Turkey Day at the Millsap Farm

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**warning, contains graphic content**

My mother is buying a turkey from Son Harvest Farm in Nixa, MO. By benefit of that fact, I was able to go to Milsap Farms thanks to the kindness of Curtis Milsap.

This, in turn, led to me completing one of my goals I had while I was visiting the parents for the holidays. I have never explored my home area with my camera, and so I wanted to find something interesting to do a personal project on. As it turned out, Curtis and friends were slaughtering turkeys today. Perfect, I thought. Not only could I take some interesting photos, I could show my mother where her food is coming from.

Curtis and everyone working with him were great and extremely accomodating, and I have to thank them for helping to make this possible. He and his wife have been running the turkey operation for 2.5 years, and operate under sustainable farming practices and really do respect the land and animals they work with. It was refreshing to see a young farmer be passionate about what they do simply because they feel it's right. Especially after seeing Food, Inc. I wondered how local people could combat the monstrosity that is the corporate farming machine. Curtis and his friends and family are a prime example and it was an honor to work with them.

As I said in the beginning, be warned. This slideshow is not for the squeamish. Also, bear in mind that it's a personal project. I was not interested in getting interview audio, the obligatory "nat sound," or any such related things. I made this for me, because I really wanted to take some photographs. So, if you can bear all of that, and the 3+ minutes of music from The Silence of the Lambs (courtesy of miss Jessie King's suggestion) then I thank you for watching.