Hiding Aspartame in Your Dairy

So do you want artificial sweeteners added to your dairy products.....without you even knowing it's in there?  If the dairy and milk industry has it's way, this will be how things are done.

URGENT ACTON ALERT
Dairy industry petitions FDA to approve aspartame as a hidden, unlabeled additive in milk, yogurt, eggnog and cream.

 

The integrity of our food supply is poised for another blow with an FDA petition submitted by the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) and the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF).  These industry groups are asking the FDA to alter the definition of "milk" to include chemical sweeteners such as aspartame and sucralose without listing these additives on the label.

While aimed principally at replacing sugar in flavored milks served to school children, the petition also asks for the right to put hidden artificial sweeteners in a host of dairy products including nonfat dried milk(always added to reduced-fat milks), yogurt, cream, half-and-half, sour cream, eggnog and whipping cream. Truly, no conventional dairy product will be safe if the petitioners get their way.

 

To read the petition, click here:
https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2013/02/20/2013-03835/flavored-milk-petition-to-amend-the-standard-of-identity-for-milk-and-17-additional-dairy-products

ACTIONS TO TAKE

1. Please file a comment at

http://www.regulations.gov/#!submitComment;D=FDA-2009-P-0147-0012

 

Even if your comment is very short, we need thousands of people letting the government know that granting this petition would be a disaster to our food supply, especially for children.  It’s best to compose your comments before submitting them.  Comments 2000 words or less can be copied and pasted into the comment box.  Longer comments can be attached as a letter.

For the required field “Organization Name,” please enter “Citizen.”

For "Category," you can use "Individual Consumer"

Remember to hit “submit comment” when you are done. You should be taken to another screen that includes a confirmation number for your comment, which is how you know your comment was successfully submitted.

The comment period ends on May 21, 2013

1. A petition from a consumer group, SumOfUs, has gathered almost 100,000 signers to oppose this move. To sign this petition, go to sumofus.org.
2. Please circulate this Action Alert to other email groups.

TALKING POINTS

• Adding hidden artificial sweeteners to dairy products would hurt the dairy industry by further reducing the numbers of people who could safely consume dairy products.
• Adding hidden artificial sweeteners to dairy products would generate severe consumer backlash to all conventional dairy products.
• The FDA lists more than ninety documented symptoms of aspartame toxicity, including abdominal pain, anxiety attacks, brain cancer, breathing difficulties, chronic fatigue, depression, headaches, migraines, dizziness, marked personality changes, memory loss, panic attacks, rapid heartbeat, vision loss and weight gain
• Aspartame releases methanol upon digestion, and methanol poisoning causes headaches, behavioral disturbances and inflammation of the nerves. Another breakdown product of aspartame is poisonous formaldehyde..
• Thousands of adverse reactions to aspartame have been reported to the FDA, mostly concerned with abnormal brain function, brain tumors, epilepsy and Parkinson’s.
• Children’s brains are four times more susceptible to damage from excitotoxins like aspartame than those of adults and react with ADD ADHD type symptoms, impaired learning, depression and nausea.
• Sucralose side effects include rashes, panic attacks, dizziness, numbness, diarrhea, swelling, headaches, cramping and stomach pain.
• People who are sensitive to aspartame can have life-threatening reactions to it.
• The proposed regulations restrict our freedom of choice. Industry players who oppose consumers' ability to choose raw milk are now trying to force consumers to consume artificial additives without their knowledge or consent.

Go see American Meat

Screenings of the movie American Meat in Ohio 

March 4-12

http://www.americanmeatfilm.com

American Meat, the new documentary that takes a pro-farmer look at chicken, hog and cattle production in America, is hosting a special series of screenings in Ohio from March 4th to March 12th.

Earlier this year, American Meat kicked off a nationwide screening tour called the Young Farmer Screening Series. This tour takes place at universities, colleges, agricultural high-schools and FFA chapters with 3 core goals in mind:

1. Thank farmers.
2. Support young farmers.
3. Food choices matter.

Information on dates of the screenings in Ohio can be found below and online at American Meat Screenings.

