Frankin Fish for Dinner?

I just read (in NY Times) about fish (salmon) being genetically modified for human consumption. Something's very fishy about that. May I ask the question, "Who wants to buy genetically modified fish (created in a lab folks) for human consumption?" Are there huge demographics pointing this is what Americans want? I think not! Plain and simple GM salmon is a stupid idea, and frankly I don't see why money is being wasted for this kind of scientific development (of frankinfish). Why, people? Why? Salmon and meat in general should NOT, I repeat NOT be created in a lab for human (or animal) consumption. Nothing food related should be genetically modified for human consumption.

I bet you if they started enforcing labeling of GMO foods ~ the public would go wild. People's eyes would be opened. More would start to ask questions. Now a pound of meet is a pound of meat (well kinda they're not all the same quality factory farmed vs grass-fed). What if the next time you were at the market, you reached for that pound of ground beef you thought came from a cow off some farm, when in all actually originated from a lab? Would you still want to eat it (or buy it)?

What if next time you question why these days meat is labeled "all natural". I mean if the people went to their local grocery butcher shop and asked for a pound of ground beef, need they make sure to tell the butcher they'd like only the "natural" kind? I did wonder some time ago why it became so popular for companies to market "all natural" meat. That "all natural" actually made me question what I was buying and eating. Had I not been eating natural meat? What is it I had been eating...? Now let's say they started to create GMO beef, there would be a "all natural" section and another section with no special label on it (just a pound of beef, with a price tag). Imagine GMO beef existed (lets face it we're not far off from it) and was sold in the market (due to FDA approval), would YOU buy a pound of that beef even if it had a sticker indicating that it had been genetically modified? Even if that package had an FDA approval sticker on it?

That's why they don't want to approve GMO labeling. Pure and simple it wouldn't sell. And profits would be lost and people would come to realize the truth about our modern foods. That's not a good story for the biotech companies. Genetic modification should not dominate our food sources, but it's trying to.

Look at produce for example, a tomato can be purchased in US year round. It's a seasonal item and sometimes comes from Mexico where the climate is warmer in early spring but December? December is not tomato growing season unless the crop has been genetically modified to be resistant to cold weather etc., etc. You see my point. Genetic modification is nothing short of cell invasion. Big biotech companies have recreated the tomato in a lab. I think cells from a flounder fish should not be in the cells of a tomato, but in GMO tomatoes that's the true story. Without food labeling in place the consumer has no idea. Does this bother you? It should.

Why do big biotech companies do it? $$$ Money$$$. It's big business. Well I'm not shy on the topic. I won't eat salmon ever again if this get's approved. FDA want's to approve this crazy idea. They've already found this GMO salmon safe for human consumption. FDA = Federal Drug Administration. Well FDA, I don't trust you! Your approvals have proven an all time low when it comes to caring for fellow American lives. Here's a way to cut out spending Mr. President; get rid of the FDA (yep I said it) and hire third party (non-partisan, ) companies to do the work. {that's job creation} Let fellow man, care for fellow man rather than big government hide what's really going on. FDA protecting biotech companies due to special interest groups is a sad truth in America today. Can you tell I'm annoyed? It's not directed to you my reader. I'm just venting here.

Let's face it the FDA slaps their approval of waaay to many things without sufficient research. That's why they have so many recalled medications, etc. Than once a problem arises due to lack of research prior to approval they say oh lets look like a hero and create a recall, and point the finger at it's manufacturer and smile at the public. Not working for this girl. When I see FDA approved it carries little weight if any at all. I don't put my life in my government's hands, I put it in Jesus'. I don't want the government to swaddle and coddle. I want it to get out of our pockets and govern sovereignty, with the people's best interest.

I'm excited that the house moved to ban this latest GMO "food" from taking off. It gives me hope that there will be a future with food, simple and pure the way God made it still available for my grand kids (some day). A real thumbs up but still, (and I'll quote from NY Times not trying to infringe on copyright),

"the amendment's ultimate fate is uncertain. The Senate is unlikely to approve the House spending bill unmodified, and it is unclear whether the amendment has the broad support to survive to final passage"

Read the article I'm referring to and find out more about GMO fish (salmon) NY Times article by clicking HERE

People we have a voice. Our vote DOES count. My family deserves the best, your family does too. I'm quite sure "the best" is not lab created foods. I say NO GMO!

