New Worry - Shy away from conventionally raised pork

There is a constant string of discoveries that point to the need for locally produced pasture raised meats. This one in particular is especially concerning.

It appears that there has been a discovery of a very concerning gene on a medium sized pig farm. The farm has about 1500 sows, that they raise only on farm, no outside genetics or breeding. This particular gene has been found in multiple samples from different sources around the farm.

Why is this so concerning? becasue this gene has the ability to make a variety of bacteria into "superbugs" that are strongly antibiotic resistant. AND, the gene can apparently be transferred to humans where bacteria on the humans can acquire antibiotic resistance.  In other words.. someone could be carrying this gene without knowing it, get a cold or flu or other infection, and discover that the usually easy to deal with bacteria are resistant to all known antibiotics. Not a good situation!

Let me say that it is completely unknown where this "gene" came from or how it got onto the closed ecosystem of this farm. However, as you read through this article, towards the bottom, it makes a clear mention of this:

They made multiple visits last year to the farm, where the sows give birth in tight pens and the piglets are taken to separate pens of 25 each after they are weaned. They found samples of the bla IMP-27 gene in several different samples and in several different species of bacteria, including E. coli and Enterobacteriaceae.

So, this is NOT a pasture based operation where the pigs live outside in the sunshine and fresh air, it is NOT  an organically based operation since the use routine antibiotics on farm. We can "assume" that they are also not using heritage animals with strong immune systems, since those animals are usually raised within the first two criteria of pasture and organic. It is also a pretty safe assumption that these animals are fed commercial soy based "barely good enough" hog feed instead of fresh fruits and vegetables.  Dis any of these issues cause this gene to show up? Its hard to say, BUT we do know that consistent use of antibiotics (as they admit to doing here) causes antibiotic resistance.  I strongly suspect that the combination is what creates a sort of "negative synergy" that gives birth to this and lots of other problems.

The point here is, this is a medium sized operation. It is not technically a "factory farm" or CAFO. And still, the lack of adherence to nature gives rise to these very concerning problems.  It is the practices of conventional breeds, low quality feed, confined spaces that create the need for consistent antibiotic usage and thereby crate these "superbugs".

How do YOU, the consumer avoid this? As we always say.. KNOW YOUR FARMER! Know how he does things... the key points to look for are:

• Heritage breeds for strong immune systems
• Pasture living for fresh air and sunshine
• No confinement births for a naturally cleaned environment
• Good quality organic feed
• At least some feed that is fresh, not from a bag with minimal nutrition
• Completely free of antibiotics, hormones and vaccinations

These form a "minimal accepted standards" for the resulting meat and meat products.

The source of your family's meat is critical... a pretty label or a good flavor or a cheap price are NOT reasons to buy meat. Doing so puts your family into deep health risks, Buy meats only from farms that you KNOW and TRUST and follow at LEAST the above list of criteria.

The full article is here:

http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/researchers-find-rare-superbug-gene-us-pig-farm-n692236

Meet Walter "the Weeder" - Chemical Free Weed control - automated!

Walter has arrived!  Walter the little sprouts weeder robot!

If you remember last year, we toyed with the idea of heat based biological safe weed control . And those tests were quite successful! You can browse through the blog post and see our test plot of using heat to treat the ground before planting.. and the huge difference it made in subsequent weeding.  The use of heat killed sprouted weeds, but also weed seeds, so that the newly planted veggies have little competition during their critical first few weeks.  It is a great no chemical way of weed control!

But ... the down side, our first attempt was VERY labor intensive. So much so  that we actually gave up half way through. We had mounted a propane infrared heater behind a metal 4 wheel wagon and manually pulled it along. Way too heavy, way to slow. Not practical even for the weeding savings.

So.. this year.. we made WALTER! we gave him a name because watching this little guy work is like watching a robot. He slowly plods along burning the weed seeds in the ground as you sit back and watch . Its a BEAUTIFUL thing!

So here is how he works.. We have a few pictures and a couple videos to explain the design. The basic setup is :

• Pulling engine
• a 120 volt winch mounted to a pallet
• a long metal cable (340 feet!) of a very thin diameter
• some safety switches
• Burning platform
• a 120,000 btu propane heater mounted on metal skids
• a wooden cart on skids to hold the propane tank
• some safety switches
• Safety features
• the pulling engine has a pipe that works to kill the winch when the burning platform gets close enough
• The burning platform has a pipe that hits the pallet when it gets close and kills the propane burner

That's Walter! Just line him up, turn him on, and for the next 35 to 40 minutes he patiently burns the ground on a 340 foot row.  The ground is hot, very hot, so hot that a foot behind Walter, you can not hold your hand against the ground. I have not measured, but suspect it is about 120 degrees , and probably about 150 to 200 under the burner.  Hot enough to penetrate a quarter to half inch and kill many weed seeds, but not hot enough to kill the subsoil organisms underneath. 