More about the film

Beginning with a history of our current industrial system, the feedlots and confinement operations are revealed, not through hidden cameras, but through the eyes of the farmers who live and work there. From there, the story shifts to Polyface Farms, where the Salatin family has developed an alternative agricultural model based on rotational grazing and local distribution. Nationwide, a local-food movement of farmers, chefs, and
everyday people has taken root... But could it ever feed us all?
-------------------------------------------------------------

March 4th at Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, OH

Food at 5:30pm in lobby with burritos provided by Chipotle Mexican Grill

Film at 6pm in Telfer Hall Auditorium

Conversation at 7:30pm with Cassandra August a professor of Sustainable Food and Nutrition, Mary Holmes the current President of IFO (Innovative Farmers of Ohio) and co-founder of the North Union Farmers Market, and Graham Meriwether director of American Meat.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

March 5th at Case Western University in Cleveland, OH

Food at 5:30 featuring local foods provided by Bon Appetit Management Company

Film at 6:30 in Strosacker Auditorium

Conversation 8:00 with Chef Douglas Katz, Professor Mary Holmes, BA Fellow Sarah Piper; Miller Livestock Farm Owner, Aaron Miller and Graham Meriwether, director of American Meat.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

March 6th University of Akron at Wayne College in Orrville, OH

Brown Bag Lunch

Film  at 12pm in SLB 107

Conversation with Graham Meriwether director of American Meat and other panelists at 1:30pm following film
--------------------------------------------------------------

March 6th at the Ohio State University in Columbus, OH

Food at 6pm with burritos provided by Chipotle Mexican Grill

Film at 6:30 in the Gateway Film Center

Conversation at 8pm with Dr. Neal Hooker, professor of food policy at OSU; Jamie Zumach, a second year food science student,  Caitlyn Black, a second year student who grew up on a production hog farm in Canal Winchester and is double majoring in Culinary and Meat Science, and Graham Meriwether, director of American Meat.
-----------------------------------------------------------

March 7th at Denison University in Granville, OH

Film at 7:15 in Slayter Auditorium

Conversation at 8:45 with Dick Jensen from Flying J farms, Bryn Bird from Birds Haven farms and Graham Meriwether director of American Meat.
-----------------------------------------------------

March 8th at Oberlin College in Oberlin, OH

Food at 5:30 featuring local meat and produce along with vegan options provided by Bon Appetit Management Company (BAMCO)

Film at 6pm in the Hallock Auditorium in the Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies

Conversation 7:30 with John Petersen who is a Professor of Environmental Studies and Biology at Oberlin College, Eric Pecherkiewicz who works for Bon Appetit Management Company at Oberlin College as the campus dietitian, Lawry Babitt has been in the cattle business over 40 years, Scott Boehnlein who operates a diversified family farm “New Creations Farm” and Graham Meriwether director of American Meat. S.K. Piper, the Midwest fellow for BAMCO will moderate the screening.
----------------------------------------------------------------

March 11th at Wittenberg University in Springfield, OH

Film at 7pm in Kissell Auditorium in Koch Hall

Conversation at 8:30pm featuring Graham Meriwether, director of American Meat and others.
---------------------------------------------------------

March 12th at Xavier University in Cincinnati, OH

Meet and Greet at 7pm

Film 7:15pm in McDonald 130

Conversation at 8:30pm featuring Graham Meriwether, director of American Meat and others.

You don't always need a doctor, you don't always need a lawyer, 

but 3 times a day, everyday, you will need a farmer!  

Do you know who your farmer is?

Curly Light Bulbs

I have never been a fan of the new curly light bulbs (or any of them for that matter) for a number of reason. Some being they are super expensive and NEVER come close to lasting as long a say.   I have even more reason to not like them now......

Skin Damage With Energy-Efficient Bulbs

The hype of energy efficient, 'curly' fluorescent light bulbs, which fit into an incandescent light bulb socket, is fading.  Once slated to completely replace incandescent bulbs, a planned phase out on old fashioned light bulbs was postponed due to impassioned testimony from individuals highly sensitive to fluorescent lights. 