All the best!

Food Irritation

90% Sprout Contamination Conventional, Not Organic (Linked to Factory Farm Livestock Production)

Did you see this headline?
Made this a note on my Facebook the other day. (Monday, June 6, 2011 at 5:54pm) Thought it be a good blog post too)

It's not just the US, this newest contamination news comes from Germany. I have to vent....

I grow tired of hearing about food contamination. It's a headline in the news to frequently. Never before in history, as in our modern agricultural days [when just about everything is genetically modified with such an agricultural emphasis of factory farms] have people gotten so sick from what they've eaten. It's starting to catch up with folks and thankfully the "system is starting to buckle". I think that corporate agribusiness has, worldwide, outgrown its ability to control the quality of its products. People are getting sick, even dieing, due men and women with deep pockets and wads of $$ trying to control the food industry at our expense. It's the new battle of this generation ~ who knew? They are not thinking of the consequences of the folks that are sick or even die from these outbreaks. Factory farming just doesn't work long term.

Monoculture-food crops don't work either. Yet such practices don't seem to be improving or changing. When a problem arises in the Agra-business their is no logical problem solving it's "how to make it bigger and better at the bottom dollar for profit sake". At our expense (fellow man). Not to mention they are abusing animals in the process. Wikipedia defines Monoculture like this,

Monoculture is the agricultural practice of producing or growing one single crop over a wide area. It is also known as a way of farming practice of growing large stands of a single species. It is widely used in modern industrial agriculture and its implementation has allowed for large harvests from minimal labor. However, monocultures can lead to the quicker spread of diseases, where a uniform crop is susceptible to a pathogen. 'Crop monoculture' is the practice of growing the same crop year after year.

When a seed is GM to grow at humans demands due to scientific alteration and it's crop takes over what use to be standard farming practices it's Monoculture Farming.

Does anyone remember what happened during the great potato famine? It wasn't a lack of great scientific knowledge, nor the lack of modern farming equipment, it was result of growing one breed of potato. It was the ONLY potato grown to feed the population (and this is happening again today). When that spud crop suffered and all the people relyed on it as food, they too suffered horrifically. The death toll was a huge devastation to the Irish. That's exactly where GMO crops are headed. Check your history, in other parts of the world at the same time the Irish were suffering from their blight, other people groups in Peru didn't suffer so much because they had multiple potato variety plantings. When one planting or variety went bad or suffered a blight the other supd varieties that carried the population's nutrition. Modern day farming concentrates on their one GM crops and sticks with certain varieties. The french fry demands from our cravings primarily drive this monoculture supud crop planting. It's not just supds/ potatoes it's almost everything. Corn is another huge example. Most of our land in USA is farmed for corn. This corn isn't harvested for human consumption, it's for feed lots. Ironically the modern corn farmer isn't growing a sustainable crop that can be eaten by the farmer who grows it. It will never go to their or their neighbor's table, it will go to feedlots and feed cattle, pig and even chickens.

My two cents, God made the food cells, so stop messing with them and let God grow what he made. Start "farming" again the traditional way before monoculture and GMO domination.

The heavy push to feed more people for less money has driven the factory farming business from corn that feeds animals (which were never designed to live on) to the meats we eat, in turn changing the whole broad way of modern agriculture. Our culture in a way is praising convenience on a high note and paying the consequences for fast food. People are not getting healthy from eating a burger with the works for a buck off some dollar meal, yet it's become a way of life for many. I'm not trashing anyone, hey I'm guilty of taking advantage of the dollar menu pleasure in my past. Now that I've got a bigger picture on these things I can't ever go back. The Mr. works midnights and has gotten an organic Newman's coffee from time to time but hates that his dollar is still supporting big arches.

