September 12th, 2010

From the FarmAid Blog:

Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Stirring Words from a South Dakota Rancher

2,000 family farmers, ranchers, and others from all over the country gathered last Friday on the campus of Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado, to have their say regarding unfair competition and consolidation in the livestock industry. (See my post here for more information.) I have never seen so many fired up ranchers—or cowboy hats—in one room!

Farm Aid was in Fort Collins in support of struggling cow/calf and sheep ranchers, cattle feeders, hog farmers, dairy farmers, contract poultry producers, and industry laborers. Most importantly, we took part to help bring attention to the need for swift implementation and enforcement of the USDA’s proposed GIPSA (Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration) livestock rule, which would be a crucial first step in restoring genuine fairness and competition to a livestock industry that is all but monopolized by just a few dominant, multi-national processors, packers, and retailers.

At the workshop I sat next to and visited with Vaughn Meyer (on the right, in this photo), a kind, soft-spoken rancher from Reva, South Dakota, who raises purebred Angus and chairs the South Dakota Stockgrowers Marketing Committee. Vaughn’s pro-GIPSA public comment, offered during the lunchtime break between panel discussions, was a beautifully articulated example of why antitrust enforcement is so crucial. You can read it in full below.

Vaughn’s stirring words were one of many dozens of two-minute, pro-GIPSA public comments offered during the workshop itself and at the Thursday night town meeting. In the days to come, we’ll post more commentary, photos, and short videos from the events in Fort Collins. For now, please send the USDA and the Department of Justice your own public comment (to agriculturalworkshops@usdoj.gov) in support of the GIPSA rule. Together we can begin to break through the silence descending over the countryside and start to restore family agriculture, vitality, and well being across rural America.

Secretary Vilsack, USDA APHIS personnel and fellow agriculture enthusiasts, I am Vaughn Meyer, a rancher from Reva, SD and Chairman of the SD Stockgrowers Marketing Committee. On behalf of South Dakota’s largest cattle producer organization, I would like to thank everyone here today for the great input into this controversial issue. Through today’s democratic discussion we are initiating the initial steps required for rebuilding our industry.

An overwhelming amount of facts and figures have been presented here today. However, I would like to [refer] briefly to that which will not be said here today. That which is as bone chilling and sobering as an Arctic Northerly in mid-December. The silence here today that is representative of the 370,000 producers who through the past 16 years have lost their hopes and dreams in production Agriculture. The silence of over half a million family members whose last view of their livelihood was in their rear view mirrors. A silence that is relative to the loss of 215,000 rural main street businesses throughout the past decade.

I witness this silence, only broken by the wind, as I pass daily through my home town of Sorum, SD, now zip code zero. Recently that silence has echoed again through the closure of two nearby family feedlots. An eerie silence broken only by the wind blowing through empty pipe corrals. Again this silence is present as one turns into the abandoned parking lot of Black Hills Packing Co. in Rapid City, SD. A parking lot that once accommodated autos of nearly 200 employees.

My point here today is this issue is not about organizations against organizations or producers versus feeders versus packers and retailers. We are here today to strengthen previous rules in order to rebuild America’s largest industry, Family Agriculture. A rebuilding which once again will instill voices, laughter and prosperity in our rural towns. A prosperity that will transcend to our cities and the steps of our nation’s capitol. A prosperity which will rebuild the agriculture foundation of this great country. An agricultural foundation which is prerequisite for the national security and industrial superiority of the United States of America.

Mr. Secretary Vilsack and Mr. J.W. Butler on behalf of my Grandfather and late Father, I thank you for giving me the opportunity of a lifetime to be present today and witness this rebirth of family agriculture. On behalf of the South Dakota Stockgrowers, thank you and we proudly support your endeavors.

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May 11th, 2010

Yes, I did say in the last post that the login system was almost complete. It is; at least it’s almost ready for beta testing. Feel free to test it out. I don’t know if it will work, and even if it does, the database will be wiped before we go live for reals. All help is appreciated during the beta test period. Also, feel free to send us email and comments reporting bugs, giving constructive criticism, and asking for features. It’s a beta test of the login system itself, not of the entire site.

Posted in Beefnet | No Comments »

November 18th, 2009

Chef Matthews points me toward another dry and bland report from the USDA. This one describes a concept that I must admit is new to me, although the practice is not:

In 2008, 85 percent of U.S. households were food secure throughout the entire year, but 14.6 percent of households were food insecure at least some time during that year, up from 11.1 percent in 2007.

Yes. I was unaware of Food Security, even tho it appears that Wikipedia is wise to it. There’s even a website promoting it. Imagine that.

Now, we all know that Wikipedia is questionable at best (and downright misleading at worst). And, even though most of the Wikipedia article backs up the trend that the USDA article describes, there is something disturbing on that page, specifically:

Growth in food production has been greater than population growth. Food per person increased during the 1961-2005 period…Data source: World Resources Institute.

