Sustainable Ag and Food Myths Busted

Sustainability

This is a powerful word that is creating buzz all across the ag world and among consumers, corporations, farmers, families, everyone, everywhere. I watched a video--just today, in fact--that claims to have all the answers but do they really?

Food MythBusters, which is a "campaign to provide videos and resources debunking the yarns Big Ag players spin about our food system," created a video that, in my book, invokes more questions than answers. The video states that the story of "Big Ag" (I'd love a definition on what "Big Ag" really is because I think we fall into that category but we aren't that big in comparison, we are also family owned but we contract too--define please) is "full of holes" but I found a few "holes" of my own. 

So, lets break it down piece by piece:

1. "[Farmers] Stop practices that keep soil healthy" -- If we don't keep the soil healthy then we would not be able to continue to produce year after year. This statement implies that farmers are irresponsible and uncaring, which is illogical. Comparable to a mechanic that refuses to service vehicles. He won't be in business for very long! Crop rotation is mentioned in the video and is a great way to keep soil healthy. Every farmer in this area, including us, rotates our crops. Usually between corn, soybeans, wheat, and sometimes a cover crop like cereal rice or rye. So, are we really stopping the practices that keep soil healthy or are consumers just confused about farming because they've been removed from it for so long?
2. "Livestock, that use to be raised on the farm, get crammed into polluting factories"-- Our livestock are still raised on the farm. We use barns and modern technology to raise them but they are
   
   still on the farm. We live down the road from one of our barns and my sis-in-law and parents-in-law live next door to our other barns. How is this not on the farm? Furthermore, if we were polluting then we would only hurt ourselves. Not only would we be violating our government issued permits (hefty fees for doing so) but it is our water and our land that would be polluted. Would you pollute your own water? Additionally, if we were a factory then we would have better pay and more benefits. I've seen what the factory workers in town make, heck of a lot more than my husband and they don't even do a fraction of the hard labor. Maybe we should all just work in a factory...Nah!
3. "These farmers now buy expensive inputs" -- Hate to state the obvious but inputs have always been expensive and farmers have purchased them for decades. Inputs, expensive or otherwise, are nothing new. However, the good news is that while farmers still use chemical inputs we use a lot less. Like, 223 million pounds less! Wait! It gets better. Despite using hundreds of millions of pounds less in chemicals we are producing more in yields. Maybe Obama and Congress should take a few hints from farmers on how to use less while getting more to get our economy back on track. Farmer for President! So, are we buying more inputs?
4. "Got to use more drugs [on livestock]" -- Again, antibiotics are not new to the world of farming and the use of antibiotics is not even related to the size of a farm. Farmers that have 10 animals or 10,000 animals all use antibiotics to keep their animals healthy. Unless they are certified organic, then the animals just get chicken soup and wait to die. I'm joking, dark but still a joke! I know some organic farmers and they are wonderful people. Seriously, another interesting fact is that in an IFT report a panel of experts estimate that 96% of antibiotic resistance is actually from human use, not animal use. So, is the "more drugs" an issue of one singular group or do we need to look at the bigger picture and discuss the use of drugs across the board, primarily with human use?
5. "Got to use more chemical fertilizer [on crops]" -- I will again state what I said in #3: Like,223million pounds less! Not only are we using less chemicals of every kind but our farm, our neighbors (plural, all of them with pigs), along with friends and family that all raise pigs in barns use less chemicals than ever before because we have the power of poop. I know for a fact that hog farmers use all that poo in their lagoons and, more commonly, their deep pits to fertilize their crops the way grandpappy use to. Pardon me, do you have any Grey Poop-on? Why, yes. Yes we do.
6. "Corporate ag is good for some folks...not the typical farm family" -- Who is the "typical" farm family? We could be considered under the label "corporate ag"because we contract our pigs through a larger company, as many do. Our family's farm began with less than 100 acres and a husband and wife with three kids attempting to fulfill their dream. Since then, it has grown over the last couple decades to several hundred acres, several thousand hogs, and employs all three children plus spouses and then some. The same is true for several other pig farmers we know. So, how are we not the "typical" farm family? And, if we aren't then who the heck is?