I did just read that Monsanto and others in the seed genetic alteration business are tapping into as many seeds as possible from our Nations seed preservation bank (in Washington D.C.) . This way they can "own" the food we eat. Once genetically modified they pull a patent on the crop. Than when organic fields get contaminated from chaff blowing off the GMO crops, the GMO farmer seed owners can sue the pants off organic farmers and claim "check mate". Is anyone bothered by any of this?

The whole thing is quite political. Many politicians are business men and women who come from big food business companies who in turn protect their private interests. It's all connected and somehow not being written in our school history books, hmmm. Such a dirty thing. Oh yes, he or she will display themselves as a modest business man/women who's in touch with the middle class which is far from the truth. It's no wonder my letters to our politicians don't seem to have much of an impact. The Mr. gets quite angry about the political side of this food war. He's a very patriotic guy but has declared war on this debate. We are very particular what we eat and spend our dollar on (which is our way of voting no for GMO). Just think of the impact we could have, if in one hour, one million Americans in one single day, said NO to fast food and yes to organic. Than the next day it went to two million, than three, than four. I think than someone would stop and notice. They'd first notice a loss of profit but hopefully come to realize that the people are voting with their dollar for organic.

On a positive note the outcome of food contamination problems as well as folks like me who are outraged by modern GMO ~ Monoculture farming have led to exponential growth of local food by family-scale farmers and artisan food processors! There is strong surge in sales at member-owned food cooperatives, farmers markets, CSAs (community supported/subscription agriculture farms) and other farmer-direct marketing vehicles have exploded over the past five years. I'm thrilled to support small organic farming. My dollar in turn becomes my vote. It's my way of sticking it to the big food destroying business men and women.

I've written letters to our governing leaders and signed many petitions on the matter. All those things are important but nothing speaks louder than going to a farmer's market and buying locally grown organic foods and grass-fed meats. Word of mouth is still stronger than advertisement from deep pocketed chains like Mc Ds. They don't even entice my family anymore. Modern media saturates our society with huge persuasion of what American's should eat. Even in the super~mega marts, the persuasion is there. The idea is buy TP, tape and splurg on a rollback at the mega mart, while there pick up a package of ground beef for dinner. When you silence that part of media saturated life, and step onto a farm, listen to the cattle in the field moooing as the wind blows across your face and the sun warms your head; you'd get a HUGE sense of where our food should come from (a real good ole' fashioned farm). I've said it many times, but our kids really love going to the dairy farm and visiting the Jersey cows when we pick up our milk. My three year old says, "Mama they make my milk". I know it's not possible for everyone across America to have this opportunity but Farmer's Markets are branching out and popping up as the demand and interest increases. As customers we can ask butchers to carry grass-fed, we can make the request when dining out. They are suppose to be supplying us with what we want. If we make it know that we don't want genetically modified produce or, super rapidly fattened meats from a feed lot things are not to late to change. (I'm still hopeful)

Our CSA starts next week!!!!!! We are so thrilled, can you tell, lol.

A side note, don't waddle in fear. Pray and get as much information about what you're eating as possible. This day n' age seems only necessary to do so. There are lot's of frighting things on the internet one could read about how far these factory farms and monoculture crop farmers are willing to go. I've learned to take it in all in strides and to do my part. I don't meant to shame anyone. There are choices and until this past year I didn't even know they existed. I assumed if the butter I was buying had a picture of a farm it was indeed from a farm. If the meat's said all natural on the package that it was 'good' meat. Than one day I began to question as to why all natural was on the meat package I was buying. Were there packages of fake meat or natural meat on the market that I unknowingly purchased? Remember the beef recall? I started pealing back the layers and the more I dug, the more I became repulsed by the findings. I didn't want chicken dipped in ammonia (to kill bacteria) fed to my family. I had no idea. I think the consumer aught to have a right and know where food is coming from. It's strategically hidden from the public. Just think of the name, Hidden Vally Farm. Precisely my point. There is no farm in the mega mass producing of what the majority of Americans are eating these days. It's a giant mechanical factory moving meats and produce down conveyor belts or meat processing plants. I'm just the kinda girl that's got the passionate side to her, and once finding all that out ~ the flames kept burning. I'm outraged at the blind eyes I had for so many years. Thankfully due to modern media such as the internet and satellite imaging these factory farms can't "hide" anymore. My thing isn't to act out in anger, rather lets just grow good honest food and share with others. Everyone, despite demographics or income deserves good wholesome food. They deserve an honest option at the very least.

