Chicken Harvesting ~ from field to fork

So we offered you the chance to decide whether you wanted to learn about what it takes to get chicken on your kitchen table when you are not relying on a grocery store.  Well polls closed and the 9 of you who voted decided that yes food is not only the tasteless over packaged crud that you get from the back of the superstore, food does come from a farm, grown by a person and the meat we eat used to be a living, eating, breathing
creature.


Many of our friends can be classified as "foodies". They people who really value the foods that sustain us, and many more of us simply value great food that not only tastes delicious but offers us a nutritious meal. But not many of us city-slickers have ever visited a working farm and sadly some might have thought to ones self "how did this carrot, cabbage, or chicken get into my house". Well, our newly developing Yukon lifestyle has been one that involves (as much as possible) a local economy - and lucky for us that includes food!

The Yukon mentality (and that of rural people) is "let's do that ourselves" or "someone is doing that here therefore why do i need to get that thing from down south" (or as many Yukoners refer to it "outside"). Well they are right. Factory farming, and massive shipping operations are not only ruining our environment (with pesticide run-off, degrading soils, and GMO that offer higher profits and lower nutrition) but also our food systems (with international shipping of food, and mono cultures that eliminate that chance for any kind of variety or choice).  I should digress, this blog is supposed to be about killing happy healthy chickens not about food industry. Deep breath Colin.....

Working for the Fireweed Community Market Society has been an amazing opportunity to meet and bend the ear of some of the best farmers in southern Yukon. In addition to these talented farmers, we quickly realized this spring that many locals have a green thumb and love good food. If you are every at a lost for conversation while meeting a new person here you ask if they garden. The passion pours out and all of a sudden you will find yourself in the middle of a lesson about piling up potatoes or how to heat your backyard greenhouse using a home made sawdust stove or where to get the best seeds for the yukon climate.  People here can grow food and many others a very happy to support the farmer in their efforts by visiting the market or farm gate operations. It is through farm gate operations that a number local farmers raise chickens, goats and pigs. And I was only too happy to lend a hand in the harvest.

So why would I volunteer to offer my free Saturday, a pair of perfectly clean clothes and my innocents of having never killed an animal (other then that sea gull that flew right into the front grill of the FRW truck)? Well i eat meat, I love eating meat and if I were ever to be lucky enough to have a farm of our own, then I would like to raise meat for my family and neighbours. So I would have to start somewhere and why not now.

Here is where we get into the messy parts folks so take the last few sips of your morning coffee. Finish up your bacon sandwich or your chicken soup and take a look at this video of my first ever Chicken Harvest at the Aurora Mountain Farms run by the Rudge family (great website explaining how the chicken's life goes at their farm as well as links to more into about their farm http://auroramountain.yukonfood.com/).

Warning.

So far, I suck at making videos. 

You may need to pause the video to read all the text. 

Have a great weekend everyone,

Colin