Now new research funded by the National Science Foundations has scientists warning consumers about the potentially harmful effects these energy-saving bulbs can have on the skin.  Conducted by Stony Brook University and New York State Stem Cell Science, the study found that UV light emitted from the bulbs can cause skin damage.  The researchers found that cracks in the fluorescent bulbs' phosphor coating yeilded significant levels of UVC and UVA in all of the bulbs.  Skin damage from exposure to the bulbs was consistent with harm caused by ultraviolent radiation. 

These bulbs also contain mercury, which can escape if the bulbs are broken.  So much for the argument that these bulbs are enviromentally friendly. 

By the way, skin damage was further enhanced when low dosages of TiO2 nano particles were introduced  to the skin cell proir to exposure.  TiO2 is a chemical found in sunblock.

(Photochemisrty and Photobiology 20 Jul 2012 DOI: 10.1111/j.1751-1097.2012.01192.x)

Proposition 37-- Right to Know Act

If you haven't heard there is a GMO labeling ballot initiative --Proposition 37--(the California Right to Know Act, a.k.a. Label GMO)  in California this fall. 

They want to make it law that it will not only require labels on genetically engineered foods (like what they have in Europe already), but will also ban the fraudulent (and highly profitable) industry practice of marketing GMO-tainted foods as "natural."    

But guess what??  There are a lot of businesses not liking this and are pouring big bucks into the fight to defeat it.  You get 1 guess in who the leading contender is--yep--you guessed right--Monsanto...the king (and a nasty king at that!) of GMOs.   A bit of a surprise though for some, there are a good deal of the parent companies, to those smaller organic companies that we are all familiar with, that are fighting to defeat this too.  And then there are some true organic companies that are just sitting there doing nothing to help out.

Want to know more about this, who those companies are and what you can do?  Check out these links:

http://www.anh-usa.org/gmo-labeling-initiative-will-be-on-the-ballot-in-california/

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_26121.cfm

 http://www.anh-usa.org/the-great-organic-deceivers/

 http://www.anh-usa.org/our-gmo-boycott-is-expanding/

Drought 2012

Who knew in the last post that more than the fruit farmers would be using crop insurance this year...that's if they have it.  It's been very hot and dry!  A total turn around from last year when they needed to use it then too but for completely different reasons.  

Things have been a bit rough here as well.  No rain means no grass and when all you do is grass feed your animals you don't want the grass to run out!  There are no grain back ups here.  Hay is hard to find and when you do find it, it's super expensive.

I have heard it's the worse drought in 50 years but then I've also heard it's the worse drought ever (for Ohio).  Not sure which is right but either way, it's pretty serious.

Here's a small glimpse in what has been happening with other farms in Ohio.
 ___________________________________________

While late rains have helped some 
crops recover, for many farmers 
across Ohio, the damage was
 already done. 

Buckeye Farm News
A difficult drought — a clear reminder of the risk involved in farming — continues to trouble Midwestern farmers.

Ohio has been spared from the drought’s most extreme damage, but many of the state’s farmers are expecting losses more severe than in recent memory.

More than 180 Ohio farmers had shared their drought observations and concerns through an informal Ohio Farm Bureau survey in July. Here are quotes and figures they shared as of the end of July.

Losses Forecasted
“The corn is beyond help at this point. Hay fields are browned out.... 18 bales from a 2nd cutting field.”
Survey respondents said they expect yield losses around 48 percent for corn, 35 percent for soybeans, 7 percent for wheat and 42 percent for hay compared to average.

“We farmers must find a way to make our reduced income stretch for a whole year, then be able to afford to plant a new crop next year, and finally pray that this kind of thing doesn’t happen 2 years in a row.”

Respondents predict they will lose about 39 percent of their farm income this year.

“There are the four major crops in Ohio but the specialty crops are also hurting, these crops are those that feed our food banks.”

Other yield loss estimates ranged from 35 to 50 percent for most fruits and vegetables, with possible higher amounts for pumpkins, and some total losses at fruit farms also affected by freezing weather this spring.
 
Feeding Livestock
“Livestock producers are in jeopardy because feed costs are higher and there is less of our own feed for use.”

