Read Part 1
Picture this:
Put a chicken in a cage that is so small that she cannot even flap her wings.
Make a row of these cages, side by side, down the length of a huge ‘barn’ (more of a factory than an actual barn.)
Now, make more of these rows, cage to cage, until most of the floor is covered.
“So what?” you might be thinking, but we’re not done.
Next, stack cages on top going up as high as you can, row after row.
100′s of 1000′s of cages.
“Now wait a minute” you might say- “You told me not to put my tomatoes too close together, as it will encourage disease. Wouldn’t the same thing happen to these chickens?”
Yepper… it does.
The solution: Factory Farmed chickens (the ones in cages are the egg layers) are force fed antibiotics- whether they are sick or not, as without it they would all get sick.
Some of them still do anyway.
“Alright- now just hold on…” you might continue, ” my own Doctor won’t give me antibiotics unless it’s needed, certainly not for any ‘just in case’ kind of deal.”
You’re right.
There’s a reason antibiotics aren’t sold over the counter like aspirin.
If we took them too often, the bugs that make us sick would mutate until the antibiotics no longer killed them off.
It’s survival, and micororganisms are good at it.
“But then, wouldn’t the same thing happen to the chickens?”
Bingo.
And it is happening.
Factory Farmers feed so many antibiotics to their poultry that they need to change what and how much they give them on a regular basis to keep the animals alive.
But here’s the worst part, the “Die” part:
-Because the birds are fed these antibiotics regularly, the bugs that make them sick are mutating faster than they otherwise would.
-Influenza, the bugs that give us ‘the flu’ are carried by birds, usualy they are found in large flocks of birds that are in close quarters. When this flu mutates so that it can readily be transmitted from birds to human, many of us will die. Very many.
Read this excerpt from the Center for Disease Control, linked below: “There is little pre-existing natural immunity to H5N1 virus infection in the human population. If H5N1 viruses gain the ability for efficient and sustained transmission among humans, an influenza pandemic could result, with potentially high rates of illness and death worldwide.”
So now you know some of what is going on.
“It’s always possible to wake someone from sleep, but no amount of noise will wake someone who is pretending to be asleep.” — Jonathan Safran Foer (Eating Animals)
I highly suggest you read the book “Eating Animals” – it is a compelling, wonderfully written hands-on account of what is happening to our sources of meat, and how this affects everyone.
Don’t pretend to be asleep- your life may depend on it.
When I was growing up in the 60′s, we only ate chicken on Sundays.
Beef or pork during the week, fish (of course) on Fridays-
For chicken we had to wait.
Why? It was too expensive.
“Hard for me to even fathom” SaveTheWorld said recently, when I was telling her this.
“Now it’s so cheap.”
How could this have happened?
Simply put, Factory Farms.
Picture this:
A Factory Farmed chicken (and turkey) raised for meat is given the minimum amount of room and food it needs to grow, and has been bred to grow as fast as possible.
I won’t get into the details of this now; but after a short, painful and gross life- they’re off to the slaughterhouse.
I’ll not tell you some of the horrible things I have read that happen to many of these birds, I’ll let you know how to get the rest of the story.
For now, I want to address one part of the blog title- “Eat Sh*t”
The way in which these birds are ‘processed’ causes them to end up with fecal matter in their body cavities.
Prior to packaging, each of these birds gets put into a water bath fondly known as ‘Fecal Soup.’
It varies, but up to 11% of their weight can be absorbed from this infested water- just look on the label, it’s there.
absorbed water is not the whole story
Let me just mention here that this is not necessary- but this water adds weight.
Weight=Money, and money is what it’s all about.
It is after all, and foremost, a business.
Let’s think about it.
The correct portion for a serving of meat is 3 oz.
In this country, we consume closer to 5 oz. at a sitting.
Say you eat chicken or turkey 4 times each week, maybe twice for lunch and twice for dinner
20 oz. x 11% = 2.2 oz. x 52 weeks=you may be consuming about 14 1/3 cups of fecal water each year.
Eewww.
A friend of mine asked, “Does that include the name brand chicken? Aren’t they better?”
Au contraire- they are some of the worst offenders.
So, when you take your kids through the drive-thru for nuggets, you are feeding them Sh*t.
Or, maybe you like your Sh*t with a side of cole slaw and a biscuit?
I must say here that this isn’t all the farmers fault at all- they’d argue that they are just trying to make a living meeting the demand for meat this country, and the world, insists on.
Don’t buy it.
I mean, literally- don’t buy it.
If we bring down the demand, the farmers won’t need to produce the meat this way.
Actually, they don’t need to produce it this way.
It’s just cheaper.
Buy from a local farmer if you can, or eat less.
If enough of us work for change, change will come.
