Willowbrook Farms offers sanctuary to farm animals, better health for all

Monday, August 5, 2019
Family portrait at Willowbrook Farms Animal Sanctuary in Bloomfield. From left, Crystal, Matt, Alex and Madelyn Porter. Far left, held by Madelyn, Shelldon and front, Walter Pigg.
By Patti Danner

Opening its barn doors in September 2018, the nonprofit Willowbrook Farms Animal Sanctuary (WFAS), located on East Calvertville Road in Bloomfield, is home to a family of, at last count, four humans (Crystal, Matt, Alex and Madelyn), six chickens (Evie, Gigi, Penn, Frankie, Helen and Willow), one Blue Slate Heritage tom turkey (Dorian Gray), a donkey (Charlie), a pot-bellied pig (Walter Pigg), a very affectionate mixed-breed Great Dane dog (Mabel), a 31-year-old three-toed North American box turtle (Shelldon), two cats (Ginger and Bea) and several bouncy and boisterous kittens.

Each member in the WFAS menagerie is living proof that, in the wake of recent news regarding the alleged cruel treatment of farm animals at Fair Oaks Farms, happy endings do exist for some.

Crystal and Matt Porter, with their teenage children, made rural Bloomfield their home early in 2018, after finding the 21-acre site with the help of Century 21 agent Tracy Young.

Crystal, an IT project manager working full-time in Bloomington, is an Indiana native who was born in Clinton, and met husband-to-be Matt Porter while living in Springfield, Ill. The couple has been married for 22 years.

“I have always been an animal lover, and when we met I was vegetarian,” Porter said. “Matt was a major carnivore,” she added with a laugh. Porter herself fell off the veggie wagon and, about three years ago, found herself facing a host of unwanted medical issues.

“I had high cholesterol, high blood pressure, I was 80 pounds heavier than I am now and had to have three surgeries for kidney stones between July and October of one year and my mind was fuzzy with cognitive dissonance,” she said. “Then the kicker came when my doctor told me I was facing diabetes. That scared me, I did not want to become diabetic and deal with all of that.”

Taking matters into her own capable hands, Porter began to research ways to change her grim diagnosis and realized she had been right a long time ago in choosing a plant-based diet.

“I stopped eating meat and animal products like cheese, eggs and milk,” Porter said. “When I was younger, the decision was based on my love for animals and more recently I’ve added the desire to live healthier to that.”

Since adopting a plant-based diet, Porter has shed 80 pounds, reversed her plunge into diabetes, eliminated kidney stones, gained mental clarity and kissed high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels goodbye.

“I feel better than ever and I’ll live longer too,” she said with a smile.

Porter’s husband Matt is a bodybuilder and says his plant-based lifestyle is in perfect tandem with that.

“I have no problem getting enough protein,” he said. “You don’t need animal proteins to be healthy or to build muscle.”

According to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), a varied plant-based diet of whole grains, vegetables and beans can easily meet the average human’s daily protein needs without the risks of consuming animal products like meat, dairy and eggs.

The PCRM states an average woman requires about 46 grams of protein and the average man about 56 per day, levels which are admittedly estimated high, but most Americans consume double these amounts, mostly in foods rich in animal protein which are often packed with saturated fats and cholesterol.

PCRM says people eating large amounts of animal protein have 23 times the risk of death from diabetes and at least five times the risk of death from cancer as those consuming less protein.

According to the Harvard School of Public Health, a four-ounce broiled sirloin steak contains about 33 grams of protein, making it a great protein source, but also contains about five grams of saturated fat. In foods such as bacon and ham, the high levels of sodium found in processed meats increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, overweight, poor bone health and premature death, threats which also apply to high-fat meats like the aforementioned sirloin.

“The evidence-based takeaway,” states the Harvard website www.hsph.harvard.edu, “Is that eating healthy protein sources in place of red meat and processed meat can lower the risk of several diseases and premature death.”

Also listed on the Harvard site and attributed to the World Resources Institute, the impact of the production of animal-based foods tends to have higher greenhouse gas (GHG) emission levels than the production of plant-based foods. Dairy and other animal-based foods, especially red meat like beef, lamb and goat, stand out for their disproportionate impact on environmental health.

The information includes a scorecard listing the differing GHG emissions per gram of protein obtained from both animal and plant-based protein foods. For example, it states making one pound of lamb generates 30 times more GHGs than producing a pound of lentils, an excellent source of plant-based protein.

In addition, animal-based food production places an enormous demand on natural resources, with wide-ranging impact on deforestation, species extinction and freshwater depletion and contamination.

The Harvard site recommends getting protein from plants when possible to preserve your health and the health of the planet, and lists sources such as legumes (lentils, beans, peas and soy products), nuts and seeds, whole grains and vegetables like corn, broccoli, asparagus, brussels sprouts and artichokes.