Some pictures of "Walter the Weeder"

The burning platform, first run. As you can see below, we actually had to change the pull method from the sides to the middle back, becasue this one caught too much dirt by digging in too low in the front. The changed version below worked much better

Propane tank on the holding platform with skids. There is room for two tanks, but used only one today.  The cable attaches on the right of the picture to pull it. The rod at the bottom is the burner safety setup. AS the platform approaches the pallet of the pulling engine, the pipe hits the pallet, slides through the pvc housing, and hits the switch, which turns off the propane burner.

Closeup of the burner safety switch. The pipe gets pushed from the left, through the pvc housing, and the end (wrapped in duct tape) hits the switch (covered with a pad of duct tape). The contact is enough to flip the switch, but then the pipe keeps pushing back without breakinging anything. This allows the burner to turn off long before the winch quits pulling, making synchronizing the two easier. 

View of the burning platform from the front.  The plywood plate on the bottom right of the pic is where the winch safety switch hits the platform to kill the winch. 

Walter in operation! This is the full 330 foot row.  Can you see the pallet??

The updated setup. Instead of a wire down both sides, we put a eye hook in the center of the wooden platform, and ran a wire from the two burner skids through the eyehook That keeps everything going straight and adds just enough up pull to keep the burner from digging into the dirt. 

Closeup of the updated pull system. 

This is a closeup of the winch safety switch on the engine platform. The pipe is inside the pvc housing going to the right, and the end of the pipe is a big ball of foam, wrapped in duct tape. As the rod gets pushed inside the housing from the approaching platform, it slides in  and hits the switch mounted in the brown housing. That switch kills the winch. It takes a few seconds to come to a stop, so the end of the pipe is about 3 inches of foam, plus the actual switch is mounted with a half inch of foam between it and the housing. That provides enough play to keep everything stable, but let the winch come to a halt without breaking anything. 

Engine pallet platform from the burner side That cable going off the bottom is 340 feet of 1/16 inch metal cable. Safety strength is about 100 lbs, enough to pull the burning platform but small enough to fit all that cable on the winch pulley.  The rocks are added weight to keep the pallet from moving towards the burning platform. It takes about 50 lbs to keep the pallet stable. 

Another view of hte pulling engine. The original winch controller is still attached and works, to manually pull the cable in when necessary.  the plywood plate on the upper right is the plate that the burner safety switch hits to kill the burner when it approaches the pallet. 

And now the fun part! a video of Walter working away!

This first video is the burning platform moving. It takes about 40 minutes to complete the 340 foot row. The speed changes of course as the winch winds up the cable, which is a problem to be solved next year.  This is the speed at the far end, when it is just starting. 

The next video is the winch engine pulling. The cable actually wrapped up quite nicely! The motor didn't get too hot running that long, since there is only about 50 lbs being pulled. 

The last video I tried to capture the safety switches running at the end of the row to safely shut Walter down. First the burner safety switch activates to turn off the burner, then the winch switch activates to shut it down to a rest.  I started the video a little late, so its hard to see the first switch activating, but its there in the first 2 seconds. 

UPDATE! Here is a better video of the end of a row showing the safety switched working

Overall we are VERY pleased with Walter... He performed beautifully with only the one small change. I would love to get some temp readings if we have time.. but the priority now is getting these seeds in the ground. 

We may be making Walter available for rent, to anyone local that wants to use heat weed control in your own garden. If you are interested, contact us and lets talk. 

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.

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.

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. 

Why do we even need to consider Obamacare?

I believe that to understand an issue fully it is necessary to dig deep....  To ask the question "why"  repeatedly and thereby uncover the root cause of things.  Here we are embralled in one of the heaviest debates if our nation's history...  Health care...  How do we bring health care to the millions of Americans who don't have it?  Let's dig a little deeper.

Why are we talking about Obamacare?

Two things come to mind :

1. America has the most advanced medicine in the world...  Able to work "miracles" of healing.

2. America has millions and millions and millions of people needing miracles of health care to stay alive.

Without both of these points being true,  we would not be talking about health care.  When you boil these two down you get: "America needs constant miracles of healing through advanced medicine to stay alive"  or "America is perhaps the sickest nation on earth". 