Sixty-five percent of livestock farmers said feed supplies will not be sufficient. 
Seventy-two percent will purchase more feed than normal.

Livestock farmers expect to pay 38 percent more than their annual budget for feed. Thirty-six percent are concerned water supplies may run short, while 19 percent said they will “definitely run short.”

Emergency Haying and Grazing
“The drought is serious now but the real impact on our type of farming will be the shortage of hay for the fall, winter and spring months.”

Twenty-four percent of farmers said they would benefit from Emergency Haying and Grazing provisions for acreage enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, which USDA authorized for all of Ohio in late July.

Crop Insurance
“Farming today is completely different than our fathers’ era. We have crop insurance and marketing tools available today that our younger generation will use to run a successful operation. Again, it’s all about managing risk. Sometimes that’s easier said than done though.”

While 62 percent of survey respondents said they find non-insured crop disaster assistance programs useful, many indicated increased interest in crop insurance programs.

Farmers with crop insurance said about 41 percent of their production losses and 38 percent of their income losses this year will be covered by crop insurance.

“Our farm has always strived to produce a little more than we need. Most years this is a headache but this year we will be using this surplus. Farmers should be responsible enough to plan ahead and insure their crop to sustain themselves.”

Forty-five percent with crop insurance said their agents have been “very helpful” during this drought period, while 39 percent of respondents had yet to talk with a crop insurance agent.

 full article -  http://ofbf.org/news-and-events/news/2769/

Blooming Worries

Last year it was the grain farmers using crop insurance...this year it will be fruit tree farmers.

While I was thoroughly enjoying the warmer temps in March (boy what a difference a year makes), I was also thinking about the fruit tree farmer and the potential problems this could cause as it meant early blooming....which they already can have issues with blooms death in a normal year.

Some of our blueberries are in bloom and I don't know how well they survived the cold nights as I'm not good enough yet to know if a blossom is dead or not b/c of the cold... I usually don't have to worry too much about that. I've have had it frost on them a few times in the past and they did OK but freezing is another matter.

The strawberries seem to be doing OK for now as John has kept them covered to slow their growth down so they wouldn't bloom too early. We, at times, have to drag out the big frost cover mat to protect the blossoms from frost in a normal year so adding extra work is not something we are fans of.

We wish the fruit tree farmers all the best in that the damage wasn't as bad as first thought! I really hope that is the case or I will miss my apple cider.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Snow Adds to Farmers Worries
The Chronicle Telegram -Elyria

BROWNHELM TWP. — Every time he goes out to check his trees, Roger Miller sees more signs of frost damage interrupting a profitable fruit-growing season.

Buds that burst into bloom after record-breaking heat in March are dying by the thousands, and it isn’t pretty. “You look inside the bloom, and it’s black,” Miller said. “Once they freeze, it’s gone for good for the season.”

If frost warnings weren’t enough, snow fell this week. According to meteorologist Martin Thompson of the National Weather Service, 0.1 inch was recorded Wednesday and 0.3 inch fell on Tuesday.

Temperatures overnight Wednesday were expected to drop below freezing again, according to Thompson. To make matters worse, it was expected to be clear, and “any moisture will turn to frost,” Thompson said.

Miller, who operates Miller Orchards with his brother Dave, said he estimates 50 percent of the apple crop is gone. Miller said fruit farmers may have to turn to crop insurance to make up their losses this year.

Meanwhile, Kenneth Spiegelberg of Spiegelberg Orchards in Lorain said he is staying calm and hoping for the best after 50 years of operating the orchard founded by his father in 1920. If just 4 percent of the blossoms turn into apples, that will still be enough to bring in a crop, he said.
“You’ll get a better size,” Spiegelberg said.

He said 16 hives of bees were delivered to his orchard this week by his “beeman,” who said things are even worse in Traverse City, Mich. “They took a heck of a beating,” Spiegelberg said of Traverse City, which is known for its spring cherry blossom festival.

So far in April, the lowest temperature was 27 degrees, recorded Saturday at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, Thompson said.

