What I Forgot to Ask My Dad Before He Died

I know. Such an uplifting topic but my dad and I spoke so often when he was alive that I did not pay attention to random topics with him. He and I would talk over methods and procedures of management consulting, private investigations, the hot ladies (wherever they appeared), told dirty jokes, and ran the world!!! ;-)

He mentioned certain things to me about his childhood as a ward of the Peoples Republic of Massachusetts and how there were some interesting things, funny things, and tragic ones that happened.  He was born in 1940 to a mother who did not want him. I can imagine that he was a sweet little boy that wanted to please and love someone and be loved back. Sadly as a foster child he ended up at the Charest Farm in Southborough MA to become a slave.

I know I am off topic but it pisses me off and makes me cry that no one from the state ever cared that he was forced to labor on a farm from a young age (8) to the age of 16 or 17 for no money to people who didn’t have the decency to clothe him or feed him properly. Oh well, I cannot change the past so I must focus before I lose sight of the few gems to be found from my dad’s experience that pertain to our love of self healing, eating a raw or vegetarian lifestyle, and good health.

Dad would mention that the farm was 500-550 acres in size with livestock, 250,000 chickens, pigs and cows, that ate what was grown there as well as the grasses. The farm owner, Mr. Charest, rotated his crops and carefully grazed his livestock to not overwork the capacity of the land in addition to his duties as a white slave master. This was one of the farms that supported our troops during WWII but that was over when my dad arrived.

Ok so you have the setting, the time period, etc. We good?

My dad was a raw foodie as a child. Not  by choice but desperation.  The Charests didn’t serve the best food for their little slaves so the little boys would pick a row of fresh green beans and eat the next row. Same thing with the raw peppers. Eat one row and pick the next. Only until they were full.

Milk wasn’t delivered for the boys. Oh it was for the family but the boys would milk the cows by hand and drink from the pails set out for the cats. They weren’t supposed to of course but they learned what the cat’s knew as twenty or more of them would line up and wait patiently while the milker squirted a fresh stream of milk into their mouths. Raw milk was in my dad’s diet. The hand squirting of the milk is how they fed the cats. But boys will be boys and I am sure they drank it that way too sometimes.

Fresh cooked meat wasn’t always on their plates so they learned to cut and eat raw chicken, raw pork, and raw beef when it was available. This was something I just figured out and led me back to all the stories my dad told especially how he almost died eating raw pork in the galley on the U.S.S. Wasp. He told me how trichinosis-

From Wikipedia:

Trichinosis, also called trichinellosis, or trichiniasis, is a parasitic disease caused by eating raw or undercooked pork and wild game infected with the larvae of a species of roundworm Trichinella spiralis, commonly called the trichina worm. There are eight Trichinella species; five species are encapsulated and three are non-encapsulated. ^[1] Only three Trichinella species are known to cause Trichinosis: T. spiralis, T. nativa, and T. britovi. ^[1] The few cases in the United States are mostly the result of eating undercooked game, bear meat, or home reared pigs. It is most common in the developing world and where pigs are commonly fed raw garbage.

got into his system and put him out of commission and into a coma the docs feared he wouldn’t wake from. Luckily he had been eating raw meats on the farm and had a strong constitution to withstand the sickness and pulled through.

I hate to think of where the Navy got their pork in 1958. Yuck!

But here is the interesting point. The farmers in those days butchered and sold all their meats but kept the organs and intestines to make sausages and other interesting things with. The foster children were with the butcher and took pieces that were left on the table and ate the good parts of the meat.

As a child the only meat I ate raw was hamburger but only once in a while. That was in the 1970’s and from a local butcher. I loved it and it never made me sick.

I guess my point is that my dad was thin but strong as an ox and his body and mind were in top condition as he easily saw his way through boot camp and could type 120 words per minute for the Admiral on a manual type writer. That kind of coordination is astounding. It’s too bad he didn’t keep to that lifestyle. Instead he felt he lacked something in his childhood and began to eat like most middle and upper class Americans did and spent most of his life after his 30th birthday obese with yearly bouts of pneumonia. His whole life, looked at from my point of view is like a valuable test case for eating right. I wish I could have seen it before now.

My point in all this is we should look for those local farms in our counties that raise their vegetables and meat in organic or as pesticide free as possible. Some farmers use organic methods and do not take the time or spend the money to have it certified so you have to talk to them about it. Also you would be amazed at how many small farms in my area raise their livestock with mostly grasses and hay and keep away from fattening grains. My only problem with small farms is eggs. Make sure the farm you get your eggs from use an electronic or candle test to see if the egg has a no life inside.

In Newbury, Massachusetts there is a great farm store called Tendercrop Farms.

This store has a meat counter with this sign:

At Tendercrop Farm we raise our own hormone-free and antibiotic-free chickens, Black Angus beef, and turkeys, so you can be assured that you're getting the very best quality products.

I will tell you from experience that their produce and meat is fantastic. My wife and I go out there almost every week and it never fails to impress me.

So as you know from the title my dad has passed and I didn’t get the chance to talk to him more about it. I bet if he had switched back to a raw diet again the smoking he did may not have killed him.

Thankfully I believe in a multiverse and in some other world he made the right choices. 

Questions:

Is it hard to make a switch to a raw lifestyle?

Do you believe it save your life?

What are you doing to heal yourself today?

Thanks for reading,

BJ

Comments

[Elle]

That's a great story you told. It's sad that your dad was treated that way, but I'll bet it made him strong and gave him quite a resolve to make a better life for him and his family.

Sorry he's gone.

[BJ]

Thank you for your kindness

[Anonymous]

Hi Bill, Thank you for sharing. Ruby