Blue Egg Farm

Joel Salatin on the Sacredness of Food

Anne — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 18:24:03 +0000

Some transcript from Joel’s TEDx speech:

“We have this very mechanistic view in our Greco, Roman, Western, Reductionist, linear, fragmented, compartmentalized, disconnected, democratized, individualized, parts-oriented, thought process we never think about the whole.”

“We’ve never had a sales plan or a marketing target. We’ve never had a benchmark that we’re hitting. In fact, we’ve now made 10 value statements that are anti-Wall Street to keep us true to a value of faithfulness.

Because what I’ve found out, serendipitously, my success is tied to the cumulative effect of everyday stories and faithfulness to injecting sacredness and nobility into every little action of my day. And when we put that kind of ministry – ours is a ministry of healing the land – and when we allow that kind of sacredness and that kind of nobility to permeate every one of our actions the world will be ennobled. The world will indeed rise up to meet us as we leave our legacies and the stamp of our life and life’s story as it becomes our stories for our children and grandchildren.

What will they tell about us? He or she was a person of sacredness and nobility in every aspect of their life, we will have raised a great legacy for our families and our heritage.”

Ice and Mushrooms

Anne — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 23:31:16 +0000

A beautidul northwoods pond in winter. Do you feel serene - or nervous? What dangers does the beauty of ice hide? Image from dharma.org.

On my way home from work today I passed a little pond. Well, not that little. It’s one of those ponds created by the highway department when they need a lot of soil to create a ramp for the roadway, leaving behind a pit where they took the material from.

Yes, I pass this pond every day to work and back – and usually don’t see anyone around it. Being in a commercial/ industrial area there really wouldn’t be any nearby residents traipsing around. Although I rarely have seen a man, a black lab, and a parked truck there, like 2 times in the last 3 years.

At this time of year (mid December) there’s a good layer of ice on the pond, but not extending all the way to the edges. Actually, there was open water on the majority of this pond just a week ago. So the ice that’s there probably isn’t terribly thick.

But, today I observed a crudely cut hole (about the size of a fridge) in the ice, with a pair of traffic cones next to it – one standing, one knocked down. Maybe I’ve watched one too many movies with horrific scenes of someone getting trapped under the ice, or had fallen through the ice myself in a past life, but the first thing that came to mind was that someone tripped and fell in! Thoughts of some schmuck, chopping on the ice, and having it weaken beneath him hit my mind’s eye.

Traveling at 40 mph past the pond didn’t allow much critical observation. Were there recent footprints out there? Was there an unattended dog running nearby? Was there anybody from the business next door peering over toward the pond also? Maybe a siren coming in the distance?

Then I noticed there was no truck. No vehicle was parked in the small dirt road leading to the pond. If there was no vehicle then whoever chopped the hole must have made it out – and driven away. Whew! A sense of relief came over me.

I still wondered, however, about the hole. Who in their right mind would go out on such thin ice?

One of my absolutes that I preach to my son (now eleven) is never ever ever never ever never EVER walk out on ice. No if’s, no and’s, no but’s. The consequences of making the wrong judgement in ice’s ability to hold you is pretty severe. Even if you’re so lucky that someone actually sees you go under your time to be rescued is very short. Cold water is extremely effective in shutting body functions down.

Several years ago I had the experience of being called to the ER in the hospital I was working in (I was a lab med tech for many years) to a case of a possible drowning. The fire department and EMT’s fished this middle aged man from the local river in mid winter. Someone saw him jump into the river, and immediately dialed EMS. Paramedics worked on him all the way from the river to the ER. Not long after arrival the doctors called it. Sure, he didn’t fall through the ice, but he was in freezing water far too long – too long to be saved. Maybe it’s this incident that has emblazoned on my psyche the dangers of winter waters.

So, where do mushrooms fit in? I pondered what other things in life I’ve developed absolutes about. Absolute no’s mostly. I think it’s harder to grow into absolute yes’s in life – it’s much easier to put the brakes on when you’re unsure about something. Thus, easier to come up with a “no”.