Average temperatures in March were 51.4, or 13 degrees above normal, according to Thompson, who said the average high temperature was 61.3 degrees, or 14.7 degrees above normal.

For the month of March, Hopkins airport recorded 10 consecutive days where the temperature went over 70 and four consecutive days when it went over 80.

Wind Map

Check this out! http://hint.fm/wind/

This is a map of the USA in real time wind direction and speed. Can you spot the current warm or cold front(s) by which way the wind is blowing?

Pretty neat looking don't you think??

I Dream....

I dream of a better world where chickens can just be outside to cross the road.

We're on Polyface

Nathan finally got around to giving his info to Polyface Farms for their apprentice page so he's now online with them. If you'd like to take a look you can check it out here:
http://www.polyfacefarms.com/2012/03/19/nathan-joppeck-wellington-oh/


To check out the whole apprentice page go here:
http://www.polyfacefarms.com/former-apprentices/

No Science for You!

Just came across the air waves from Alliance for Natural Health. I'm sure you would want to know scientific research results & information to help you make informed choices about your health without having to pay for it twice and to get it in a timely manner. Congress is up to it's tricks again.

I've included the article here with the 'take action' link at the end, but if you'd like to see it directly click here

_____________

Congress wants to limit your access to research—even though your tax dollars paid for it. If this bill passes, you’ll learn only what mainstream medicine wishes you to know. Action Alert!

In 2008, the National Institutes of Health required that all federally funded research publications be made openly available. PubMedCentral (PMC) is a free full-text archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature at the National Institutes of Health’s National Library of Medicine.

The publishers of the journals weren’t so happy with this new arrangement—they were afraid no one would pay for their publications if the research results were immediately accessible. So the government agreed to give them a full year of journal sales before their research papers had to be posted on PMC, which lets them keep their subscriber base. Journal subscriptions to educational and medical institutions are expensive—and they’re big business.

But even this generous arrangement isn’t good enough for the Association of American Publishers (AAP). The trade group liked the old rules, where they could sell the tax-funded research back to the taxpayers. So the AAP got two members of Congress, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), to introduce HR 3699, the Research Works Act, just before the end of 2011.

This bill would prevent the NIH or any other agency from causing or even allowing private-sector research work to be disseminated online without prior consent of both the publisher and the study authors—even if the funding came from our tax dollars.

The AAP weren’t the only publishers involved. Elsevier—the Reed Elsevier Publishing Group, a multinational company that publishes around 2,000 journals and close to 20,000 books and major reference works—happens to be in Rep. Carolyn Maloney’s district, and Elsevier employees made campaign contributions to both Issa and Maloney. (Apparently, it only takes $10,500 to buy two members of Congress.)

Said contributors all work for Tom Reller, vice president for global corporate relations at Elsevier. Interestingly, an email about the bill from Rep. Maloney to one of her critics contained language that was nearly identical to language used by Reller when he was defending the same bill! Are members of Congress employing lobbyists as ghostwriters now?

This is about access to peer-reviewed scientific information—research that we pay for with our tax money. If this bill passes, Americans who want to read the results of federally funded research will have to buy access to each journal article individually—at a cost of $15 or $30 apiece. In other words, as the New York Times recently noted, taxpayers who already paid for the research would have to pay again to read the results.

Access to peer-reviewed scientific research is essential if you are to make informed choices regarding your family’s health—especially if you choose complementary and alternative medicine. Good research will let us choose wisely when it comes to questions of treatment modalities, vaccines, diet, nutrition, and medicine. Right now, supplement companies aren’t even allowed to tell you about the science behind their products, so we must get the scientific information directly from the source.

But that’s just the problem: consumers, integrative doctors, and small businesses might not have the funds to access all these scientific journals—which means your access to the science behind natural products will be limited to what mainstream medicine may wish you to know.

PMC compiles entire studies and has 2.3 million articles going back to 1965. It allows patients, physicians, students, teachers, and advocacy organization like ANH-USA to read about and cite the discoveries that our tax dollars paid for—to keep you informed in these pages, we may review as many as a hundred studies every year. If we needed to pay a publishing company every time we viewed a study which taxpayers have already paid for, we’d be giving thousands of dollars to a publishing company every year instead of protecting your access to natural health.