While Crystal and Matt Porter feel their best on a plant-based diet, daughter Madelyn has chosen a completely vegan lifestyle.

“When my mom was diagnosed with diabetes after her other health problems, I wanted to support her in every way I could,” she said. “When she and my dad decided on a plant-based diet, I was all for it. To show support and to make things easier on my mom, I switched too. Later, I decided I wanted to go a step or two further. I stopped eating meat cold turkey, pardon the pun,” she said with a smile.

For Madelyn, the choices made by her parents were easy to follow, though she says being vegan is just a better fit for her.

“There are some ethical issues and other things I am still a little iffy on, but I don’t consume animal products and I would never go back,” she said.

For Madelyn, or Maddie, as most know her, even the idea of consuming animal protein makes her nauseous.

“After I had been vegetarian for a while, I tried some dairy creamer and I felt like I was going to be sick,” she said. “So taking the plunge into veganism was just the right thing to do.”

Because food choices in the Porter kitchen cover nearly every end of the spectrum, son Alex is an omnivore, meaning he chooses to eat meat and animal products as well as share plant-based meals with the rest of the family.

“I don’t try to eat meat at home, I eat it sometimes when I’m not home though,” he said. “I can be a pretty stubborn guy but I never ate a lot of meat anyway. At home, I don’t mind eating what the family eats. As long as it tastes good, I’m in,” he said with a grin. Alex said he sometimes wants meat or dairy and so he simply gets it, eating whatever strikes his fancy at Greene County restaurants.

A Christian family, the Porters begin each meal with prayer and meals are interspersed with the occasional “Dad joke” from the Porter patriarch.

Pointing to a bowl of iceberg lettuce accompanying the evening meal, Matt Porter joked, “I wonder if they served this on the Titanic?” to the groans, and smiles, of his loving family.

While the diet choices of the human residents of Willowbrook Farms vary widely, the reason each of them is there does not.

“Food choices aside, what bonds us together beyond the fact that we’re a family is the mission,” Porter said. “We all believe in the mission.”

Every Porter in the room nodded in agreement.

The mission of Willowbrook Farms, as stated on their website, www.wfas-cares.com, is “to live and promote a cruelty-free, plant-based lifestyle in order to improve the health and well-being of all Earth’s inhabitants. Our goal is to live and promote a cruelty-free, self-sustainable lifestyle by the rescue of animals AND the education of humans.”

While many of the animals who call Willowbrook Farms their home are rescues, about half of them were voluntary adoptions by the Porters from people who loved the animals but were not equipped to care for them properly.

“Walter came to us from some people who had honestly thought he would stay small,” said Porter. “With pot-bellied pigs, or any pig, they are going to grow if you feed them enough. These people were instructed to feed him such small amounts, in order to keep him small, they just couldn’t do it. It was obvious that he was starving and so hungry all the time. Finally, they asked if we could take him and so we did.”

Circumstances were similar with Charlie the donkey. Rather than being rescued from an abusive situation, Charlie belonged to a neighbor of the Porter’s and was well taken care of, but was without much space to run around and to graze. Charlie’s owners were aware of the situation and had been thinking about finding him a new home. When Porter offered to adopt Charlie, giving him a fenced-in five acres to roam, the family agreed to give him to the sanctuary.

In a video of Charlie’s first few minutes at Willowbrook Farms, he is seen rolling in the grass and kicking up his heels, clearly pleased with his new surroundings.

“The only thing that could make Charlie happier than he is now would be a companion donkey,” Porter said. “Other than that, he is a pretty content young donkey.”

When the Porters moved to the site that would become Willowbrook Farms, they inherited some instant roommates.

“Cats,” Porter said. “They were here when we got here. We brought one inside who was obviously pregnant. Then another one, and now we have several kittens. The girls are spayed now and we are keeping one kitten, but we are looking for good homes for the others. We have some that are four months old and some younger ones. They have been to the vet and have gotten shots and are healthy. Anyone looking for a kitten who will give them a good home is welcome to contact us.”

Persons interested in learning more about Willowbrook Farms Animal Sanctuary, plant-based eating and reversing the effects of diabetes, high blood pressure and other ailments and learning how to live a cruelty-free lifestyle or if you are perhaps interested in adopting a fuzzy little kitten, you are welcome to contact Willowbrook Farms on their Facebook page, www.facebook.com/WillowbrookFarmsAnimalSanctuary, via email at wfas.cares@gmail.com, Patreon; patreon.com/WillowbrookFarms, Venmo: @Willowbrook, on their website at www.wfas-cares.com or on Instagram: @WillowbrookFarms.

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