Ep 76: From Finance to Foie Gras - Interview with Ross McKnight of Backwater Foie Gras, Part 1

A Meatsmith Harvest

In this episode, we chat with Ross McKnight of Backwater Foie Gras about how he began his farming journey, why he chose foie gras, tradition and moving to the land, and the mortification of farming.

Announcements:

• Support our podcast on Patreon! Production of each episode takes hours of work, filming, and editing. Becoming a patron can help us keep our episode quality high and allow us to continue filming. Become a patron today at https://www.patreon.com/meatsmith.
• Our 3-Day Lamb Harvest course is back! We haven't taught this class for five years and are so happy to be able to offer it again, November 17-19th, at our new homestead just outside of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Our classes make incredible gifts for anyone interested in the whole processing narrative. From the kill to skinning to butchery to cookery, the experience gained at our Lamb class is unparalleled. And all instruction is entirely translatable to any other ruminant harvesting, including goats, deer, elk, beef, etc. Find all the details at FarmsteadMeatsmith.com/product/3-day-complete-lamb-harvest-course/.
• Meatsmith Membership -- a gift that gives all year long!
• More than 45 Harvest Films by Brandon.
• Forum topics are now categorized for easy browsing!
• 60-day free trial available! Use the Newsletter Special option on our sign-up page ad apply the promo code 60daytrial at checkout. Sign-up for Meatsmith Membership at FarmsteadMeatsmith.com/product/membership/.

Topics:

• Our new baby, butchershop, and lamb class, 1:01
• Brandon's recent interviews, 6:53
• Interview with Ross McKnight starts, 12:51
• Ross introduces himself, 16:42
• From an English major to finance, 20:25
• From an auto-immunity disease to a farmer, 34:03
• Creating beauty makes life worth something, 42:33
• Why foie gras?, 43:03
• We want tradition, 47:40
• The camaraderie with other farmers, 49:20
• Moving to the land with religion as the motive, 52:53
• Hyper theoretical movements, 57:34
• The mortification of farming, 1:00:54

Links for Episode 75:

• Justin Rhodes interview with Brandon on iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/brandon-sheard-master-meatsmith-on-befriending-animals/id1565700147?i=1000552469413
• Homesteading Family interview with Brandon - Cured Pork the Old Fashioned Way https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBS8pzexKLs&t=1168s
• Brian Holdsworth interview with Brandon - Catholic Homesteading with Brandon Sheard https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPlSeZY546Q&t=3695s
• The Church and the Land by Ff. Vincent McNabb https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3376190-the-church-and-the-land?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=XdhoH4cQAk&rank=1
• Find Ross McKnight and Backwater Foie Gras on Facebook, Instagram, and BackwaterFoieGras.com.
• Fr. Denis Fahey https://catholicism.org/catholic-world-of-fahey.html
• Sow the Land Homestead https://sowtheland.com
• Restoring the Faith https://www.youtube.com/c/RestoringTheFaith