Dialogue Over Dinner

Madison: "Mommy, how do we get chicken to eat?"
Me: "We cook it."
Madison: "No, I mean how do we get it so we can cook it?"
Me: "We buy it at the store."
Madison: "Mom, do you know how we get eggs?"
Me: "How?"
Madison: "First, a chicken lays an egg and when the daddy doesn't plant the seed then we get to eat it."
Me: "Who told you that?"
Madison: "Nana"***

***Nana says she did not tell her this.

Since we have moved to Iowa, where there is a Tyson Fresh Meats facility, we have been more exposed to what really happens before we buy our meat at the store. I mean, I had an idea, but didn't really want to know the details and tried not to think about it.

Since we can't drive to our nearest "bigger" town (which is about 15-20 minutes away) without passing at least a cow farm and a pig farm (we see a lot of animals, but I'm not sure if they are just raising cows or pigs for meat) it is extremely difficult not to think about it on a daily basis. Yesterday, we were driving on the highway and saw a semi load of live turkeys in tiny, open cages blowing in the wind. Very similar to the picture below.Picture courtesy of www.ecoble.com.