My coworker Brian is an environmentally friendly kinda guy. He saves the foil from his falafel sandwich, rinses it, and recycles it. In fact, he’s a big recycler/re-user in general. Paper bags, plastic cups, cans.
Knowing that Brian would find it interesting, I asked him if he’d heard about a New York family who had committed to a zero-impact year. The experiment includes composting, not using toilet paper and many other things which I could never, ever do (see his blog, No Impact Man, for the skinny).
“Yeah, I read about that, ” Brian said. “The only thing I couldn’t do is the toilet paper.”
“You know,” I said, thinking back to my own childhood. “We lived without making much of an impact when I was a kid. I mean, because we were super poor. But still. We grew our own produce, only had one car, rode our bikes everywhere. And then there were the rabbits…”
People, we raised rabbits. And we ate them. For me, there’s a bit of trauma associated with the eating of the bunnies – and not because I had pet affection for all of them (my bunny, Honey, was a breeder, and thus never dinner). But because of The Slaughter. You think Clarice was carrying around some residual anguish from the screaming sheep? I got that beat.
I was seven – maybe younger (trying to pin down a memory to a specific year of my childhood is like trying to dissect summer vacation on the first day of school. It’s all kind of sunny and blurry and barefoot.) In search of my father, I headed for the backyard to find him. My mother, I think, had tried to keep me in the house, but stubbornness not being one of those late-onset traits, I went out anyway. And sure enough, I found my father. Skinning rabbits.Furless, bloody rabbits dangling from the frame of our swing-set.
Ree ree ree! The horror!
My father (incidentally, a butcher by training) yelled at me to go back in the house. Obviously, no dad wants to scar his kid for life with that kind of imagery, but on top of being horrified, I thought I was in trouble. I had a bit of a breakdown.
Seriously, right now, I have a tight feeling in my chest and even a bit of that nausea-associated mouth sweat just thinking about it. Pretty sure I never ate rabbit again, even if it was the only thing for dinner. And these days if you were to suggest rabbit as an entree at dinner? You’d get a horrified, wide-eyed stare from my direction, and it would be all I could do not to start wiping my tongue with my napkin. Like a seven year old. I just don’t do rabbit. Delicacy or no.
I don’t do duck, either. But because ducks are our friends. But that’s a memory sequence for another day.
I grew up in a rural area, and my dad would go hunting for various mammals. He would then proceed to butcher them in the driveway, garage, and finally the kitchen. The floor of my parents garage is still stained with moose blood. I became a vegetarian at an early age…
OMG! How awful…you poor thing. I just have no words. On the other subject, living without toilet paper is like living without air. No can do!
Have you read “A Girl Called Zippy”? It has a scene about bunny butchering and as soon as you mentioned bunnies I had a feeling I knew what was coming, and it took me right to the scene in the book… Not hanging from the swing-set though, yikes. I think not only would I not have ever eaten rabbit again, I’d probably not have been able to play on the swing-set either.
Good lord! bunnies? I’m so sorry for you. We don’t have to discuss it from this point on. hehe
Hey, we raised rabbits and ate them too! My rabbit, Sweet Pea, was also a breeder, so she never got killed. I was a teenager then, so I never actually had to see my dad do it – thank goodness!
We ate Rabbits too, and still, to this day, the shears Dad used to cut off the parts, those long red handled shears, “Bunny Clipers”, in my world.. And, man did we get picked on, but a farm life is a farm life. I do still eat rabbit, but I draw the line at Squirrel.. And I wouold never, ever go without TP!
There’s a sad story about a runt pig that was given to me. He lived in our basement while it was cold out and I fed him formula from a bottle. Being a warped farm kid, I named him Link (as in sausage). By that time I was 12 & didn’t really have a problem with the pork producing aspect of farm life. It’s all about the great circle of life, Simba.
That’s crazy sad, at least your family tried to shield you a bit from the horror. My mom had a pet pig and the day it went missing, over ham sandwiches my grandparents mentioned they had killed her. Oh, and that they were currently eating her. I’ve never had a ham sandwich because it was never allowed in our house.
Yuuummmmm…squirrel.
(sorry, random Without a Paddle reference)
And here’s a question for you — if not toilet paper, then what??? EW
Doesn’t ham have to be brined, cooked and optionally smoked before you eat it? How could that have happened all in one day?
I work with the wife of No Impact Man. I feel sorry for her. We wonder which will end first, No Impact or the marriage?
Ham is just another word for pork, particularly the haunch or butt. Smoking and brine solutions are an option, but not the only way to eat it (think pork chops and pork roast). So, yes, it could have been butchered and prepared the same day.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ham
Wow! We never had rabbits but my Grandpa loved and I mean LOVED to munch the guinea pig.
when I was little I grew up on a farm and my dad did that to rabbits too. Apparently my sister and I were very intrigued and set up lawn chairs to watch. When the “event” occured, I ran screaming into the house. Of course, I have this told to me all the time because I have blocked the entire thing out of my memory ^_^ I don’t eat rabbit either.
hey, i was the only girl with 3 teenage brothers and they used to have me actually skin the rabbits, but i was 4… so i guess i didn’t really realize what i was doing… I didn’t turn psycho nor vegan.
