Submitted by Hardscrabble Farmer
I ran into a scam like this when we were first starting out. I drove some of our pasture raised hogs to a slaughterhouse in Vermont for USDA processing. There was no inspector there and when I asked the owner of the slaughterhouse explained to me that the USDA seal of approval was contingent on them being a USDA facility, not on actually have someone from the USDA “inspect” the animals and carcasses.
Kind of negates the whole “inspection” part of the seal, but whatever. Our animals were raised outdoors on pasture and as a result they looked like it. While I was unloading them, I noticed a corral filled with bright white, docked hogs. These were clearly CAFO pigs that had never seen the light of day or the outdoors but they were consigned to Whole Foods as “pasture raised”, having been lot purchased from a big producer.
If you don’t see where your food comes from and trust the practices of the farmer who raised them, the odds of you getting commercially produced CAFO animals fed GMO/pesticide/herbicide grains is probably 99%.
Government performance at the micro level, such as USDA inspectors, are every bit as lazy, stupid, and corrupt as they are at the top. You can trust the USDA label the same way you can trust the CDC on masks or the Dominion voting machines to accurately count your vote.
Find a local farmer. Get to know them, and then patronize them so they can survive against the big guys who are- absent any other proof- opportunistic thieves and liars selling you chemically poisoned meats for premium prices. Life is meant to be lived personally. You are not a cog in a machine dependent on systems far too big to be accountable, you are a human being responsible for what you eat, how you behave, who you know. A “Certified Organic” label means no more than a “USDA Inspected” label means- nothing.
Missouri Man Sentenced For Role In Largest “Organic Food” Fraud In American History
A north Missouri businessman who was involved in the largest organic fraud scheme in American history has been sentenced to probation and fined. According to KTTN, federal prosecutors in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, sentenced Steven Whiteside of Chilicothe to three years probation and a fine of 45-thousand dollars.
Two other Northwest Missouri men were sentenced to federal prison for their roles in the 142-million dollar grain fraud scheme, which federal prosecutors describe as the “Field of Schemes.”
Steven Whiteside of Chillicothe pleaded guilty in December to signing a document that allowed Randy Constant to sell conventionally raised grain as certified organic and receive a higher premium.
Federal prosecutors say Whiteside received $177-thousand for grain that Constant resold to animal feed producers. They had asked for a one-year term in prison for Whiteside. His defense attorney argued he received a lesser sentence for having a clean record and having family obligations.
Constant, also of Chillicothe, killed himself in 2019, three days after being sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for wire fraud. Four other farmers, one from Missouri and three from Nebraska, received prison sentences for their role in the long-running scheme.
Back in December, the DOJ said that Constant admitted the fraudulent scheme involved at least $142,433,475 in grain sales, and the vast majority of those sales were fraudulent. From 2010 to 2017, Constant misled customers into thinking they were buying certified organic grain when the grain he was selling was not organic. Constant admitted falsely telling customers the grain he sold was grown on his certified organic fields in Nebraska and Missouri when the grain was not organic either because he purchased the grain from other growers, the certified organic fields were sprayed with unauthorized chemicals, or organic grain was mixed with non-organic grain. As part of the plea, Constant also agreed to forfeit $128,190,128 in proceeds from the fraudulent scheme.
Constant’s grain was mostly used as animal feed, primarily for chickens and cattle. That livestock was then sold as organic meat or products from the livestock were sold as organic products. Because of Constant’s fraud, most of the livestock that was fed his grain was not organic, causing millions of consumers to purchase what they thought was organic meat for a premium price across the country.
It is unclear how much of the billions in exorbitantly expensive “organic” food sold every year by the likes of Whole Foods and other overpriced outlets, is just plain, ordinary, off-the-shelf “inorganic” produce with a “ceritifed” sticker slapped on it to part the gullible with their money.
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Been saying this for decades, not all ‘organic’ labeled is actually organic. When a premium can be had with the label then those that will leverage that, WILL.
When we had the farm we sold eggs from real free ranged chickens and the eggs yolks were bright orange, like real eggs. I guy I knew raised his birds in an open air pen, fed them commercial feed with a dye that would make the yolks orange. He sold his eggs as free ranged birds too and getting a premium for it. Thats why its best to KNOW your farmer or food source than to trust a label.
Which is why I won’t pay a premium for it, if it is in a grocery store.
