The Complex Simplicity of Food and Health - Video #1

Life, complex . The complexity lies in the fact that every aspect of life is shrouded in layers, like an onion. Each of these layers presents a complexity that must be worked through to get to the next layer. More complexity. Layer after layer as we circle into the core of one aspect of life.

Yet life is simple. Simple in that.. once we arrive at the core after digging through layer after layer, there is a simple striaghtforward foundation.  That foundation is what is really important, not he layers above. Get the foundation right, and everything else falls into place. Get the foundation wrong and.. its simply not fixable at the higher complex layers. 

So the answer to life is... seek the center, the core, the foundation. What is the single most basic underlying principle that drives every issue in life. Then.. life is simple. 

This post is a perfect application of this. With this post I announce a new line of videos. Videos that dive deep into common complex issues of health, food, government, indiviudal, etc.  Yet these are all layers.. in the video we attempt to dig down to the simple foundation and share what is really important.

This does not mean that the layers are not important.. they are. What I am saying is that FIRST we must establish the foundation. It is a mindset. A way of viewing the topic of health and food.  Once that is done, we can properly address all the complex layers above. 

I know, your wondering.. "what is he talking about???".  

I am talking about our health, or the lack thereof, which has caused a healthcare crisis in our nation. 

I am talking about our food, which is the most basic aspect of health.

I am talking about our  individual primary resource of money. 

And I am talking about how these three go together into  very simple formula anyone can follow.

Please take 20 minutes to watch this video. It could change your life, for the better. This truth changed ours several years ago. It is a difficult journey full of sacrifice, to attain great reward. We invite you to take this journey with us. We have been living what is presented in this video for these last few years, so we know first hand what it means. Every objection you can come up with, we have worked through in our own life. The principle stands through it all.

So please, take 20 minutes. watch and prayerfully consider what is presented here. It is the key to health. 

VIDEO- Health and Food, How to know what food is good without labels

Feel free to comment here, or on the youtube page. Start a discussion, share your ideas, frustrations, expectations. 

URGENT call to action - protect NONGMO certification

We just learned that the "NON_GMO PROJECT" is proposing lowering the standards for non-gmo animal feeds quite dramatically.

Currently the "action level" (meaning the maximum level of detectable GMO contents within animal feed) is at 1.5%. the proposal is to increase this  to 5%.  What that would mean is.. when you buy animal feed "certified" to not contain GMO ingredients, there can be up to 5% GMO detectable and still be considered "perfectly fine".

NON-GMO feed will not mean "GMO FREE", but rather "JUST A LITTLE GMO".

Please take a moment and let them know your thoughts.. this is open to public comments now, but only today. The public comment period closes at midnight tonight, Jan 8.


Click here for more information
http://www.nongmoproject.org/product-verification/non-gmo-project-standard/

Click here to go directly to the survey to respond
https://nongmoproject.wufoo.com/forms/nongmo-project-public-comment-round-2-2015/

Personal opinion:

This is very saddening. The organic label has degraded substantially since its inception, by constant small compromise on the standards to accommodate this desire or that.  Today the organic standard is but a shell of what it was originally envisioned.  Based on this, it looks as though the non-gmo guys are going that same route.. start strong but compromise  repeatedly in small amounts so no one notices.

Personally I think it is FALSE ADVERTISING to put a "NONGMO" label on a bag of feed that can contain up to 5% of detectable GMO content. It can actually be much higher than that in any particular bag, because the 5% is not per bag, but based on a yearly average.  An individual bag could contain much higher amounts of GMO ingredients.

The Evils of Cheap Food

Last night, a friend and long time colleague of mine put his two young twin girls to bed, alone for the first time. His vibrant young wife passed away yesterday from a short months long battle with cancer.  It is heartbreaking, but not uncommon in our world today.

Cheap Food, something sought after for decades, is killing us, one at a time.

I am not saying that cheap food is the cause of cancer alone... there are many contributing factors, but all the evidence clearly shows that cheap food is at root of many, if not most health issues. Food devoid of nutrients and filled with toxins.  Food with a long shelf life, cheap selling price, pretty packaging, easy transportability, and... death.

Food is life. What we eat determines our health. Food can be a source of healing or a source of damage. What determines this? largely... price. Cheap food is both devoid of nutrients and filled with toxins. Pesticides and herbicides are easily found in the urine of children and pregnant women who consume cheap food.  It is not found in the urine of those who consume expensive food.

The difference? Farming styles, processing and packaging.

Conventional farming has been driven for decades to produce food more cheaply. Demand for lower prices at the store drive the farmer to lower his standards and find ways to produce food at lower costs. Chemicals manufacturers filled the gap with innovative ideas on using chemicals to produce artificial growth, artificial food, at lower costs.

And the cancer rate in america climbs. Disease takes off and goes from rare to common in only a few decade.  The common denominator? cheap food.

This is all BEFORE gmos, we can not blame gmos on the current health issues where families are torn apart by death and suffering. Things will only get worse, much worse, as gmos infiltrate the food supply. But the battle is NOT with gmo's... if we banned all gmos across the nation, we would not get any less sick, no less death, because the death and sickness we have today is not from gmos, it is from plain conventional agriculture focused on price, efficiency, prettiness.. rather than nutrition and pureness.

Bottom line... cheap food is conventionally produced food, filled with poisons to artificially make it appear more attractive at lower prices. IT is a lie. Safe money on food, and pay with your life.

