Three Ways to Kill a Chicken

This fall, I've been exposed to three "methods" of butchering broilers (chickens): at a small-scale chicken processing facility, at a large vegetable farm, and at an Amish farm.

As an animal lover who can't stand the thought of animals suffering, I was intellectually interested yet emotionally uneasy to learn more about the grisley details of chicken slaughter. However, the contexts in which I witnessed chickens' demise, I knew, were about as "sustainable" and "humane" as it gets -- it was to be an easy introduction.

To my surprise, my exposure to chicken butchering actually was somewhat comforting -- it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. In all cases, the deaths were quick, and it seemed that the chickens had no idea what was coming.

Granted, I didn't see any actual butchering at the factory; I just took a tour, saw all the equipment, and learned about the process from one of the employees. Our guide said the chickens were killed with an electric knife that both slit their throat and stunned them at the same time. Apparently, this is the most humane way to kill chickens. And it does indeed happen quickly. At that factory, they kill chickens one at a time at the rate of 13 chickens per minute.

I did see actual chickens killed at the vegetable farm and at the Amish farm. At the vegetable farm, it was somewhat mechanized; they do a couple hundred a day. However, the killing happens in the open air and the birds are caught and killed in small groups, so there are never very many birds "on deck" at the kill site.

Interestingly, the birds "in line" to be killed didn't seem to notice anything bad was happening. In fact, some free range laying hens walked into the "kill room" of their own volition and happily poked around, oblivious to the chickens bleeding out two feet away.

The butchering at the Amish farm was by far the best, in my opinion -- meaning it was the least traumatic for me to witness. I even helped out, catching the broilers and picking up their corpses after their heads were chopped off with an ax. The chickens, as far as I could tell, were completely unaware of what was about to happen, even as they had their neck on the chopping block. With one or two strokes, it was over -- the body summer-salting away while the farm dog scarfed down the head.

I think one day I might be able to kill a chicken myself -- something I never thought I would be capable of. It seems to me that decapitation, without any fearful anticipation, is not that bad of a way to go. It's certainly better than some of the alternatives.

White Earth Land Recovery Project | Culture and Sustainability

The White Earth Land Recovery Project is based on White Earth Indian reservation. The people on the reservation make crafts and grow, harvest, process and package food – such as wild rice, maple butter, maple syrup, wild rice flour, and soups. These products are sold under the Native Harvest brand over the Internet, via catalog, and by select grocery stores. Proceeds from sales are used to buy back land to increase the size of the White Earth reservation.

My class visited White Earth earlier this year. We met with Robert, who talked with us about cultural issues in regards to sustainability. He said that for them, sustainability meant not just having fresh, local foods, but preserving cultural traditions and knowledge as well. For example, “wild rice” has a cultural and spiritual significance that it is important to pass on along with knowledge of how to grow and harvest it. Robert said that when the elders were asked why the rice crop was bad this year, the elders said it was because the tribe had not paid enough attention to the lakes and water in cultural and spiritual rituals.

What Robert told us about the connection between culture and sustainability reminded me of Wendell Berry's essays – and in particular “Three Ways of Farming in the Southwest.” When Robert said the elders cautioned that the wild rice crop was not good because the people hadn't cared for the water enough, it reminded me of the concept Berry describes the Papago people having towards agriculture: cropland is something the people make. In both of these cultures, the idea exists that humans should be stewards of the land and care for the soil and water. If the crops fail, it is not because of bad luck, bad weather, or bad machinery – it is because they were not careful enough stewards of the core natural resources that grow their food.

Green Goddess | Winter CSA

Garden Goddess is a winter CSA operated by Chuck Waibel and Carol Ford, who grow greens in a greenhouse attached to their garage in Milan, MN. Chuck and Carol designed the greenhouse based on years of research. As a result, their greenhouse is much more energy efficient, and it cost less, than “typical” greenhouses or high tunnels.

Chuck and Carol's ingenuity has not gone unnoticed; Chuck and Carol's greenhouse has become a famous “model” for growing produce in cold climates during the winter. A couple years ago they wrote a book detailing how they built their greenhouse -- all printed copies were sold. Chuck and Carol have been hired as consultants on the development of several other greenhouses in cold climates, such as the greenhouse at the charter school in Grand Marais and a greenhouse in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Chuck and Carol also have been featured on MPR.

Recently, my class got to visit with Chuck Waibel and see his greenhouse in person. Chuck is a fascinating polymath who seems to know a lot about everything -- from history to computer programming to literature to engineering. Oh, and Chuck also is the author of a fiction book called Phoenix, MN.

Chuck and Carol are now in the sixth year of their winter CSA. They currently have 12 members, but many more than that are on their waiting list.

Any produce that does not go into the CSA boxes is sold to the local grocery store in Milan. Chuck said other grocery stores are interested in buying his produce, too. However, currently he does not produce enough to meet this demand. Good news for us budding Minnesota farmers!

Harvest Thyme Bistro

Recently I visited Harvest Thyme Bistro in Wadena, MN, with my Sustainable Food Production class.

Harvest Thyme Bistro is a new restaurant café serving locally-grown food. It is owned by Derek and Shari Olson, who both work there full-time. Harvest Thyme is located in the back of a building that also houses a bookstore and a used clothing store.

Our class had the opportunity to talk with Shari Olson about the bistro, which opened a year ago (the day after Thanksgiving). Shari explained to us that Harvest Thyme Bistro gets its food from more than 100 different farmers and producers. Harvest Thyme buys whatever farmers can’t sell. Shari said that the local foods they cannot serve or use right away are canned or frozen.

Challenges they’ve had to face include educating the public about the value of local food; finding affordable local food sources; and getting local food without a coordinated distribution system. They’ve made progress in educating people about the value of local food, she said. They talk to their customers personally about the importance of eating local foods, and they put up a sign that articulates their bistro’s values and principals. In addition, they include the farmer’s names under the specials made with their food, helping people connect the food to specific individual producers. In the future, they hope to have farm tours and facilitate interactions between customers and farmers. They also distribute the “Pine and Lake Country Local Foods Catalog,” in which Harvest Thyme Bistro is featured, and a “green routes” pamphlet listing locations and descriptions of food producers in Minnesota.

Find out more about Harvest Thyme Bistro on MPR.