Shift your perspective on Sheep!
When we started selling sheep meat, something happened that I didn’t expect. So many people tell me they have never tried sheep/lamb meat or had it once like 10 years ago. And a lot of people haven’t had a chance to even be around sheep. But I want to encourage you to shift perspective and not view sheep meat as a ‘strange’ or ‘new food’ to try, it is a big part of our history that deserve to be part of our future.
This past month, as I watched lambs being born and felt the realness and the essence of life, I was struck by the thought: “How many shepherds or sheep farmers before me had moments similar?” Helping a tired ewe get her babies out. Watching those first wobbly steps and first nursing that amazingly comes like 30 minutes after they are born. It all makes me so grateful to live on our farm and have animals be part of my daily life.
And I’m also sad that so many of us don’t have this connection livestock animals and the circle of life that surrounds our food. Sheep and goats were some of the very first animals to be domesticated! It is thought that around 10,000 B.C. people domesticate sheep. It makes sense, sheep moved around for pastures and it was easy to travel together in our early nomadic ways. I suspect we utilized sheep for meat and pelts long before domestication!
So, for 12,000+ years (or probably lots longer) sheep were essential to us for meat, milk, fiber, and pelts and lived closely with us. Even if you aren’t religious, look at the bible as an example. Sheep are throughout it because it was inconceivable that this would change so much, and we would not understand parables or metaphors with them! Adam and Eve’s son was a shepherd and other great people in the bible were shepherds for at least a period of their lives, as proof of our long history with sheep.
As we migrated around the world, we have taken sheep with us. In colonial times sheep were everywhere. Breeds of sheep from the Spanish were incorporated with American Natives cultures in the southwest. They were part of the westward expansion, and the range wars were a big deal.
They are in our language and phrases. “pull the wool over your eyes”, “black sheep of the family”, ‘ “a wolf in sheep’s clothing”, etc.
It is only in the last 50-60 years, that they have lost popularity in the USA and have stopped being a big part of our normal menu. People will site different reasons for this, but I think the main reason is they are not the grain sink other livestock can be. Modern agriculture is centered around corn, soybeans, and grains. So, the government started promoting and supporting the animals that could utilize more grains as farming became more and more industrialized rather than the mostly forage-based sheep. Growing up in the 80-90’s I can’t help but remember all those commercials engrained in my brain “BEEF, it’s what’s for DINNER!” “The incredible edible egg!”, “Got milk?”. Have you ever heard a catchy slogan like this for lamb or sheep meat on mainstream media? Ask yourself why is that?
Also, the synthetic fiber industry took off, so why support the incredible natural fiber (wool) that sheep provide, that could compete with those growing companies, while being renewable and easier on the environment?
But by supporting small sheep farms (like us 😉) you have a chance to reconnect and reclaim some of this rich heritage and connection between sheep and humans. It is one of the best and earliest foods we have available to us! We evolved with sheep meat as a major part of our diet. They work well with the environment too and have adapted to so many climates with us throughout history. Having diverse and adaptable livestock is so important to meet all the challenges ahead. It is anecdotal – but I feel better eating our own sheep meat. I also like knowing exactly where it came from and that it was raised well on our small farm with lots of sunshine. I think you will be able to taste and feel the difference too! So, please don’t think of sheep meat as a “new exotic food try”, but as an ancestral food that deserves to be reclaimed and revitalized as part of your normal diet!