When I joined FoodCorps in 2018, I gained access to their bank of lessons developed for K-5th grade. The lessons are evidence-based and experiential, focusing on the food system as well as social and emotional learning and culturally responsive teaching. (As a public service, these lessons were made free-access during the pandemic. You can check them out here.) During my FoodCorps training and time with the organization, I learned that many kids needed to know from where their food came. That is, of course, apart from a package or the supermarket, which was the standard answer. Many kids either didn’t care about what they were eating or didn’t think about it. It may seem pointless to people who grew up in a rural community to educate kids about the fact that eggs come from chickens, bacon from pigs, and bread from wheat, but those facts can be foreign concepts to kids in an inner city.
I don’t remember when I learned from where food came. I don’t recall specific lessons in school, and I don’t remember my parents teaching me, not that either could have happened. I just knew. But for something to be “common knowledge,” as I tell my students, one has to gain knowledge somewhere. Books, tv, and real-world observations were probably the starting point for me, but I had first-hand knowledge, too.
When my family moved from CA to OK, my parents wanted to take advantage of our rural setting. My parents decided we should raise a pig for meat. Since we knew our pig’s fate from the beginning, we tried to remain unattached. He may not have had any pig friends, but he was happy and healthy. He had space to root and wallow in the grass, good food and water, and a warm shed. While not all commercially raised pigs have those essentials in ample supply (at least not the space component), some farms doing things the right way take great care of their animals.
In addition to learning about sustainability practices in my Food Systems class at Brightwater culinary school, we visited a farm carrying out these practices. During my spring semester in 2018, my class had the privilege to visit the Hanna Family Ranch run by Waltina and Will Hanna. At that time, the Hannas raised pigs commercially, and I specifically remember seeing sows and piglets running around, happy in their pens. Today they just raise a few pigs for friends and family, but they have continued to grow their sheep business. Both their pigs and sheep are pasture-raised, as opposed to only being raised in pens. They focus on pasture management which helps reduce a parasite problem for their sheep. As I learned from a sustainable livestock farmer in Livingston, sustainable ranching, or regenerative agriculture, is just as much about the grass and soil as it is about the animals. Pasture rotation gives the animals a new place to roam and graze for a while, but by moving the cows or lambs to a new field, the farmer is giving the last field time to regrow grass. While the pasture is dormant from the livestock, the dung beetles and microorganisms can do their jobs to break up the manure left behind and put those nutrients back into the soil for new plant life. This continuous cycling in open grassland ensures the animals get the maximum nutrients available from the plants without using pesticides. That means the consumer will get the most nutrients possible from the animals. If you are in northwest Arkansas, I encourage you to check out the Hanna Family Ranch for local, pasture-raised lamb, and if you are in Livingston, MT, Barney Creek Livestock is a great option for pasture-raised beef!
My experience caring for chickens was more ongoing than the one or two years with our pig. Our property already had a playhouse that was easily modified into a chicken coop with the addition of some chicken wire to make a fenced-in yard and a nesting box found at an auction.
The goal was to raise chickens for eggs. However, after our brood of chicks grew up to include too many roosters since we didn't know about pullets at first, my brother and I came home to fewer birds after school one day, and additional meat was found in the freezer. Since we had a small pond, my parents let us get two geese and two ducks to raise with the chickens. Sadly, the ducks and chickens had to contend with coyotes (the ducks were not smart enough to go on the pond like the geese), but the chickens did survive for several years since we locked them in their coop at night. It was only when the coyotes became bold or desperate and started going after our birds during the day that we lost a few.
Growing up one of our chores was to collect eggs. We quickly learned to scan the nesting boxes before stepping into the chicken coop and reaching in to collect eggs.
Snakes were also fond of eggs. The black snakes we’d sometimes see were most likely rat snakes, but I wasn’t about to get close enough to distinguish a rat snake from a water moccasin. The chickens were outside in their yard at that point, but even if they hadn’t been, other than opening their door, I probably wouldn’t have been quick to save them from the wildlife. Sadly, this is a mentality I carried with me to Montana.
Livingston, MT, where I served with FoodCorps AmeriCorps and worked for Farm to School of Park County, is not known as one of the most affordable places to live. It’s one of the more expensive. According to Rocket Homes, the median price of a home in Livingston is $465,000. That’s a 16.4% increase since January 2022. Even before the pandemic housing influx (remote workers can work from anywhere, why not beautiful Montana? See this study from NBC Montana), there was little for rent in the small town. Thankfully, I could move into and rent the attached apartment that the previous FoodCorps service member was vacating. It was part of the house belonging to a friends-of farm to school couple with two kids. I lived in their attached apartment all three years I was in the state, and they will always be known as my Montana family.