There is a direct relationship between the price of food and how much good or bad that food will bring you. The lower the price, the more damage it causes. The higher the price, the more health it brings. We can forget about gmo's.. labeling issues, etc. Its not about that.. it is about price. If the food is cheap, corners were cut, and nutrition, the hidden aspect of food, has suffered.

Little Sprouts Farm will not compromise, will not produce nor sell cheap food. We offer the highest possible nutrition, doing everything we can to increase the healing qualities of our food. We do not cut corners. As a result, our foods are perhaps the most expensive around... not because we are getting rich... but because we care about your health first. We are part of the solution, not part of the problem.

Our philosophy is.. "all of the above".. meaning... we do everything we can to each type of food to increase health benefits. No longer do you have to choose between "cage free" , "pastured" , organic", "soy free" , "high omega 3" in your eggs... we do it all at once.  We treat animals humanely, improving genetics with each generation. We dont spend money on fancy packaging... we put all our investment inside.

My own children eat what we make. It is our life.  We do not buy cheap food, and we do not sell cheap food. We avoid it like the plague. Our food budget is huge... we have had to shift our family priorities around and drastically change our lifestyle to accommodate. But we are very glad we did.

IT is hugely saddening to have parents come by to hear our story of how we beat many serious health conditions with nothing but good real  food, only to leave uncommitted because of price or convenience.  Often, these same parents that refuse to spend money on good food for their children leave in a fairly new car, with a Starbucks cup inside. IT breaks our heart to watch over and over.

Priorities, cheap food is evil. It kills.

As my heart hurts for my friend, waking his girls up to a motherless day today, the start of the rest of their life, I am proud to have never compromised on food quality. We will never make excuses for our food prices. They are fair based on the value inside and cost to produce. Our commitment to you, is to bring you the best food possible, at a reasonable price.

Know your farmer... ask questions... demand answers.

Food is your life.

"Country of Origin" Labeling ends... but is that bad?

I saw this ad on facebook and a thought hit me:

Is this a bad thing?   yes.. and no.

Sure.. I understand how people who rely on grocery stores are so concerned with labels. when you don't or can't know the people that produce your food, then labels are all you have. I get that...

BUT

Is not that actually the heart of the problem?
The reliance on the middle man, instead of the producer?
The reliance on labels instead of a relationship with the producer?
The distance between farmer and consumer?

The fact that meat will no longer forcibly carry a label of origin is actually a great boon to a return to local food, to a return to "knowing your farmer". It is true  what critics say.. now you dont know where your meat comes from... but wasn't that always true? Nothing has really changed.. unless you were trusting that all american made meat was healthy while all foreign meat was dangerous... but thats not true! It is the american meat system that is at the heart of the real problem.. so knowing hte country of origin at the store is not helpful, knowing your farmer IS helpful.

See, here is the real problem... we tend to rely on labels. Labels are ADVERTISING, MARKETING, controlled largely by the government. There is some prevalent yet silly notion that if the government approves of the label, the product inside must be healthy. Nothing is further from the truth! Consider the GMO labeling effort... sure there may be some value in knowing what is GMO and what is not.. BUT... only for those who are ok with consuming toxic conventionally produced foods anyway... because all those who care about their food are already buying organic or better yet...  from a known "beyond organic" farm.  IF a person is ok buying a food labelled "non-gmo", then they already conceded health, so why does it matter?

So what does that mean?

I say, we need to forget about labels and push to know the farmer. Dont buy anything "anonymously"  at a store if you can buy the same thing from a farmer, or from a farm you know.  Take charge of your own life, quit relying on government agencies to protect you.. and get out there to find a farm you trust. Buy from them... support them.. put your trust in yourself and the people you know.

then all the battles over labels are a moot point! Who cares?!?  labels no longer matter.

To the activists I say... quit fighting the battle on the terms of big business... you will loose just as we lost the organic vs conventional battle that way. Instead, remove the financial incentive to produce bad food by educating the public to buy from a farmer they know.  Take the battle to a whole new level, flank the enemy by moving the battle to what they can not control.. the hearts and minds of your neighbors. Forget government regulations... thats a game that big business plays better than anyone. Instead we take the message directly to the consumer. Buy nothing but beyond organic food, from a farmer you know.

Problem solved.

No Honey available for 2016 till maybe 2023

With all the good news for 2016, there is one black cloud. We will not be bringing back Little Sprouts honey for this next year.

As you may recall, we stopped producing honey as soon as we learned that a somewhat local farmer had planted GMO alfalfa in the Sams Valley area. The subsequent legal battle and court settlement between that farm, and the county has been in the works for quite some time. Now that the settlement is reached, and GMO alfalfa is here to stay for 5 to 8 years, Little Sprouts is forced out of the honey business.

Why?  The GMO alfalfa is within feeding distance of any hives located on our land. Offering honey produced that is likely to contain GMO pollen from that alfalfa field is not something we are willing to do. WE will not compromise on quality or health in our products.

GMO testing?  not practical... since each hive feeds independently, we would have to test each and every hive when harvested. At the cost of about $300 per test, the cost removes any potential profit from a natural type hive as we use. To raise the quality of honey we were raising, it requires lots of smaller hives... but that would mean lots of testing, so not practical.

So, as much as we would like to offer the unique honey we were producing, we simply cant. Our honey business is shut down until the other farm decides to remove the gmo alfalfa crop, which could be 5 to max of 8 years from now. This is why the popular phrase"co-existence" is totally bogus. organic and gmo can not co-exist. Not unless the GMO farm is required to pay for testing of potential contamination of their crop ot surrounding farms.  But legally they are not. not even in Jackson county. The responsibility of protecting the public from GMO toxins is solely on the organic farmer.

