Outsmarting Nature

Many people would like to see food production go “back to nature,” and I think that sounds like a fabulous idea. But where I live, Nature could care less if my family eats. I have tried raising backyard chickens for eggs, and vegetables in a small garden, and I have been met with challenge after challenge. My latest challenges have more than two legs.

Rest in peace, girls. :(

I’m posting this because my chicken coop has officially become a playhouse for the kids. The last of my beautiful, jumbo-egg laying hens are gone, becoming another meal for the local wildlife. I commented on an article in my local paper about urban chicken farming, saying that maybe an urban backyard may be the ideal place for raising chickens, since my woodland home has become a banquet hall for hungry predators. Someone was quick to “educate” me, telling me I needed to provide them a coop so they would roost. Thanks for the tip, but my chicken mansion had Fort Knox-like security at night. It provided not an ounce of safety, however, for my free-rangers during the day from coyotes and hawks. If I try it again, the days of go-where-you-want will not be an option for my girls. And some wonder why commercial chicken producers keep their birds in houses. Hmmm – cruelty or protecting your investment and the food supply?

Cucumber beetles. Thank you, Ric Bessin, entomologist
friend at the University of Kentucky, for the photo.

In addition to my latest chicken chapter, we also attempted a small garden. It is close enough to the house that the deer and rabbits have not been visiting, but the Cucumber beetles absolutely love the squash and cucumbers that I have provided for them. Since I do not have to rely on this garden to feed my family, I have not used any chemical pesticides. I would go out occasionally and knock them away, but didn’t discover their damage early enough. They were clipping off all the blossoms. No blossoms, no fruit. Did I mention that I also have a mysterious, volunteer gourd growing near the garden? The Cucumber beetles really like that one, too.

I obtained the vegetable seeds from Seminis, which is currently marketing a much-talked-about genetically modified hybrid sweet corn called Obsession II. I asked their marketing team recently if any of my seeds were genetically modified, and they said, “no.” I put in a request for beetle resistant squash. If that does not happen soon, and I expect to have any decent harvest, I believe I’ll have to go to chemical warfare. Maybe organic methods work in other places and growing systems, but I have yet to be successful with them. I even had a conversation with an organic farmer in Nebraska explaining that I have had no luck growing cabbage. And to my surprise she said, “That’s why we don’t grow cabbage.”

My chewed up cabbage from last year. Something enjoyed it!

Our final challenge this spring and summer has been the insects that feed on me and my animals: ticks, mosquitoes, horse flies, deer flies and chiggers, as well as the diseases they are known to carry. I've tried just about every product and method available, and the only real relief comes from dousing my kids head to toe with Deep Woods Off every trip outdoors. I can only imagine what that stuff is doing to our bodies as we breathe and soak it in. Nothing works for the horses (but our bond grows stronger every summer because they know I am pleased to provide them a good scratch or squash a juicy horse fly). I am waiting for some smart person to develop a pill or injectable medicine to keep the little bloodsuckers off our skin. 

My challenges are not unique. Our farmers face similar adversity every day, and they are using technology and better management methods to help keep nature from destroying the food supply:

• Crop rotation and natural predators
• Crop protection products
• Structures for plants and animals
• Conventionally-bred hybrids
• Irrigation
• Genetically modified varieties that withstand drought and pests, and allow more efficient pesticide use
• Vaccines and antibiotics that keep animals healthy
• Maintaining wildlife refuge areas

And I even know of a vaccine that controls horn flies on cattle (www.flyvax.com) that could significantly reduce their stress. 

Are there any of these methods that you approve of? Any you don't? Are some okay to use when maintaining a lawn or golf course, but not on food? If you do not want antibiotics used for meat animals, does that mean you would forego the same medicine for your child or pet to manage antibiotic resistance? If you don't want any trace of pesticide residues on your produce, does that mean you don't use manufactured pharmaceuticals in your own body. Are their methods you feel do more damage than good?

On one hand I appreciate technology—where would be without it? Hungry, diseased, dead?—but on the my semi-misanthropic hand, I sometimes blame technology for growing the population in the first place, thus providing us the challenge of finding, using and growing the resources to sustain weaker selves. And I understand why some blame technology for creating more challenges or environmental problems, like antibiotic resistance or reductions in beneficial insect populations.

Did I happen to mention one of these
ran 25 ft. behind me and kids on Saturday
night? I've had just about all of "nature"
that I can stand.

Some believe going back to basics (no pesticides, no manufactured fertilizers, no genetic modification, no animal confinement) will put the Earth back into a more natural balance, as "God intended." This philosophy may actually work for some farmers and gardeners. And these food producers have a pretty good base of customers and supporters in our current day. 

But is going back to the beginning really the answer? Do we sit back and pray for the best, or do we use the minds that God gave us to continually outsmart the nature He created in order to flourish?

