The Big Mac Starter Kit

     The year was 2007.   We decided to homeschool our son, James, for a variety of reasons in which I will spare the readers since that in a whole different blog in itself.  He was in Kindergarten that year.  He loves to learn but he has a hard time staying still.  I taught him to read as he ran laps around our livingroom.  Every time he ran a lap I would hold up a new sight word card, "The" and he would say, "The" and take another lap.  I would hold up "That" and he would read "That" out loud and continue with another lap.  It wasn't a traditional way of teaching someone to read but somehow, at that time, his moving kept his brain moving too.

     I discovered a homeschooling group that was meeting on the other side of the county.  I was pleased that it wasn't too far away from me.  The mom's there were wonderful and the kids really enjoyed getting together once a week to learn as a group.  All the mom's helped out and taught a little something.   At times the older kids would bring in a dessert that they learned to make to share with all of us. 

     We decided to take a trip to Ebel's General Store in Falmouth, Michigan.  Falmouth is a small little town in Missaukee County in the northern lower peninsula of Michigan.  Ebel's is a USDA approved processing facility.  You can bring in your cow, pig, sheep, goat or other meat animal and they will process it for you the way you want it cut up and vacuum seal it.  They will even process the meat into sausages and a variety of jerkys and even smoke it.  We were going to tour their processing plant. 

     I had already been in a pork processing plant in Chicago when my husband, Brian, was making a delivery and that was quite interesting (June 6, 2012 blog - Amityville Slaughter House).  I was excited about getting a real tour of a processing plant.  I want to see how a cow goes from eating grass out in the field to my sloppy joe. 

     We all met at Ebel's and the owner set up a nice lunch for all of us, pulled pork sandwiches, cheeses, chips and soda's.  The fellowship was nice and the owner mentioned that he usually gave lunch before the tour as people may not be hungry afterwards.  He talked about how the pulled pork sandwiches we are eating were processed there at Ebel's.   Soon they gathered us up to go into another room. 

 Beef!  (James age 5)

     Everyone had to put on a full body covering.  We were handed paper hats with elastic trim on it and long paper coats.  The younger children had bags put over their coat sleeves so they won't walk around looking like dopey.  A few ladies who worked there offered to watch some of our younger children in the breakroom as the sights might be too disturbing for them to see.  We waved our younger children off as we headed through a set of doors that started our tour through the processing plant. 

     I don't recall everything we seen that day.  I remember being in a room and seeing the making of sausage.  He showed us the casing (or pig intestines) they put at the end of the tube and how it fills with the sausage meat.  The kids eeww'd and groaned at the realization of what the outside of the sausage is.   The sausages were taken to the smoker to get a rich spicy flavor added to it.  A few of the smokers were already in use. 

     We entered another room where the animals are put down.  Grates lined certain areas on the floor and cold hard cement on the other areas.  In the corner of the room there is a metal stall where the animals are herded into.  Chains  hooked to the metal bars attached to a harness an animal would wear.  Up near the ceiling hung large hooks to help carry the dead animal into the other room.  All was quiet and the owner had everyone's attention when he talked about how the animal was put down.  First they make sure the animal is healthy.  Then the animal is chained up to the stall so when the animal is dead it will be easier to move the animal.  He pulled out something that looked similar to an nail gun.  He told us for a cow they put it up to the forehead and pull the trigger and the cow is instantly dead.  There wasn't a cow there at the time for a demostration but said if we really are interested in seeing a full demostration that we can call ahead to see if they are processing that day to see how it goes in action.  Trust me, I was tempted.

     We moved out of that room and into a hallway.  He warned us that the next room might scare some of us or that others may not be able to handle what they are about to see.  Those who do not want to proceed forward can take a detour down the hall and catch up with the group in the next room.  A few people did just that.  I wasn't sure how James would react.  I wanted him to see the process of what happens next yet I didn't want to scare him.  I figured I would take him in slowly and if doesn't like it I would pull him away quickly.  The doors open to the next room.  A chill fills the air... from the coolers.   Rows of deskinned cows hang from ceiling.  I slowly remove my hand over James' eyes.  I was ready to cover them up again and to leave if he got scared.  But he was in awe of it all.

     "Are those cow's?"  he asked in amazement.

     "Well, they were."  I replied still trying to get a feel on how James is reacting to the sight before him.

     "That is so cool!  You can see the ribs!"  and he walks right up to one. 

James is impressed by the hanging beef.

     I catch him quickly so he doesn't touch the meat.  Up close we talk about the anatomy of the cow, where the back was, the legs, and where the head would of been.  I soon realized that James was not afraid of what he was seeing.  Perhaps at a tender young age of 5 he was realizing that this is food.  This is how we get our meat.  I look around, again, at the cold, hard, meat hanging down envisioning juicy roasts in the crock pot and tender steaks on the grill.  Those dead carcasses were looking tastier and tastier. 

     I don't remember much more of the tour.  I think my mind was still hanging with the racks of beef in the cooler.  Everyone received some jerky to take home that was made right there at Ebel's.  I am not much of a jerky eater so I brought it home for my older kids to try. 

     It was definitely a learning experience for this city girl and her son.  A person doesn't look out at a farm watching cows graze and think That's a Big Mac starter kit!   Seeing how it all worked helped me appreciate what goes into the making of our food that lays out before us.