Fair? no.  Just? No.  Legal? yes.

There seems little we can do but pause our own business until they decide to follow the county ordinance. If anything changes... we will certainly let you know.. but as of now.. GMO wins for the next half a decade.

Little Sprouts will not Compromise Quality --- period

With the celebrations floating around (and rightfully so) over the jackson county GMO ban settlement, we have receive a number of suggestions... to compromise.

We would like it to be officially known that we, Little Sprouts Farm, will not compromise quality of our products. Our commitment to you, our customer, stands firm that we will do everything in our power to maintain the highest standard of health and quality possible.

Even in light of the court accepted settlement which means Jackson county will be GMO free... in almost a decade. Yes, it could take as long as 8 years to rid our county of the GMOs already planted here.

In light of this, and to not dampen the "celebrations" of the ordinance remaining strong through the settlement, some have suggested that Little Sprouts can continue business as usual with a GMO alfalfa field within feeding distance to our farm. The controls put into place  give a very low chance that any contamination could take place (assuming they are followed).  But... as one customer put it "Little sprouts would be only a little GMO".

Well we are not.  If there is even a small chance that the honey could contain GMO pollen, we will not produce it.  That is our commitment to you, and our business model.  So, the bottom line is.. my farm has been the sacrifice in this settlement. I have to give up producing honey, because of my commitment to quality, for 5 to 8 years.  The time frame is not even under my control. The judge has given precedence to the GMO farm, and allowed them to choose when to replant their field... with apparently no regard for this farm and its business concerns.  We are forced to STOP our production of honey, so that they can continue their production of GMO alfalfa.

Hence, people suggesting that "just go ahead, all the other honey producers in that part of the valley are continuing"...  well I do not speak for them, and I do not know what their plans are... but we will not compromise.  So, because of our commitment to quality for our customers, we are forced out of the honey business on our land to support the gmo alfalfa business on a neighboring property.

This is why coexistence is not possible... It is not based on "if contamination happens"... it is based on the fact that quality must be compromised.  My business model of quality first is not compatible with GMO farming.  I have already suffered a financial and personal loss, whether contamination happens or not.

For the record, I do support the settlement. However, we need to be honest and open about the damage caused by this judge forced "coexistence" experiment.  It has already failed, because we lost an entire aspect of our farm, due directly to co-existence.

Bottom line - Little Sprouts will not, for the next several years, be producing honey products on our land.

I do not have a recommendation for where to purchase honey, other than to remind you that bees feed up to 10 miles from the hive, and are attracted to the largest color spot seen from the air.


More to come---

Press Release - GMO Settlement is final

Here is the official press release about the court settlement in the county wide anti-GMO ordinance.

Read the Settlement Press Release

I will be posting more information about this issue and the consequences we face over the next few days.

NEWSFLASH --- NonGMO Is Still Toxic!

I am troubled by the need to post this... And I suspect this will become the first of a series of posts on this particular topic.

Before I go further, let me assure you, I believe in the non-gmo movement. GMO crops must be stopped before its too late.  Please do not interpret anything here as being pro-GMO.

Now that said...

Simply put... Non-GMO food and feed (food for humans, feed for animals) is just as toxic today as it was 5 years ago.  nothing has changed... except the public perception.  Before the non-gmo movement, we called it "conventional" and it carried a huge negative connotation.  Today we call it "Non-GMO" and it is perceived as .... fine.

To be clear.. here are the options for both food and feed:

Beyond organic - Real Food - Highest Quality - high in nutrients without toxins
Organic - Ok Food - Medium quality - low in nutrients but without toxins
Conventional - Bad Food - low in quality - devoid of nutrients and high in toxins
GMO - Horrible Food - lowest quality - devoid of nutrients while highest in toxins and potential damages from genetic changes

What today is called "non-gmo" is usually conventional... the deadly stuff.  The stuff that has caused the health crises in america and around the world.  The stuff that causes cancer, development problems, etc. The stuff that carries enough poisons to be detectable in the blood of consumers, even in the blood passing to unborn babies in the womb. the food that carries enough toxins to be found in the urine of young  developing children who consume it.

Here's the problem... and in this i now refer to the "feed" market, meaniong what is fed to animals, not people. With all the hype about non-GMO, something has changed... and that something is the perception of conventional. What was just a few years ago considered a "posion" is now the most sought after feed. The demand for organic feed has decreased while the demand for non-gmo conventional feed has increased substantially.  Read that again... the demand for poisonous feed has increased dramatically!  Here in Rogue valley, the heart of the non-gmo movement... Organic feeds are disappearing. Organic hay and straw is hard to find, harder than ever.  Organic whole grains are virtually non-existent.  It has all been replaced by non-gmo certified feed. And people are OK with that!

Let me state this simply... The collateral damage from the non-gmo movement is... people are now ok with conventional non-gmo feed.  And not just "ok" , they feel GOOD about it!  What was considered a poison a few years ago, is now considered not only acceptable, but better than "average"... whatever that is.

Here's an exercise... call around to for simple product.. say goat milk. Ask the farmers.. What hay or alfalfa do they use? What grains? What straw for bedding?  Virtually all will say "non-gmo!" meaning.. "we use the poisonous but not genetically altered stuff".  I know this locally because it is virtually impossible to find truly organic hay, alfalfa, and straw in this valley.

