[netmilsmom]

>>One way to bring the cost down is to slaughter and butcher the animal and cure the meat yourself. <<

I could never to this. If I had to kill what I ate, I'd be vegan.

[mlmr]

I have always wanted to raise a couple of pigs. I have a big garden space I want rooted and cleaned up. Perhaps in a few years...

[Clinging Bitterly]

>> If I had to kill what I ate, I'd be vegan.

When I was a kid we lived on a farm (actually a couple of them over the years) and always had a variety of livestock. Chickens for eggs and to eat, goats or a cow for milk, mules to do work, and hogs for meat. When I was six years old I was butchering chickens myself, it wasn't that hard, and that year we went a bit overboard on them and had about a hundred of them to do in one marathon chicken slaughter. The adults took care of the hogs, but it seemed to me the job was about the same. Kill 'em somehow, drain the blood out, remove the hair or feathers, gut and clean. I used a hatchet for the chickens, they used a .22 for the hogs. These were all more or less free range animals, who had quality care and feeding. Probably not any cheaper than store bought, especially today, but you can't get that kind of meat in the supermarket.

It's a mindset that would probably take some learning though, to hand rear, and sometimes even name, an animal that you know you will someday kill and eat. I understand that, but when I was a kid our farm was where we got all of our milk, eggs, and meat, and quite a bit of our produce, and in my memory I was always aware that the farm animals were there to feed us. It wasn't until later in life that I fully understood you could buy all of that stuff at the store any time you wanted, because we just didn't do it.

It has been a very long time since I have lived in that environment, but if I had the real estate, I'd do it.