Consider this...  A hundred years ago there weren't these miracles of modern medical science. But life expectancy was not far from today.  Now look at you family,  friends,  neighbors....  How would we fare today without modern doctors,  hospitals,  treatment,  medicines?  I propose that current life expectancy would be much lower than even 100 years ago with modern healthcare.  So basically we as a nation are much sicker than ever,  and rely of modern medicine just to keep up with our grandparents life expectancy! 

So...  Why?  Take away modern treatment and ask what changed...  Why does America need so much healthcare?

The answer lies is the one thing we all do daily to stay healthy....  Eat.  But our food today is totally different from a hundred years ago. The entire food system is changed fundamentally.

I arrive at a conclusion of:
1. Our world and even food supply is full of toxins largely thanks to modern agriculture.
2. Our food is devoid of life sustaining nutrients thanks to modern agriculture.
3. Our food supply is sterilized to provide long shelf
4. Our food supply is built in laboratories to provide artificially good flavor,  texture,  and unnatural consistency.
5. Our food is refrigerated to freeze it in time instead of fermented and full of life to preserve it.
6. Our food supply is remote,  supporting big corporations that need constant profits,  transportation around the world in a fresh state,  and maintain consistency and that fresh state for weeks.

So where do we look for the underlying answer to why we are debating Obamacare?  Seems to me that we look to agriculture....  Our food. If we return to the foods of a hundred years ago,  we remove the need for health care to the point that it is,  on average,  a minor issue.  We trade our cabinet full of Medicine,  our schedule of Dr visits and treatments,  our constant need for health support in over the counter medicine for true good health and naturally long life.

There is an alternative to Obamacare...  It's called health.  We can individually opt out of the healthcare system itself through good old fashioned nutrition!  It truly is that simple!  I know from personal experience and from the experience of dozens to hundreds of our farm customers.

So...  I urge you....  Find a local farm that understands this...  The offers the foods of a hundred years ago... Raised properly for nutrition instead of profit, and buy all you can from them.  Invest in nutrition and permanent healing instead of covering of symptoms through medicine,  remove the need for healthcare! 

Sure...  Real food is expensive...  It will cost 2 to 5 times more to buy real healthy food.  That is a fact. BUT...  Let me ask you....  How are you doing on cheap food?  How many pills do you need per day?  When wax the last Dr visit for a problem ?

Would you rather pay to treat illness or prevent it?

That is the real bottom line choice here,  because for 99 percent of us,  there is no other option!  Pay a loss l nutrient dense farmer Or pay the Dr and pharmacy.

My advice....  Find your local farm that understands this...  Talk to the farmer... If he doesn't know how to grow for nutrition,  look elsewhere or gave him call us.. Opt out of the need for frequent health care and opt into true health!

If enough people did this...  We would not be talking about Obamacare.  Period.

Dry Farming ? How to grow food without water

I ran across this article about dry farming.  Although innovative it isnt truly anything new.  I remember my dad (an ex farmer from the 60's)  taught me these same principles.

The basic approach is to water well in the beginning to get the sprouts started and established, watering deep  is more important than often. You want the moisture to be under the sprouting plant.  Then as the plant grows, you cut back on watering frequency, but make sure that any watering is DEEP, meaning soaking through the top foot of soil at least. Then you wait until the top is completely dry, and the moisture level is 4 to 8 inches down (dig down to see). You want the moisture level to be normally just UNDER the root level. As the plant grows, let the moisture level go deeper before the next watering.

While not truly "dry farming" as in this article, you get the same effect. The roots grow down deeper and deeper in between each watering in search of the ever falling moisture.  Finally they get deep enough so that you dont need to water any more.  The roots are down in the area where there is enough moisture to maintain the plant.

The only thing i disagree with the article is, I find it better to water well as above, then let the ground sit untouched instead of tilling lightly to dust.  When you water and let it sit, the soil forms a hard crust on the surface that provides a good shield form evaporation.  Experience has shown that this crust is more effective at holding in water than dust.

Of course thick mulch also retains water, if available. a couple inches of mulch will almost completely block evaporation between watering.

Another innovative way to block evaporation is, <gasp> weeds! or should i say ground cover. I have found that if you let the weeds grow (depending on type of course)  they form a type of living mulch that not only keeps water in but provides for a lot of life. To keep them from overwhelming hte plants you can mow or trim the weeds between the plants, but leave a couple inches for "living mulch". Perhaps a dangerous approach but it works!