I fear that we have wont he battle, and are loosing the war. By shifting the battle from "organic vs conventional" to "non-gmo vs gmo"   we have shifted the front lines in a major retreat. to prevent an ever greater evil (gmos) we have conceded the battle of organic vs conventional.  the enemy (conventional agriculture) took two steps forward, then one back... and we celebrate.

Lets get one thing straight... Nongmo food or feed is poison... its a slow but deliberate toxin delivery mechanism. We are not improving anything by feeding non-gmo. nothing.  in fact, a non-gmo label is  simply relabeling the same conventional product that was shown to cause cancer a few years ago. Nothing has changed except that people feel good about buying and using this poison today because "at least its not gmo".

I realize that this might cause a raised eyebrow or two, but it must be said, and discussed. WE need a strategy. We must correct this now worse evil caused by the non-gmo success, or our children will suffer an even greater price than what we fight to prevent.

Enough said for now.. I'll post more here as time permits and ideas emerge.

Newsflash! Jackson gmo ban upheld in court

Just heard... federal judge released the judgement stating that jackson county gmo ban stands as is. The lawsuit against the county is denied.

Here is a link to the actual judgement


 judgement text 


One thing this means is that we can now start back into honey production in a big way! We had stopped all honey production since our old time natural methods are totally incompatible with gmo crops within 10 miles. Now, with gmos prohibited once again... healthy honey is ready to flow again!

The final answer to Global Warming : Feed the planet!

First, let me be clear, I am personally not a "believer" in man made global warming per se. I have personally looked at the evidence on both sides and come to the conclusion that "man made global warming" (aka. climate change today) is a man made political event designed to grab more control in certain political organizations by ensuing panic on a wide scale.  that said... what I write about today is a unique answer WHETHER YOU BELIEVE IN GLOBAL WARMING OR NOT!

That's right... If you are panicked about global warming, climate change, or whatever it is called today,, then this is extremely important news for you!

If you dont care about global warming or man made climate change, then this is extremely important news for you!

Bottom line..  CO2 in the atmosphere can be successfully , inexpensively, and quickly sequestered from the atmosphere and placed back into the ground. No rocket science necessary. All we need to do is... grow food!

Yep, once again farming done right  is the answer to the world's evils.  Through proper farming the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere can be lowered to pre-panic levels within a couple years. No need to spend money, no need for new rules and laws and life changing mandates. All we need to do is feed the world.  Simple.

What is farming done right?  It is farming where the soil is a precious commodity, and the farmer does all he can to increase the life and vitality of the soil . through this   three things happen:

• production of food increases
• plants naturally turn huge amounts of CO2 into carbon and oxygen
• The earth improves in many ways

So you see.. it is not burning of fossil fuels that produced the excess carbon dioxide.... it is the altering of farming practices in the industrialized world! That's the bottom line... modern farmers are responsible for more of the imbalance of CO@ today than factories, manufacturing, driving, energy production, etc.  the biggest single reason for the imbalance IS ... commercialized farming.

So, next time you feel like complaining about a gas guzzler on the road, think about the conventional veggies or meat you just purchased. By purchasing in-organic products you have become part of the biggest reason for excess CO2 in the atmosphere. Yes, YOU, not the other guy... you.  Because YOU are supporting the industry responsible for placing the carbon in the air and preventing natural routes of cleaning that through plants and soil. Instead of buying that hybrid car... just buying all organic would do enough to not only stop but reverse the perceived effects of global warming.

Bold claims? perhaps, but supported by many studies.

A quote from an article in the huffington post:

According to the latest research from Ohio State University's Rattan Lal, Texas A&M's Richard Teague, IFOAM's Andre Leu (as reported in the UN paper "Wake Up Before It's Too Late" (UN) and the Rodale Institute anywhere from one-third to one-half of manmade CO2 in the atmosphere comes from industrial agriculture. That's more than all the emissions from the burning of fossil fuels worldwide. How is it possible that with the entire planet focusing on reducing CO2 emissions we're not even paying lip service to the single largest contributor? (Rodale)

You can follow those links to find the details behind the statement...  in short, it is modern agriculture that is responsible for the CO2 imbalance that gives rise to the warnings about global warming or climate change.  I will quote a bit more from the article here:

But that's only half of the story. To makes matters worse, industrial agriculture compounds the problem by preventing soil from reabsorbing that carbon, thus trapping it in the atmosphere.
To understand how, it's important to remember a few simple facts: There is no waste in nature (she reuses everything); We don't create carbon (we just move it from place to place); and, nature is literally dying to take back the excess carbon we put into the atmosphere and reuse it to grow us more stuff.
So why isn't nature doing this? Turns out that our mistreatment of soil is preventing nature from doing what she does naturally and cycling carbon back from the atmosphere. We are literally disrupting the process of photosynthesis -- where plants break CO2 molecules apart, release the oxygen and take the carbon underground -- by killing the life that should exist in soil that needs that carbon. We do this by spraying it with chemicals, tilling and killing the latticework of fungi, and growing one plant in a field when nature needs variety the same way we need proteins and fats and fruits and vegetables to remain healthy.
Those same studies report that transforming even a small part of industrial agriculture land to healthier, regenerative methods can lead to sequestering more than 100% of current CO2 emissions in just three years. And everything the soil sequesters that's above what we're currently emitting will come from -- you guessed it -- the excess in the atmosphere. That means we are literally beginning to reverse climate change in just a few years. Re-open the pathways, draw down the carbon. (Drawdown)

So there you have it. Global Warming / Climate change / Phrase of the day sourced in CO2 imbalance is laid at the feet of the modern farmer, the conventional chemical based AG.  Do your own research and you will quickly see the following facts:

