….it’s good for you!  The Feds have finally discovered that maybe feeding arsenic to chickens and hogs could be hazardous to their health….and yours’! So they’ve banned most of the arsenic that is routinely fed to the industrial animals to speed their weight gain….and make the meat a little more colorful.  Of course, they’ve known about the problem for at least four years.  Thanks to Dr. Sue Beal for the link. http://noharm.org/us_canada/news_hcwh/2012/dec/hcwh2013-10-01.php What’s in your meat?

….that’s pretty much what I think about bacon recipes.  Really can’t imagine anything improving the flavor and aroma of lovely Tamworth bacon (from Thistle Hill, of course). But recently the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund had a “Baconpalooza” event at Polyface Farms in Virginia…and 250 people jammed Joel Salatin’s farm near Staunton to bear witness.  The winner was Russ Crandall, who blogs under the name “The Domestic Man”. Maybe some cold and slow winter day, I’ll try it. http://thedomesticman.com/2013/09/10/bourbon-and-cider-braised-bacon/?utm_source=September+15+Newsletter+-+New+Edition&utm_campaign=130915&utm_medium=email

From time to time we’re asked why we’re not organic….”just” grass fed. Well, for openers I don’t want the government approving or disapproving of what I choose to eat.  I can’t think of any personal freedom more important than that.  But beyond that, you can farm “organically” and still do terrible things to your cows, your land and yourself…..and the consumer is none the wiser.  The label, he thinks, tells him all he needs to know.  Reassured, he goes on to other worries. Meanwhile, the “idea” of organic has been corrupted by the usual alliance between the government and big business, including Big Ag. http://www.cornucopia.org/USDA/OrganicWatergateWhitePaper.pdf I’d like to comment:  “there…

….we don’t make a big thing of it, but we’re basically gluten-free in our kitchen.  Wooz believes in it; I just feel better and it also helps keep my weight down.  As for the science of it, I’m an agnostic. Is the whole thing just a fad?  Hype? Here’s an article that’s fun with all the science on the subject you could possibly want: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/gluten-free-fad/#axzz2e9JiOVRs?utm_source=September+15+Newsletter+-+New+Edition&utm_campaign=130915&utm_medium=email Note:  we found the link on the US Wellness website.

….we’ve talked about the economics of small farm production before.  But this is an article written by a young farmer that adds new meaning to the term “value meal”. How can the majors keep prices so low?  By tampering with their product, of course.  (See any number of earlier posts on that subject.)  When it comes to hamburger, what you get in the supermarket….even that labeled Angus Certified Beef which probably hasn’t come from an Angus to begin with….is a concoction of as many as 20 different cuts of meat trimming and fat from around the world….all blended with the modern miracle called “pink  slime”.  That’s how you can get a…

….actually, animals consume more antibiotics than humans.  The drugs are given as preventatives for chickens, pigs and cattle in the industrial food industry.  Conditions the animals are raised in are so unhealthy that, without big doses of antibiotics every day, they would quickly die.  (A side effect Big Ag loves is antibiotics increase weight gain.) Of course, all drugs fed an animal stay in the meat and for that reason there are specified withdrawal periods on the bottles.  (You wanna believe they’re followed?) What happens to us, those of us who buy our meat at the supermarket, is that our system gradually builds up a set of bugs that are resistant to…