I believe that this is kind of what Chef Matthews wanted to point out to us. If food production is growing faster than the population, then why is Food Insecurity increasing? Either Wikipedia (and the World Resources Institute) are wrong, or food prices are increasing beyond reason and/or food stores are rotting away somewhere so someone out there can make some money off of hunger.

You know, now that I think about it, how is it possible that we are having obesity crisis while more people are going hungry? That tells me that the cheapest foods out there are processed foods, and I would have to guess that that is the reasoning behind that. It’s cheaper to prepare the foods in an unhealthy manner, so that’s what we po’ folk are forced to buy, instead of the healthier, locally grown stuff.

Now, as soonasI get my rather large posterier in gear and continue building this site, we can hopefully get some of those dirty fingers out of our local pie. By the way, thelogin system is almost complete.

Tags: big government, Conspiracy, farming, updates
Posted in Conspiracy | No Comments »

November 13th, 2009

I want to serve this at my restaurant. The comments are very encouraging.

Posted in Humor | No Comments »

November 4th, 2009

Well, honestly, eating anything could kill you, but Chef Mathews wanted to make sure this got posted, and I agree with him. Since I can’t seem to find the original article anywhere, I’ll post what he sent me here in totality, and also add the blog of Dr. Samuel S. Epstien, MD of the Huffington Post to the blogroll.

Samuel S. Epstein, MD
Professor emeritus Environmental & Occupational Medicine
University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health
Chairman, Cancer Prevention Coalition,
Chicago, Illinois
via World-Wire.com

CHICAGO, IL, October 21, 2009 –/WORLD-WIRE/– Beef produced in the United States is heavily contaminated with natural or synthetic sex hormones, which are associated with an increased risk of reproductive and childhood cancers, warns Dr. Samuel S. Epstein, Chairman of the Cancer Prevention Coalition.

“Increased levels of sex hormones are linked to the escalating incidence of reproductive cancers in the United States since 1975 – 60% for prostate, 59% for testis, and 10% for breast,” Dr. Epstein says.

The hormones in past and current use include the natural estrogen, progesterone and testosterone, and the synthetic zeranol, trenbolone, and melengesterol.

When beef cattle enter feedlots, pellets of these hormones are implanted under the ear skin, a process that is repeated at the midpoint of their 100-day pre-slaughter fattening period, Dr. Epstein explains. These hormones increase carcass weight, adding over $80 in extra profit per animal.

Also, Dr. Epstein says, “Not surprisingly, but contrary to longstanding claims by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), residues of these hormones in meat are up to 20-fold higher than normal.”

“Still higher residues result from the not uncommon illegal practice of implantation directly into muscle. Furthermore, contrary to misleading assurances, meat is still not monitored for hormone residues,” Dr. Epstein emphasizes.

Nevertheless, he points out, the FDA and USDA maintain that hormone residues in meat are within “normal levels,” while waiving any requirements for residue testing.

Following a single ear implant in steers of Synovex-S, a combination of estrogen and progesterone, residues of these hormones in meat were found to be up to 20-fold higher than normal.

The amount of estradiol in two hamburgers eaten in one day by an 8-year-old boy could increase his total hormone levels by as much as 10%, particularly as young children have very low natural hormone levels.

Not surprisingly, Dr. Epstein says, the incidence of childhood cancer has increased by 38% since 1975.

These concerns are not new. As evidenced in a series of General Accountability Office investigations and Congressional hearings, FDA residue-tolerance programs and USDA inspections are in near total disarray, aggravated by brazen denials and cover-ups.

A January 1986 report, “Human Food Safety and the Regulation of Animal Drugs,” unanimously approved by the House Committee on Government Operations, concluded that “the FDA has consistently disregarded its responsibility – has repeatedly put what is perceives are interests of veterinarians and the livestock industry ahead of its legal obligation to protect consumers, thus jeopardizing the health and safety of consumers of meat, milk and poultry.”

On January 1, 1989, the European Community placed a ban on meat imports from animals treated with growth inducing hormones. This had a direct impact on the U.S. beef industry, which uses hormones in more than half of the cattle sent to market each year.

Twenty-years later, on May 6, 2009, the European Union and the United States settled their long- running dispute over hormone-treated beef. Under terms of the four-year deal the EU will be permitted to maintain its ban on hormone-fed beef. In return, the EU has agreed to increase the amount of hormone-free beef that can be imported from the U.S. without duty.

It is well recognized that American women have about a five-fold greater risk of breast cancer than women in countries that do not permit the sale of hormonal beef.

However, as recently confirmed by studies of cancer rates in Los Angeles County, the most highly populated, ethnically diverse county in the U.S., the low risk in Japanese women in Japan increases sharply in Japanese immigrants to the United States after one to two generations.

This, and a wide range of other studies in migrant populations, is evidence that avoidable causes of breast cancer include adoption of Western dietary habits, particularly the consumption of hormone- laced beef.