1. Natures method of returning excess CO2 to the ground is through green plants
2. Modern conventional farming blocks this natural process
3. organic farming supports this process
4. intensive grazing of animals encourages this process tremendously

So a return to organic and traditional small acreage farming will do the following:
1. Reverse the CO2 imbalance at the heart of climate change within a very short time
2. Drive disease down in humans, improving health and thereby solving hte healthcare crises by removing most of the need for health care.
3. Build the fertility of our soil for future generations
4. Stop the chemical poisoning of our land, air, and water
5. Produce more food than we do currently
6. Provide more jobs than agriculture does currently
7. Bring farming back into a profitable, attractive, and respected profession to attract new entrants.
8. Provide a work environment for young people to learn the american work ethic and ingenuity.

So bottom line: the single biggest thing you can do to stop and reverse global warming is to stop buying inorganically produced food from large farm operations. Find a local small farm that does things right, and buy all that you can there.  Its truly that easy.


References:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larry-kopald/nature-wants-her-carbon-b_b_6173358.html
http://www.planet-tech.com/upsidedrawdown
http://rodaleinstitute.org/regenerative-organic-agriculture-and-climate-change/
http://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/ditcted2012d3_en.pdf

Hobby farms and the demise of the full time farmer

Warning: This is perhaps the most controversial post  I have ever done, and I must say I have hesitated for weeks on how to present this idea.  As you read through, please keep an open mind and  consider the points raised.  What finally prompted me to post this is a recent blog post from another small family farm that didnt survive. this one hits close to home. A family that started a small far, committed all their savings, time, and energy into making the best food possible, but in the end failed to make a living. they were forced to sell and move back into obscurity in town, leaving their customers with no where to turn.   With that tragedy in mind,  please consider my comments. 

There are 3 types of farms in America today :

• Hobby farms
• Family owned for profit farms
• Corporate owned big ag

A common question is... What's the difference between the hobby farm and the family farm?  This is both a great question and the essence of this posting.

Hobby farm is (my own definition)  any farm not intended to make a profit. It is not the size that defines hobby,  but the motivation. A farmer that does not have a goal of making a living wage off the farm is a hobby farmer. A hobby farm is one that assume the need for off farm income to survive. The main goal of most hobby farms is to produce high quality nutritionally superior food for a small group of people at the lowest cost possible. 

Contrast this with a for profit family farm.  This is the farmer that does not work off farm to support the family,  but depends on the farm income. Sure sometimes things go wrong and outside income is necessary,  but the goal is to live off the farm exclusively. It is not what the family does for fun, it is what they do for food, clothing, and shelter. the main goal of a small family farm is to produce high quality nutritionally superior food for the largest number of people possible without sacrificing quality, while making a living in the process. 

The corporate farm is of course dedicated to maximum profit at all costs,  raising production and dropping quality  while consuming government handouts. Size is a factor here, because bring efficiency at the cost of quality and longevity.  the main goal of the corporate farm is profit, at all costs. 

The question of this post is this... what is the greatest competition to small family for profit farms?  the conclusion I have come to is surprising, even shocking.  But I believe it is real.  The most harmful competitor is in fact NOT big ag, not large conventional farms. It is the hobby farm... it is those good intentioned individuals with honor and high ideals.  Hobby farms are what is enabling big ag to dominate.

Before you get upset, and throw this post away, please hear me out. 

Big Ag -- primarily sold through grocery stores, is easy for small farms to compete with. They lack quality. They lack integrity. They lack personal bond with customers. They lack principles of healing the earth, being kind to nature.  there are dozens of things that big ag can not do, and has no interest in doing, because of their size and focus.  They are , in essence an easy target. the only thing they offer the public is convenience and low price, at the cost of health, nutrition, environment, etc.  Those that shop for food by price, at walmart, will not even consider buying eggs for $7 per dozen. those willing to pay $7 per dozen for decent eggs are not willing to grace the door of walmart for food. 

But, that leaves two sources to consider for the individual who cares about nutrition and environment:  hobby farms and for profit family farms.  They both offer a superior product to anything available from the grocery store. BUT there is a fundamental difference. Hobby farms often operate at a loss or break even.  I have often heard the comment" if i can just cover my feed cost with these egg prices I will be happy".  You can substitute any product in that phrase and it fits.  hobby farms just want to cover costs, and usually employ little to no labor.  Therefore their prices, for excellent food, are artificially low. It is food sold "at cost". 

This sets the bar of pricing low, so that when a small family farm tries to make a profit, their pricing must remain higher than corresponding local hobby farms.  The difference is that hte for profit farm has no other income, so must make at least minimum wage on its products to exist. the hobby farm can sell literally at cost to produce without labor.  therefore, the biggest competitor to family farms is the hobby farm. 

Why is this a problem? well.. obviously the hobby farm must have a second income to exist. the food itself does not provide income. it must be subsidized by other non farm labor.  That necessarily splits the focus of the hobby farm, and limits its production abilities. There can not be an individual dedicated to producing as much good food as possible because time and energy must be left to do things that actually make money.  therefore, quality and quantity can not be what it could be. hobby farms, by definition, are part time farmers.  

For example... Pasteurized non-organic milk from stressed unhealthy coos for $4 per gallon in the store does not compete with milk we produce.  BUT milk from local hobby farms sold for $15 per gallon does. Yet, any dairy person will tell you that $15 per gallon at best will only cover costs of producing it.  They dont make a profit, they do it because they love to, or because they want to help the world. yet, setting the price bar this low, at cost, prevents many more dairies from going into operation to provide milk to even more people at $20 per gallon at a profit.  You see, selling good food at cost of production HURTS everyone in the long run.