The biggest issue I have is that some are encouraging our lawmakers and regulators to restrict the use of technology and dictate how food should be produced. Based on my experience, I don’t think there is any way we could produce enough food for our increasing population using 19^th century farming methods. I also know that some technologies may need to change — or get better — to protect the Earth and future generations.

What I find as the silver lining here is that I think we can have it all – enough food for everyone, today and in the future, with less strain on our environment. I believe environmental responsibility is a value shared by all farmers, whether they are USDA certified organic, heritage seed savers, or the 3000-acre corn farmer using the latest genetically-modified variety so she does not have to spray as much pesticide or use as much fuel. I see a future of farmers working together for that common goal, and it may be as simple as a crop farmer having a conversation with his bee-keeping neighbor to manage when is the best time to spray any insecticides. But farmers must be able to choose what works best for their climate and the nature-created challenges on our changing planet. At my house, that may be GMO squash and a shotgun.

In the end, I believe that nature will continue to change, and organisms will continue to adapt. The winner will be the one that adapts the quickest. And if a manufactured technology is what it takes to prevail, I will not pass judgment. Nature is a beast, and I want to survive! 

Feel free to follow me on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/FoodMommy or on Twitter: @foodmommy.

Friday Forward: “No Antibiotics Ever” Does Not Equate to Safer Meat

Last night I was watching my local NBC affiliate news. “You’ll want to hear what could be in your meat when we return,” caught my attention. It was a good 15 minutes before the story appeared (a tactic no doubt to get me to stay tuned – reminds me of the Saturday Night Live skit many years ago). The segment was the health reporter repackaging a story released by Consumer Reports about antibiotic use in meat and food labels. I was very unhappy with what I saw and heard, so I just had to respond. This is what I sent to the reporter:

Hi, XXXX. I appreciate all of the health info you cover, but I was a little disappointed about tonight’s “Antibiotics in meat/superbugs” story that aired tonight. I think it was very misleading (wish I could refer back, but the video is not offered online - UPDATE it is not featured on the homepage, but I'm not sharing a bad story!).

While I don’t believe anyone can discredit that routine feeding of antibiotics to animals, as well as overuse and misuse of antibiotics in humans contributes to resistance, my “take-a-way” from the story was that superbugs occurred in meat only from animals that were fed antibiotics any time in their lives. You led the viewers to believe that if they purchased meat that says “No antibiotics ever” or “Organic,” this would be a safer option.

I have talked to a local meat processor, and I learned that superbugs can be in any meat from anywhere, whether they were given antibiotics or not. But, I did not hear the Consumer Reports lady say they tested any meat and found superbugs. In fact, she didn’t say she tested meat at all. While contamination can occur, meat is routinely tested. This would have been an excellent opportunity to stress that all meat should be cooked to the recommended internal temperature. Food safety is critical. It would have also been helpful to relay that all animals must be antibiotic free when they arrive at the processor. USDA routinely checks this and removes any contaminated product they may find. In fact, they have stepped up their monitoring process.

I also noted the comment that routine antibiotics are given because of “unsanitary conditions”, another assumption. Have you ever visited a commercial poultry house? I have, and could not get over how much cleaner and less stinky it was than some more “natural” operations I have visited. (I have also now learned that routine antibiotic use is no longer industry practice - 40 years of industry experience offersopinion about antibiotic use in livestock.)

Lastly, I would like to encourage you to utilize the knowledge of our many Kentucky farmers for stories about food. Get a farmer’s perspective on why he or she may need to give antibiotics (I would be more inclined to eat a healthy animal than one that has been sick). Ask how antibiotic use has changed and how the livestock industry is addressing this issue. If you ever need help finding the farmers to talk to, I would be glad to put you in touch with them.

Here is a great post from John’s Custom Meats  – farm and meat processor in Bowling Green – that explains the issue at hand: http://www.johnscustommeats.blogspot.com/2010/09/increased-federal-beef-oversight-needed.html#more

I hate thinking this story was a way to get people to stay tuned to the end of the broadcast. It got my attention, but I wish the story was covered from all sides. I’m afraid people will be led to believe certain meat products are safer, when in fact they are not.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Elwell
Blog:  “Food, Mommy!” www.foodmommy.net
Twitter @foodmommy

I was also able to call on Kentucky farmer and meat processor Amy of John’s Custom Meats to tell me more. She offered this:

FSIS (USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service) is revamping the residue testing program. There is a new (and more accurate...better) test available that they will be using. In addition, they are increasing the amount of testing being done.

Here's the link to the FSIS press release http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News/NR_070212_02/index.asp

Translation: This is a good thing! The new test method can test for a whole multitude of residues all from one sample. This will provide a more accurate baseline to zero in on the main problem residues. What will result from that is focusing in on the main problem areas and increasing sampling in those areas. Eventually, leading to the source of the issue or just finding there is no real issue to begin with.

