Cedar Row Farm Sanctuary & Through Being Cool

We drove over to Cedar Row Farm Sanctuary last weekend to visit and enjoy the Hope for the Holiday’s celebration. It seems every road trip, big or small involves picking up a coffee or some treats from Through Being Cool (and especially if we leave in the morning.) So we parked right outside the door and picked up a few of their giant donuts, a pain du chocolat for me, and a breakfast pocket for JC, a couple of tasty coffees, pekoe kombucha, and we were on our way.

I also noticed some cool packaged items at TBC that would probably make great gifts or at least fun grab and go gifts-for-yourself. Our near weekly roadtrips are fun, because generally I’m not in the car for an extended period of time or at all, and it’s a great opportunity to listen to the Serial podcast in an enclosed space. Google Maps took us down a slightly different, but still exciting trip partially on the usual highways, and partially driving through farmland.

The journey is always a semi-sweet experience, because there are so many animal based agricultures throughout the province (like the rest of our continent) but here we are on our way to a farm sanctuary. The fields that stood out this time were sheep and a small cow pasture. If we take a turn in a different direction, we pass a chicken processing plant. It’s a weird combination of sights and realities with this beautiful sanctuary visit sandwiched in between.

We arrived a bit after everything had started, but there were still lots of delicious items to choose from. Reuban makes some pretty fantastic baked goods, and it’s also always nice to see so many familiar faces.

We got to see Ellie, one of the newest additions to the Cedar Row Farm Sanctuary Family, which was wonderful. Ellie is a cutie little lamb, and she likes nibbling at things – including my boot laces, so when she was nearby I got to touch her, and then she scampered off.

I feel weird about touching animals at sanctuaries, at some places we’ve visited it has felt like a slightly less awful petting zoo, but Cedar Row generally has a good policy in place for humans touching the residents, especially during open houses (and it’s usually – just don’t.)

I believe the animals are there for their own reasons, to exist, and eat, and   and not just for an animal cuddle photo op. So I don’t have that many photos of myself snuggling chickens, but know that I love them all the same.

But we had a lovely time, and it was peaceful, and just another reminder of why I don’t eat animals. Everyone had a personality, everyone had a unique life and experience of the world, and all were saved from the short sad life that most of their siblings and families experienced.

After Cedar Row, we took a drive through to Hamilton for two reasons

1. To go to the Hamilton Food Coop (Mustard Seed) &
2. To visit the Asian vegetarian buffet spot for dinner  – Affinity Vegetarian Restaurant (87 John Street South Hamilton ON)

Hamilton Food Coop is a gem, and I was so happy to take a look around. It was such a vast departure from the meatcentric coop’s in Toronto. Like a breath of fresh air really. We picked up the new soft cheese from Boo Moo while we were there, and I’m hopefully going to have a proper review up soon.

And afterwards to Affinity for their buffet, which is worth checking out if you are in Hamilton. I think this visit the standout was their lovely assortment of teas. Overall, a really lovely day, from morning till evening.

Also, since it’s almost the end of the year, it’s a great time to donate to Cedar Row Farm Sanctuary. Check out the variety of sponsorship and donation options they have. For my upcoming birthday, my in laws were kind enough to sponsor a chicken for a year on my behalf.

If you’re celebrate anything this week, happy holidays!

TTFN <3