So what can you do? Two things will make a huge difference!

• First, help us gain co-sponsors for the Free Speech about Science Act (FSAS). This landmark legislation enables the natural health products community to share peer-reviewed scientific findings about natural health products with the public. The problem, of course, is that if it becomes more difficult for supplement companies and consumers to access the scientific studies themselves, the entire point of FSAS is effectively undermined.
• The second step is to ask Congress to defeat this new Research Works Act. Please send your message today and explain why limiting access to the results of important studies—which your tax dollars have already paid for—is such a terrible idea. Take action immediately!

Farms on Tour

"The first farmer was the first man. All historic nobility rests on the possession and use of land." Ralph Waldo Emerson

Life began in a garden (Garden of Eden) with that first man (Adam) and has continued through today. It's time to take a look at some of this farm land.

Napa Valley farms.....California


Rolling farm fields


Morning mist on a Tuscan farm (actually I think it's a vineyard but it's close enough)


Fish farm


Fish farm


Behaving badly on the farm!


Wheat threshing floor..... Asia....still doing it the old fashion way.


Fall foliage on the farm


Sheep farm....Ireland


Tuscan farm


Strawberry farm. I think we need one of these!


Salt farm.....Thailand.


Oyster farm


Trying to farm. Who needs a horse anyway? Gotta give him 5 stars for effort and for being resourceful.


Wind farm. Is this really a farm?


Potato farm.....1943


Village in rice farm terraces...Asia. Now aren't you glad that you're not the poor sap that had to build this?!?!



Rice farm....Asia


Rice farm...China


Sunflower farm....California


A farm with an amazing view!!


Ostrich farm.


Seed farm.


Organic farm...Aurora Dairy, Boulder, Colorado--the nation’s largest organic dairy producer. The largest private-label organic milk supplier in the United States. Is this really organic...or the organic you think you are paying for?


Lavender farm....British Columbia


And lastly....
To the farm market...Asia. At first I thought they just had to be dead while being transported this way but the closer I looked the more I saw they were not. Is this USDA approved?

Contaminated Meats

So where does your meat come from?

Meat Contamination Widespread
Acres, June 2011

According to a nationwide study by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), drug resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus are present in meat and poultry from United States grocery stores at unexpectedly high rates. Nearly half of the meat and poultry samples -47%- were contaminated with S. aureus, and more than half of those bacteria -52%- were resistant to at least three classes of antibiotics. This is the first national assessment of antibiotic resistant S. aureus in the U.S. food supply. Researchers collected and analyzed 136 samples -covering 80 brands- of beef, chicken, pork and turkey from 26 retail grocery stores in 5 U.S. cities: Los Angeles, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, Flagstaff and Washington D.C.

Summer 2011

It has been a really long time since I've posted anything. Summer is SOOO busy! Wish it would come about a month sooner and last about a month longer.... then maybe I wouldn't feel the pressure to get everything done in such a short amount ot time.

Here are some pics taken through the summer.....


Some of the tomatoes I was harvesting at the time....heirlooms-Mr. stripely & Black Krim, green zebra, regular red slicing, and red romas. The orange slicing and yellow romas weren't ready when the pic was taken. All this color makes for a very interesting salsa! Using just the old standard red ones is boring now.

It was a pretty good year for strawberries given the absolute horrible spring we had. The bad spring pushed everything else back and when the berries started getting ripe, we were still messing with other things and they kind of got ahead of us.

Storm clouds moving in.

This came during strawberry season. Hail is not good for berries in the field! Thankfully we didn't have too much damage.

One of the flower gardens. Even though this birdhouse is mostly for decoration, we had some wrens moved in again. Wrens are very good bug eaters.

A flower garden

I was stitting at the computer one night and looked over my shoulder and saw this on the window. Look at that waistline!

This momma was slated for butcher....then she had a baby (it was a bit of a surprise)....looks like she gets to stay a bit longer.