Are you sure you didn’t live my childhood? My dad used the swing set, to hang the rabbits, too.
And my friends freaked out when I sent them this post. Ahh, rural life!
Has everyone eaten rabbits except me? I had no idea that this much rabbit-eating was going on in America.
When I was a little girl my Daddy regularly went rabbit hunting, and rarely came home empty handed. I watched him skin them, and even asked to help, but he wouldn’t let me. I had to make do with the fun of finding buckshot in my dinner. Which was fun, make no mistake. When I got a little older he said if I wanted to skin a rabbit, I had to hunt it first, so he took me hunting with him. Funny you should write about rabbits today — I just wrote about that memory (here) earlier this week.
I don’t eat lamb. They’re cute. After I watched Nemo, I couldn’t eat sushi but only for a week or so. When I dissected a fetal pig, no pork for two years. Rainbow trout, no fish for a year. Same with shark. I never eat shark. I am so squeamish.
I traveled to India (land of relatives) many times and remember from childhood days the lack of toilet paper. Nowadays, not so much, even though it is expensive. But I am fortunate, I admit. Dr. Mehmet Oz made a good point during an appearance on Oprah. If we were pooping and scooping and got puppy poop on our hands, we’d wash them, not wipe them off with a paper towel! There’s a lot to be said for being regular and making “a clean start” to the day. Ahem.
I’m with Melanie,,,,who knew there was so much rabbit eating going on? I thought rabbit eating went by the wayside with the opening of the Piggly Wiggly.
No TP — no way, not this girl
i feel your pain. i had a similar childhood experience with our rooster rodney. but i still eat chicken. and as for duck – there is no way i could live without peking duck pancakes!!! i just don’t allow myself to visualise the animal in it’s living form while i eat it. eeww, actually talking about this is putting me off eating animals. i’m eating vegetarian tomorrow.
Every day in every day, vegetarianism is looking better and better.
I have an aunt who to this day lives in rural Missouri. The first time I visited her there, I was about 14 (?), and she had rabbits in a hutch under the trees that were for, um, culinary rather than companionship purposes. My sister and I asked her what the bunnies’ names were, and she said, “Hasenfeffer.” She also had a calf named T-Bone. (Shudder).
Yikes. I remember seeing skinned bunnies hanging in a market in Barcelona, and thinking the sight would remain with me forever. But to have Dad right there, and the swingset? I’m sorry!
LOL I had a very similar thing happen to me when I was a bit younger (probably about 3 or 4) only it involved chickens. Whats worse is that they run around for a bit after you kill them. So I walked upon my parents doing in the chickens and many of them still flapping around headless. I started screaming bloody murder and my poor mom thought she had scarred me for life. But I guess my sub conscience must have filed that one away because I don’t remember it at all.
We also raised rabbits and ate them, and I think I’m still traumatized by it! But you are right, we made less impact by living a simpler lifestyle because we had to. Ah, the good old days!
Oh I immediately thought of “A Girl Called Zippy” too. Fantastically hysterical book. And my next thought was “On your swingset?!?!” That is the end of childhood, right there.
I am a city girl, born and bred, with no farm experience whatsoever. That said, my mother once bought a whole lamb from a farmer and when I came home from school one afternoon, there it was on the kitchen counnter, head and all. She got out her trusty Joy of Cooking and cut that baby up as per their guide. I was almost ok with that; it was the opening of the soup pot later on that evening and finding the head of the poor baby lamb staring up at me (head cheese) that did it.
I have not eaten lamb since.
Maybe you can ask your coworker what requires more energy, chemicals, and natural resources: making the foil or treating and distributing the potable water used to clean the foil. Remember, his answer likely differs from mine, and on down the line. Oh, and be sure to remind him to figure this out for pretty much every choice of consumables that just seem to be so black and white. And since technology changes, be sure to revisit all of those choices repeatedly.
Perhaps a bunny stored in “natural packaging” would be a better way to go all around. I’m just sayin’…
Piddy, I had the same query about the no TP couple. The hot water and soap required to thoroughly clean one’s hands vs. processed paper. It’s a tough call.
As will all tough calls, you get as informed as you can and abide by those decisions. For some that is foil washing and for some that is not.
From This FishThe “No TP Couple” are not using detergents, either. Go read the article for more details, but he really means NO impact.
Wait a minute, no detergents and no TP? EW I’m going to go and wash my hands right now, I feel dirty…
HaHaHa… aww, poor rabbits!!
You ARE NOT kidding about the Clarisse comment. I grew up in a heavily wooded area in Minnesota. Sometimes, in the summer you would hear the worst sound in the world. Blood curling truly chilling.
