You Can't Always Get What You Want -- The Rolling Stones

When I think back, there are so many cow stories I could tell you, but we'll just stick to this one, it has a moral.

When I was younger, about your age, I lived on a farm with my rents and brother and two sisters. One day, Dad came home with a new cow. He put him in a pen right by the pond, next to...hmmm...barn A. It was a Jersey I believe, and he'd eat anything you held out in your cupped hand--including M&Ms and the small amount of Dr. Pepper you could keep in your palm. We named him M&M. You could pet him. In fact, he seemed to like the attention. And the snacks we had to offer. Even if it was just his water, hay and feed he was friendly, and a pretty docile cow, really. Not like some mean-ass bulls we've had over the years.

Dinner time at our house meant, at the end of the day, we all sat down together at the kitchen table and talked. One particular evening someone remarked that M&M was gone and where was he?

"You know that delicious steak you had the other night? Well..." Those probably weren't his actual words, but I could ask him. I'm sure we'll talk.

I felt wretched. But the steak was good. I'd be haunted forever thinking I was eating a fucking cow that I knew. I hadn't had any qualms about eating it before I knew this important bit of information. I wondered how Dad felt, after all, he was the one feeding him every day. It didn't seem to bother him. It bothered us, though. It bothered me.

We discussed pigs as well. Bacon is a big hurdle for anyone who's trying to swear off eating meat. It was a topic that we discussed several times. Where did we think the meat we ate came from? The eggs, the butter, the yogurt, the cheese...the list goes on. 

My Mom grew up on a farm. They milked the cows, had chickens and fresh eggs...grew crops and tended the orchard. A farm.

Tell me, won't you?, how you feel about steak--and bacon.

P.S. Some jackass on the interwebs said that dairies (dairy workers) rape (Artificially Inseminate) the cows to get them to produce milk. I have never--ever--heard anything about anybody raping any cows to get them to produce milk. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Remind me next time and I'll tell you another cow story: Beth and Sarah Save Black Widow.