There is a sow at the County fair this year with nine softly pink piglets that were all sleeping when we came upon them. Mom and the piglets were tucked into each other with their pig eyes shut to the chaos of the fair, their strange flat piggy bank noses wet and shiny. The peace in which they slept was a brief lie in light of the life they will lead as farm animals created and kept for our pleasure. Pigs are very intelligent and yet they are part of our supply chain. We don't want to think about the fact that they may understand too well what we are up to. A sign near the sleeping babes indicates that "Pigs are raised for meat and leather," so that we can know that this is an educational display, don't get too attached to these sentient beings.
There were ducklings and peeping chicks too that were part of the display this year. Something different this year though, was the product placement advertising Sonoma Grange Credit, Redwood Credit Union and other Ag related companies. In fact, all the rabbit water bowls had bumper stickers on them reminding us of the presence of lenders and banks who are the underpinnings of our world.
Our "recession" world. Four-H is now the doorway to the Sonoma Grange Credit? It was a strange and not-so-wonderful change to all that has been my county fair. I liked having the illusion that the sow and her piglets would have a peaceful life on a Bennett Valley farm or that they could simply be pigs. Seeing them as a commodity and myself as a commodity is the truth of our lives. Receiving a free credit union visor or a sample of sunscreen doesn't change the facts. Maybe I just don't want to think about it.
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