Over the years we learned that this was the sound the rabbits made when caught and killed by owls.
Though nowhere near your experience – I do feel your pain.
Did anyone else see this article a little while ago? No joke. Rabbits are bad enough, even commonplace in Europe, but this…
“New Jersey officials are warning residents near a toxic waste dump in the northern part of the state to restrict how much squirrel they eat, two months after a lead-contaminated animal was found in the area.
A letter sent to Ringwood residents, many of whom hunt, advised them that children should not eat squirrel more than once a month, pregnant women should limit their intake to twice a month, and adults should not eat squirrel more than twice a week.”
Sure makes me want to donate more to the local soup kitchen.
My rabbit, Marshmallow, was a digger. I’d like to think she would have escaped, but she really wasn’t that smart!
Heath! Chicks and ducklings are only 80 cents at the farm store here! They have a guarantee of fluffiness!!
It’s pretty hard to find a rental that will let me have my cat, but I am still very tempted to add to my menagerie. Our ducks were some of our best pets.
I had a similar incident with birthin’ a calf. I still love me some veal though. Oh, and when I turned 16, I hit a deer with my mom’s mini-van. We ate him too, and mounted the head in the garage.
We also watched a lot of Hee-Haw in my family and my uncle played an upright bass made from a piece of bailing twine and an old beer keg. I’m not the first in my family to go to college. In fact most of my relatives went to medical school. Sure, they were part of the experiments, but we don’t count that.
Ack! How horrible for you! I too respect our friends, the bunnies and ducks. In fact, their holiday is fast approaching…
On the subject of environment friendliness, I found a link today which is SO CUTE! http://www.Arushacleaner.com us made by a man in Tanzania. He walks arund Arusha all day collecting discarded binliners, disinfects them and then uses them as stuffing for stuffed animals such as monkeys, giraffes and elephants. For the outside he uses traditional cloth that Tanzanian women also use for clothes. They’re just beautiful, and I particularly love the giraffe. Anyways, if anyone is interested, it’s definitely worth clicking on the link! Beats living without tp handdown, i would think ;o)
We raised rabbits when I was younger. Strangely enough, the issue I developed from the rabbits has nothing to do with meat. I cannot eat green peas though. I have cleaned too may rabbit pens and green peas look just like rabbit poo to me.
I never knew that people at rabbits…
is this still done? I’m not judging at all- more curious. Is ‘rabbit’ a delicacy? Has anyone ever seen it on a menu? I’ve seen duck, lamb, venison, buffalo and the obvious, but never rabbit!
I had rabbits as pets. I will never eat them, I loved my bunnies and I would have another in a heart-beat. I can NOT imagine being a child and walking up on that. I remember the pigs and chickens…ugh. I have a hard time accepting my place in the food chain some days. I could happily be a veggiesaurus…I feel your pain. I really do.
And on the no impact side…isn’t TP pretty much biodegradable? Trees are renewable…I can accept TP. I can NOT accept eschewing TP!
Heather – thanks for pointing that out (about detergents). Ewww barely even covers my disgust.
I think the first time I saw the article I also glossed over the part about accepting gifts during this time. It’s an interesting caveat to the ‘no impact’ rule.
I’m an airforce brat and I remember when we were staying with my english grandparents in Sussex (I was maybe 6 or 7) and they kept a rabbit hutch at the end of the garden. I was excited as hell seeing such big rabbits and my grandad let me feed them, clean the hutch out and general hang out with them. One morning as I dashed down excitedly to relish my new inter-species friendship I noticed one was missing. I looked everywhere to no avail trying to track down the “escaped bunny”. In tears I went back to tell my grandparents that one had escaped and I was unable to find it. Well my grandma (bless her heart) explained that that was who we had for dinner the previous evening. So at the tender age of 6 I was given my first sobering introduction to the food chain.
I love rabbit – even after the traumatizing experience of killing and skinning one.
A well meaning farm friend, however, nearly threw me off chicken when he went on a long spiel on how to kill them (break their necks instead of chopping off the head).
It’s me, the “environmentally friendly kinda guy” mentioned in the lead-up to bunny slaying. I don’t wash and reuse the foil; I rinse and recycle it. Piddy has a good point about choices about consumption not being clear, but the hardest one is how to value one’s own time into the decision. It’s expensive to be virtuous.
I’m pretty sure I ate rabbit at a young age, too. I’ve tried to forget the memory.
I remember an old lullaby that my parents sang to me…”bye baby bunting, daddy’s gone a hunting to fetch a rabbit skin, to wrap his baby bunting in…” I used to love that song. oh well, another childhood bubble burst.
I have a pet bunny, she is the greatest. Just like a little puppy or kitty. She cuddles with me, plays with me and is very intelligent. Sad to see people eat these when they make sure amazing pets. My beautiful little Bella, waiting at home for me, beautiful soft gray fur.