Exploits of a Vegan Wannabe

Happy Meatless Monday. Today instead of a recipe I thought I would share a meatless experience with you.

Last weekend we attended the annual vegan chili cook-off at Sasha  Farm animal sanctuary. Sasha stands for Sanctuary and Safe Haven For Animals. They  shelter over 200 animals including  sheep, cows, pigs, turkeys and kitties.  Every kind of  animal that could possibly be eaten, discarded, or used to create an article of clothing has a home at Sasha Farm.

Having been there before, I knew that I could expect an afternoon shared with the most loving, living things I had ever met. But, even in that knowing, I had no idea how deeply I could fall for a cow, until I met Tod.

Because most of us don’t typically come into contact with our food before it has been slaughtered, it is hard to imagine that these packages of neatly trimmed meat were once a living thing. When we purchase them as meat products, the animal’s prior state of being has been completely wiped away.

The feathers have been removed, maybe the skin or bones and certainly the blood is gone.  Their physical remnants have been discarded, leaving what we recognize as meat or dinner wrapped in plastic and stored in the refrigerator section. How then in the moment of purchase could we recognize that this living thing  may have created friendships, mothered a child or experienced joy?

We don’t think about it.  I truly believe that if we did meet our meat or think about it, most of us would not be able to consume them.  This recent trip to Sasha underscored that concept for me.

On this visit to the farm, Daniel, one of the volunteers gave a handful of us a tour, allowing us inside most of the enclosures to meet the animals. I had the opportunity to crawl into a wooden shed overflowing with fluffy hay and sleepy pot bellied pigs.  I pet an Emu and was  goosed by a half dozen goats. Last year I talked my way into the turkey enclosure, but I did not get to interact with the rest of the animals like I did last weekend. It was amazing.

I met Tod, a five hundred pound cow. He is best friend and protector to Helen, a cow with a neurological disorder. They had not met before Sasha, but now preferred to be kept together. They spend their days strolling about the rolling hills with the pygmy goats and sheep they share their space with.

Tod came to where I was standing at the fence and stood by me, stared at me.  I hesitantly began to pet him. He is after all my first 500 pound cow with the budding horns of a handsome steer. I was intimidated. As I pet him he began to lean into me like  Sparky, our Shepherd Husky used to do.

I continued to pet his head, his face and speak softly to him. He stayed there in our shared space, looking at me with his enormous brown eyes. All of a sudden a noise rolled out of his mouth. It was a low, affectionate moan. Had I closed my eyes I could have believed that I was petting Sparky. It was such a recognition, an acknowledgement of appreciation. I was sharing a moment just like I would with any companion animal lying on my couch. The only difference was that he was a 500 pound cow that would have been made into steaks and burgers.

This experience was so profound to me.  Having been vegetarian for 15 years and now vegan for the past 3, I have always felt that it was not right to eat animals.  Yet, never before was it so clear to me that this otherwise “food” animal could show emotion and communicate like a traditional “companion” animal would.

I expect my companion pets (dog, cat) to love me and respond to me, but I did not expect it to come from a pasture animal, one that wasn’t trained or domesticated by humans, he just did it instinctively.  How could we know about this connection from what we see in the grocery store?  We wouldn’t.  We would never know it could exist.  I am humbled by this new understanding.

Tod showed me exactly how “meat” isn’t a faceless, shrink wrapped item on the grocery list, but the product of a life taken and that can never be delicious.

Today is World Vegetarian Day and the start of Vegetarian Awareness month, the perfect time to make new choices because eating meatless matters.    So just start with one day a week, one meal at a time and make it a delicious day.

To view more photos of Sasha Farm, visit the Sasha album on the Exploits Facebook page.

Tags: animal sanctuary, compassionate eating, going veg, Meatless Monday, plant based diet, SASHA Farm, vegan experience, vegan wannabe, Vegetarian Awareness Month, World Vegetarian Day