Mamas, let your babies grow up to be farmers!

From "Flavor" magazine, this editorial by Joel Salatin encourages moms (and dads) to encourage young farmers for the good of us all:


Noble Farming by Joel Salatin

It is on page 17 & 18 of the electronic magazine.

Happy Mother's Day!

Have a COW, man!

Well as of Thursday we own a cow. Well, part of a cow anyway - a Jersey. Her name is Daisy and she lives at Myrtle Acres Farm. This is an amazing arrangement whereby we don't have to milk twice a day but get some of the milk and cream she gives! We did some research into raw milk before we chose this path. Apparently those against the consumption of raw milk present the argument that someone MAY get sick from drinking it, since the pasteurization process has not taken place (and btw most of the cons are from government and, I suspect, dairy industry lobbyists). The pro side suggests that there are many health benefits to raw milk and that the good organisms are done in along with the bad when you pasteurize. Unless your system is already compromised in some way (weak immune system, for example) and provided the milk is handled correctly (which is true of store-bought milk as well) then it is just fine. The family that boards the cows told us that they had extreme lactose intolerance in the family and once they got the cows and started with the raw milk they were able to eat/drink it in any form and no problems (except they've had to clip their fingernails more often). Let's face it, if raw milk was a problem we wouldn't be here, would we? Generations grew strong on its benefits. It is also delicious! We have made butter and a Banana Cream Pie from scratch so far. Just a cold glass is heaven!

What are you worth?

I was discussing this beef article:
http://www.alternet.org/environment/144904/yummy!_ammonia-treated_pink_slime_now_in_most_u.s._ground_beef?page=1
with my husband this morning and he made a really good point. If you buy or choose not to buy from a major food/retail chain, you are a fraction of a penny in their eyes. If you buy or choose not to buy from your local farmer you are $7 a pound, a $26/mo. CSA share, and, over time, much, much more! The source you can look in the eye will always be the source that cares more - about your business, about the quality of the product, about you. When we shopped at Harvest Market the other day my son was much more interested in the process than he usually is when I grocery shop and when we left he said, "Those people were friendlier than the people at the other groceries." What are you worth? Are you worth a fraction of a cent or much, much more?