To read more on the newest sprout contamination news, get the facts, click:

http://www.cornucopia.org/2011/06/news-advisory-90-sprout-contamination-conventional-not-organic-linked-to-factory-farm-livestock-production/

OK that's a mouth full, LOL. Comments anyone?

Ice Cream ~ scream! It's so good!

The weather is HOT and muggy. I'm not really complaining (well kinda) it's just that we've gone from cold and rain for two weeks to this summery weather. I know I can't really complain because weather around the country has been so harsh to so many. I'm still shocked at the images on the news round the world and our country.

On a more cheery note. I've made up our first batch of ice cream! For a while now I've tried to say no to the one thing not so good for me, food items. Ok one of many. But I can't seem to stop craving ice cream. As I'm on this journey to eat more whole foods and swipe out of our lives the fake not so good for us ingredients, I found myself on a little journey figuring out how to make my own batch of ice cream.

I'll confess that I don't really have the time to do a tutorial. When I was researching on how to make ice cream I came across this great little video. So why recreate the wheel? I'm offering the tutorial that I go by here on my blog. (see below)

I'm one of the privileged who have a Kitchen Aid mixer, and with that I have the ice cream attachment. I guess ice cream makers don't go for that much but the selling factor for me was storage. I got the seventy-something dollar Kitchen Aid mixer ice cream attachment, oh years ago. The thing was sitting in a box for nothing short of 4 years until last week. I'll say it makes the best ice cream I've ever tasted. It's probably not the attachment. It's probably the fresh real ice cream ingredients.

We buy our milk from a local dairy farmer who breeds Jersey Cows. Their milk is a little bit richer than Holstein (black & white cows). It's richer but lower in fat I guess. The heavy cream is not homogenized (so I shake it up). But, the ice cream is AMAZING! It's soooo creamy. We do make the Philadelphia style rather than the French mostly because I don't want the kids eating raw eggs. Having said that, it melts very quickly because it has no binders. No fake stuff either. Just milk, cream, sugar and vanilla or whatever flavoring we want to go with. I store ours in a glass Pyrex bowl because it came with a lid and is freezer safe. Now aside from the extra fat added to my diet, I don't feel bad eating ice cream again. There's also the fun I have when my daughter pulls up the stool to help her Mama with the mixer. Because it's such a simple recipe she can feel like she's making the ice cream. No doubt, it's a winner with the kids and The. Mr.

Enough words. Watch the video below (it's not me) and you'll be driven to make your own ice cream this summer. Mmmm!

Cheers!

Looking for Fresh Foods?

Many are these days. Still there are some who don't have time to make their thumbs green. Don't garden but still want fresh foods? All is not lost, there is a place to start your search. You can visit LocalHarvest and search by your zip code to find local Farmer's Markets, CSA (Community Shared Agriculture), blogs, forums etc. The search is country wide and continues to grow. I've found most of the farms we visit for our grass-fed milk, meat and CSA via talking with folks I know, and meeting new people who share this interest. Most farmers talk and love sharing with their customers so when you stumble upon a farm that you like, chances are the farmer will point you to another in the area. They are big on word of mouth marketing (still the most effective and honest marketing in my opinion).

Having spoken with a few friends who've asked how I've gotten in the know ~ well now ya know. Homesteading, farms, CSA programs and farmer's markets bring communities together! For us, it's a family affair. A note though, you could find yourself on a rabbit trail.... it can be fun!

