Don't name your food, or play catch with it

There are two steers in the feed corral along the lane. When winter weather releases pasture grasses, we'll put them back in with the rest of the herd. Until then, we're feeding those two as much fresh hay as they want. Forking out day-old leftovers from the manger. If that hay didn't taste right or they just didn't have any more room in their four stomachs for it all, doesn't matter. I give them the best. I am going to eat them.

But before I can, these guys have to grow a little more. My eyeball guess is they weight close to 700-800 pounds. I don't know exactly, because I don't want to disturb them by pushing them to the sorting corral scale. When they get close to 1,500 pounds, around November, we'll trailer them to the processing plant in Reno or Fallon to be made into custom cut steaks, roasts and hamburger.

Family, friends or just about anybody who comes to visit at mealtime shares this steer meat with us. Some folks like the taste of grass fed, no artificial hormone, beef meals. Or like what they hear about it, so they buy an animal. Which we also take to the processing plant to package it into their preferred meat cuts.

Usually we keep at least two steers from our yearly calf crop because cattle are herd animals. They do not like to be alone. Some folks keep a goat with their animal if they have a small place and can't keep two or more large animals. Some let their beef animals bond with other domestic family pets, dogs, cats, sheep and as mentioned before goats.

But don't you befriend your food. Take care of it, respect it, pamper it if you want, even talk to it as you clean out the manger, but don't make it a pet. Lots of trouble can come from that like it did for Andrea Charman last month. As head teacher in a farming community in Kent, England, she had her school get a young sheep to raise to show students where their food came from; and all aspects of farming life. The students were allowed to hand feed the sheep, and here I suspect the trouble began, named it Mr. Marcus. The kids, as children do, came to love Mr. Cuddly Marcus. When it was time to have the animal "processed" the community went into an uproar and forced the teacher's resignation.

Circle of life lesson: Don't forget the purpose of food. Do not make it a pet to grow old, get diseases of age and hopefully die without too much pain. Raise it with respect, treat it well, feed and care for it and if planning on eating it, don't name it. Don't imagine it as a friend or close companion. Never name your lettuce, tomatoes, or carrots. Tend your garden carefully, what ever you raise. And if you intend to bring this food into your house packaged, make sure everybody understands what that means. Maybe don't use the word processing when you mean kill.

If you're not convinced think of the British headmistress forced to resign, in a farming community no less, for trying to show school children where lamb shanks come from. And the 77-year-old Italian Television food host who was suspended from his program in February because he spoke of cat recipes he remembered during the crushing depression in Italy after WWII.

Care about your food, be active in assuring its quality. And if interested check out the movement WTF. Without The Farmer, Where's The Food?

Marie Johnson is a Carson Valley rancher who knows where her food comes from.