A time for every season

World Food Day 2014

Truth and Honesty and Labels

Yesterday someone asked me why I was so angry with the organic movement.  It really caught me off guard.  I thought I was just frustrated, frustrated by the seeming double standard.  "Organic is chemical free.  Organic is better for you."  I have heard it for far too long.

When I went to the Farm Science Review, an "organic" company tried to sell me some pesticides certified for organic use.  And, I was confused.  Had I misunderstood what it meant to raise organic food?  Believe me when I say I am now totally baffled by the organic movement.

Hank Campbell wrote an interesting article entitled, Food Awareness Should Include Disclosing Pesticides on Organic Food, in January of 2014.  So, organic foods containing pesticides is not a new discovery.  But, wouldn't some of the GMO crops on the market today help further the work of the Organic Movement?  Crops that are more resistant to pests or weeds, wouldn't this mean less chemicals being sprayed on our food?

Many agvocates have tried to dispel myths that exist regarding GMOs.  Greg Peterson, of the Peterson Farm Brothers, explains GMOs and the use of technology in agriculture in his blog, Greg Peterson - Advocate for Truth: GMOs:

What are GMOs?

GMOs, or genetically modified organisms, will also be referred to in this blog as GM Food, GM Crops, GM Products, Genetic Engineering, and Biotechnology. Biotechnology in plant agriculture is the process of intentionally making a copy of a gene for a desired trait from one plant or organism and using it in another plant. Humans have been intentionally changing the genetics of crops since the beginning of their existence. In fact, every single fruit, vegetable, and grain that is grown by farmers today has been genetically altered (through hybrids and selective breeding) to produce better taste, yield, or disease/drought/insect resistance. While GMOs are slightly different than hybrids, they are simply the newest form of this type of technology and have been around since the early 1990s.  

Greg has even addressed the issue of Christian Ethics in regard to the use of GMOs and other similar technologies in his blog post, My Perspective as a Christian on GMOs.

Here I pause to mention that I have a good friend who is a pastor of two local United Methodist Church congregations.  She is originally from Canada, where her family still lives and farms around 1800 acres of land.  Most of their crops are lentils and beans, which are exported to third world countries.  I asked my friend if her farm was a GMO or a non-GMO farm, and she emphatically declared that ethically her family could not raise non-GMO crops.  She stated that just for world sustainability, her family felt called to plant crops that could help feed the world.  And that GMO crops were allowing her family to raise more food using the same amount of effort as previous non-GMO crops had required.  This in turn allowed her family to ship more staple food items to third world countries.  It truly is an ethical dilemma, should her family continue to produce non-GMO crops, with a lower yield to ship at a higher price to the consumers OR, should the family choose to raise higher yielding GMO crops at a lower cost to the consumer?  I have to question whether those in the organic movement have truly considered this issue.

Another problem I have is in inaccurate or confusing labels.  Do you believe that your organic egg that you ate for breakfast is "chemical free?"  Please think again. . .  Check out this graphic to discover the "chemical make-up" of your "organic eggs."  Or consider the banana. . .  Science has taught us that every thing has an chemical make-up.  When someone says that they will never consume something they cannot pronounce, I wish they would please read the chemical label for a banana.  

So, now that I have mentioned labels, let us look at another label.  This one is in a processed food item that comes from Lifeway, a company that produces kefir, the self proclaimed "champaign of dairy products."  I have borrowed this photo from the website of agvocate and dairy blogger, Dairy Carrie.  She is a dairy producer in Wisconsin that ships milk to the plant that processes kefir for

Lifeway.  She has written in her blog that her cows are fed both grass(hay) and grain.  Her cows are not fed an exclusive grass diet.  And, the grain that her cattle are fed are not GMO free.  She believes that Lifeway is being deceptive on the label.  After contacting her cooperative and Lifeway, she noticed that Lifeway had changed the label on their kefir line.  The new label still makes the claim of being from milk of grass-fed GMO free cows.  But, the saga does not end there.  Lifeway goes to great length on their website to explain exactly what cows are producing the milk used exclusively in their kefir.  Lifeway also claims that their kefir is made using just Guernsey milk.  However, Dairy Carrie disputes this because her herd is a mixed herd with many Holstein and Norwegian Red cattle.

Maybe I am angry. . . Maybe my acquaintance is right.  But, if I am angry, it is because companies are playing on consumer fears of technology and GMOs to sell commodities.  And, at the end of the day, I do not believe most farmers oppose labeling products because of what the products might contain.  I believe that they are resistant to labeling products because of the misinformation that is already out in the public.  If you do not believe me, check out this post from the Organic Consumers Association.  Farmers are asked to feed the world a safe product at an affordable cost to consumers.  And, when they successfully use science to produce more food, using less chemicals, at a lower cost, the farmers are criticized.  They are asked to label whether their products utilize technology.  And, when they appropriately label their products, they are attacked by the public "for attempting to poison people."  Yes, I am angry at the double standard.  

Autumn

To the Woman Who Listened. . .