We love talking with the farmers and learning about where our food comes from (and what to do with it). I'm convinced it's the best way to obtain the freshest foods! The kids love seeing where their food comes from even at the age of 3. My daughter is quite taken with the cows we visit when Tuesday comes around. We buy our milk on Tuesdays because they milk on Monday and those who know waiting the rest of the week out will not lend itself to obtaining some whole milk. We were just up there yesterday and the cows were in the field grazing but a few stay near the fence for a good cheek scratch. I made our first batch of homemade ice cream (American or Philly style). My gosh I'm sold there's no going back. The dairy farm we visit breeds Jersey cows on site. Their milk is more full of protein than Holstein breeds. It's also more full bodied so naturally our ice cream is creamier (without additional fat). I think I'll attempt making butter from the heavy cream they sell as well.

Fresh foods! Visiting these local venues is the best way to get back in touch with our foods and purge our lives from boxed items loaded with un-natural ingredients woven with preservatives. If you didn't want to tread on a farm or there isn't one in your town, try hitting up a farmer's market {they're popping up everywhere these days}. Chances are the prices will be more friendly to the wallet. With no middle man farmers are also able to pocket something like 90% profit for their labor of love verses 20-30% profit. Dont' be discouraged, I just watched a local PBS special on a park in the Bronx that was transformed into a local community garden. It was amazing to see the farmer's market right in the inner-city hosting a wide variety of merchants with items from all over New York state. Folks living in the city of all income and race had the same access to fresh foods! The program blessed my heart. I hope this concept starts sweeping the nation.

With the greater awareness of genetically modified foods growing in the public sect, combined with the growing number of foods that are being genetically modified (without most of the public's knowledge) folks simply want to know where their food comes from. And honestly I think we have a right to know. I think we should be able to feast on food that not only taste fresh, is fresh, and do so at any income level in society.

Granted I know this post is not for everyone. I have friends who simply find it fits their lifestyle to have a love hate interdependent relationship with mega supermarkets. Target and Walmart have food along with everything else so it's an easy one stop shop. I'm not pointing any fingers here if you are such person. Each of us do the best we can for our families and in the end food will never replace love. We all love our families. We all want the best for them and aim to cultivate good eating habits in our kids. I realize access is a factor in obtaining local foods and that the word "local" can be stretched. After-all I'll admit we drive some 50 miles to get our meat. With gas prices you could think I'm out of my mind. I go once a week and see it as an educational field-trip for my family. They interact with the animals and talk to the farming community. They might not eat the foods they do today if not for this experience? Hard to tell, a picky toddler will often say no to anything he he. For me it's a priceless education each time we go to one of the many farms we visit and buy from. Our kids are not taught in school where their food comes from and every thing is commercialized. As a parent I take up that responsibility. I know mom's who run to 4 different stores to hit up all the various sales to match up coupons and buy only a few things at each store to complete their grocery shopping. That could be considered running all over creation for a few meals. It's perspective and what's best for you and your family. I like personally having the peace of not having to worry about the coupon. I go to the farm, buy the cuts of meat I want and that's it. I go to our CSA pick up our lot of in season vegetables and we're done. No more price matching here for this gal. Yes we live on a budget and we also know where our whole dollars are being spent though. I'm loving the idea of not being dependent on the supermarket for our groceries. It's a life style change and I realize though it's for me and my family all this talk about farms might be making your head spin.

Our kid's education about food couldn't be any more real to them if they were not going to the farm and seeing where their food comes from. I think all kids should know. If I was not an AG (agriculture) student in high school I'd have no idea either. My childhood schooling didn't consider the farm as a notable learning environment worthy of a field trip. I hope things have changed. We eat together as a family and thank God at each meal for the bounty and access to fresh foods. We thank the Lord for his provision as we eat more and more fresh foods of the seasons. Our pallets have yet to know such variety. It's coming, spring seedlings are growing and a harvest will be gathered. We're praying over our CSA and invested in it's production aside from our financial investment which brings things full circle for us as Christians. We do desire to be good stewards of the earth and preserving what God created and made available to sustain our bodies. Eating genetically modified foods not only has a flavor loss it makes my stomach churn at the very though. I don't believe humans can create sustainable foods that surpass what God already created. I'm just sayin'... I realize there are some who don't share my viewpoint on this though I can't disconnect my faith from this part of our lives. This could be considered rambling and be that as it may, at the very least I wanted to share the link for Local Harvest with you. Cheers to eating fresh! Love your comments.