Samuel S. Epstein, M.D. is professor emeritus of Environmental and Occupational Medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health; Chairman of the Cancer Prevention Coalition; and a former President of the Rachel Carson Trust. His awards include the 1989 Right Livelihood Award and the 2005 Albert Schweitzer Golden Grand Medal for International Contributions to Cancer Prevention. Dr. Epstein has authored 250 scientific articles and 15 books on cancer prevention, including the groundbreaking The Politics of Cancer (1979), and most recently Toxic Beauty (2009, Benbella Books: www.benbellabooks.com) about carcinogens in cosmetics and personal care products.

Read Dr. Epstein’s blog on the Huffington Post at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/samuel-s-epstein

Contact:
Samuel S. Epstein, MD
Professor emeritus Environmental & Occupational Medicine
University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health
Chairman, Cancer Prevention Coalition,
Chicago, Illinois
Tel: 312-996-2297
Email: epstein@uic.edu
www.preventcancer.com
world-wire.com

Tags: farming, health
Posted in Agriculture | No Comments »

November 4th, 2009

From KFYR-TV in June of this year is a report of the news conference held outside the home of Herman Schumacher, a cattle farmer in Herried, South Dakota: Here

From what I’ve read, the reason for the first reversal of the judgment was because, so says the judge, that in order to prove that Tyson Foods did anything wrong under the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921, it would have to be proven that Tyson Foods intentionally meant to harm cattlemen when they manipulated the prices. So, proving that they did manipulate prices is not enough; you must also prove that they intentionally meant to do harm by manipulating those prices.

Now, call me paranoid, but it seems to me that that is the equivalent to letting a burglar go free because you can’t prove that he intended harm to his victims by stealing from them. I mean, the burglar has no ill will towards the people that had stuff stolen from them; he was only interested in acquiring those objects at the very best market price possible, and doesn’t our capitalistic (oh, sorry, that should be a Big “C”) society protect those kinds of freedoms? After all, we’re not communists, right?

Tags: big government, Conspiracy, farming, Herman Schumacher, land, updates
Posted in Conspiracy | No Comments »

November 4th, 2009

Hey, guess what? There are life-saving products on the market now that will help you to not be sick as much anymore, help you lose weight, and give you more energy.The following is a trailer for a movie that shows you how. It’s available in grocery stores and special restaurants right now! Really and truly! You have to look for them, though; they’re not easy to find:

Tags: health, obvious
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November 4th, 2009

In his act, Comedian Ron White talks about a friend of his that moved to California and became a vegetarian, not because he felt it was healthier for him, but because of the “damage” he thought “cow flatulence” was doing to the environment. Here is an article by someone who I feel has a better grasp of the conclusions inferred by such reports:

It’s true that food production is an important contributor to climate change. And the claim that meat (especially beef) is closely linked to global warming has received some credible backing, including by the United Nations and University of Chicago. Both institutions have issued reports that have been widely summarized as condemning meat-eating.

But that’s an overly simplistic conclusion to draw from the research. To a rancher like me, who raises cattle, goats and turkeys the traditional way (on grass), the studies show only that the prevailing methods of producing meat — that is, crowding animals together in factory farms, storing their waste in giant lagoons and cutting down forests to grow crops to feed them — cause substantial greenhouse gases. It could be, in fact, that a conscientious meat eater may have a more environmentally friendly diet than your average vegetarian.

If you have any questions about this subject at all, please read the entire article, and then come to your own conclusions. By the way, when Ron White’s friend asked him what he was doing to help the environment, his answer was, “I’m eating the cow.”

Tags: Conspiracy, environment, farming, land
Posted in Agriculture, Conspiracy | No Comments »

October 30th, 2009

Chef Mathews points me to a Denver Post article about Matthew “Quint” Redmond and what he’s trying to accomplish. From the article:

Redmond, co-founder of the Golden-based design firm TSR Group, travels the country preaching his urban farming and development idea. He envisions a future where the nation’s 31 million acres of lawn are converted to food production. He sees golf-course greens redefined with herbs; sand traps as “kale traps.” He sees retirement homes engulfed by farms and office buildings where workers escape cubicles on farming breaks.

I bring up the SimCity reference because he’s not just talking about maximizing “unused” (or should I say, “underutilized”) land. He is currently planning and building communities centered on and surrounded by farmland intended for local consumption either by residents of the community or sold directly to local restaurants. I bring up the Asimov reference because in The Robots of Dawn, humans on Earth had forgotten how to farm, leaving it to robots. But, a small yet growing group of humans try getting out into the open and “practice” farming for a few hours once a week.

Personally, I really hope this concept of “agriburbia” has wings. Farming is one of the 2 activities that most ancient cultures recognized as bringing us closer to God. I won’t mention what the other one is, except to say that the words “Oh my God” can usually be heard during the activity.

The entire article can be found here.

Tags: community, farming, land
Posted in Agriculture | No Comments »

October 28th, 2009

I wanted to see what the multimedia abilities of WordPress was, and I just happened to come across this little tidbit on wine. If you have 45 minutes to waste, by all means, try this out. It’s hosted by John Cleese of Monty Python fame, and I found it to be very interesting indeed. Enjoy.

Tags: dining, documentary, wine
Posted in Documentaries | No Comments »