Food History

Life becomes much more interesting when we actually notice the world around us, especially the rural world. Last Saturday was a reminder of that for me. I’ve always been a city-dweller and I need (just every now and again) a nudge to remind me of reality.

There is a movement in Australia – linked to the Slow Food movement – to make farming styles more responsive to the needs of the land and the needs of the animals being farmed. Two friends and I visited one of these farms on Saturday, when it had an open day. Kate took some photographs specifically for this blog, so you can take a look at what we saw. I have to spread it over two days, because I didn’t realize how long this post would become. I’ve decided to be unrepentant about it, too, which is entirely wrong of me.

Last Saturday three of us visited Mountain Creek Farm, a small holding in the Australian Capital Territory. You can’t have big holdings in the ACT – it’s not a big place (actually Mountain Creek Farm is just across the border, but why spoil a good one-liner with reality?). Kate and I discovered them when we went to a local Farmers’ Market.

They sell Belted Galloway beef. It’s some of the best meat I’ve ever had. We wanted to go to the open day to find out more – and to take advantage of the barbecue lunch. Kate’s significant other came along, so there were three of us watching and looking and feeling very citified. Actually, I was the only one feeling citified.

The first thing that struck me was that, though the cows were undeniably cute and we were told stories of their doings that made several of them sounds like rather unruly teens, this didn’t turn us off eating meat for life. I was looking to find out why and I found the answer in Elizabeth and Michael, the farm’s owners.

While he was cooking the meat, Michael and I had a long talk about how careful he was to never take one animal only to the abattoir, so that they were never alone. He explained that he always booked the slot first thing Monday morning, partly to minimize chemicals, but mostly to make sure that the animals had happy lives for as long as they possibly could. This sounds hokey in print, but it works.

We talked about Peter Singer (who has apparently outgrown some of the stranger stunts he pulled when my father was his dentist) and discussed ethical farming.

Elizabeth and I talked about ethical farming from another angle. We spoke of the bushfires and their destruction. Of land-use and the need to be ready to face whatever future the climate brings.

Even now, still in the longest drought on record (those rains I was so happy about went far too quickly to actually break the drought), Mountain Creek Farm has a decent water source. They use it wisely, and plan for long-term viability as well as for the animals in their care.

food history, farming, Mountain Creek Farm, Slow Food, ethical food, climate change