this morning i castrated my first piglet ever.

this morning i castrated my first piglet ever.  grab the testicles, slice the skin with a scalpel, slice the testicle’s membrane, pop out the testicle, and slice off the connecting tissue.  which brings me to my next topic, of spending the afternoon with twenty high school students.  what a silky transition.

file under:  wish they had this in my day.  check that.  file under:  psyched to have made it to a point in my life where “in my day” actually works.  they just grows up so fast, that’s all. 

these students, from the galloway school in atlanta, were in the midst of a seven day program called immersion.  i think.  maybe it was excursion.  they are faculty designed, out-of-school, creative, and alternative learning experiences to broaden the student’s exposure.  this group signed up for a program about “the effects of small decisions and actions we do each day,” and today was learning about local food systems.  they had lunch at our atlanta burger spot, farm burger, visited me and the animals, and then had dinner at farm255.  pretty cool field trip.

the students were engaged, pleasant, curious, excited, and thoughtful.  the faculty, who designed this trip themselves, should be applauded for putting so much effort and thoughtfulness into their jobs.  i tried my best to impress on these kids the importance of learning about where our food comes from, who grows it, how the meat animals are treated, and how to support a local farm and improve their health by joining a csa. 

the youth of this country must be educated on the industrial food crisis as well as the slow food movement for the sake of our future. 

and for you castration fans, i’ll produce a video soon. 

i’m in the photo.  center left.