Whidbey farmers collaborate to create children’s book

When Jenny Goff was searching for picture books about farm animals to read to her daughters, she couldn’t find any that captured the reality of the purpose of livestock as meat.

So Goff decided to write her own children’s book that gently explains the process of ethically raising and harvesting turkeys, which is something she does every year with her family on her Bayview-area farm. She and her husband, Kevin Dunham, sell broad-breasted white turkeys around Thanksgiving.

“I have farm kids, so they’re around it all the time,” Goff said. “And they’re more curious about it than anything.”

In creating “Thankful Harvest,” Goff collaborated with Heather Talley, who works on Sweetwater Farm in Clinton. Talley provided illustrations for the book, which follows two young children who are preparing for the harvest of their farm flock of turkeys.

To fund the production of the book — which will be independently published — the farmers launched a fundraising campaign through Kickstarter, meeting their $6,000 goal within the first 10 days. Backers of the project can still donate until Feb. 22 to receive a copy of the book by visiting kickstarter.com/projects/jennygoff/thankful-harvest.

While writing the book, Goff drew much inspiration from her own experience. At Windfall Farm, livestock lives are taken with respect, with many “thank yous” expressed to the animal for its meat. Goff’s daughters are well aware of the animals and thank them, sometimes by name, over meals.

“We know who we’re eating and how they were treated and how they were harvested, so we feel really good about what we eat and we know how essential that good nutrition is for the kids,” Goff said.

Still, that doesn’t make the butchering an easy thing.

“I cry every time,” said Talley, who also participates in the harvest of poultry. “When I say I cry, it’s every emotion there. It’s gratitude, it’s happiness, it’s the good-bye of it, it’s feeling everything for them and then also trusting that we did our best to give them the best full life while they were in our care. And then just being thankful that they’ll take care of us too. It’s never a small thing or a normal thing, it’s always special.”

Goff said it’s not a matter of getting used to the process.

“As the first cut is being made, it’s like, ‘Okay, we’re taking lives to nourish our lives,’ and we do that with so many different things on the farm,” she said. “I think it can be hard, but it just feels like with the right intention that it can be done in a good way.”

Though the book tackles what might be a difficult topic for some young readers, Goff and Talley both felt it was important to delve into the circle of life on a farm where regenerative agricultural practices are used and animals are raised with care. Just like kids learn about where their vegetables come from, the South Whidbey farmers felt it was vital they also know where their meat originates.

The most descriptive layout in the book shows the innards of the turkey – livers, hearts and gizzards. Goff said her own children are often curious about the organs on the table.

For Goff, her favorite kids’ books are ones that are a little bit uncomfortable and contain mature content that starts discussions in families, such as “Born on the Water,” a book in which a young girl completing a family tree school project learns that her ancestors were stolen and brought to America by white slave traders.

“Thankful Harvest” may have a similar impact, with a bigger conversation than just the book about life and death. Goff’s 6-year-old daughter, Saoirse, has been the test audience for the book and adores Talley’s illustrations.

“Your words just brought images to my mind,” Talley told Goff. “You’ve also given me the creative freedom to just synthesize your words into what happens in my brain and then just put it on the page. I feel very lucky to work on this with you, and I hope I can do your words justice.”

The book is expected to be published later this year in time for Thanksgiving. For $20, U.S. backers of the Kickstarter project can receive their own copy of “Thankful Harvest.” Additional rewards for donating more include receiving mint and nettle tea, a sticker collection or your very own pasture-raised turkey from Goff’s farm, among other things.

Goff and Talley plan to sell “Thankful Harvest” online and hope to also have it available in Whidbey bookstores. They believe it will be a one-of-a-kind story.

“The beautiful thing about kids’ content is that there’s room for all of it, and love for all of it,” Talley said.

Saoirse Dunham, 6, feeds some grain to the turkeys at Sweetwater Farm. (Photo by Kira Erickson/South Whidbey Record)

Saoirse Dunham, 6, with mother Jenny Goff and turkeys Silver and Lilac. (Photo by Kira Erickson/South Whidbey Record)

Heather Talley, illustrator of “Thankful Harvest,” holds a turkey at Sweetwater Farm. (Photo by Kira Erickson/South Whidbey Record)

Jenny Goff, left, and Heather Talley are the farmers and creators behind “Thankful Harvest,” a children’s book about raising and harvesting turkeys. (Photo by Kira Erickson/South Whidbey Record)

Lilac the turkey poses on the fence at Sweetwater Farm. (Photo by Kira Erickson/South Whidbey Record)

Saoirse Dunham, 6, pets two turkeys living on Sweetwater Farm. (Photo by Kira Erickson/South Whidbey Record)

Turkeys Thunder and Lightning Bolt at Sweetwater Farm. (Photo by Kira Erickson/South Whidbey Record)

“Thankful Harvest” explores the circle of life on a farm where regenerative agricultural practices are used and animals are raised with care. (Illustration by Heather Talley)