Another comment that deserves a post.
Guest Post by Hardscrabble Farmer
Raising hogs for meat and doing it in a manner that is responsible to the welfare of the animal while it is alive, good for the environment and fertility of the farm and produces a healthful and delicious product for the person sitting down to a meal of pork takes a lot of human effort and management. The word is husbandry. To do so without the use of GMO feeds, concentrations of waste, phosphorus loading, etc is at the very least a break even proposition when the final product brings a price point around 2.5 times higher than what is available at the average grocery store.
People will never brag about how cheap their car was, what low end price they paid for their house, what bargain rate clothing or cosmetics they regularly use, but they will, 9 times our of 10 look for the cheapest price when it comes to what they put in their shopping cart and eventually their bodies. They don’t take into account the treatment of the animal in these operations- at best it is equivalent to a concentration camp .
They don’t give a thought to the eventual harm it does to the surrounding soil and water, they don’t think about the effects of the pass through chemicals from pesticides and antibiotics to GMO genes, nitrates, nitrites, bleach and herbicides contained in the flesh of these animals and the long term health consequences of consuming them. They see the family farmer selling a pound of uncured, maple smoked bacon for $15 a pound and think “elitist”.
The problem isn’t in the poor redneck who makes his deal with the Smithfield devil and indebts himself to a CAFO just to save the farm, it isn’t in the Chinese business that profits off the venality and penury of the average American “consumer”, it isn’t the AgriCorp peddling their genetic mutations at the cost of our soils and open pollinated species, it isn’t the grocery chains and big box stores with their lowest common denominator customer base using FSA taxpayer subsidized free food cards to lard on as many extra pounds as their radically reduced lifespan will allow. The problem is people being so out of touch with nature and reality that they don’t see nor understand the very nature of their own existence apart from their role as a consumer in a race to the bottom.
Eating is something we all do, I can say this with confidence. Nourishing our bodies is something only a thoughtful and purposeful human being does. You are what you eat. When you begin to eat keeping all these things in mind you begin to change- physically your body becomes healthier, leaner, fitter, more capable of healing when injured, more resilient when fighting off illness and disease, your eyesight, joints, musculature and bone density improve or last longer.
You see the effects of your choices when you look outdoors and at your environment, you enter into relationships with people who actually raise the crops and the animals you consume and benefit them and their efforts which in turn benefits the environment. You improve the lives of the crops and the animals you are eating by giving them better environments in which to live and lives in tune with their nature and diets based on what they require rather than on what makes them fatter faster. There may be a downside to it, but I haven’t found it yet.
Those lagoons of swine manure and urine filled with chemical residue are what the average consumer looks like inside. It is their world view and lifestyle made manifest.
The bounties of this Earth, the flavors of woodland and pasture, fruit and grain turned into flesh, the health benefits of clean foods, fresh from your local farmer or gardener, the thriving and living soil nourished by the decomposed manures of healthy well fed livestock covered in lush growth, year after year, the quality of the water filtered through spongy soils alive with billions of micro organisms- these are gifts given to us for little more than ur commitment to do what we know is right, what we can see is beneficial for ourselves, our families, our communities and our planet.
“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap.”
Beautiful post, HS, I salute you!
It all gets down to GIGO – Garbage In, Garbage Out.
As we pollute our bodies with the Big Agri Crap, and our minds with Big TV/MSM Crap, that’s where the USA turns into the 30 Blocks – physically, culturally and spiritually.
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HSF-You are what you eat.
And, yet this simple truth seems so hard for most to grasp. And , as you so succinctly not , everyhitng has it’s price.
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At a remote research center on the Nebraska plains, scientists are using surgery and breeding techniques to re-engineer the farm animal to fit the needs of the 21st-century meat industry. The potential benefits are huge: animals that produce more offspring, yield more meat and cost less to raise.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/20/dining/animal-welfare-at-risk-in-experiments-for-meat-industry.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=photo-spot-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0
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Since I have committed myself to eating healthy food, I find my perspective on eating has changed. I believe the “expense” of a free-range egg or an organic bunch of spinach or a glass of raw milk restores an appreciation for the preciousness of food. Food waste becomes the sin it should be. Portions become smaller, weight goes down. A grass – fed steak is worthy of careful, almost spiritual preparation.
Only the worst-of-the-worst processed foods are overall less expensive: white bread, hot dogs, Mac and cheese, for example. The resulting costs to health far outweigh the low food budget. Other kinds of processed foods are just as expensive as the honest food that requires more preparation I think.
Keep up the good work, HSF.
@Gayle: You are so right about needing to eat less of better quality food, as well as about APPRECIATING and being GRATEFUL for food in general.
My latest project is making my own butter and cheese. We have several raw milk suppliers in our area and once weekly I make a “milk run” on my way home.
