We know it’s
there, we know it is necessary and we consume the products of the daily farm
labour 3 times a day with barely a thought, if ever a thought of where our food
comes from.
We may make
ourselves feel good by seeking out fresh food that is a product of our own
country and feel even better when we select free range or barn laid eggs from
the extraordinary choice before us.
I am half
way through fulfilling a secondment to a relatively small property in
Queensland’s Granite Belt region. I have horses, cattle, sheep, 2 dogs and
countless hens to care for. I also have some fruit and vegetables to tender.
In reality,
the sheep and cattle look after themselves. The horses are largely self
sufficient as they enjoy their break from mustering duties and the dogs are
incredibly well trained and behaved, except for when there is a rabbit to catch.
The hens are
secured overnight however on morning release have free access to the entire
property. Although they never seem to go more than about 500 metres from “home”.
I am never
quite sure if all hens are home each evening but have been assured the 2 pure
white chooks will always be last to enter the enclosure and if they are in, all
are in.
Egg
collecting is a daily ritual followed by sorting and storing ready for weekly
deliveries to local customers.
Which brings
me to my point.
Like most, I
buy my eggs at the supermarket. A few years ago, I made a conscious decision to
change to free range eggs and have even resorted to looking at the carton
labels to see if there is reference to how much space each hen has. *
The eggs I
buy come in identical shape and size and are almost identical in shell texture
and colour.
The eggs I
collect and sort each day are anything but. Colours range from a deep dark
brown through to an almost “Paris Light” white. Some are almost round while
others are long and thin. The majority are much larger than the extra large on
sale in our shops and shell textures vary from perfectly smooth to quite abrasive. For example:
It doesn’t make
sense that commercial free-range eggs are all identical in shape, colour and
texture.
Or is it “us”
who demand everything is the same and it all looks perfect?
We go to the
supermarket and select the shiniest apples while ignoring or being oblivious to
the fact they are “waxed” to appear that way.
We leave
behind the carrots that are not perfectly formed and turn our nose up if the
watermelon skin has a blemish.
I wonder how
much food is produced and subsequently wasted because it does not look perfect?
How many eggs are rejected because they are less than the perfect shape or
colour?
We hear
about the challenge ahead of us to produce sufficient food from decreasing
land. We hear about the rising cost of living and in particular the financial strain
of the household food trolley.
We hear
arguments that the solution comes in the form of genetic engineering.
We choose to
ignore that much of what we consume is produced with the aid of chemicals and
fertilizers and I suspect this all contributes to the “perfectness” of what we
purchase in our supermarkets.
I am rushing
to complete this post before by next daily task.
I have a
drip watering system to run for two hours for the citrus trees and then will
hand water the egg plants. I am not sure why they have to be watered by hand
but they do, every day too. The citrus trees are watered every second day.
None of this
produce is intended for the shelves of Woolworths, Coles, Aldi or IGA. It will
be sold or traded locally.
Like the
eggs, all produce is grown naturally and organically, is full of flavour and
will not be waxed or shined.
However, none
of it conforms to our requirement for it to look perfect on the outside.
In our era
of social media and pressures to portray ourselves as living that perfect life,
I wonder if what we eat and how we shop for food is a metaphor for this century
(so far)?
*By my calculation, the hens in my
care have about a quarter hectare each
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