Yesterday I was standing next to our chicken run taking some close up photos of our pretty ladies inside when I heard a voice from behind me.
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I spun around and saw someone watching me through the fence. I asked what he had said, and here’s how that conversation transpired:
“How are your chickens?”
“Oh, they’re fine.”
“You’re taking pictures of them?”
“Yeah, I take pictures of them and post them online, my friends like to see them.”
“What kinds are they?”
“The chickens or my friends?”
“The Chickens”
“Oh we have some Dominiques, and those are Chantecleers, and those white ones are Leghorns”
“Why do you have them?”
“We keep them for their eggs, we use a lot of eggs for baking and cooking.”
“They lay eggs? What kind of eggs?”
“Well, all of them lay brown eggs except the white ones, who lay white eggs.”
“What do they look like?”
“Umm. Like the eggs you get at the grocery store”
“How big are they?”
“Oh they’re the same size as the ones you get in the store.”
***Confused look***
“THOSE COME FROM CHICKENS?!?”
“Yes, the eggs you get at the store come from chickens just like these.”
***More confused stares, I could almost see the wheels turning in his head****
“Is that where chicken comes from too?”
“Yes, chicken meat comes from chickens, just like these.”
“Are you going to eat your chickens?”
“We have eaten a couple of them, they were roosters, which we’re not allowed to have in the city because they’re too loud.”
***Horrified look***
“Woah. I gotta… go.”
At that he hurried back into the house, probably to go search through Google for photos of what chicken eggs look like. From this conversation I’m sure you’re imagining a little kid asking these questions, but it was in fact a grown man who was visiting our neighbor for the day. Our actual neighbors have already had all of these conversations with us and they know and respect what goes down in our backyard.
This talk with a stranger was one of the more comical and strange, but I always enjoy the chance to educate people when they show curiosity. A lot of the people we talk to in the city just have no idea where their food comes from. It blows their mind to learn about the plants growing in our garden and the chickens running in our yard. Sometimes it makes me sad that so many city dwellers, and suburbanites alike, are so ignorant about how food gets from the Earth to their plate. I like to think that these talks start to bridge the gap, and at least get them to start considering their food in a new way. I can’t even imagine the conversations we would have if we had goats running around our yard!
Happy Trails!
-Meredith
Woah, that’s crazy! It just goes to show you how far removed we are from our food as a society. I’m glad you educated him and hopefully you sparked his interest to research it a bit more!
Yes absolutely, I think even though he was totally confused by the whole talk, he at least knows a few more things about his food and will hopefully think about it more next time, and go tell his friends where eggs come from.
I had the same conversation once with my COLLEGE roommate… “You mean the eggs we EAT come from CHICKENS????!!!” hahaha!
Hahahaha, it’s crazy to me that people don’t know that!
That’s it, someone stop the planet. I want off.
Seriously, it’s total craziness!
ha ha…..I had many similar conversations with co-workers, scary as that is. I couldn’t believe the number of people truly troubled by the fact that we EAT the chickens eggs. Seriously!! Where do people think their groceries come from?????
Hahahaha Staci that’s too funny! I had to read that comment aloud to my husband because we hear that all the time too!
oh my…. that is scary! i always wonder: if you would leave someone like that on a lonley island… all alone. what would they do?
They would die within a few days, no doubt!
Still laughing! I read this to my husband, along with some of the comments (the COLLEGE roommate) and he says “and these people vote?”, LOL!
Hahaha, yes it’s completely unbelievable to me that people don’t know basic things such as this!
You took the words right out of my mouth!!These people vote???!!! And drive cars? Make babies? WOW!
Hahaha, I know, right? Sometimes it just blows my mind.
I haven’t had questions THAT crazy, but I do get a lot of, “So are you going to raise baby chicks?” When I reply that I don’t have a rooster, so no, I’m not…there’s always a long pause and then I need to launch into a “the birds and the bees” lesson! (I’m a happy new reader – found you on From The Farm Hop!)
Hahahahah, it’s so funny how little people know about chickens! I guess I was in that boat at one point too though. Not quite THAT naive, but certainly didn’t know what I know now. BTW- I love your blog Joan! I’m a subscriber on bloglovin, I especially loved your chicken zombie post. They DO look super creepy when they’re molting!!
Amazing! It’s like trying to explain why I am Vegan. Where do I get my protein? People seem to know protein comes from meat. Strange that they do not know where meat comes from, or eggs. I like to say where does a cow get its protein?
This is hilarious! It reminds me of when one IBM co-worker was in the garden pulling carrots and offered some to another co-worker who exclaimed: ewww, they’ve got DIRT on them. Most people have no clue at all what grows in the ground vs on trees or bushes.
Something I find just as funny, though, is that the organic farmers I know totally freak out that I eat wild edibles. I did get one of them to try a Daylillie the other day. They grow wild here and the nectar in the stem is scrumptious.
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I am absolutely howling with laughter at both this article and the gardening one. It blows me away that there are people on this planet who sincerely, honestly have no idea that vegetables are grown in the dirt and eggs come from a chicken….as does the chicken meat. You are a stronger and better person than I am. It would take an act of divine intervention to keep me from belly laughing. Not AT them mind you, more the situation.
I have had a very similar conversation with an older gentleman at a dart tournament (of all places). I mentioned I was going fishing; he started yelling at me that I must be a psycho and that I should just buy my meat at Safeway – where they make it.
This is such an awesome post. I’m glad you clarified because I did assume you were talking about a toddler. Unbelievable!!
This is funny and sad all at the same time. I shared this post over on my Facebook page, and it amazed me all the people who reported similar conversations. I myself get lots of “how can you get eggs if you don’t have a rooster?” type questions, but everyone at least seems to understand that eggs come from chickens. My next door neighbor will not eat my eggs, however. He has trouble with the fact that he knows the chickens they came from. And my response is, “And you know they are happy, well-cared for chickens. Would you rather eat eggs from sad, factory farm chickens who spend their entire lives in cages?” I guess so.
I had a city friend visiting my mom and I once. We cooked some steaks my sister had sent from her farm. She was raving about how good the steak was… “the best I’ve ever tasted”! I said “And to think that last summer I was pulling porcupine quills out of this cow’s nose”. She turned white as a sheet, a horrified expression on her face, and said, “You mean…. this is a PERSONAL cow!!!!???” I was floored. “A personal cow?” I ask. She says “A cow that someone actually touched with their hands.” Me: “Excuse me? Where do you think meat comes from?” She: “It’s like a factory, where everything is done by machines and no one ever touches the cows.” Me: Shaking my head in disbelief. She would not touch another bite. Mom and I finished our dinner with pleasure and enjoyment.
That is TOO funny!! I’m totally picturing robots caring for cows now and it’s hilarious! Wow. Some people!
Funny and also sad.
I can’t even force myself to believe this, or the comments. I’ve looked for the Onion logo, but can’t find it. Still, this has to be a spoof. I have to believe that, or I will be frightened.
Amazing!!! I knew there were things I didn’t know about chickens before getting them… but really? Not knowing that chicken meat comes from real chickens??? That’s astounding!
Had a women ask me why I had chickens. I told her for the fresh eggs. She proceeded to tell me that she “could never eat eggs that come out of a chickens butt and she would just get her eggs from Walmart.” LOL
My grandmother expressed confusion when I got my first chickens and they were not all white. Nor were their eggs.
I explained about different breeds, but she honestly had no clue that there were more than one kind of chicken!
I was picking broccoli and our neighbor asked what I was picking,”broccoli” oh I thought it grew underground. I was amazed but, years later she sent word that she now has a garden too! We all need to start somewhere learning where our food comes from.