We don’t have to Eat this Sh*t anymore.
Today is Animal Rights Day on Facebook.
O course, the rights of animals should be looked after every day; but for today, many people are vowing to do something a little extra.
Maybe they are becoming vegetarians, that’s a big step.
Perhaps they are donating to an animal rescue shelter, that’s an important thing to do.
I always adopt from shelters, and I eat very little meat.
So what I am doing extra today is to talk to y’all about Happy Animals.
Let me tell you a story-
A friend of ours had a Dairy Farm many years ago.
This gentleman also has a very distinctive (and loud) voice.
There was one day I was at the local fair, admiring the Livestock Exhibition, when all of a sudden one group of cows started Moooing- then I heard his voice.
Apparently, so did they.
Talking all the while he was walking, he approached each and every one of them and petted them and spoke to them.
Happy Animals.
happy chickens
There are many farms, both dairy and meat, that raise their animals that way.
They truly care for them, not just as a commodity.
These animals live happy lives.
Not all animals raised on farms do.
Now you might argue that if we didn’t raise animals for meat, they would live happy and free lives.
I’ve seen what nature- a fox once and a dog another time- can do to animals that are free.
Specifically, my ducks.
Nature isn’t always pretty.
But that’s not my point.
There are many animals on Factory Farms that are not happy.
When you buy that meat you are, unknowingly, supporting the mistreatment of animals.
This is most often the case with birds- chicken and turkey, but It’s also in some of the other meat we eat.
If you want to see for yourself, buy meat from a local farmer.
You can taste the difference.
We recently bought some beef burgers at the Farmers Market-
Comparative Cost:
Local Store preformed Burgers $4.69/lb
In store Frozen Bubba (brand) Burgers $6/lb
Local Farmer’s Burgers $6/lb.
Ok, we’re in.
Let me just say, the taste was incredible.
It made me think- why do people put so many things on their burgers-
Catsup, relish, mustard, onions, lettuce, tomato, cheese, steak sauce, bacon…?
These patties needed nothing.
Mandolin was amazed when he cooked them:
“There was like no fat at all, no shrinkage.”
buy it local
Why would these burgers taste and be so different?
Why would milk from the local dairy taste so much better?
Happy Animals.
Cared for, fed well, treated like animals should be treated.
Is that too much to ask from all of our farmers?
Well….maybe.
More on that subject tomorrow.
And I’ll warn you- that won’t be pretty either.
Note: This is a repost from another blog I had, that I recently shut down.
If it sounds familiar, thank you! You must have visited that spot,too.
These puppy treats are simple to make, healthier for your dog than some off the shelf treats, and will save you money as well.
They also make a great gift for the dog in your life and the dog lovers as well.
puppy cookie supplies
Mix all dry ingredients thoroughly:
1/4 cup dry milk
1 1/2 cup flour (I use a mix of white and wheat)
1/2 cup instant Maypo (instant otmeal)
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
Add:
1 egg
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup oil
Mix and form into a dough ball.
Turn onto floured surface and roll to 1/4 inch thickness. Add flour if needed so dough is not sticky.
Cut cookies and bake on foil or parchment paper 325 derees F until crispy and light brown, about 30 minutes depending on the size of the cookie.
Let cool.
puppy cookie dough
puppy cookie cutters
Left-Right: Our dog “Mandog” size, my friend’s Border Collie size, teaching our dog tricks size, Mr and Mrs Jones’ dog size.
big puppy cookies
Icing is optional but does make it look festive.
SaveTheWorld came home from work and smelled the treats baking.
Somewhat disappointed when I told her what they were, she commented:
“Gee, you can make me some Happy Child Treats.”
big happy puppy
This recipe makes about 2 doz. cookies.
The egg is good for the puppy’s coat, and the oil will help prevent shedding.
Variations:
You can use any flavor instant oatmeal instead of Maypo.
I also made a batch subbing part of the flour with corn meal and adding one finely chopped jalapeno.
Mandog loves hot peppers. What NOT to use
Chocolate, Onions (inc, onion powder in bouillon powder), raisins. If you have any doubt about an ingredient, ask your vet.
If you look on the Internet, you can find tons of great- and often detailed and scientific- information on blight.
No sense in me repeating that.
So, here’s the basics:
-Early Blight is caused by a fungus in the soil
-It affects potatoes and tomatoes
-If untreated, it will absolutely affect your harvest
and on the other side of the garden
How to help prevent it:
-Keep records of what you plant where. Don’t plant any tomatoes or potatoes where any tomatoes or potatoes were in the past few years. If your garden is small, this can be accomplished by using containers and putting in fresh potting soil each year.
-Keep your soil healthy. Just as a healthy body can fight infection better, so can a healthy soil.