You must skin off the cream, stick it in our Ninja (see the youtube video on this), and in about 15 minutes you have your own butter.
I also make my own yogurt with the rest of the whole milk using my crock pot (see the you tube video on this). You can use some active culture yogurt from the store or buy the good bacteria from leeners.com or cheesemakering.com. You can make up to 10 different batches from the original bacteria, BTW.
I made paneer last weekend and will attempt Queso Blanco and Mozzarella this weekend.
If you can measure, read a thermometer, tell time and follow directions (also washing your hands a lot), you can make cheese, seemingly.
OMG. You cannot BELIEVE how much better it tastes.
HZK
Thank you. I just found some cheese recipes that sound doable – am going to try cottage cheese first. I just need to research for a minute to find out where to get rennet. Butter is also on my agenda. I know for a fact that is really easy.
It is encouraging to see more and more organic food in the stores. People are slowly waking up.
Ninja —- made 100% in China (has plastic gears)
Vita Mix —- built by hand in Ohio with at least 70 percent American components.
Well I’m sitting here in Cheyenne Wyoming at a Pilot truck stop eating a hamburger and drinking Mountain Dew .Little bb is eating his favorite tuna.I probably need to start eating healthy but it’s hard out here on the road.
bb
You bring your cat on the road? Where does it shit and piss?
@Gayle –
You will find rennet in the baking supplies aisle of most any grocery.
Do a net search for “Junket rennet” to get a picture of the most common brand out there.
It works just fine for yogurt and cheeses that require it.
DaP
Mountain Dew, I think it has the most sugar of any soft drink. The problem is that there are few labels telling you where the food comes from and what is all in it. Are the cattle fed non GMO feed? What is actually allowed? I have heard they feed just about anything to cattle,including ground up dead ones that couldnt walk anymore.
I want more labeling and information. If people knew what kind of actual inspections went on for their food they wouldn’t be very happy.
Home grown is best.
On short trips of a week or less I bring little bb with me .On longer runs I leave him with my mom.To answer you question he shits and pisses in his cat box I bought at Wal-Mart.I have a walk around sleeper so there’s plenty of room.I just have to keep the box clean. Besides an old hound dog little bb is the best pet I have ever had.
Anonymous is bb again. Not sure why my phone keeps doing this.
Broiled a nice grass-fed, organic rib-eye steak last night w/some teriyaki sauce. REALLY wanted some sourdough rolls and butter with it, but held off. I’m gonna see about getting some HSF’s bacon, for sure.
A friend of my son in law started a nice little business, Doorganics. Organic foods grown locally, but delivered to the doors of people too busy to make it to the farmers market.
Helps out the local farmers by giving them a new market, helps people learn that better food, and better eating is not that difficult.
For the wife and I it took watching Food Inc to be disgusted with the corporate side of our food and then Forks over Knives and we swung the other way. Green drinks in the morning, salad with fresh fish, or venison for lunch, grass fed meat or free range chicken for dinners.
Sure, its not as easy as stopping by KFC or a shitburger joint, but yes, you do feel so much better and preparing the meals has become part of the fun, relax and slow down, enjoy life.
Great Post
Hardscrabble, you nailed it, beautifully.
Hope I’m jealous of your cheese and butter making. It is nearly impossible/illegal to get raw milk in Michigan. Only OWNERS of cows can get raw milk. The milk lobby is continuously trying to outlaw that too. Keep us informed. Maybe even do a info-graphic on it, many of us would love that and appreciate you.
Yes, quality food can be consumed in much smaller quantities. When you get the bulk of your calories (and energy) from naturally occurring fats and proteins, with carbs put in their place as no more than 1/3 our daily calories, you find you are less hungry. Bump it up with vegetable or “green” smoothies and ACV/honey and you would be amazed how little crap you want anymore.
I used to eat the SAD, lots of processed foods, lots of carbs, lots of low-fat and fake/artificial sugars. Every year I hurt more, I became even more sensitive, I lived with dry skin, dandruff, constipation, etc. The doctors could only suggest coverups, with side effects worse than the original problems.
Detoxify your body, de-acidify your body, use the appropriate supplements, but above all else, eat more natural fat and whole foods.
Thanks again.
My comment is that most people do not have the time or patience or physical fortitude to raise their food. Even on a 1/4 of an acre you can grow all you could eat in a year.
I have 5 year old manure raised beds gardens…100 x50’…This produce all me and my wife can eat and can.
I have 75 fruit trees organic producing.
First do your homework. Find which varieties of apples are disease resistant.
Find out how to kill peach borers. Plant your squash in the corners to be able to pick off the aphids.
Put down paper and straw to keep in the moisture.. water deeply once the ground is dry.
Buy a pressure cooker and can if your vegt are non-acidic. Get a country book to help with this.
I have survived cancer three times and most people who look at me say I am healthier than they are. But i learned the hard way. You cannot beat cancer if you don’t take responsiblity to know how it grows and what you eat can either feed it or starve it.
