Waking Up: Life on a Small ‘Humane’ Farm

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You cannot carry passengers on a smallholding. This is what I had been told. I didn’t like it but I believed it to be true. Everything has to earn its keep.

Be strong.

Onion had his head chopped off… we ate him

Vicky Hamill’s childhood love of animals inspired her move to a smallholding in the wilds of Orkney. Initially she had some chickens and a goat but, unable to refuse any animal that needed her help, she quickly found herself tending a motley collection of sheep, cows, goats and geese on her small ‘humane’ farm.

But farm animals have a defined life cycle. In this memoir, Vicky recounts the conflict between her attachment to her animals and the demands of farming. She vividly recalls the joys of feeding newborn lambs and the despair of killing them, joyous and heartbreaking moments that eventually led her to quit the farm and become a vegan.

Exquisitely narrated and deeply moving, this is a book for anyone who questions the morality of the food on their plate. It doesn’t preach but it convincingly tells the story of one woman’s journey towards awareness.