A hot air balloon took off at the fairground going over the pasture barely above the tree tops then landed in a yard a few doors down. Don't know if this was on purpose or something was wrong. I like seeing these in the air. One of these days, I am going to ride in one of these things.

The guys trying to get the hay wagon in the barn to unload.

Now this is a bit too comfortable! We were over run with squirrels and chipmunks this summer for some reason.....luckly they have moved on (or the cats got them). They are nice to watch but can become a pest real quick and they eat a ton of bird seed.

Veggies growing in the garden. I love mixing different things together. A big mass of the same thing looks boring....plus this helps with pest control.

Broccoli, peppers, potatoes and cucumbers.

Cucumbers, green onions, potatoes and basil

This monster thing is growing out of a little compost pile. I'm not sure yet what it will be but it is growing over the truck cap, shelter, and then heading through the trees.

And lastly, this little guy takes a good amount of time and energy but he's well worth it! It's been a joy to have him around. I will say it has been a juggling act some times for us (and Nathan) to get things done when it needs to be done.

When he's here with us, John has started taking him out with him to do the chickens chores. He wheels him out in the stroller, then throws some grain on the ground by him and little Owen loves to watch the chickens run around him eating while he waits for Grandpa to finish what he needs to do.

Know Your Farmer Program Attacked

Heaven forbid that the USDA finally support the local effort to help the public connect with small farmers to help them understand where their food comes from and how it gets to their plate.
------------------

Farmers' Markets Today, May/June 2011
Three Senators attacked USDA'S "Know Your Farmer" Campaign

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack received a sharply worded letter against the ag department's Know Your Farmer program from Sen. John MaCain (R-AZ), Sen. Ag Comm. Ranking Member Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) and House Ag Comm. Member Pat Roberts (R-KS).

Argi-Pulse reported that the contents of the the letter included, "while the concept of educating consumers about production agriculture is a worthwhile endeavor, we have serious misgivings about the direction of the Know Your Farmer program." The letter charged that the Know Your Farmer initiative also included "Subsidizing the so-called locavore niche market" with $65 million this year, and claimed that the USDA 'pledged to deliver more in Fiscal Year 2011."

The Senator's letter charged that 'this spending doesn't appeared geared toward conventional farmer who produce the vast majority of our nation's food supply, but is instead aimed at small, hobbyist and organic producers whose customers generally consist of affluent patrons at urban farmers markets."

Additional charges are related to spending "rural Development funds on feel-good measures" and how 'propping up the urban locavore markets addressed their [American families and rural farmers] needs." The letter also requested that USAD provide proof of congressional authority to spend money for Know Your Farmer purposes along with a full accounting of all spending.

Agri-Pulse has posted the MaCain/Chambliss/Roberts letter for public review online http://www.agri-pulse.com/20100429H1.asp -- use the link there to see the full letter.

Exploding Watermelons

From: the New York Times

World Briefing | ASIA

China: Acres of Exploding Watermelons

CHINATOPIX, via Associated Press

Farmers cleared out watermelons that had burst from their rented greenhouse in Danyang city in eastern China's Jiangsu province.

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: May 17, 2011

Watermelons have been bursting by the score in eastern China after farmers gave them overdoses of growth chemicals during wet weather, creating what state news media called fields of “land mines.” About 20 farmers in Jiangsu Province have been affected, losing up to 115 acres of melon, China Central Television reported. High prices over the past year prompted many farmers to enter the watermelon market. All of those with exploding melons apparently were first-time users of the growth stimulator forchlorfenuron, which has been widely available for some time, the report said.


LJ:
Now do we really need growth stimulators for produce??? Come on now...it's bad enough it's in our dairy & meats!!

Chicken Stock

Why is chicken soup superior to all the things we have, even more relaxing than 'Tylenol'? It is because chicken soup has a natural ingredient which feeds, repairs and calms the mucous lining in the beginning or ending of the nervous system. It is easily pulled away from the intestine through too many laxatives, too many food additives....and parasites. Chicken soup...heals the nerves, improves digestion, reduces allergies, relaxes and gives strength.

