Food for Thought

We had a rabbit for supper last night. It was delicious. Some people say rabbit tastes like chicken, but that is not so. Rabbit meat has a taste of its own. Rabbits breed like, well—like rabbits. If you have a pair in no time you have more. That’s why I don’t understand why rabbits are so expensive to buy, if you can find them in a store.

When I grew up in Germany we didn’t have much to eat. It was after the war and food was scarce. We were lucky in a way, because we lived in a small village. We raised rabbits for food. We also had a couple of goats for milk and butter and cheese. We didn’t own any land anymore, so the only way to feed the rabbits was to go and cut grass in the ditches. That’s what we fed them—grass. Hay in the winter. You couldn’t buy any fancy rabbit food.

The same went for our two goats. It was my job to take them down the road and let them feed on grass in the ditch.

That brings me to a new topic. It got me thinking of our Indigenous People, the ones who live on Reservations. They complain about the price of food and the little money they have and the poor conditions they live in.

Why don’t they raise rabbits and why don’t they have goats? It would create work for them and perhaps keep the young people from being bored. They’d need to built cages for the rabbits, they would have to go out and harvest grass to feed the rabbits. The cages need to be cleaned periodically. I know about that, because we did it. The goats eat pretty much anything. They supply milk and the milk is healthy, even for people with allergies. They would have butter and cheese. Of course, it would mean some work. You get nothing from doing nothing. They would not lose their welfare checks, because it would not be considered an income, but it would surly safe them money.

I never could understand why they don’t have gardens. A garden is great to have. It doesn’t cost much to put in seeds. It would keep them busy also with weeding and watering and picking vegetables, especially the young people and they would learn a lot and get plenty of experience how to take care for themselves when they grow up. Everything at a low cost and it is healthy to boot. I have a garden and it is fun and the vegetables taste much better than the bought stuff.

Or how about raising sheep? Or just keeping a few chickens for eggs and food? I’m sure there are many other things they could do to be busy and to raise their standard of living and keep the young people out of trouble. It would also give them confidence in their abilities.

Fixing their houses and painting them would also help.

Just thinking.