Omnivore's Dillemma: Meat your Match!

A new documentary is making its way across the country.

American Meat ( an educational license of the documentary is available for purchase here) showcases the farmers' erspectives of the conventional versus organic debate.

Director, Graham Meriwether read The Omnivore's Dillemma in 2007 and began American Meat shortly after.

Meriwether has plans for an upcoming documentary called Farmers for America.


Have you seen it? What are your thoughts?

Tera
 

Chipotle - Back to the Start Rebuttal

I enjoyed reading this official comment on the recent Chipotle commercial that aired during the Grammy's. The gross misinformation presented in the video made a lot of agriculturists feel offended.

You can read the comment put out by the American Society of Animal Science here.

I think what I enjoyed most was the following direct quote -

“The world can afford for a few wealthy people to get pork and other animal products produced in outdoor extensive systems,” said Pettigrew. “But we cannot sustainably produce nearly enough for all the world’s people that way. Such systems require too much land and feed to be sustainable if applied across the industry.”

Sourcing food from places that Chipotle does is not wrong. It's a valid option to give consumers. However, I disagree with presenting it as a replacement for conventionally produced meat products. We have a lot of mouths to feed and we have to provide protein products for people who make $5 an hour AND for people who make $50 an hour. 

What are your thoughts?

What is sustainable farming?

Sustainable agriculture is a buzz word that seems to fly frequently when talking about food production these days. It is truly important because we have to think about feeding the current population as well as the future.

What does sustainability mean to an agriculturist?

Sustainability means that a farmer's son can come home to farm the same acres of ground he inherited from his father. Sustainability means that a rancher can turn his cows out on the same pasture year after year. What could be more important to an agriculturist than the sustainability of his or her family business?

To further explain sustainable farming, I think it's best to use a real life example from my back yard.

Royal Farms Dairy is near Garden City, KS is managed by Kyle Averhoff and the Irsik family. They milk around 6,000 cows each producing around 6.7 pounds of milk per day. That is a total contribution of about 14,673,000 gallons of milk to consumers in a calendar year! When I visited Kyle's dairy farm, he talked about the environment and the measures that Royal Farms take to ensure that they are doing things correctly. By taking these measures, he can provide a sustainable approach to producing milk and I know that Royal Farms Dairy will be around for years to come.

Royal farms uses a milking parlor like this and water is flushed down it to keep it clean. It's important to keep the parlor clean to help maintain food safety standards. The water that cools the milk is also re-used to clean the feed alleys outdoors and is ultimately pumped in to a center pivot to water the nearby corn fields. Royal farms irrigates 1,600 acres with the water from their dairy. The manure that is hauled away from the farm is also incorporated into the soil to increase water holding capacity and provide natural fertilizer for the crops.

Air quality is always something that gets brought up when a large number of dairy cows are kept in one area. One thing that I thought spoke to Kyle's dedication to properly maintaining his dairy farm is that his house is literally across the road. He raises a family using the same ground, water and air that his dairy does. Air quality was superb when I visited Royal Farms Dairy.

One of Kyle's best examples of sustainability and something that really hit home for me was when he brought up a simple relationship. I don't remember the numbers exactly, but Kyle related the amount of water that Royal Farms Dairy uses in a year and compared it to the 62 employees his farm provides jobs for. In a rural community, if you look at the number of children that will be enrolled in the local schools because of the increased employment at a nearby farm, you can't get a better deal! Enrollment numbers are important to rural schools and farms like Kyle's boost the economy of a small town and help add to those numbers. The amount of water used really becomes minuscule when you think of it from this angle.

Sustainability at it's finest at Royal Farms Dairy.

For more information about the dairy industry, I've found this site really useful.

http://www.midwestdairy.com/0t2p8/all-about-dairy/

Kyle's farm was honored at the World Dairy Expo and there is a lot more information on this site.

http://www.worlddairyexpo.com/seminars-tours-virtual-farm-tours.cfm

All my best,

Tera

Ninety Five

Corn Farmers Coalition has released a new ad. It's aim? To put a face on farmers. 

Most American farms are owned by families. More specifically, 95% of corn farms are family owned. The mission to spotlight these family farms comes at a time when it is important for consumers to understand that corporate farming is more of a myth than a reality. 

“They aren’t some myth, but are a critical economic engine that provides most of the food, feed and fiber produced in this country,” said Darrin Ihnen, president of the National Corn Growers Association. “This awareness is important to our survival."

Sometimes I wonder where the idea of corporate farming and big agriculture first began. Many farms that I know of are actually "incorporated" for the tax advantages only. Behind that label, is a hard working family of dedicated agriculturists. 

Family farmers deserve a face that is honest, realistic and shows the world exactly where food is being produced. A friend of mine did an excellent job of literally painting faces for farmers in this recent post. Just look at her photos and you can see the years of diversity, generations of pride, and hours of hard work it takes to keep the family farm up and running. 

Ninety five. I'm proud to be a part of that percentage of American Farmers!

Tera Rooney

Reactions to Food, Inc.

I watched Food, Inc. for the first time this weekend. The movie makes lots of points – some valid and others very misleading.

The movie stresses the importance of safe, healthy food. This is something everyone can agree with. However, Food, Inc. makes it seem like conventionally produced foods are not safe. The fact is there is no food safety benefit to the organic options the movie promotes over conventionally produced food.

Food, Inc. is critical of cheap fast food and advocates for local and organic foods. I agree that Americans need to eat better. Eating a balanced variety of healthy fruits, vegetables, proteins, grains and dairy products is something most people could do a better job of. The movie blames obesity on the fact fast food, candy and soda are so cheap and cites income level is the biggest indicator of obesity. This is a real problem. However, organic food is not the solution.

Don’t get me wrong, farmers and ranchers will happily provide the food that people demand. If you prefer to buy organic, and can afford to pay the premium, I support that decision. However, recognize that conventionally-produced food is also a safe, healthy choice. Additionally, this is a much more affordable choice, making it a more realistic option for those who struggle to make ends meet. Conventional food production is also very efficient, which is an important consideration with a growing global population and less resources available to feed people with.

A final point that really bothered me was the movie’s theme that the agriculture industry is trying to hide how food is produced. I personally know many farmers and ranchers who spend their free time trying to reach out and connect with consumers. Check out the Ranch Family Blog or Advocates for Ag to get the food production story from those who know best, actual farmers and ranchers.