What I Learned...

Many of you know that 2 years ago my husband and I bought a farm in Wisconsin.  We are currently working on it and our goal is to have an organic, humane, grass-fed beef operation, some time in the next 5 years, with some diversity of plants, fruit trees, and other animals.

This weekend we went to the 25th Annual MOSES Organic Farming Conference in La Crosse, WI. We spent three days learning in workshops, listening to inspiring keynote speakers, making new friends, checking out exhibitors, and the best... having delicious, organic meals! :)

I wanted to share some of what I learned.  It is so extremely important and when it comes to our food, there is SO MUCH we just don't know; so here it is.

This weekend I learned....

#1- that government tests of meat found ANTIBIOTIC-RESISTANT BACTERIA in:

• 81% of ground turkey (and you were once told turkey was "healthy", right?)
• 69% of pork chops
• 55% of ground beef
• 39% of chicken breasts, wings, and thighs.

Sick animals may need antibiotics (although if raised humanely and with proper, organic feed, chances are much lower).  But most conventional producers give healthy animals unnecessary antibiotics to encourage growth or prevent diseases caused by crowded or unsanitary conditions.

According to the CDC, 2 million American adults and children become infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria each year, and at least 23,000 die as a direct result of infections. Consuming antibiotics daily through animal products is to blame.

Click here if you'd like to join me in TAKING ACTION about this.

#2- that DIRTY SOIL is contributing to DEAD ZONES in our lakes and oceans.

It all starts with a healthy soil. I must have heard this in every single workshop I went to; of completely different topics. (Remember?...."just as it all starts with a healthy GUT".  :) )

The use of fertilizers and pollution of discarded manure from big factory farms, has contributed heavily in the creation of "dead zones" in our lakes and oceans. In contrast, in small grazing farms, manure  is used as natural fertilizer for the soil, creating a healthy soil with much less runoff to our
waterways.

There are two main dead zones around the US- the Chesapeake Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, with some others around the world. Dead zones are low-oxygen areas in the world's oceans and large lakes, caused by "excessive nutrient pollution from human activities coupled with other factors that deplete the oxygen required to support most marine life in bottom and near-bottom water." 

Let's do our best to protect our oceans, lakes and marine life by buying ORGANIC products, 100% GRASS-FED and/or PASTURE RAISED animal products.

#3- that pesticides are TOXIC and ORGANIC IS INDEED IMPORTANT.

Regardless of what the media tells you (ALWAYS check your sources!) there are thousands of studies on how pesticides are toxic, (especially for children and pregnant women) and lead to diseases like cancer, Alzheimer's, harm reproductive health, allergies, asthma and other autoimmune diseases..among others. Here is a link for more information on studies for each pesticide-induced disease. 

Recently, newer studies are talking about the "disease inheritance" phenomenon, where we are passing on diseases to our future generations!

Basically, synthetic pesticides account for one in three known endocrine disruptors (chemicals that interfere with the hormone system). Studies are suggesting these chemicals may, before a child’s first breath, set the stage for autism, ADHD, obesity, and cancer.

Yet another reason to BUY ORGANIC!

#4- that BIO-DIVERSITY is KEY.

You might have heard we are losing the bees thanks to GMO's and the increased use of pesticides. You might not care.  And say, you don't even like honey (although I doubt that!) but like it or not we need them. Just as we need proper diversity in our farms.

Most of the small organic farmers I met have diversity in their farms, because they understand the importance.  Bees, butterflies and insects pollinate. Chickens eat the bugs and worms that might damage other plants.  Grasses in the land provide nutrients to the soil.  Manure from cows create a healthy soil.  Goats eat the weeds! etc.. etc.. etc..  It's all interconnected.

By diversifying crops, mixing plants and animals, planting trees- which provide not only fruit but shelter for birds, shade, fertility through nutrient recycling, and more- small landholders can produce more food (and more kinds of food) with fewer resources and lower transportation costs (which means a lower carbon footprint), while providing greater food security, maintaining greater biodiversity, and even better withstanding the effects of climate change.

Support small, bio-diverse, local farmers.

#5- That GMOs are NOT good.  NEVER.  Ever will. 

And that there IS indeed enough food to feed the world.  I know their little (evil) media brainwash "with GMOs we will feed the world". The skeptic and logical part of me always thinks... "have you ever been to a Cheesecake Factory?"

Get this!!!

40 percent of food in the United States today goes uneaten. This not only means that Americans are throwing out the equivalent of $165  billion each year, but also that the uneaten food ends up rotting in landfills as the single largest component of U.S.  municipal solid waste where it accounts for a large
portion of U.S. methane emissions.

Reducing food losses by just 15% would be enough food to feed more than 25 million Americans every year at a time when one in six Americans lack a secure supply of food to their tables.

According to the ETC Group, a research and advocacy organization based in Ottawa, the industrial food chain (Big Ag/Biotech) uses 70 percent of agricultural resources to provide 30 percent of the world’s food, whereas what ETC calls “the peasant food web” (small farmers) produces the remaining 70 percent using only 30 percent of the resources.

Get educated on GMOs, support labeling and buy GMO free.

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So, I know... this all sounds kind of depressing, and I was getting there at the conference... until I looked around me....

A conference that started 25 years ago with only 90 farmers has grown to 3,328 in attendance this year. 

We were surrounded by the old pioneers that didn't sell out to BigAg, Amish people that continue their traditions, and lots and LOTS of young people (with LOTS of dreadlocks! ; ) ), giving us hope and inspiration for better, healthier times to come for ourselves and our planet!

The movement is growing!  And you can be a part of it by voting with your $$$, getting educated on these issues, and taking action and speaking up to government on critical issues.