SO yes, this does work, within limits. yield is lower, while quality is higher.

Here is the original article :  http://www.care2.com/causes/farming-without-water-its-possible-and-tasty.html

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.

Excelerite Minerals Available Now

We are pleased to announce that Little Sprouts is now a re-seller of  Excelerite Rare Earth Minerals.  We will be using these minerals ourselves as well as stocking them in smaller packages for resell  through farm pickup or home deliveries.

Excelerite is the brand of rare earth minerals from US RareEarth Minerals. It is produced from an ancient evaporated lake bed in Panaca Nevada. Many scientists consider this lake bed to be the world's richest source of micro, macro, and nano nutrients.

Excelerite is provided in two forms, agriculture  and livestock. the only difference is that the AG type is filtered to remove some unneeded silica and has a slightly higher price.  the mineral content otherwise is the same.

You can read more about his amazing product at their website: http://us-rem.com/

Why minerals? Minerals, especially ancient sea and lake minerals, contain the building blocks that make life work. Everything improves in the presence of abundant minerals in the proper balance, both pant and animal. In fact, life is not truly possible without minerals! Unfortunately much of the worlds soil and therefore foods are depleted of minerals through years of abuse and use. Remineralizing with excelerite restore the soil to its healthy natural state, providing benefits to the ecology (life) of the soil itself and any plants grown in it.

For livestock (poultry, hogs, sheep, etc) these minerals in livestock form are added to their feed to give them the boost that is not contained in their feed and world.  This gives an immediate benefit to all livestock in a number of ways.

We encourage you to try this amazing product and see for yourself how ancient minerals can boost health, vitality, fertility, and production.

you can find Excelerite in our online store: http://www.farmigo.com/store/littlesproutsfarm

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!

White cloud of death

We were driving along a rural road (just at the edge of town) on our home delivery rout when I saw it. The white cloud of death rising from a pear farm. The workers were out in their hazmat suits using the huge fan duster to apply the usual collection of poisons to the pear trees. It is an all too common sight. The white cloud of poison rising tens of feet above the orchard and drifting in the wind.

We of course immediately stopped the air circulation to avoid breathing the remnants of the poison. But then we see the houses along the road as we pass. Children playing in the sunshine, grandma gardening, moms sitting in the shade of a porch.... all unaware of the poisons they consume at the hands of the pear farmer.

But they are not unaffected. We seem to get a disproportionate number of calls from those living alongside the pear farms seeking help for severe medical issues. The issues are varied, but the end result is always suffering. It is ironic that pear farmers enclose their workers in haz mat suits to protect them from poison exposure while the tractor sprayer drives for hours right by several houses, the wisps of poison drifting across yards and children. And this happens year after year.

I pity the poor soul that will one day awake to realize the suffering caused so many families through the ,misguided search for profits in the pear field. How many children have been raised with constant exposure to their applications of poison, accumulating life long health issues.

Will it someday be a crime to purposefully apply poison in a fog of powder that drifts across the land across houses and families?  When will the children start lawsuits accusing pear farmers of negligent actions resulting in permenant suffering? As the need for poison increases each year to combat acquired resistance and tolerance in pests, surely it is only a matter of time.

As we drive by the white cloud of death, all these thoughts haunt my mind... concern for the unsuspecting and trapped residents, as well as concern for the farmer that will one day realize...

Next time you see the non organic pears in the grocery store with their delicious and flawless appearance.... think back to the white cloud of death drifting over children playing in their own back yard. Puts things in perspective.

Oregon Farm Bureau makes astonishing admission

Did that headline grab your attention? Well what I noticed this morning got mine. A seemingly small point, perhaps even a good one on the surface, but when I realized what it meant I was astonished.  What am I talking about?

This morning I was browsing some gmo - anti-gmo stuff and decided to reread the Oregon Farm Bureau Fact Sheet on GMO science (click to read it yourself) . Part of their justification for co-existence is  this paragraph:

The National Organic Standards were carefully crafted as process-based standards to protect farmers. The unintentional presence of biotech material through commingling or crosspollination does not cause a farmer to lose organic certification if they are following their stewardship plan. In fact, USDA has confirmed that:
While the National Organic Program Regulation (7 CFR Part 205 et seq.) excludes the use of products resulting from genetic modifications, USDA-AMS does not consider inadvertent trace presence in itself to be a violation. NOP regulations do not require withdrawal of crops or land in the case of inadvertent GE contamination, but some producers have reportedly done so voluntarily

They are saying that organic certified farms are not at risk from GMOs because unintended contamination will not cause loss of crop value nor loss of certification. The farmer can continue business as usual as long as he didnt intend to incorporate GMO seeds. 