I went to a sand and gravel company named Pioneer for some Colorado Red 2″ flagstones. The guy behind the counter asked if I wanted organic or not. I looked at him like he had 3 eyes. I told him that back in the 20th century I learned that stone was natural or manufactured. I suppose the organic stone that had been sawn was a hybrid stone. Marketers use organic for anything these days.
My favorite?
Organic Trash
Probably only the tip of the “US-duh Organic” fraud. Between “US-duh Organic” and a locally produced product that I can go and visit the farm. I choose the later every time. US-duh does have GMO patents; foxes guarding chickens?
Anyone in the meat trade have any idea what is being fed to animals to allow such low prices in the grocery stores?
I raised some grass fed beef, but I had to buy some hay every year, it was local and organic. My guestimated breakeven cost was an average of >$12/#, with my labor at $0.0/hr.
One of TRs biggest mistakes was setting up an agency that couldn’t live up to the task while misleading the ordinary into believing uncle Sam had their backs.
Thanks HSF
Like Scrabble says it is best to make friends now with a local farmer and buy on a regular basis from that farm.
Relying on the Klaus Schwabs of the world when justintime is an ancient memory only guarantees a spot in the line of the zombie hoard.
It has come full circle. My sharecropping grandparents raised almost all of what they themselves ate as well as what they fed their animals. Pesticides were expensive and unknown for the most part, ditto chemical fertilizers. The manure fertilized the fields and the children picked the crops and the bugs from the crops by hand. Those children left the farm as soon as their feet were old enough to carry them away because the work was relentless and backbreaking.
There is no way to feed huge masses of people using only organic methods. The cost of said food would be beyond prohibitive as regards labor intensive chores. As to butchering, seems that there is a shortage of butchers these days, no one wants to do the work and if they charge what the market will bear then the processed meat is way more expensive than that found in supermarkets. Do your own butchering and process your own meat, grow your own food to be truly organic and understand that you are going to be a subsistence farmer.
Hi MyGirl
Looking around here there is plenty of unused land that could be farmed. It is probably much the same in other places. Problem everywhere is governments and agri-business have conspired for past seventy years to drive small farms out of business. Methinks that will change as globalism fails.
You are probably right though when you say that a return to organic farming could not possibly feed every hungry mouth in the world. My thoughts are that it is a non issue. Those large farms are not going anywhere. There is room for both. It is just a matter of priorities and trade offs.
For some price will always be the only thing that matters and so for them they can rely on current model for food delivery. For those who value food security there will be an increased focus on rebuilding local economies that revolve around locally produced food. It could mean higher prices but any added costs will be moar than offset by increased in food security.
I don’t have any plans on being a farmer but I am getting to know one. When the shan meets the fit I’m hoping to have something to trade. In the meantime I’ll enjoy the view.
Hello RiNS:
You live in a lovely area, if that is your backyard then I am deeply envious.
As to food….it is far more difficult to grow food than most people imagine. HSF is the odd man out here, but he had a plan and a family to pitch in. I prefer no pesticides, etc. but I’m a realist. Lots of land that’s good for grazing isn’t good for crops and vice versa. I abhor factory farmed animals, refuse to support cruelty and am fortunate in having friends who raise animals humanely as well as a friend who gardens organically so I get the good without killing myself or my back.
Time will tell as to where this all goes, in the meantime I do the best with what I’ve got.
Cheers and again….my deepest envy.
Cheers Mygirl!
I am doing my best to count my blessings these days. Don’t worry so much about the Schwabs of the world and things I can’t control.
The Globalists are the ones that need to be worried. Their future rests on their plan succeeding. And right now methinks their plan is failing. One need look no further than Gates and Fauci being thrown under the bus in the past couple of weeks. Who would have thought that would be happening even a month ago…. not me!
As for being the back yard. It’s not. It is just the family cottage. Bought and paid for though. Right now we live further inland. Although next year we are planning to build on piece of land we just bought a short jaunt up the shore. Just over an acre but good for growing crops.
RiNS, I was in PEI a few years ago where a friend who lives there took us all over the place meeting lots of people including some farmers. Sat in an old time farmers kitchen with him and family for a wonderful chat. I imagine NS is pretty much like PEI.
Ignore the chick :), growing food isn’t that hard. It just isn’t cost/labor effective compared to everything else and you have opportunity costs if you do. If you care about good food, or not eating Bezos Bugs(tm) in the future, that doesn’t matter.