The other absolute “no” platitude that sprang to mind was the commandment never ever ever never ever NEVER eat wild mushrooms. Too many stories about the toxic alkaloids doing their work to destroy a body from the inside out makes my skin crawl. There are also strong memories of my high school biology teacher (some 30 years ago now) to never eat – not even sample – wild mushrooms.

The consequence of eating the wrong one is devastating. Death from mushroom poisoning is a tortuous death I don’t want to fool with. Sure, there are mushroom and fungi experts out there that spent years studying and identifying these organisms in the wild. Their surety is beyond compare. If give a dish to eat with mushrooms they deem safe I would probably give it a token try. Otherwise, no thanks.

So, what things in your life are absolutely certain about? What edicts on living are unwaivering for you? Come on, we all have ‘em. It’s easier to say “no” than “yes”.

Additional Resources

Minnesota DNR ice safety advisory (They know ice in Minnesota, as we do in Wisconsin) http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/safety/ice/index.html

University of Connecticut Health Center on mushrooms http://today.uchc.edu/features/2010/sep10/mushrooms.html

Missouri Department of Conservation http://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/outdoor-recreation/how/mushrooms/poisonous-mushrooms

Thanks to All the Farmers!!!

Anne — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 21:33:36 +0000

As of 3:30pm on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, Food Inc. has had a response of 963 people that agree with their statement: “Let’s thank all the farmers for our Thanksgiving meals!” on their Facebook page (and this is only after being up for 46 minutes!). Pretty nice!

Here’s Food, Inc., FB page for anyone else out there that wants to become their fan, too: Food, Inc. FB page. Thanksgiving really is my favorite holiday – everyone expressing their gratitude while no gifts are exchanged.

Need More Vegetables? Eat Pizza

Anne — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 16:16:50 +0000

This is similar to when the national nutrition standards for schools considered ketchup as a vegetable. Remember that? Now they’re saying that the pizza sauce on pizza is considered a vegetable. They have got to be kidding – I was half expecting this news item to be from The Onion (who are notorious for spoofing the news).

Don’t believe me? Start here with the article at the Huffington Post on Pizza is a Vegetable? Congress Defies Logic….

They also had a link to this cute video with Kermit decrying this decision to turn something that’s nutritionally lacking (to say the least) and cloak it as a healthy vegetable:

Update 11/22/11:

Ok, so here’s the other side of the coin, so to speak. The Washington Post clarifies that the nutritional standards really don’t say anything about pizza specifically (and its nutritional content for kids), but looks at the tomato paste on it. Here’s a rundown of how tomato paste stacks up against other fruits/vegetables: No, Congress did not declare pizza a vegetable.

A Life Without Money

Anne — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 03:00:07 +0000

I just got done with “The Moneyless Man – a year of freeconomic living” by Mark Boyle. After thinking that the book would mainly be about the skills of self-reliance that Mark would learn and implement in his year I was quite surprised to be led in a different direction.

Actually, one of his most important lessons learned in living a year without money was how important developing relationships with other people in his life would be. Not learning how to garden or make toothpaste out of natural materials or how to repair his bike when needed. It was the other people in his life that he helped – and was helped in return. Being the extrovert that he is he probably had an inkling of this already, but the lesson was really driven home after his year of experiment.

This book led me more to contemplate money, mortgages, and the modern banking system. Fortunately, Mark keeps his message positive and an eye on what we can do to be proactive in changing the system. After reading and listening to so many messages about doom and gloom with peak oil collapse being just around the corner it was a relief to listen to Mark’s perspective. Although his ideal – for the money system to go away – is probably unattainable, it’s still an admirable goal to set up a Freeconomy community in the UK.

Even though he’s based in the UK near Bristol, England, his site – Just for the Love of It – is open to everyone worldwide. It’s an online community and forum where people can share their skills, time, and things. I find his approach a lot more do-able than The Natural Step. Granted, I’m not thoroughly educated in the ways of The Natural Step, but after reading their very dry book a couple years ago I came away a little overwhelmed with the complexity of their approach. It’s a read more for city and State planners than real human beings. Mark puts the ideal of the Gift Economy into a very reachable place for the average person.

Thanks, Mark, for a wonderful and thought-provoking read. May the torch of inspiration keep burning with you!