VIDEO: Amado Stachenfeld
LOCATION: Vashon, Washington

We live off the earth, plan rides around the wind, spend nights cooking over the fire, and watch the moon pull the water to and fro. The greatest cruelty is to forget this. Circle Rock Ranch has not forgotten. We regards this swine with a profound reverence, giving thanks for every moment that they have lived and every morsel that’s made them what they are. Without rain, corn can’t rise from the earth and turn to mash. Without mash, pigs can’t become healthy animals, ready to give themselves to return to what made them. Living on an island in Washington, becoming part of a board shaper or musician, making boards or playing songs; all are parts of the cycle. Nothing lasts forever, but transcendental moments bring us closer than clinging tightly ever will. Conscious of the cycle, there is no waste. When we make proscuitto, the process creates much more than a portion of a meal. These farming ethos puts food on the table that is greater than the sum of its parts.

BY: Terasu

VIDEO: Amado Stachenfeld
LOCATION: Vashon, Washington

​One of the main reasons Circle Rock Ranch made the move up from Los Angeles to Vashon was so they wouldn’t need irrigation on their farm. In the midst of the California drought, they decided to follow the water north and start afresh. Vashon has no doubt embraced them with misty mornings, sea breeze and rainy days. The proximity of the ocean has brought a tranquility to the animals and to Brandon. A short gallop past a forest of mushrooms, leads to the ocean: home to crabs, shellfish and sea vegetables.

BY: Terasu

VIDEO: Amado Stachenfeld
LOCATION: Vashon, Washington

Brandon D’Imperio has thought long and hard about what he does at Circle Rock Ranch, and why he does it. He doesn’t raise his sheep, goats, turkey, and pigs just to be consumed. He enjoys having them, and building a relationship with them. When we toured his farm, his sincerity struck me deeply. It was evident by the composure of his animals that they felt safe; the horses and the goats calmly walked towards him wherever he went.
When the time does feel right to end a life, he reveals that it is always an emotional process. There are moments when he has doubted, like many of us, whether it is right to eat meat in the first place. Yet once his animals have experienced a good life, he feels it is best that he, who is essentially a mother-like figure to them, takes its life. When the animal is then prepared to be eaten and shared, it is a beautiful exchange of energy. He genuinely disapproves of conventional animal farming and slaughter houses, and the disrespect of life and death that is all too common today.  

BY: Terasu

VIDEO: Sacred Food Films
LOCATION: Vashon, Washington