“Looking around here there is plenty of unused land that could be farmed.”
Not only do you have to compete with the banks, the government programs, but also landowners love the easy money of selling hunting on that unused land to rich bastards from the cities.
Local high school has a butchering program. Graduates are in high demand, as is the meat processed by the high school.
About 20 years ago the USDA began to implement an inspection process as follows.
1. The meat packers write out what their process is for insuring that the meat processed is wholesome.
2. The USDA reviews the process and approves it or not .
3..The USDA then checks the paper trail to see if the packer is following the self policing process that they wrote.
USDA inspection is a sham. A bureaucracy designed to create government drones used to enforce the political decisions of their bosses. Otherwise they do nothing. They had one inspector to look over the cutting of 8000 hogs per shift where I worked when I retired. It is more like 10,000 / shift now.
It is probably just as well. Most of the inspectors aren’t smart enough to know what they are supposed to be doing.
My mom worked in the health food business for many years and she always claimed there was no way major retailers could sell so many products that they claimed were organic she said there was not enough producers of truly organic foods to meet these mega corporations demands (whole foods, Kroger,
Wal mart etc.) so do your research don’t trust the label they slap on stuff
My local farmer was raised with a passion for caring for their soil just as much as caring for their animals. All of their ainmals are fed from non-gmo plants grown on their farm. Pigs are rotated on their specific pastures and are supplemented with peas, triticale, lentils, oats, and flax (grown on their farm). Each package of meat is traceable to one animal.
Noticeably delicious. I have always been moved to find ethical sources for food choices. The unhealthy and unethical practices of Big Ag’s fraudulent business model has been given a pass by folks who make double and triple what I earn each year, as well as those folks living below the poverty level. What do I gain by budgetary sense geared to backing a passionate farm: Quality meat that is detectable with each bite. A small meal satisfies until the next mealtime.
Truthfully, being able to shop from this farm is almost the only good news I have as worthwhile in this fraudulent world. But soon enough, I will purchase a book from Ennu called Wild Horses, Wild Wolves: Legends at Risk… and I will become more informed about how Big Fraud technocrats are self-destructive.
Had a pathology professor in Veterinary School who’s famous first day of class speech to the second year Veterinary Students was, “all you have to do is pass with grades high enough to graduate and you can always be a Meat Inspector.” Pretty much true…USDA veterinarians on the slaughter house floor and the lay people they oversee aren’t the “cream of the crop”.
I think they inspect about 1% of the meat as it flies past them in the packing plants … something like that, there’s even old investigational stories from 20-30 years ago on that.
Venison
HS, I live in beef country. How do you get in touch with farmers that would sell? My problem would be storage not to mention there are a lot of cuts I really don’t care much but I guess that’s what hamburger is for.
You have a vehicle??? Go to the farm and politiely talk to the farmer, they don’t bite… unless you’re there to be an ass. Buy a freezer, even a small one. Most don’t want a whole beef but you might have 2 – 3 other friends that would share a whole or a half with you. Obviously you will have to divi it up fairly otherwise you won’t be buying more and your friends will be formers.
The farmer we buy our grass fed has us on his phone list and calls us when he’s butchering. He has ‘packages’ that he puts together with prices, we just tell him what package and a few days later he arrives on the doorstep. We’re spoiled but only because we know them well.
Do NOT just show up at some place unannounced just because they have cattle.
Melty, the Internet is useful for finding farmers in your area! I found a bunch here in Skagit County Washington who sell grass-fed beef in quarters and halves. One guy sells pastured pork and chicken and delivers once a month. Commonly the choices on the lists are combinations of steak, roasts, and hamburger. Most won’t sell you just steak as then some folks wouldn’t get any at all. It’s very important to buy suet, liver, heart, etc, and have the butcher not trim tight. The fat and organs what you want most!
I put a 13cu.ft. freezer in my garage and it holds nearly a half beef.
I have gone carnivore where I eat meat exclusively with few exceptions: avocadoes, infrequently squash and sweet potatoes, a little fruit, eggs, cheese, and raw buckwheat honey (ebee honey). I also consume raw, grass-fed Guernsey cow milk and make kefir with it as well as use it in blueberry/mango smoothies.
For further info on the diet, check out “The Carnivore Code” by Dr. Saladino.