Now I ask you.. how does this model scale?  while I certainly agree that food should be reasonably prices, the reality is.. if you dont have small for profit farms you are left to only part time hobby farms and big ag. will that feed the world?  how are we to change the health of our nation if we are limited to part time farmers and big ag?  we NEED small family farms to produce the bulk of the food, and they need to make a living doing it. 

Where am i going with this?  I am not entirely sure.  one thing I know is this.. if hobby farms would price their food high enough to make minimum wage while producing it,  instead of making food at cost, there would be LOTS more food available to more people of high quality.   many more families would venture into the farming world full time, producing much more food at reasonable true prices. 

Am i against coops , food sharing, bartering, etc etc? no. not against. but I throw out for a discussion a warning that if we continue to produce good food at cost, we will someday ONLY be able to find good food from people willing to do it at a loss, part time, in dwindling quantities.  And that is a sad day indeed.

So, bottom line is.. good food production is not in jeopardy from big ag, they are not the enemy.  the Monsantos of the world will never take out small family farms.  but, the sad reality is, hobby farms might. Just as the previous owners of farms that have gone out of business without a second income to support it.  hear their stories. feel their heartbreak.  then go support a full time local family farm. 

It's official! No gmo in Jackson County

It is official!  Our country becomes the first and only County in oregon to eliminate genetically modified crops!  Here is the official news story

GMO ban passes http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140521/NEWS/405210325/-1/rss01

More thoughts on this later! 

To GMO or not to GMO ? that is the question...

 As the battle around GMO based foods heats up here in Jackson county, now is a good time to summarize and reiterate our stance on the subject.  So here are my own top thoughts on the matter of GMO based foods.

Lets lay down some known facts to frame the discussion:

1. The unintentional spread of pollen from GMO crops can not be prevented. 

2. GMO crops have not, to date, produced higher yields than non-gmo crops

3. The safety of GMO foods has not been proven, and has not even been thoroughly studied. 

4. The primary purpose for genetic modification is to allow the use of higher, or built in, pesticides and herbicides, leaving higher traces of poison in the foods that reach the supermarket and tables. 

5. the primary supporters of GMO agriculture is the companies that produce them, and the government officials they bribe and support. 

6. GMO crops are more susceptible to failure from unexpected weather patterns, putting our food supply at risk. (which partially explains #2)

7.  GMO varieties eventually cause permanent extinction of non-gmo varieties (because of #1)

the bottom line here is that the only entities that benefit from GMO crops is, in fact, the producer of the GMO crop itself and the producers of the chemical poisons used on the GMO crop as herbicides and Pesticides. Well, i suppose there is one other benefactor... the politicians that get paid to promote and support GMO crops.  Everyone else looses. 

One of the little known facts about GMO that I'd like to point to is this...  The foundational system of these crops is flawed, in a bad way.  All throughout history, farmers have kept their own seed from crop to crop, generation to generation. With each successive planting and harvest, the genetics of the plants slowly improve because of the "survival of the fittest".  The plants are adapting to the particular ground, the weather patterns, the farming style,  the environment, etc of that particular farm. The plant improves every year even without the farmer doing anything except keeping a percentage of seed each year to plant the next years crop. that is how nature works. 

until... gmos enter. With gmo's it is a requirements that the seeds come from a central producer each year... the company that produces the genetic trait.  It is the same seeds, planted all across the country, every year. that means that each year the crops are starting from scratch again. There is no chance for improvement, no adaptation to local weather, ground, or farming styles. The genetics are tightly controlled by a single entity, the corporation producing the gmo seeds. Regardless of the benefit of hte genetic trait itself... the seeds loose all of the other advantages of local adaptation, so to gain one positive trait, it loosed a dozen others.  It is a net loss. 

This is why genetically modified crops have not, to date, produced higher nor cheaper yields. What they gain in a particular trait they loose in many others and from year to year, the lack of other positive traits reduces yield more than the single beneficial trait increases it. 

As if that wasn't enough, there is yet another insidious but hidden fault in the foundation. Since the genetic trait is owned by a single entity, and all the seeds are identical.. all across the nation...  anything unexpected that happens in the weather or growing conditions will and has doomed crops all across the nation to fail. They are all susceptible to the same problems! Again, in times past, every farmer , every area, has a slightly different seed, adapted to its local environment. So if an unexpected weather patter arises, only a portion of the nations crops are susceptible, the rest are immune. that is insurance.. the bulk of the food supply is safe. With GMO's, the food supply is at great risk to seemingly minor weather patterns. 

So there you have two important foundational reasons that the use of GMO crops is bad for our nation... and puts our food supply at risk. Even when you set aide the safety argument, and the political argument, and the uncontrollable contamination argument... even if the genetic trait IS beneficial, even if you disregard the resulting production of super weeds and super bugs... with all that put aside, genetic modification in and of itself is flawed foundationally for the above two reason and should be stopped. 

In my humble opinion, this is not just a question for Jackson county, it is a matter of national security.  IF the worst happened, and our crops were all switched to GMO either intentionally or unintentionally,  we are at risk for national food shortages due to simple weather pattern changes Or bio terror attacks from our enemies. 

To GMO or NOT ?  its simple... NOT. not here, not anywhere.. because the loss is greater than the gain. 

