Did you know your body breaks down in the presence of anger, frustration, excessive stress, and hate? Did you know you were made to function healthfully in love, joy, and peace?
I’ve been reading about health lately as I’ve pursued some health issues for myself and as the health care provider for my family (it’s just part of the “Mom” job). These ideas have been coming up repeatedly from many angles, so it’s one I realized I need to contemplate.
In contemplating how to help myself and my family have a more love, joy, and peace mindset towards ourselves and life my mind wandered (it happens a lot) to what we do. We’ve heard many times that what you experience and believe profoundly affects your physiology. Why shouldn’t the same be true for our animals?
This is part of why we raise our animals the way we do. Our chickens live like chickens in the way that best suits their nature. Our pigs enjoy being pigs by living on dirt they can dig in and having space so they aren’t stressed (that’s why the industrial pigs lack tails–bored and stressed pigs bite each other’s tails off, so the farmer circumvents that by docking the tail.). Neither lives in heated or air conditioned comfort, but they seem to like having fresh air, sunshine, and the ability to be who they are meant to be for the duration of their lives.
The tractors housing the pastured broiler chickens stretch over the hill. This is how we grow the state’s best chicken.
Why does that matter? That profoundly affects their physiology, which translates into the chicken breast or pork chop on your plate. Without the low level stress hormones (which cause the immune system to struggle and creates the necessity of sub therapeutic antibiotics in the feed), the real flavor of the animal comes through. The vitamins and minerals (noteably vitamins A and D) the animals gain from the sunshine and green food also contribute flavor, as well as making those nutrients available to your body.
Mangalitsa hogs enjoying green grass and tilling a field.
When a body (yours or a chicken’s) lives in stress, fear, anger, frustration it becomes vulnerable to disease and is less able to absorb nutrients. Those stress hormones are stored in the meat (where else would they be?), and nutrients are not. Hmmm…. Back to “you are not meant to live in fear, anger, stress, and frustration.” Why would you want to injest that through your food, then??? I can’t think why. It’s cheaper? It’s just conveniently at the store? Sounds like voodoo?
A Mangalitsa sow caring for her young in the fresh air and sunshine.
You were made to live and thrive in the presence of love, joy, and peace. We made sure your food did (if you have Baker’s Green Acres chicken, pork, etc.). Taste the love!