-Water at ground level. This helps prevent fungus in the soil from getting splashed up on your plants.
-Prune your tomatoes lower stems. These are the ones that will get blight first because they are more likely to get splashed during rainfall.
-Always give your tomatoes some kind of support to keep them off the ground.
-The best way to prevent blight is to mulch heavily around the plants. You should be mulching your potatoes anyway. Newspaper covered with straw or other mulch prevents soil splash on tomatoes.
pruned and waiting for better mulch
Treatment:
-Fungicide
Whether you treat your garden organically or not, you’ll need to kill any fungus.
I’m heading out, Neem Oil in hand…
Because I knew better, but didn’t take all the steps I should have.
Arrgh.
I picked up some goat’s milk at the local Farm Market and set about making feta cheese.
I looked on the Internet for ‘how to’s’ and found two with very similar instructions.
strain through cheesecloth
Sometimes I wonder if people just copy from each other without actually trying the directions out, because neither one of them were right.
Somewhat put-out that I had just spent over an hour with no cheese as a result, I got back on the Internet and looked for a video- to see for myself that someone used the directions they were giving.
squeeze out excess moisture
I found the one linked below, and really making the cheese was as simple as the gentleman shows.
As per his instruction, I heated the milk to a boil, stirring constantly.
I added half vinegar and half lemon juice- a little different than what he suggests.
Heaven forbid I do exactly as I’m told.
the taste was so fresh
I did see the milk curdle, as the video shows; and I strained through a cheesecloth lined colander.
I added the herbs first- dried basil and oregano, but just a little.
Then I went very light on the salt.
Just as anything homemade tastes better- this cheese was improved as well by the freshness of the goat’s milk.
I’d describe it as akin to the store tomato vs. the homegrown tomato.
Really.
Not only that, store feta cheese is $11.99/lb.- this was $5.00/lb.
Needless to say, it didn’t last long- I’m going back to the farm market today to get some more goat’s milk.
I made another batch the next day that was part goat milk and part cow milk.
It came out much drier, perhaps I boiled it a little too long.
What was fun was that when I added the salt, it formed a kind of rind- makes it interesting.
Now I’m curious ro see if it will work with the flavored cow milk we got last weekend- hmm, what would a strawberry cheese taste like?
In order to start the new strawberry bed last season, I painfully pinched off all blossoms; and spent my summer in Strawberry Withdrawal.
This year I happily harvested a lot of strawberries and was in Strawberry Heaven.
four cups strawberries
There are tons of recipes for making syrup, some involve using corn syrup -which I avoid as it’s not good for you, and most likely GMO now anyway.
Other recipes call for water and lemon or orange juice.
I approach making fruit syrup the same way I do making Fruit Brandy- simply sugar and berries.
get your pancakes ready
For Strawberry & Blueberry I use 1/2 cup sugar per 4 cups sliced berries.
For Raspberries I use 3/4 cups.
Slice or crush the berries and mix with sugar.
Set aside overnight to draw out the juice.
That’s it.
I do can mine, as you see in the picture above, by heating the syrup/berries and then processing half pint jars for 10 minutes, pints for 15 minutes.
This is not a certified canning recipe though, so try it at your own risk.
The syrup does freeze very well.
strawberry shortcake on homemade wheat biscuits
I froze the last of the strawberries, and am freezing raspberries- when the blueberries come I’m going to try a Triple Berry Syrup.
Mmmm…now I’m hungry.
Johnny said there are people who Live to Eat, and people who Eat to Live.
He was the latter and Ed was the former.
I’ve always been a person who considers eating merely a necessary thing to do, until I met my husband who thinks more like Ed did.
So when Mandolin is off from work, we Live to Eat, and when he’s not here for meals, I eat mostly to survive.
fresh eggs from the Ladies
Now I’d say there are also people who eat Consciously, and those who eat Subconsciously; that is, not knowing how there food got to the point where they purchased it.
Again, I’ve been both to some extent.
I first became concerned about what was in food when my son was little, and ‘borderline hyperactive.’
I found that if I kept him away from artificial preservatives and colors, he was calmer.
That’s when I started gardening and canning.
I’ve become more conscious of what is in my food over the past year or so, after SaveTheWorld started sharing information on things such as Factory Farming and GMO’s, and I began looking further into it.
In part, this is what led me to these past first 4 days of eating locally, and more consciously.
Raspberry Vinaigrette, Mixed Pepper Salsa, Spiced Red Cabbge
Now I know I have an advantage in this challenge, that’s why I decided to go for 100 days instead of the usual 30.
