Tamara Murphy and Her "Life of a Pig" Blog
So, if you're plugged into the Seattle food scene by now you've heard of Tamara Murphy's "Life of a Pig" blog (http://tamaramurphy.typepad.com/). Tamara (head chef of Brasa) kept an admirable blog about raising the pigs, but the one thing I just can't forgive her for was the fact that she missed the slaughter. Having had a recent experience with slaughtering an animal for food (more on this at a later date if the farmer lets me post about it), I can say that the most difficult part of the whole process, the only part that made me hesitate, was the actual killing act.I don't know if she wasn't allowed to do it because she needed to be certified by the WSDA or some other bureaucratic mumbo jumbo, but if that's not the case, then I think, on one level, that she wasted the whole experience. Nurturing a life is one thing. Butchering a carcass is one thing. But in the middle is this very important step where there is a distinct, quick change from animal to food. And if she missed that, then *shrug*.
2 Comments:
Hey Martin, I'm a friend of Tamara's and I just read your blog about her "life of a pig" blog. She did decide to go to slaughter and was required to do it for usda certification in order to serve the meat in her restaurant. I think she talks about it in the blog. It's an interesting read.
Cheers,
Pottery
Note that her blog gives the impression that she didn't attend the slaughter, nor does it mention that she got USDA or WSDA certification to actually perform a slaughtering. My point is that the most critical part of the whole thing was the actual killing of the animal, and she gives the impression that she wasn't even there to witness it. To me that fact lessens the impact of the entire experience..
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