The UZs, as I’ll refer to them, had their own menagerie of pets that fluctuated during the three years I lived there. They had two dogs, Pancho and Lefty, who will have their own story, but they also had a cat, a tortoise, two guinea pigs, a frog, and some chickens. Those were the welcome animals - not to mention the occasional moose or black bear that wandered across the backyard overlooking the mountains. The first long weekend after I moved in, the UZs trusted me to watch over their two chickens and geriatric, self-sufficient cat. To care for the chickens, I just had to scatter some feed outside my door by their house and ensure they had water. They stayed in that corner of the property. The two girls liked to hide behind the outside chest freezer to keep cool against the cement and corner of the house. Easy Peasy. Saturday - they were there, hanging out, clucking to each other. Sunday was the same. I’d go out, check on them, and notice nothing amiss. Early Monday morning, though, my chicken-sitting days were over. My bed was situated against a wall with a window above the outside chest freezer where the girls liked to sleep. They had a house, but they seemed fine, and I don’t remember the UZs telling me to put them in every night, so I left them out. Around 3:00 a.m. I heard a yell-like growl. Even though I had worked at a zoo and knew what a mountain lion scream and bobcat scream sounded like first-hand, I didn’t want to assume anything. I did know the UZs old, docile cat would not go after the chickens, and the sound was not one I wanted to investigate. The chickens were not worth me encountering MT wildlife unprepared in the middle of the night. So, I listened for a bit, felt guilt, not knowing what had happened, and went back to sleep. In the morning, though, I shouldn’t have been surprised. When I went out my door to check the crime scene, I saw feathers strewn in the yard, the chicken’s body discarded off to the side (apparently the cat wasn’t *that* hungry), and the other chicken cowering behind the chest freezer. So, not only was one hen toast, but the other had to watch! She was scared for life.
When the UZs returned from their weekend trip later that afternoon, I knew I had to fess up to my lackluster pet-sitting. I let one of their chickens get eaten (well, kind of) on my watch! So, I went into the living room where the kids were and told Mr. Z quietly off to the side. I didn’t know them very long, and I wasn’t sure how the kids would handle the death of one of their pets. Well, I shouldn’t have worried.
After I explained that something got to one of the chickens, Mr. Z assured me that it was fine; it happens. He said, “Hey kids, want to see a dead chicken?” They both jumped up, eager to see the carnage. Then I knew. Montana kids are not afraid of much, and they are not shy. At least not those UZs. One of the things I loved about them.
During my last spring in MT, the UZs thought they’d give chickens another try. They sent Henrietta, the lone survivor, to live with the neighbors in their better-fortified chicken coop. So they started with brand new chicks in May 2022. Five cute baby birds lived in the house in an enclosure until it was warm enough weather, and they were big enough to make their outside debut. The three kids (yep, #3 was a Covid-baby!) loved these birds, and it was fun to see baby M watch them and get excited over the “chickies.” However, raccoons also love baby birds. Sadly, Montana wildlife found its way into their outdoor enclosure. One lone survivor again, Lucky, joined Henrietta next door. At least the neighbors are generous enough to share their eggs since the UZs are contributing one at a time to their flock! It was never a dull moment in Montana, and the animals kept us on our toes. To enjoy animal-based foods like bacon and eggs, one has to learn how to take good care of the animals that produce key ingredients. Or at least one has to have a reliable source.
Bacon and eggs were key ingredients in Ken’s Bacon and Egg Breakfast Pie from The Harvest Baker. It is similar to a quiche, except the ingredients are layered instead of mixed. I loved the look of the pie sliced down the middle with the layer of crumbled bacon on top, followed by layered sliced tomatoes, and the eggs cracked right on top of the bottom layer of sautéed spinach and potatoes. While the layering is more work than mixing the ingredients together, it’s a great way to feature farm-raised bacon and eggs with their deep golden yolks. The ingredients could be swapped for what you have on hand, too. You could try Swiss vs. cheddar cheese; use chard instead of spinach and leave out the tomatoes altogether if the cooked fruit isn’t for you. Either way, this pie is a worthy item for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Thanks to the contributions and sacrifices of pigs and chickens everywhere!
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