NOTE: On Friday’s, I will select a topic that I feel was “forward worthy.” Find many more posts and articles I have forwarded on my Facebook Page - http://www.facebook.com/FoodMommy - or Twitter account (@foodmommy).

Speaking of encouraging news reporters to talk with farmers, I have to forward this post as well. Another farmer/blogger acquaintance Ryan Goodman has been a recent and popular fixture on CNN’s Eatocracy – No Bull: Start a Conversation with a Farmer 

Why I Choose to Eat Meat

Back when I was a kid (we'll say 20 to 30 years ago), vegetarians were few and far between and were often thought of as a little strange. Now, it seems, being a vegetarian or vegan is the "stylish" thing to do. More and more people of all ages are making the choice not to eat meat for reasons that make sense to them.

The majority of the population continues to eat meat because that's what they have always done, as their parents did before them. As our ancestors figured out, eating meat is an easy way to get protein, and most of it just tastes good.

I put myself in a different meat-eating category. I have a made a very conscious decision, and I "choose" to eat meat. I know it comes from animals, and I realize those animals' lives were cut short for my sustenance. This is something I think about each time I sit down to a meal, and I am grateful.

As a true lover of animals, I will admit that going meatless crossed my mind a couple times. I am the kind of person who never kills a spider, carefully removes creepy-crawlies from my home, and stops traffic to see a turtle or family of ducks safely cross the road. My taste buds and feeling of hunger satisfaction, however, quickly transformed me back into the omnivore that I am.

Now, one could ask how I can eat meat when animals are being mistreated (recent Conklin Dairy video would be a good example) or are forced to live in confined conditions. In my good opinion, acts of such mistreatment are few and far between, and I believe that anyone who abuses animals in this way should be punished as if they had assaulted a fellow human. Confinement, or as I like to think of it has a more controlled habitat, has become a necessary practice to meet demand. There are more people, less farmers and less land to produce these animals.

Do the animals like their confined conditions? Would they rather be running free? While I don't have cows or chickens at the moment, I do have horses. It has been 90 degrees or higher the last several days. They have free run of the barn and a five acre pasture with lots of shade trees. I CANNOT MAKE them leave the confinement of their stalls. Why? The barn has a large fan and is generally free of all the blood-sucking bugs. They also know that I come to feed them twice a day.

I also have to think about the many times I have watched the animal shows on TV. Prey animals are free game for the not-so-nice hunting practices of their predators. I have seen animals being eaten while they are still alive. If I were the prey, I'd say "sign me up for farm life any day!" And on the flip side, I wonder if animal activists want to tell lions, tigers, eagles, crocodiles, sharks, etc. that they should not eat other animals because it's not the "nice" thing to do.

And when I hear, "I don't want to eat anything with a face," or even most recently, "I don't like to eat things with eyelashes" (you've got to be kidding me), it saddens me. WARNING, I'M GOING INTO PHILOSOPHER MODE - Who is to say the cow with long eyelashes and a calf by her side is any more important than the clam that quietly crawls across the ocean floor, or the tomato plant. I don't think of even myself as more worthy of a life on earth than any other living creature, be it plant, animal or fungus. We all WANT to survive.

The fact is, if one organism eats, another organism is sacrificed for its survival. What we can do as humans is to provide the animals we consume with the utmost respect that we can. I truly believe that most all livestock farmers are doing this today. They have to... it is their livelihood.

While I think the ideal situation - the most natural situation for which we were born to do - would be for us to produce, raise or hunt for our own food, those days are long gone. A lot of us are more worried about getting to our air-conditioned home to view the latest episode of "Glee" while tweeting our tweeps and planning our island vacations. Therefore, I place the care of my food, be animal or vegetable, in the hands of our farmers. The farmers that produce with compassion and heart are my heroes. The animals that give their lives so that I can be a part of this world are my saviors.

My omnivore diet provides me and my family the nutrients we need without having to load up on supplements or come up with creative diet plans. As long as I recognize the fact that hamburgers don’t magically appear in the meat case, and our farmers are taking good, responsible care of their animals, I will continue to “choose” to eat meat.

So why am I doing this?

I have been thinking about blogging for some time. I have lots of very good random thoughts (in my opinion) about life, spirituality, our purpose,and so forth, but I'm not convinced the rest of the world would want to get inside my head.

HOWEVER, I know I have a lot of good and factual things to say about where our food comes from. I have been working in the agricultural industry for more than 12 years and have a real appreciation for the farmers who provide the food on my dinner table. I am also a consumer and mother of two. I care about what goes into their little bellies. I make educated choices about the food we eat, and unlike what many attention-mongers want you to believe, I know that American farmers are providing us the safest food in the world. And those farmers are also achieving this while they are improving the environment in which we live.

If you are interested, I can share with you my thoughts on agriculture, farmers and food. Just call me "The Food Mommy."