Among the dominant topics bouncing around the ether is a concern about what goes into our food and the methods of our food production—and for good reason.
The mass production of cheap food has lead to short-term decisions with worrisome longterm consequences. The more we learn about it, the darker it seems.
Meanwhile food marketers keep inventing new ways to set their brand's products apart on the shelf and consumers are left trying to decipher an ever-changing landscape of terms, labels, and vague promises.
On top of this, food prices are as high as they have been in our lifetime.
Which begs the question... are hunters the most spoiled eaters on the planet?
- Rather than buying one small cut of meat at a time, hunters stash a whole animal away in the freezer.
- Rather than wondering about the questionable practices that went into producing this meat, hunters are wondering how deep into the woods they'll have to go to find their quarry.
- Rather than hoarding pre-processed food from the aisles of the grocery store, hunters are notorious for sharing their bounty with family & friends.
- Rather than cycling through the same popular, familiar cuts, hunters learn to utilize the whole animal leaving little to waste and enjoying a more robust eating experience in the process.
I have had an incredibly fortunate hunting season, taking my first bull Elk, in Idaho, and following it up with a Pronghorn Antelope in Wyoming.
I am very thankful to say that my freezer is as full as its ever been. And I'm not the only one from the club who has found success this year Matt brought me some Yellowfin Tuna this Summer, Beaver recently knocked down his first California Mule Deer, and Stew started the Summer off by landing his first White Sea Bass diving in the kelp forests right off the coast.
What a tremendous privilege it is to be able to break out of the normal day-to-day routine in pursuit of bringing something real and substantive home for the freezer.
To pull dinner off the landscape is to participate in something as old as humanity itself. The quality of the food and the significance of the experience nourish and sustain. The finest steak in the nicest steakhouse can't compete with a simple preparation of a fresh tenderloin seared over an open fire after a successful hunt.