Research Shows that Monsanto's Big Claims for GMO Food Are Probably Wrong

Fascinating science that may not make the light of day in mainstream news!

Research Shows that Monsanto's Big Claims for GMO Food Are Probably Wrong

The article below does a great job of explaining the details of this peer reviewed study, and I encourage you to read it in entirety.  Here is my summation of what they found:

1. GE crops have NOT increased yields overall.  Europe, which banned GE crops, had expanded in yields faster than america which has wide adoption of GE crops.  In fact America's production has remained constant over the years of GE adoption. There simply is NO increase in overall yield.

2. Ge crops, if they do well, are not necessarily due to the genetic alteration at all. The genetic alteration gives one trait to the plant, but the success or failure of the crop could be due to  the other aspects of plant life, having nothing to do with the genetic modification.

3. MOST IMPORTANTLY... there is an inherent flaw in the concept of genetic modification. This is in the concept of genetic diversity (or lack thereof).  GE crops, by nature, so not have genetic diversity. This causes all plants, grown across america, to have the same strengths and weaknesses  as each other. Anything that causes  that particular variety of plant to fail, will cause massive failure because they are all the same! The losses due to this law of nature are greater than any potential benefit from the genetic alteration, and therefore the entire concept of genetic engineering is inherently flawed!

Genetic diversity is a requirement of nature. Lack of genetic diversity is  "inbreeding". It leads to breakdown of genetic strength through common mistakes in reproduction, leading to weaknesses magnified each generation. This happens in plants as well as animals.  The genetic process of reproduction is similar in all of nature. With the adoption of genetically engineered crops comes a necessary lessening of diversity, a drastic one as these researchers found out.

What does this mean? Simple....  even if you lay aside the growing debate about safety of the genetically altered food, even if you lay aside the sure prospects of unintentional contamination of non genetically altered crops and subsequent extinction of pure genes, even if you lay aside the dangers of single corporations owning a bulk of the food supply through patent laws, even if you lay aside the evidence that truly organic production out performs any commercially supported GE crop,   even if you lay aside people's right to know what they are consuming,  even then.... there is the fact the genetic modification as a process violates a law of nature rquiring genetic diversity for survival.  Bottom line.... genetic alteration, even if sfe, responsible, successful, and ethical, WOULD STILL DEEPLY ENDANGER OUR FOOD SUPPLY through the lessening of genetic diversity.

Just one more reason to stop this madness and return to proven organic production supported by soil fertility built by humane animal raising.

Here is the article.. please read and share!
http://www.alternet.org/food/why-monsanto-wrong-about-gm-crop-promises?akid=10630.263650.qUeB-T&rd=1&src=newsletter860970&t=7&paging=off

NewsFlash! Now the ONLY certified organic AND non-gmo feed in North America

NEWSFLASH!

Scratch and Peck Feeds is, as of today, the ONLY livestock feed in all of North America that is both certified organic and verified non-gmo!

Today Scratch and Peck received their organic certification. All feeds milled June 13th and after are now certified 100% organic. This is in addition to the earlier addition of being the first feed company in north america to gain verified non-gmo status through the non-gmo project.

These certification are in addition to the more important fact that Scratch and Peck is the absolute best quality feed we have ever seen.  This feed has always been a nutrient dense feed with whole grains, high in omega 3 content, not pelleted, never heated, and a proprietary mix of healthy beneficial ingredients. It is also local, grown and milled on the west coast. You can not find a better quality feed through any other source, we know.. we looked for a very long time !

We are very excited at Little Sprouts Farm to be the Southern Oregon representatives for Scratch and Peck, stocking all their popular feeds locally for pickup or delivery through our local delivery service.

Watch for the CERTIFIED ORGANIC LABEL on  chicken, turkey, goat, hog feeds !

For information on how to switch to this awesomely healthy feed,  contact Little Sprouts Farm at :
541-826-4345
 or
email feeds@littlesproutsfarm.com

or go straight into our online farm store to order yours today: http://www.farmigo.com/store/littlesproutsfarm

If your buying chicken, pork, eggs, duck, turkey, from a local farmer, have them contact us to talk about offering this nutrient dense feed to their animals at bulk discount prices.

Illegal genetically altered wheat found in oregon, 10 years AFTER testing

This news story seems significant in a number of ways. 

My summary: a farmer discovered rogue plants of wheat in his field that didnt die when sprayed with roundup. Subsequent testing by the USDA confirmed that it is a strain of wheat engineered by Monsanto and tested between 1998 and 2005. For some undisclosed reason, the testing ended and Monsanto never actually received a permit to produce the wheat.  Nevertheless this wheat is growing wild, in Oregon, almost 10 years AFTER testing ended. 

One of the arguments of proponents of genetic engineering is the claim that the genes can be contained. If this is true, it seems to totally invalidate that claim.  This was controlled government testing, almost 10 years ago. No further release of the genes, and yet today it is growing wild in a farmers field. 

There seems only 2 explanations:

1. Monsanto broke the law and kept producing and selling GMO wheat without government approval.

2. This is a verified by the government case of GMO wheat "escaping" government controlled testing and remaining in the wild for almost 10 years.

Either way... seems significant. 

And then there is the attitude of our illustrious government officials at the USDA:

USDA officials confirmed they have received no other reports of discoveries of genetically modified wheat. Firko and Acting Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Michael T. Scuse said they have already been in touch with international trading partners to try and assuage any concerns.
"Hopefully our trading partners will be understanding that this is not a food or feed safety issue," Scuse said.