Either way learning to grow your own food does not come from a book.
@TE: You don’t have to use raw milk ( it is 9$/gallon here). Whole milk, homogenized and pasturized is fine. Don’t use Ultra pasturized milk as it breaks down the milk fat. I think the raw milk tastes better, personally.
The key is to ask your grocer where they get their milk. Here in Texas, since I live in the boonies, I can get my milk from cows about 10 miles away. The fresher the better and prob no advantage over raw at that distance (other than vanity, heh).
At cheesemaking.com, the lady that runs it is Ricki, who is known as the Cheese Queen. That and the laneers.com site are just fabulous for helping you out.
You don’t need to buy some of the oddements at their web sites, most you can get through Amazon.com and help out Admin.
Enjoy!
@Stephan: I shred all the non-plastic paper and hold for just the application you describe. It is also awesome in compost when I use my chicken litter as the green part.
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Hi Hope – you walking bowlegged today? 🙂
Thanks for the commentary yesterday!
It was pretty good but I was looking forward to the blow by blow account of the sexual favors, inquiring minds want to know..
Who else besides Chi Town is having sex after sixty anyway?
Hope, where can I meet Fa Tasha in the photo above? She fainn!
bb
Mountain Dew = slow motion suicide.
And the day you come down with whatever disease it causes you’ll never make the connection.
But hay knock yourself out, enjoy
Paying good money to kill yourself, And you think other people are stupid- HA!
bb
Now if I have your attention, read this book, it will save your life.
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WTF
That didn’t work The name of the book is – SUGAR BLUES- by William Duffy
try again
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Asig – that is a world class fail. WordPress Eats Shit
Coupled with a bit of persistence 🙂
Thanks for another excellent post, HSF. We’re indeed lucky to have you at this forum.
Hardscrapple, I think you really hit your stride with this one. Best one yet.
I do have to say this: People who say they can’t afford organic/chemical free produce, pastured meats, raw dairy, is probably the most common–yet misplaced–complaint. You simply cannot look at a few individual items and say no. All the savings comes from cooking simple meals at home. I submit you can buy from the best farms in your area and your total meal cost won’t go up. Even if you dismiss the superior nutrition, the taste is worth the effort.
A tree ripened mango here in Miami will cost 2-3x what an imported, months old mango at the big box will cost. The taste makes it worth 5x the price, but most shoppers out of hand dismiss the more expensive one. I feel bad they won’t know the joy of eating a hundred or so of them during mango season.
I should add my dogs ate 4 lbs. of pastured pork tonight for dinner. If I can find a way to feed 2 labs only pastured meats on my income level, any human should be able to eat as they do. (I simply refuse to work to pay for animal torture, so I won’t buy from the industrial system.)
Seriously, no one should die before they had a chance to taste properly roasted pastured chicken or turkey. It’s as if the intensity of the flavor is a reflection of their well-lived lives.
Hardscrabble – if you see this, I am calling your cowardly, lying sack of shit motherfucking ass out for the bullshit character assassination you pulled on another thread.
Joined any white supremacy organizations lately, you piece of shit?
….(I simply refuse to work to pay for animal torture,… Mike Moskos
I applaud you and our brilliant, resident-renaissance-man “hard-scrabble farmer” for your conscientiousness and compassion. No such sentiments for our sickening, collectivist federal Leviathan whom I loathe with every fibre of my being whom tortures animals for giant agribusiness, AND as in everything they do, no accountability or reining in of their madness:
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/us-research-lab-lets-livestock-suffer-in-quest-for-profit/ar-AA8nXyr
tolerance…..cuz’. honkies killed injuns.
But hypocrisy is the least of our problems.
The real problem is that hundreds of millions of Muslims reject our values. They do not believe all religions are equal. They do not believe in freedom of speech or the press to blaspheme the Prophet. Majorities in many Islamic countries believe adulterers, apostates, and converts to Christianity should be lashed, stoned and beheaded.
In surveys, the Muslim world not only rejects our presence and puppets, but also our culture and beliefs. In a free referendum they would vote to throw us out of the region and throw the Israelis into the sea.
For many in the Mideast collaboration with America is a betrayal. And our presence spawns more terrorists than our drones can kill.
This week Valls conceded there are “two Frances,” adding, “A territorial, social, ethnic apartheid has spread across our country.”
Have her five million Muslims become an indigestible minority that imperils the survival of France? Have France and Europe embraced a diversity more malignant than benign, possibly leading to a future like the recent past in Palestine, Cyprus, Lebanon, Sri Lanka and Ukraine?
T. S. Eliot said, to defeat a religion, you need a religion.
We have no religion; we have an ideology — secular democracy. But the Muslim world rejects secularism and will use democracy to free itself of us and establish regimes that please Allah.