It is difficult to think of a live animal while you eat a meat meal. A couple of summers ago, I took a trip to a remote ranch in the plains of Colombia. Everything we ate was killed for us. The people in this region eat beef for all their meals. The first morning, I was excited to have a typical breakfast that includes meat. By breakfast number three my stomach was having culture shock. It was also the first time in my adult life that I saw a cow being slaughter. I was in this ranch because my family has a historical connection to it and I was also interested to learn more about how food gets to our plates.
Before my trip to South America, I had photographed in farms and ranches in Nebraska to look and learn about farm animals. The farms I photographed were individually owned, as those were my connections. The people, I found out, were very nice and welcoming, and their only concern was that they didn’t want to be seen as the “bad” guys. I was simply curious and eager to see how some animals live in farms. Michael Pollan in An Animal’s Place writes, “ Half the dogs in America will receive Christmas presents this year, yet few of us will pause to consider the miserable life of the pig – an animal easily as intelligent as a dog – that becomes the Christmas ham.” Even though I had lived in Lincoln, Nebraska, a place most people think is only farmland, I knew nothing about farms or where the food I ate came from.
I enjoyed traveling in a car listening to music, meeting people, and feeling like a complete stranger. In a way, it was not that different than my daily life. After moving countries several times, I have come to terms with always being seen as an outsider. In the essay On the other side of the Mexican mirror, Gomez-Pena writes, “I found that once you cross the border you could never really go back. Whenever I tried, I always ended up “on the other side,” as if walking on a moebious strip.” I couldn't say it any better.
I went to these farms and photographed animals without any expectations. I mostly saw where animals were kept and groomed. Most of all, I learned how the people who took care of the animals had affection for them. They cared for the well being of their animals. The ranch in the plains of Colombia was no different. Everyone working with the cattle did with much care. The ranching practices were somewhat different. Cows had enormous amounts of space and only ate grass.
This trip was physically and mentally difficult. The day a cow was killed for food I thought it was a great opportunity to photograph. I was not use to seeing live animals before they became food. Eating only vegetables and grains was out of the question because there were barely any. Meat was the biggest portion on your plate. The day I saw a cow being slaughter for the first time I was not able to click the shutter. It felt wrong. I wanted to be respectful for this cow that died to feed us.
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