This diet is good for the earth and for the ones who consume it. Far better than a plant-based diet even if it were organic. It’s a complete fallacy that food crops save on water and soil over livestock raising, most especially if livestock are pasture-raised. It’s not even close and the advantage goes to the latter.
Grow your own spinach, lettuce, and greens. Salads are the biggest source of pesticides in your food that you can do something about in just a few weeks. Maybe think about joining a CSA or vegetable co-op too.
When I was a boy, I read the label on a pesticide and watched my dad pour it in the tractor tank and he went way over the limit. I said stop, you’re way over. He said I’m gonna kill them damned bugs. He died of two blood cancers caused by pesticides. I was at a livestock auction and a guy told me he bought corn by the semi load to cut costs. I said I can’t do that because even when I buy 100 pound bags, bugs screw it. He said I spray the shit out of it with Malathion. Friends, Malathion causes cancer. My immediate neighbor is a Butthead who sprays Roundup and then turns his cattle into his pastures after a couple months; it should be at least 6 months. Know the farmer is an honest to God Christian. Half our food comes from overseas and they have to be much worse.
Pay less for the knockoff Versace rolex from the guys on the corner. Pay more for the organic knockoff from the guys who own the corner. Most of all pay dearly for your worship of the literacy god, its imprinted & bespoke words.
“In the English language of yore, the verb bespeak had various meanings, including “to speak,” “to accuse,” and “to complain.” In the 16th century, bespeak acquired another meaning – “to order or arrange in advance.” It is from that sense that we get the adjective bespoke, referring to clothes and other things that are ordered before they are made. You are most likely to encounter this adjective in British contexts, such as the recent Reuters news story about a young pig in Northern England who was fitted with “bespoke miniature footwear” (custom-made Wellington boots) to help it overcome a phobia of mud.”
It’s not just the sounds of 12 years of bells tolling for thee Pavloved by pedos, but the rote splinting & plaster casting to the eager plaster fish which are being farmed in frames of words between the rings.
Languor, Mordor, language be thy name.
Know you’ve been farmed. Then you might have a shot at knowing the farmer.
In Dissolving Illusions: Disease, Vaccines & The Forgotten History (Humphries) the relevant aspects of declining contagious diseases – sanitation, water & food cleanliness/quality – are highlighted. Author described what Chicago meatpacking used to be like. How the Chicago River was a carcass dump that dumped into the lake that was pulled from for drinking water.
The incentives of that system were not overturned by righteous-zealous free marketeers. Nor will the current sophist-incarnation of that same system be overthrown. Bye, Bye Missystemerican Pie is the only tune that plays.
Socialist Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, read all those years ago, remains Dickensian memorable for the working/living conditions in Chicago/meatpacking. Supposedly the novel freaked people out which led to the Meat Inspection Act. Some words led to some other words? Who’d a thunk? Jurgis Rudkus starts out young & strong, & despite one nasty scam/con depletion after another, continues to say “I will work harder!” And he does, and he does, and he does until, eventually, inevitably the machine breaks him, & his family.
I’m going to be a happy idiot
And struggle for the legal tender {{tenter hooks}}
Where the ads take aim and lay their claim
To the heart and the soul of the spender
And believe in whatever may lie
In those things that money can buy
Though true love could have been a contender
Are you there?
Say a prayer for the Pretender
Who started out so young and strong
Only to surrender
Always liked & still really like this one…to stop the clock, you gotta’ remember:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMqlv5hoGyM
remember…
remember…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJF3tDdNk5w
My first job, outside the family reverence, was on a small pig farm / bagged feed operation. I was 13 & saw how the sausages were made, & fed…& made. Soi-disant soylentry, complete with green sludge pond out back of the place.
Pastor and his wife bought a side of grass-fed beef from a local rancher. Asked how much it cost, I was told — we’ll be told in August. Discussed it with my wife, we will try to get in on the next order. Also told that there is a local farmer who both raises and butchers his hogs.
That is why I began to learn slaughtering and butchering 5 years ago. I would classify myself as journeyman at this point having had the pleasure of working with someone who’s been doing it for almost 40 years (was like watching a surgeon). The slaughterhouses are a mess everywhere these days. I don’t see that changing. Feed’s getting pretty nutty from a price standpoint.
I remain a huge fan of your writing. Best to you and yours!