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One thing for sure….
….farmers aren’t seeing it. Headline: meat prices hit all-time record high. The concentration of meat production in just a few corporate hands makes this inevitable. Shoppers will blame farmers of course. Later, the statistics will come out and show again that the farmers’ share of the cost is shrinking….the big processors who are “vertically-integrated” will continue to rake in more and more. http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/ali-meyer/price-index-meats-poultry-fish-eggs-rockets-all-time-high
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Summing it up….
….something to share with your meat customers. It’s been around for awhile but powerful testimony. Thanks to Dawn Gerrish for telling us about Beyond Organics Ranch. http://draxe.com/discovering-beyond-organics/
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On pork….
….we took guests this weekend to a nearby farm store. As fellow pig breeders, I thought they would be interested in another approach to marketing pork. We’d tasted the sausage before and appreciated the flavor but without endorsing the management technique of using regular genetically-modified grain, plus day-old bread from a bakery (not only GM flour but other unknowns including chemical preservatives and flavoring) and finally “scraps”. Still this is the typical way most farmers raise their pigs in the local ag community and it’s certainly better than the industrial pork that makes up the sausage you buy at the store or eat in restaurants. Here’s an excerpt from the “River…
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An idea whose time has come….
….although I have to admit “bacon chocolate chip cookies” is carrying it a bit too far! http://www.neatorama.com/neatolicious/2013/08/25/All-Pork-Restaurant-Opens-in-Chicago/#!S0mCY
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Secret revealed….
….the real reason the French don’t get fat! http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/the-real-reason-the-french-dont-get-fat/article18924862/ Thanks to Dr. Sue Beal for the link.
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What difference does it make?
No, not switching subjects. But the New York Times food columnist, Mark Bittman, makes some interesting points about organic farming, GMOs, and eating healthfully. There is a lot of hysteria among the “foodies” and Bittman makes the point that the alarm over GMO would better be focused on antibiotics which are demonstrably a real threat….and sail along untouched in Big Ag. You have to wade through some typical New York Times biases but it’s worth reading. www.nytimes.com/2014/05/07/opinion/bittman-leave-organic-out-of-it.html?action=click&contentCollection=Africa&module=MostEmailed&version=Full®ion=Marginalia&src=me&pgtype=article&_r=0
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Organic vegetables may not be safe either….
….leave it to Dr. Joseph Mercola to give us something else to worry about: organic vegetables may well be a major carrier of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Organic farmers are the ones most likely to use “natural” fertilizers….but do they know where that cow manure comes from? Probably the regular factory-raised cows….who are routinely fed huge doses of antibiotics. So far, no one has focused on the threat. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/05/07/antibiotic-resistance-genes.aspx
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Dog bites man….
….this is getting to be old news. One more report on how Americans have been “conned” by our betters to eat all the wrong things. http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303678404579533760760481486?mod=trending_now_1
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For what it’s worth….
….and it’s not much. But some marketing outfit allegedly does polling to advise businesses on the political leanings of their customers. Undoubtedly there are some niche outfits that target politically….like the Washington Post and CBS….but I’m around businessmen quite a bit and a find they will encourage patronage from just about anyone. (not that there’s anything wrong with that)! http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2014/05/02/liberals-eat-here-conservatives-eat-there/
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The truth continues to dribble out….
….swearing off meat is bad for you. An Austrian study of vegetarians confirms that it is not a healthy life-style. Just think if everyone ate red meat and swore off grains and sugar! http://atlanta.cbslocal.com/2014/04/01/study-vegetarians-less-healthy-lower-quality-of-life-than-meat-eaters/