Ok, so that's good right? Well not so fast. What they are really saying is this: (my paraphrase)

Even though cross contamination has happened, and is known to happen, the "organic" crop has not decreased in value

Add in the last sentence above :

NOP regulations do not require withdrawal of crops or land in the case of inadvertent GE contamination, but some producers have reportedly done so voluntarily

What I realized is this :

1. There is no doubt about cross contamination, it happens regularly enough to be dealt with in the official policies.
2. This contamination of GMO to organic does not decrease the value of the organic crop
1. For this to be true, the organic crop must still be sold as organic to get the higher value
2. To make this possible the crop must not be identified to the public as contaminated
3. The regulation allows this to continue, not based on amount of crop contaminated as much as intent.  there is no mention in the policy about how much has been contaminated. I hope the actual rules do, but I am unsure.

What is the bottom line and astounding revelation? That GMO FOODS ARE NO LONGER GUARANTEED TO BE GMO FREE! at least not in the state of oregon. If an organic farm is unintentionally contaminated by a neighboring GMO farm, the crop is harvested as usual, labeled organic, and sold at top value. (according to the government regulations).  This, is disturbing!

Instead of confining GMO contamination, the Farm Bureau sides with biotech to ensure that GMO is allowed to spread while the very definition of organic changes. Now the Organic Label doesnt mean "the absence of GMO ingredients" but rather "the absence of intentional GMO ingredients". This is a significant change. The battle is shifting from organic farms worried about loosing their certification through contamination to the public being fooled by the hidden change in meaning of the organic label . The public now pays the price for bio tech contamination. 

This also serves as proof that co-existence within a general area of reasonable size is simply impossible.  The allowance of unintentional GMO contamination into organic produce is evidence of this. Why lower the standard of the organic label if GMO crops can be contained? 

If this sort of hidden policy is allowed to continue  it is inevitable that within a few years, when all organic is contaminated to some degree, the organic label itself will be meaningless.  At some point people will realize this, and hte value or organic farming disappears as people look for the next healthy alternative.  This shift from dedicated customers from organic to some other solution , then destroys the value of organic crops. In truth, this small change in policy to protect organic farms ultimately destroys them completely.  So in the end both organic farms are destroyed and the public was secretly exposed to the big GMO science experiment without their knowledge or consent. Actually this exposure was through deceit because the public believes that organic means non-gmo. Purposefully changing this definition to deceive the public is plain wrong. 

I  do not take a stance on whether the people in charge of such things are evildoers with a selfish purpose of financial greed, or if they are just ignorantly following orders. I this not our place to judge the intent of others  But either way, this sort of nonsense has to stop. 

Choose your reason for supporting your local anti-gmo initiative (ours is GMO Free Jackson County ) from a long list of reasons:

1. Health issues associated with GMOs by several tests
2. Lack of official long term testing safety on any GMO foods
3. GMO farming's extensive use of poisons
4. Biotech firms attacking innocent small farms that get contaminated
5. Rising unexplained health issues plaguing nations that consume GMO foods
6. Loss of hardiness in GMO crops in times of drought, or extreme weather
7. Loss of soil fertility due to gmo chemical intensive farming practices
8. emergence of super weeds due to gmo allowed application levels of  herbicide
9. emergence of super bugs due to gmo toxin adaptabiliy of insects
10. disappearance of the bees possibly related to excessive use of chemicals on gmo crops
11. farms being consolidated into large industrial operations under the biotech approach jeopardizing the stability of our food system
12. increasing cost to farmers through increasing levels of  inputs to continue chemical biotech farming
13. increasing reliance on petro chemical and other sources for producing food, further destabilizing our food supply.
14. protection of the natural seed genetics from irreversible contamination
15. protection for organic farmers and their livelihood
16. "save the whales"  becomes "save the corn" today as natural corn goes extinct
17. Common Sense
18. add your own reason here

Eggs, eggs and more eggs!