That last line... is quite disturbing. 

The story:   http://www.startribune.com/nation/209376881.html

The 8 year old VS Dr Oz ? Where does wisdom lie?

This article is just too good to pass up. This young bundle of wisdom and common sense, Coral B, at 8 years old, is on a mission. To confront the popular Dr Oz for positions and statements he recently made concerning our food supply and health in general. If this were an adult, it would be filled with merit, but the fact that a little 8 year old girl is heart warming.

The only point I;d like to add to the article is this... this is important. Dr Oz is highly respected by a good part of our population. I personally know of people who follow Dr Oz just as "religiously" as other would follow Dr Mercola or Sally Fallon. If Dr Oz says it.. it must be true! For him to make these statements, which ARE in fact discrediting to the entire local, sustainable, humane and organic food movements, is a crushing blow to the validity of all we hold dear about nutrition and humanity within food production.

I anxiously await a new story coming soon where Dr Oz is forced to answer Coral's challenges.

Read the article here:

http://butterbeliever.com/dr-oz-gets-schooled-by-8-year-old-girl-on-youtube/

Alexa Schmidt talks to 4-H about GMOs

This is a very impressive talk given for the local 4H on the topic of GMOs.

Great Job Alexa!

Underneath the gmo debate

I ran across an article posted in southern oregon online that exemplies the problem underneath to arguments in the gmo debate. The link to the full article is below. What caught my eye in a reasonably well done peice is the closing statement:

" Regardless of the type of agriculture or the location, there are limits to how long any land can remain productive, applying imported fertilizers, or utilizing GMOs, only provides, at best, a temporary halt to the land’s transition to non-productive “wasteland”, and to desertification."

The argument being made here is this - that soil depletion is a given in any style of agriculture so as long as humans use land to grow food, we are killing the planet. Therefore even though gmo crops are bad, we have to do what we can to produce food in a dying world.

All I can say is WOW. I feel so sad for a seemingly knowledgeable author who understands so little and lives with such a fatalist view. On the contrary I can assure you that proper agriculture practices not only stop desertification and depletion, but reverse it! In short.... growing food creates fertile soil when done right.

The problem though, is that anyone educated on modern agriculture assumes that feeding man is the great evil that is killing the world. Science is necessary to come up with ways to lesson the damage. First chemical fertilizers, next genetic alterations. But this itself is the lie. If these beleivers in science would just look to true nature based agriculture, they would see that its not about how little damage we cause, it can be about how much fertility we can add per year. Creating topsoil, increasing fertility, by properly growing food in harmony with nature is the answer. Not only are gmo crops dangerous, they are totally unnecessary!

We have proven this on our own land. I will be posting about this in the days to come in more detail. For now let me share that we have finally found the secrets to fertility, and it is in producing food, not limiting that production. Literally the more food produced, the better the soil, when done right. Amazing! Nature is designed to support an ever increasing population! All we have to do is learn how nature works, and work in harmony.

What are these great mysterious secrets? We will discuss in more detail in coming days, but the root lies in following nature. If you'd like to see for yourself, come on out to the farm and look at what we are doing so far. Look at the growth and fertility brought on by last years food production. One year, one season, and the evidence is dramatic. Producing food increases the ability to produce food!

Here's the article I am referring to:

"Monsanto Protecion Act signed by president" http://feedly.com/k/10jYXuu

Local gmo climate exposed

The best made plans sometimes fail. Such did our winter buying of alfalfa. We attempted to purchase enough alfalfa to carry us through to spring cutting. Unfortunately... We feel short and ran out this week. So.. The scramble starts to find non gmo organic or semi organic alfalfa for the goats and sheep.

Good news is we found some... Almost 3 hours drive away.

During this search, we ran into every imaginable response from local growers. Most, severely disappointing. I'd like to share some.

first let me say that every conversation, without exception, started or with the grower rattling of the list of what they perceive to be important. Things like "looks good", "no weeds", "second cutting", "stored well", etc. then the question start.

Q. Is it organic?
A. Nope

Q. Is it gmo?
A. What's gmo mean?

Q. Where did the seeds come from?
A. I dunno

Q. Is it sprayed with poisons?
A. Of course, it looks real good

Q. Is it organic?
A. No
Q. Is it gmo?
A. You know that organic can be gmo now?
Q. Yes, is yours?
A. I don't know.
Q. Where did you get the seeds?
A. Some place out of state, but this looks real good.

Q. Any organic left?
A. Of choose not, that all sells out in the fall.
Q. Why not plant more?
A. Can't make money with organic
Q. Do you know any one that has any left?
A. No, I get asked that a lot.
Q. Gonna plant more this year?
A. No

So, the organic crop is sold out by end of treat, at higher prices than conventional, people searching for more all winter at even higher prices, yet he would rather just plant conventional which is still sitting in storage unsold at lower prices, hoping he can unload it before this years crop.

But he can't make money on organic?

And on it goes...

Most growers actually were noticeably unhappy, almost insulted by the question of "is it gmo".  On conversation ended with

"if you want not sprayed, put an add in the paper looking for the dirtiest weedy alfalfa possible and maybe you'll find some worthless stuff to buy."

Nice.

But... We found a grower, 3 hours away, that offered pleasantly all the information, even called the owner to determine the source of seeds. It is never sprayed with poisons, no chemical fertilizer applied, and the source checks out to be non gmo! They are considering going official organic soon. Woohoo!

It's a long drive, but if we purchase an entire semi load at a time, the price is good. So we will have plenty soon, perhaps even some to sell!