I'm sad to say that I really hated Growing A Farmer. I honestly tried to enjoy this book. I went in with an open mind and came out simply disgusted. As I referenced in my last update, I think that my feelings are mainly based on the fact that I'm just not interested in farming life. I grew up in the suburbs avoiding meat and cow's milk at all costs. I'm not a fan of bugs (bees included), and the one time I ventured onto a farm a pig chased me out.
His graphic descriptions of his daily life regarding slaughtering and milking (among other things) nauseated me. At least once in every chapter, I had to stop reading due to constant gagging, recompose myself, then continue on. To say the least, it was exhausting and just increased my distaste of the already out-of-genre read.
My favorite part of the book was when Timmermeister's cow Dinah was in heat, attempted to mount him and proceeded to knock him to the ground. Now, I'm not a violent person, but I couldn't stop laughing as he laid in the dirt and reconsidered all of his life choices that led to him ultimately becoming a farmer. He ended the paragraph with the question, "Why had I given up my comfortable city job?" (Timmermeister, 122). I related more to this single paragraph than any other thing in the book. Mainly because I had been asking myself that same question the entire book.
Overall, I can't say I was a fan of Kurt Timmermeister's book. I can say, however, that I hold him in a high respect. He does something that I could never do. So, I suppose his original goal of adding perspective to the food we eat, mentioned all the way back in the Introduction, was met.
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