Dear Woman at Church, 

Thank you for hearing what I had to say.

Sincerely, 

A Farmer

A woman stopped me at church this morning.  She told me that she appreciates my posts to FaceBook.  She said that she never questioned the labeling of her food.  She confessed that she took the labels at face value.  If something said it was organic, then she thought that meant that no GMOs were involved in the production of the product.  She also thought that meant that the product was made or raised using no pesticides or chemicals of any sort.  She said that the articles that I post to FaceBook have done a lot to educate her on American farming and food practices.  She even said that her perceptions of the American farmer and the farming process have changed since reading many of the articles I have shared.  And, she told me that I am making a difference by sharing these posts on FaceBook.  

Needless to say, I was touched.  Sometimes I think I am wasting my time in trying to encourage the consumer to think about their food logically rather than rush to a rash judgment based on the organic or GMO free label.  The label that the consumer pays so dearly for does not necessarily mean that it is chemical free.  And, a non-GMO label can be very deceptive.   

So, what exactly has this woman learned from my posts?  She now knows that a GMO is a genetically modified organism.  It is not an additive to the food chain.  All vegetables, fruits, and grains today are genetically modified to some extent.  And, this is something that really made this woman think that maybe, just maybe all of those labels on her food at the specialty organic grocery market she frequents were misleading.  She now understands that even her pet dog is genetically modified or manipulated to some extent, otherwise she might have a pet wolf.  

Until last week, when I posted a FaceBook link to one of Dairy Carrie's blog posts that decried the mislabeling of products marketed by the Lifeway Dairy company citing concrete proof that a dairy processor was purposely mislabeling its products, the woman at church was happy to believe that her organic gallon of milk was worth every penny of the $7.59 that she paid weekly.  When I posted the link to Dairy Carrie's blog, the church woman decided that she would rather purchase a gallon of milk that was just as nutritious, just as safe to consume but not so expensive nor pretentious as the milk from the organic grocery store.

This touches me in more ways than the church lady can ever know!  At the August Session of AgriPOWER Class IV, we discussed at great length the power of social media.  Those in the anti-agriculture movement are already ahead of the curve when it comes to use of social media.  This led me to state that I have a love/hate relationship with social media.  And, until the church woman told me that she was really beginning to appreciate the work of the traditional American Farmer, I would say that lately my relationship with social media was leaning towards hate/hate.  

Yes, thank you, dear woman at church.  I am glad that you are finding a new appreciation for the American Farmer.    

I Speak For My Sheep

My name is Julie, and I speak for the sheep. . .  My mom told me once that I am an advocate.  I was speaking up for my youngest sister when my older sister was teasing.  I did not know what ADVOCATE meant, so I looked it up.  ADVOCATE: one that supports or promotes the interests of another.  When I thought about the word advocate and my sheep I decided that I could be an advocate for them, too.  My mom says that I am actually an "agvocate."  I am an advocate for something related to agriculture.  

I SPEAK FOR MY SHEEP
Hi, my name is Julie. 
I speak for the sheep.
I promote their wool.  
I promote their meat.  
I water them and feed them. 
I keep them clean.
I take care of my sheep
Even when they are mean.
I feed them on the coldest day.
I water them when the heat is here to stay.
I take them to shows both near and far.
But, I do not let them get into my mom's car.

Yes, my name is Julie
And I speak for the sheep
I never know how many I will keep!
Be it one or ten
Or maybe even more, it depends. 
Because my name is Julie and I really do care about my sheep. 


So, I might stop by my mom's blog from time to time to share interesting stories and facts about sheep!  

The Guardians of the Headings Homestead

Luther

About a month ago, I announced that we had added a new guardian to our farm.  Our addition is Darby, a Great Pyrenees dog.  With our coyote population along the banks of the Little Darby Creek, we had to make a decision to add a guardian dog instead of replacing our working Australian Shepherds.  But, why Great Pyrenees?  What makes this breed of dog so special?

Darby

The Great Pyrenees, also called the Pyrenean Mountain Dog.  It is a large dog that has been used by shepherds for hundreds of years to guard large flocks of sheep, first in the Pyrenees Mountains in the south of Spain and France.  Earliest documented mention of the breed dates to 1405.  By the late 1600s, the breed had become a favorite of the French Aristocracy.


The Great Pyrenees is characteristically protective of smaller animals, such as sheep or goats.  These dogs are also very protective of their masters.  They are usually white but can some grey or tan markings.  Their eyes are always black.  They grow to be over 100 pounds.

Given these statistics, the Great Pyrenees was the best choice for our farm.  We needed a dog that would be gentle with our sheep and children, but wary of strangers.  We have been very happy with our first Great Pyrenees, Luther.  And, we are excited to see how our newest Great Pyrenees fits on our farm!  Our girls love our furry guardians, and I have to admit that my husband and I are very fond of our duo, too!

Madeline Conquers the Leeds' Farm Zipline!

Find out why the EPA Needs to #DitchTheRule!

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