Slow Cooked Venison Roast

My attitude toward hunting has changed. Don't get me wrong, I still love animals. But my study of ecology has led me to understand that, like it or not, we live by eating. And by we I mean all of us, from worms to trees. This doesn't excuse cruelty or waste, so I remain opposed to factory farming and excessive consumption of protein from flesh. But I no longer see anything wrong with eating the flesh of an animal that has either lived wild or been well cared for on a family farm, and has then been quickly killed.

When I moved to the country, I had a chance to get to know more about animals that are often eaten for meat. I still haven't reached the point where I could kill one myself. But I now have a better understanding of the relationship between humans and meat animals.

Deer are an example. They're beautiful, and I love to see them. But they also tend to overpopulate in the environment humans create. When humans arrived here in Nova Scotia, there were relatively few if any deer. When we cut down most of the forests and replaced them with gardens and crops, we created an environment that is far more hospitable to deer than the ancient forests were. We eradicated the cougar and wolf and brought down the bobcat population; nowadays, if it weren't for coyotes (which are also not native) and the automobile, deer would have almost no predators at all.

Which brings me to hunting. Being shot is not a great way to die, I'm sure. But it's better than starving, which is the fate that awaits animals that overpopulate, and it is certainly no more painful than being killed by a wolf. Not all hunters behave responsibly, and I don't want those hunters on my land. But recently I met a hunter who kills what he shoots at and eats what he kills, and he is welcome here. As a result, I sometimes get a gift of venison, and it gives me great pride to be able to cook and eat flesh that grew wild on or near my own land.

4 lb. venison roast*
one onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoonfuls canola oil
2 cups crushed tomatoes**
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp celery salt
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
3 tablespoonfuls brown sugar
1 tablespoonful Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon lemon juice
dash of nutmeg
2 large potatoes, peeled and quartered**
2-4 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks**

1. Sautee onion and garlic in olive oil
2. Add tomatoes
3. Add salt, celery salt, Worcestershire sauce, ground pepper, brown sugar, mustard, lemon juice, and nutmeg
4. Place roast in a large (5 qt slow cooker) or pot
6. Cover with tomatoes
7. Add carrots and potatoes

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

* If your roast is bigger than 4 lbs, increase other ingredients accordingly.
** Preferably ones you grew yourself or that were grown locally.