on the Internet, but I do answer their questions truthfully.
The reason I do it is because I feel they have a right to be informed.
If they go to a friends house or a party or are eating our when they are older and without parents to guide them through the menu, I will have at least equipped them with the tools to make their own minds up. If they choose to eat meat that is THEIR decision (outside the house) BUT they will be eating it without blinkers on.
So when I read about Marcus the lamb, brought by a Primary school to teach children about where food came from I couldn't totally condemn it.
Sure I think a veggie garden would have done the job, but at least the headmistress was being honest.
When the time came for the bottle fed and petted and loved Marcus to say goodbye for the last time (and come back as chops for a school raffle) there was suddenly an outcry from the parents (yes, the parents, not the children).
Oh they all thought it was lovely to have a pet lamb at school but to be faced with the reality of death and mince..well it was too much for some of them.
One parent even said her daughter would need counselling to get over the trauma of Marcus being sent to slaughter.
Oh dear god.
First of all you have to wonder, are any of these disgusted parents with traumatised children vegetarian? Oh maybe one or two but ALL of them? Statistically I very much doubt it.
Agree with the headmistress or not I at least UNDERSTAND why she did it, and Marcus most certainly lived his life in the lap of sheep luxury, which is something many of his mass farmed cousins won't have. Also being a single animal taken to slaughter he would have had as stress free a journey (being very used to being handled) and would have been taken through the abattoir quickly rather than waiting all day in a pen with hundreds of other frightened animals.
Why do parents think that the origins of where your chicken, beef or sausage comes from should be kept from children like a dirty secret? Seriously, if the secret is so dirty WHY do you think its ok to eat meat??
In an age were kids are taught the fundamentals of sex education by 7 or 8 why are we worried about a 10 or 11 year old being upset about how her chop got to her plate?
To me it smacks of double standards.
The parents didn't save Marcus but they did drum the head teacher out of school. For her bravery in trying to educate a generation of children removed from their food she has now been forced to resign.
One thing that really annoyed me once was book at the kids playgroup. It was called "A year in the life of a pig" or something like that and told the story of a pig from birth to having her own piglets. Not ONCE was ham, bacon, pork, farrowing crates or slaughter houses mentioned and by then end of the book a child could be forgiven for thinking that farmers keep pigs as pets. With no association between pig/ham ham/pig how can a child make a choice?
Am I sorry for Marcus?
Yes, of course.
Can't be a card carrying vegan without feeling sorry for the lamb.
The upside is though that maybe a few kids will have the worm of doubt in their heads now.
Maybe they will wonder about their roast chicken or their beef burger and maybe they will think about the living, breathing, bright eyed Marcus.
You never know, in theory his death could save thousands in years to come.
Oh and for the record, a couple of months ago my middle boy was talking about a birthday party and asked me to make him a packed lunch for it because "everything will be meat and dairy and I like your lunches".
He had thought hard about his food. Couldn't have felt prouder.
I'd like to say I'm shocked about the teacher losing her job, but I'm not. Excellent post.
ReplyDeleteToo many kids don't know where their food comes from, and to me, their parents are doing them a disservice. The kids don't respect their food, they don't honor the life that is nourishing them, they just expect it. To them meat is neatly packaged, blood-free and clean in a nice little plastic package. It doesn't have a face and it was never alive.
You would not believe the grief I have gotten from "city parents" when they find out my daughters have helped butcher and clean our free-range chickens for the freezer. Apparently, I'm a horrible, horrible mom for letting them participate in the process. Kids shouldn't be exposed to such a horrible thing!
When those same parents find out we also have hogs waiting to go to the butcher they express even more displeasure and disgust. Where the heck do they think their porkchops came from? I know EXACTLY where mine are coming from, and my girls know EXACTLY what it took to go from hog to oven because they have been the ones responsible for feeding and caring for the hogs.
I read a book a while ago and in it a girl is hunting with an american indian boy and marvels at how he thanks every animal he kills for there food with a "Thank you little brother for making this sacrefice, our need was great and I pray for your safe journey to the West".
ReplyDeleteI thought it was beautiful and just showed up how isolated our children (and their parents!) are. We shelter them from death and they never learn its value, its price.
Lloyd died this week (my white rescue chicken we stole from next door ;) and they kids all wanted to touch her and helped dig a hole and watched me bury her and said goodbye. I answered all the questions (will she get mud in her mouth? Can we get a doctor? Was she old? etc)and it was sad but not "Sad" if you see what I mean.
I have known people who have had animals, pets, horses put to sleep and simply NOT TOLD the kids!
Death is a part of life and if you eat meat, a part of your life upto 3 times a day! Kids can handle it and if they weep of the shock of it then thei parents didn't do their job IMO ;)
x
"Oh dear god" That was exactly what I was thinking, as I rolled my eyes! Kids who go to schools where there has been shootings need counselling!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree its important to let kids know the repercussions of what they're eating. Just like any decisions they make in life. Do I agree with raising the sheep like that, its a little graphic for me, depending on the age of the kids. Did they really get that it would go to slaughter? It has to be age appropriate is all I'm saying. And I'm appalled that the teacher was forced to resign! Are science teachers asked to resign when they do dissections?!
We need our eyes opened to what we're doing to the planet, each other and the other species that live here. That has to start with our kids, they're the ones that have to live with the planet and who will be responsible for fixing it.
Great post Kelly!