death's door


This fellow here is seeing his final days. He's one of a few cows here reaching their grass-fed prime and soon it will be Tony Time.
As I understand it, when their numbers are up - typically a year for the calves bred for slaughter (it's closer to ten for the cows used to breed) - they get taken to Tony ...the butcher. Tony does the dirty work for a few reasons, including regulations if one has a restaurant, the facilities necessary for slaughtering massive animals, and so forth. When his job is finished, the farmers can retrieve and package their meat and it will for the most part be frozen and then eaten throughout the year. It's a similar process for the pigs.
The farmers here also have relationships with a few other people, for example a guy who makes mind blowing beef salami. I have tasted many parts and formations of these beasts, many pointed out on a Danish meat chart, most of which I suspect I have never had before. This meat is off the charts, people. So much so that in spite of my fully embracing my inner carnivore two times or more a day, I could almost see walking out of here a vegetarian once more as I find it hard to believe meat this good will ever come my way again.