Do Your Homework!

There is tons of nutritional and health advice flying around within that great abyss we call the Internet, enough so that the uneducated person can be lead terribly astray with detrimental results. I have seen some crazy claims of what is or isn't healthy, be it the latest fad diet or the latest super food or the latest piece of (for lack of a better word) propaganda started by those who are simply blind to the selfish greedy intentions of corporations (large and small) that orchestrate our food industry as we know it.

Why do I bring this up you ask?

Today I found this comment posted by someone on one of the many health blogs/groups that I follow...

"Turns out cholesterol may not be as much an issue as we've been taught. Instead, the underlying inflammation may be the problem. Eliminate grains, sugars and processed foods."

The fact is there is truth to the claim that "inflammation" may be the underlying problem behind the over exaggerated high cholesterol scare, I've read many articles connecting the dots between inflammation with the body and many of the major health issues people face, but the problem is in the advice and to follow it would no doubt be counterproductive (health wise). To say "Eliminate sugars and processed foods" from our diet is good sense although I would elaborate regarding the sugar by saying simple sugars, since there are a number of healthy natural complex sugars (black-strap molasses, raw honey, pure maple syrup, etc.), but to say eliminate grains from our diet is so preposterous that it questions the validity of an otherwise informative comment.

The truth is complex carbohydrates such as organic natural whole grains, that is minimally processed with the endosperm layer still attached, is not only arguably the healthiest thing you can feed your body but is proven to lower cholesterol.

So do yourself and your health a favor and do your homework when it comes to information you pick up on the internet... even mine!

Pigaerator Pork... There really is a difference!

Joel Salatin (Polyface Farm) preaches many things but he continually stresses two major points for organic sustainable farming, and that is he is nothing more than a grass farmer. He'll tell you that if you pay attention to the grass, knowing when to move the animals on or off a pasture, nature will do the rest. He believes that farming is about rotating your pastures of closely herded animals, mimicking a grazer's movement in the wild, at just the right time, not too soon and not too late, and that's all there is to it; not letting the pigs or cows over graze any one area, and letting the chickens follow behind when the grass shoots are only a few days old (when they're the tastiest to the chickens). He says embrace the pigness of the pig or the chickness of the chicken, or in other words let the animals be themselves and not what "man" has turned them into; fat sickly corn fed animals that are doing something far greater than feeding a nation, their killing a nation!

If the cow was designed, biologically speaking (its digestive system), to graze pastures then don't pack them in overcrowded feedlots standing in their own feces feeding them grains (corn and soy) and ground up meat!

If the chicken was designed to be natures clean-up crew, eating bugs hiding within that jungle beneath the blades of grass, as well as eating the grass, then don't clip their beaks, pack them in dark overcrowded warehouses feeding them grains (corn and soy) and bone meal!

If the pig was meant to forage like any well designed omnivore, then respect the pigness of the pig instead of clipping off their tails, packing them into overcrowded warehouses and feeding them... well you get the picture.

One thing he mentioned during our tour was that pork is not suppose to be "the other white meat", instead a healthy pig has dark meat, and like all grass fed animals far less fat and much higher levels of healthy omega-3s than their corn fed counterparts.

So taste the difference for yourself; eat locally raised organic grass fed meats and taste what you've been missing!

Polyface Farm

Well it's been a while since my last post, and since that time my wife and I have done a little traveling. We visited Polyface Farm in Virginia (featured in The Omnivore's Dilemma and Food Inc.) and took a tour of the farm given by none other than Joel Salatin himself. What an amazing tour! He is as eccentric as you would have expected (if you've read about him) and as passionate about organic sustainable farming as anyone; just a wealth of knowledge! It was really great to see the farmer that originally sparked our passion about not simply eating organic, but locally grown organic foods grown or raised the right way. It was just a reassuring moment for both my wife and I, knowing that we are doing the right thing by supporting our local organic sustainable farmers.

We have been getting our vegetables from a local organic farm and our beef, chicken, and pork from local organic grass fed farms for some time now and are happy to be a part of something so important; something having such a great positive impact on our health as well as the that of the land used to produce this food. And in case you are wondering, yes we did get some chicken and pork at Polyface to bring home with us and it was worth every dollar!

Support you local lunatic farmer!