Here’s what I have on hand:
Eggs, Golden Nectar Juice and Garden Blend Tomato Juice, Applesauce, Victoria Rhubarb Sauce, Apple Butter, Spiced Cabbage, assorted Jams and syrups, pickled and honeyed onions, dry beans, veggie soup base, blueberries, pancake dry mix, Tomato-Basil Soup, Salsa, Raspberry Vinaigrette.
Currently from the garden:
Strawberries, Lettuce and Spinach, Peas, Raspberries, Herbs
Found at Farmer’s Markets or Farms so far:
Pork and Buffalo (chops, burgers, sausages, hot dogs), Maple Syrup, Honey, Milk and Butter, I made Cheese from the milk
Produced within (about) 100 miles:
Crowley’s Cottage Cheese, Dannon Yogurt, Wishbone Salad Dressing, Arnold’s Bakery Products, Entemann’s Pastries, Tetley Tea, Russell Farms Flour
homemade feta cheese
I use MapQuest to determine how far away products are made. Many come up just under, like Tetley Tea at 98.8 miles, and some just over, like Russell Farms Flour at 106 miles. I figure they average out, and perhaps over the next few months I’ll find something closer.
So now, for example, Pancakes with Fresh Strawberry Syrup is a Locavore meal for me; or Pork Chops simmered in Applesauce with Mixed Greens Salad drizzled with Raspberry Vinaigrette.
very local raspberry
Hmmm…sounds much more like Living to Eat, doesn’t it?
When I posted that I was going to eat local (at least) until October, my friend told me about this dairy farm.
They are only about 30 miles from my house and their products are sold in stores even closer to us.
the main barn
It was a beautiful day and we were ahead somewhat in that direction, so we took the detour to visit the farm.
Everything was clean and neat and the family very friendly.
themed statuary
One of the owners, Amy, took the time from her chores to talk to us.
She mentioned that all of her kids were ‘out on the farm somewhere, working hard and not complaining. I did promise them a good hot meal and a dip in the pond afterwards.’
She went on to touch on topics such as government regulation of milk prices, and how they are glad to be
free of that roller coaster ride.
She also mentioned the importance she places on a college education for all her kids, and how they love the farm and want to stay a part of it.
fresh butter and milk
Their roadside stand is open ‘sunup to sundown, seven days a week’ and we enjoyed picking out some fresh made milks and even butter.
colorful flavorful
The flavored milks came as a delightful surprise.
Although I’m partial to Chocolate, the Mocha flavor tasted like Irish Cream- imagine that in your coffee.
And just check out these prices:
seriously inexpensive
Really, not long ago I paid $4. 69 for a half gallon of ‘organic’ milk at the local grocery.
Here, I got to see the pretty cows that gave the milk- and it wasn’t transported 100′s or 1000′s of miles.
The first meat we ever ate that was locally produced was buffalo from this small farm.
The animals are beautiful, I must say; and it makes eating them difficult for me.
It does help to know they were raised happy, healthy, clean, and truly cared for.
free to run and play
For my husband, it means more that he knows the food is a safe source of protein.
After the research I’ve been doing on factory farming, even Mandolin (who’d eat almost anything) is thinking twice.
happy animals
Buffalo meat needs to be cooked at a lower temperature for a longer period of time than beef.
It does have a different taste, but I don’t think it is too ‘gamey.’
SaveTheWorld’s boyfriend, who hunts (isn’t that ironic!) liked the buffalo breakfast sausage a lot, though Mandolin did think that it needed a little something (that’s the Chef in him.)
For Day #1 of Eating Locally, Mandolin made these for dinner:
Buffalo-Buffalo Burgers
2 Buffalo Burgers Homemade Hot Sauce or Buffalo Sauce
Bleu Cheese Dressing
Bleu Cheese Crumbles
Celery
Rolls
Mandolin marinated the burgers in Buffalo Sauce the night before, and cooked them slowly on the grill.add thin slices of bleu cheese
start with dressing and chopped celery
The garnish is 3 homegrown spiced cherry tomatoes from a jar given to us by Mr. and Mrs. Jones.
top with burger and garnish
And a little more bleu cheese completes the effect.
The dressing I picked was Wishbone brand, 108 miles from home -the closest I’ve found, so far.
The Bleu Cheese was manufactured by boar’s Head in NY,NY -about 100 miles.
Arnold’s Bakery made the buns, they’re in Horsham, Pa -99.8 miles away.
Celery from our garden.
Everything else I ate yesterday was local, but not nearly as exciting as dinner was!
Everything here is original (unless otherwise noted) which means- copyright 2013 by Gardening Jones (tm), and cannot be re-posted or reproduced without permission.
As a gardener, I love to share, so let me know what your intentions are and I'm sure we can work together. Please feel free to link any post you see. I hear they call that Link Love.
How sweet.
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