An egg!  We found the very first egg in the new chicken flock!  Amazing on two counts... we haven't lighted these chickens yet, so the first eggs are laid in January without artificial light. And... it was found in the rooster coop!
Obviously while separating hens and roosters someone got misplaced ;) It is difficult to tell gender at this age sometimes. 
But.... this means we will have more than double the number of eggs for sale really soon! That great news for everyone waiting to partake in Little Sprouts eggs.
As a reminder... why are these eggs so special? Because they have everything in an egg that is desirable, not just one aspect, they have it all:
Truly Pastured
Soy free
Certified Non GMO
Organically raised
Antibiotic free
Hormone free
Omega 3 rich
Heritage breed
Fertilized (will be by sales time)
Unwashed or washed (your preference)
Farm fresh
Why are eggs so important? A well produced raw egg is the basis of most healing diets. The pastured fresh raw egg yolk is a miracle food, a powerhouse of healing and nutrition. Many healing diets encourage as many pastured raw egg yolks per day as practical. The egg, when done right, is just about the most perfect food. Just be VERY careful never to overdo storebought eggs. They are not the same thing in a number of ways and are in fact often quite dangerous to eat.
So this one little eggs is happy news! We have been waiting to have a larger supply so that we can start pickling eggs again. Looks like by Feb. this will be possible! Yummy pickled eggs are coming back!

Why is Little Sprouts Milk, Yogurt, and Kefir so Creamy?

Incredibly smooth and creamy is one way to describe our milk, yogurt and kefir.  The yogurt is naturally thick without added gel or stiffeners, and the milk has an incredibly smooth soft flavor and texture.  How is this possible? This picture tells all:

This is a half gallon of milk that was left untouched in the fridge for about 3 weeks as an experiment. When milk sits undisturbed, the cream separates out and floats to the top.  With cow milk this happens almost overnight, but goat milk takes much much longer. We wanted to see just how much cream is in our goat's milk so we let this set.  Look closely and you will see the cream line just about half way down the jar. This means that the cream content is just about 50%.  Not bad! You can also see the thick cream across the top edge. It is really thick!

Cream in milk is what makes it taste, well, creamy. It it what makes the yogurt and kefir thick and smooth. Cream is the magic. Not only is this tasty but also naturally healthy. Goat milk is highly digestible and nutritious compared to cow milk. In fact, most people allergic to cow milk can drink goat milk without a problem. 

How do we achieve nearly 50% cream content? I cant say I am an expert, but it seems to be a combination of breeds and feeds.  We use a combination of Nigerian dwarf and mini Nubian breeds in a tightly controlled ratio. They are fed a majority of organic non-gmo alfalfa and grains (only as a treat), plus plenty of wild brush.  We are also very diligent about keeping the bucks away from the milkers, and quick cooling to prevent any "goaty" flavor. 

Still Think Conventional Ag can feed the world? Think again

For years the buzzline of  agriculture used against organic practices was "organic can not feed the world".  Ironically, only now it seems that on the contrary, not only can organic feed the world, but conventional ag not only FAILS at feeding the world but is also corrupting the world to perhaps an unfixible level.

Here is a story about only one of the problems surfacing in the conventional ag world... superweeds. Years and years of increasing doses of Roundup has created weeds that are nothing short of incredible. "Growing several inches per day"  "unaffected by application of herbicides".  Statements like these should bring fear into any food producer's heart.

These superweeds are a form of permanent damage... weeds that have been genetically changed by years of Roundup usage to the point that they are practically invincible. These weeds cut production, raise moisture needs, and increase cleaning problems for the crops. And... They are here to stay.

So here again we see that ignoring the age old wisdom of working with nature has brought disaster.  I maintain that I have seen not one, not even one, advancement in food production of conventional agriculture that has not brought more damage than benefit. I challenge anyone to bring up an advancement of agriculture science that has helped more than hurt. Sure, it takes years for the damage to become apparent , but it is still there, and it is often permanent.

So.. we end up at a new buzzline... "only intense organic can save the world from conventional".

It is not our own world that will suffer the greatest, it is our children's world. the legacy we are leaving behind is actually a nightmare that they will have to suffer through.

One of the most important points of this article, in my humble opinion, is found towards the end. Monsanto's response to the problem is more "innovation" meaning higher doses of stronger poisons. Now lets look  at this. When a system has been proven to be the root cause of a problem, increasing htat system can only  increase the problem. If Monsanto brings to market stronger poisons, all that will do is provide some immediate relief, and then in 10 or 20 years we have even more invincible super weeds and super bugs. The poison level on our food supply will be even higher than it is today. If you follow this approach to it's logical conclusion... you end up with food unfit to eat, and worse weeds and bug than imaginable.  In short.. food becomes impossible to produce. THAT is what we are leaving to our children to resolve, if we don't return to organic principles today and stop this deadly cycle of using poison to grow food.