Hanna Kroeger, Ageless Remedies from Mother's Kitchen

********
If you don't know, that natural ingredient that she mentions above is gelatin-rich meat stock...and in this case, chicken stock.

Since it is close to stewing hen time, I thought it would be a good time to post a recipe for chicken stock. Chicken stock can be used for more than making chicken soup, of course, and by doing so, we can get more of this gelatin-rich broth into our system to bring about healing and health. Use it in places that call for water, like stir fying & making rice.

Making stock isn't hard (the stove does most of the work), it just takes a little bit of time....but it's time well spent!

The best (easiest) way to make stock is to make a big batch and then freeze it into freezer bags in the size amounts that you use most. If you have a really big stock pot, you can double this recipe.

********

CHICKEN STOCK

Farm-raised, pastured/free ranged chickens give the best results. Many battery-raised chickens will not produce stock that gels.

6 lbs chicken scraps *
4 qts. water
3-4 carrots, peeled & coarsely chopped
1 med onion, coarsely chopped
2 leeks, including green part, coarsely chopped
3 celery stalks, with leaves, coarsely chopped **
2 bay leaves
4 sprigs parsley
7-10 peppercorns
2 Tbs. salt
3/4 cup dry white wine (or 1/4 cup vinegar) ***


Place chicken into a stockpot and add water. Bring to boil, removing scum that rises to the top. After scumming subsides, put the rest of the ingredients into the pot and bring everything back up to a boil.


Reduce heat to simmer and cook covered for 4-24 hours. The longer you cook the stock, the richer and more flavorful it will be.

Remove from heat and cool some.
Remove the chicken pieces and big chunks of veggies from the stock with a slotted spoon.
Strain stock through several layers of wet cheesecloth over a strainer.
Reserve chicken meat for soup or other uses. Discard everything else but the liquid.
Refrigerate.


The test to whether your stock contains good amounts of gelatin is done by chilling the broth. It should thicken, and thicken to the point of jelling completely like a bowl of jello, when refrigerated.
The whitish stuff on the top is the fat, scrap it off and discard.
Scoop out the amounts needed and put into a covered container or freezer bag.
Use immediately, refrigerate (for up to several days) or freeze.

* Chicken scraps can be bones, necks, backs and other scraps (chicken feet are loaded with gelatin so don't be afraid to use them!). If using whole chicken, cut it up into pieces.
** Using the center of your celery bunch works well as that is where the leaves and the 'not as pretty' stalks are. If a bunch of celery is going bad before you can use it all up, put it into the freezer and when you make stock, pull it out and use that.
*** Don't be tempted to leave out the wine/vinegar thinking it is not important; you need this acid to pull out the minerals from the bones.

One Big Egg!

Since we have some older hens, we are getting some jumbo and x-jumbo eggs. As the hens age they lay few but bigger eggs. The other day John brought in one that was the biggest I've seen. I got the tape measure out to see just how big it was.


Now aren't you glad you didn't lay that one!?!?!?


I put this x-jumbo egg (really it's almost a double jumbo) next to a reg jumbo egg and a quarter just to compare.


Then a few days later I got another one. It was almost the same size but not quite as big, but both were a handful as you can see. I believe this eggs is coming from the same hen as the shell types are the same.



So I decided to make breakfast out of that one really big egg. I usually do 2 regular eggs (if I have any regular ones to eat as we usually keep the really big ones, really small ones, cracked ones or the weird shaped ones for us so regular isn't something we have often in the frig) or I could use 4 small ones or a combo of 1 big and 1 small.....but I thought that this time the 1 super big one would be enough. Sure enough it was! I was wondering if it would be a double yoker. Notice the color of the yokes? The bright orange color comes from the grass that the hens get to eat. You won't see that in any store egg! I cooked it up with our grass-fed, nitrite free pork bacon.


Time to eat!
The toast has homemade strawberry/blueberry/red raspberry jam made from our organically grown strawberries, blueberries and red raspberries using the pectin we sell that allows me to choose the kind & amount of sugar to add to it, so it is low-sugar mixed berry jam. The toast is a bit darker than I would like but everything was yummy just the same.
A great start to a busy day.