 The bottom line is that I want you to watch the video. I want you to make your own judgment call. But more than anything, I want everyone to understand that farming is just like skinning cats--not the gross, bloody, scratches up and down your arms kind of way, more like there's more than one way to do it kind of way. It is an idiom. I'm not really skinning cats. You people are gross.

Watch the video and let me know what you think. Unlike Food MythBusters, comments are always open and welcome.

 

More Scare Tactics by Misinformed Writers

Unfortunately, poorly written articles such as a Top 10 article on Fox News and poorly researched stories like the one on KOMU slink their way into the media with no apologizes or remorse for the blatant lack of journalistic professionalism.

Fox News published an article pulled from AskMen.com that was not only poorly written--writer Jeremy Berger uses profanity twice and not in a quote or for any apparent reason, I suspect this so-called journalist just used up the bulk of his vocabulary on this piece--but this article also bashes beef and mass food producers. This writer also supports HSUS and ASPCS, which is a red flag unto itself. I wonder if this writer realizes that without mass production farmers would never be able to feed the world, let alone America, unless everyone put in the seven days a week to raise, slaughter, and produce their own food? Furthermore, he chastises beef producers because in the past 3 years there have been 16 E.coli breakouts from ground beef. Really? Sixteen cases of E.coli out of over 22 BILLION pounds of ground beef and this is a bad thing!? I'd call that a huge success. To further discredit, there is no mention as to how the meat was handled or cooked once in the hands of the consumer.

The next editorial disappointment comes from local news channel KOMU. In Farmers Disagree on Antibiotic Use, reporter Nina Moini weaves a tale of dairy cows, antibiotics, and consumer concern. Ironically, the report on dairy cows is from a beef cow lot and the farmer she is interviewing isn't even a dairy farmer. I know this because I know where that farm is located and who the farmer is but she still refers to it as a dairy farm. I had to chuckle at that. What frustrates me about the antibiotic debate is that people think that this is a new thing. Antibiotics have been used in farming for generations. This is not new. Yes, we need to use care when administering such medications just as doctors need to use discretion when prescribing antibiotics to people.

To the public's dismay, there are other causes for antibiotic resistance and you must look in the mirror to find it. Every time you smear that alcohol scented antibacterial gel on your hands you are contributing to the problem. Every time you allow your kids or yourself to stay indoors and burn off brain cells with your X-Box or Wii on a beautiful day instead of enjoying the great outdoors you are contributing to the problem. Every time you overload on Lysol or refuse to let your kids get dirty you are weakening your children's and your own immune system. People aren't outside anymore and that is the real problem, our immune systems need to exercise just as much as our bodies need to.

Take action! Correct the misconceptions and leave comments on these sites, blog about it, tweet about it, just get out there and tell your story. Let the public know what it takes to be a farmer or rancher and that we are doing our jobs and doing them well.

It's National Pork Month

October is National Pork Month! So, today I wanted to talk about pork nutrition. How healthy is pork? Read on to find out...



 Loin cuts like pork chops and roasts are the leanest cuts of pork. When comparing these lean cuts of pork to the lean cuts of beef and chicken guess which one is healthiest next to fish. You got it...Pork!

Here's the skinny on how each averages:

                  Calories            Fat          Saturated Fat          Cholesterol

Chicken        160               6.5g                1.8g                      78mg

Beef             160                6g                   2.1g                      69mg

Pork            154                5.8g                1.8g                      66mg

Fish             107                2.9g                 0.5g                     63mg

Check out Pork and Health for a detailed chart.

Not only is pork among the healthiest meats, it is also a great source for Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorous, Potassium, Zinc, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, B-12, B-6, and of course Protein.

Eat Pork!