As we celebrate the independence of our country it’s important to remember the reason for our beginning… INDEPENDENCE!!!

We broke away from Great Britain not because of some tax on tea, but because the King would not accept payment of our levies and taxes in the form we chose. We wanted to be able to print and distribute our own money so commerce could be localized and people could do business with whoever they chose. Our Founding Fathers knew that by allowing the freedom to buy things from our neighbors that communities would grow and prosper and be safe and secure.

In regards to the independence to buy food from who we choose, I’ve seen quite a change in my lifetime. I’ve seen local go from always knowing were our food came from (mostly from our own farm and garden) to local being defined by large corporations as how far their food travels from their own distribution centers!!

But by far the most disturbing change is in the power that our own Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seems to think they have in determining from who, what and where we can buy our food. Under the disguise of food safety, they have regulated the way food can be raised, processed, distributed and sold – which is not a bad thing – but when it’s so heavily slanted in favor of huge multinational corporations, it makes me wonder what our Founding Fathers would have thought of this ridiculous over-regulation.

This came to light back in April when the FDA, in response to a lawsuit filed earlier in the year by the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund in regards to FDA’s regulating the sale of raw milk, made these claims:

1) That we the people have NO fundamental right to produce, obtain or consume the food of our choice (in this case raw milk)

2) That we the people do NOT have the right to consume and feed our children any particular food

3) That we the people do NOT have the right to determine what is healthy for ourselves

4) That we the people do not have the right of freedom of contract when it comes to our food. The FDA claims that THEY hold these rights and only THEY can make these decisions

To me, these claims are beyond disturbing and any American citizen who has ever lived (our Founding Fathers would be up in arms) would be appalled at any agency even thinking to take away these most basic rights.

So on this Independence Day, remembering what started this whole revolution, let’s declare a FOOD independence day (and year) and shop at those small local markets and farm stands that WE choose that supports a safe, secure and healthy food supply.

Healthy trails,
Dale

Ever wonder why so much of our store-bought food is over processed the way it is? Are those big food companies really protecting us from “bad” food, or are they covering up “bad” food?? Let’s briefly examine the food industry.

It’s important to know that most of our food or food ingredients that are used are there because of one reason: They can be planted and harvested quickly and efficiently with machines… NOT because they have any kind of health benefit for humans.

That’s not to say that every single crop brought in by machine is bad. In fact, in the vegetable world I can say from personal experience growing for a local cannery that those pea harvesters, bean pickers and sweet corn snappers are truly works of wonder!

What is a cause for concern is the fact that these machines harvest ALL of the crop, good, bad or ugly. When this variable crop enters the factory, it’s basically impossible to separate out the unripe, overripe or diseased crop from the good crop. Since this can’t be accomplished on an acceptable scale, the only thing that can be done is to process the entire product which reduces the quality down to a lower point of consistency. This idea of consistency has been “sold” to the American public for so long that when most consumers come across the taste of real food, they think it’s bad in some way. How sad is that?

So what can we do to change this pattern? Quite simply, buy local food that’s not only grown locally, but processed in a small local facility or in someone’s kitchen. This pretty much ensures that someone has hand-harvested at the peak of ripeness, hand-sorted for quality and tossed out the undesirable product so you get only the top quality food full of the nutrients that nature puts in. So go shop at your town’s farm market or drive out to a local produce farm and enjoy the REAL flavors of food!

Healthy trails,
Dale

So, let’s look at the question we asked in our last article… just what is the big issue about drinking raw milk?

Well, it comes down to politics (again). The dairy lobby in the United States is generally known to be the most ruthless, nasty and downright unlawful bunch that’s ever been in operation.

They have a boatload of money (that they’ve stolen from hard working dairy farmers) which they use to protect their territory (processed milk and milk by-products). They have “caused” new laws to be enacted with the front of food safety, but in reality it’s created a general lack of competition and put up a “wall” between farmer and consumer to ensure that farmers have no option but to sell their products to them and not be able to sell directly to consumers.

Our politicians buy into this hook, line and sinker as they have absolutely no idea what food safety or true health care is all about. The shining example of this is our own Governor Doyle, who initially promised to sign the raw milk bill if it made it to his desk, and then at the last minute decided to veto it.

Is it just me, or does anyone else smell a payoff here?

What really gets me cranked is when these politicians say they’re trying to protect our health… and yet I can walk into any convenience store and the first things I see are cigarettes and alcohol… not to mention the aisles and aisles of sugar coated, artificially dyed & sweetened snacks that I can buy (most containing ingredients that are proven to be unhealthy or even carcinogenic).

But now according to this new law, if I walk onto my neighbors certified organic, grass fed, clean, neat dairy farm and buy a gallon of raw milk, both he and me are subject fines!

Ridiculous!!!!

In closing, I’d like to quote Benjamin Franklin who wrote: “To oppose an immoral law is not tyranny… it’s liberty”. So, give me liberty… and a big glass of raw milk!!

Till next time… healthy trails,
Dale

In the news recently we’ve seen our legislators vote on whether to “allow” us to drink raw milk. As someone who grew up on a dairy farm and who’s family members have been drinking raw milk since the late 1800′s, I have strong opinions on this topic.

First of all, from an anecdotal research viewpoint, my ancestors have taught me that drinking raw milk (as well as eating food directly from the farm) not only does not harm you, it indeed has had a positive effect on health. My family tree is littered with grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins etc. that have lived lives well into their 80′s and 90′s without the need for medication.

Many experts point to genetics as being the reason, but research clearly shows that genetics is responsible for less than 5% of the equation of health. The other 95% comes from lifestyle (what we eat, our environment.

Secondly, good clean recent scientific research (research done with public, not private funding) has shown that consuming raw milk “trains” our immune system to identify and deal with the ever changing bacterial environment in which we live.

There appears to be no other food (at least for mammals) that has the ability to do what raw milk can do for us. What’s strange is that this research was done in Great Britain spawned by a school system that “noticed” that the farm kids (mostly from dairy farms) in school were decidedly healthier and seldom absent from class.

They found that not only did these children have less colds, flu, and allergies, but also had less infections and other ailments generally found in the other children. For my own son and daughter (both who are now in their 30′s) who grew up drinking milk directly out of our bulk tank, they also did not experience many “sick” days from school or have any of the maladies generally associated with milk consumption (ear infections, allergies).

I grew up hearing that milk is “nature’s most nearly perfect food”… so why the fight? We’ll look at that next time!

Healthy trails,
Dale

Whenever I sit and wonder what the heck I’m doing with my life, I always end up in the same place… it’s the food man!!!! Pure, simple, healthy, tasty… life’s really rewarding when you can narrow it down like that.

As a life long farmer being on the same acreage that 5 generations of Johnson’s have worked on, it truly is a privilege to actually have been able to know what good food is supposed to taste like and have the experience to know how to produce it.

Back when I was growing up, we always ate either what we grew and preserved on the farm or we bought what we needed from a friend or neighbor that did. Everyone was healthy, both in our family and at school. It was rare when we heard of someone who had cancer, heart disease or diabetes (which are now the top three diseases in the U.S.).

After I bought the farm from my Dad in 1978, I got caught up in the type of farming that contributed to the downward spiral of quality in our crops, using time-saving pesticides and harsh chemical fertilizers that initially seemed to work well, but as time went on, turned out to cost more and more with diminishing returns.

By the time I figured out what was happening to the health of my farm (and sadly enough to my health too) it was 1996 and I knew I’d better get after turning things around. I received my first Organic Certificate in 1997 and immediately the re-learning process began.

Almost everything I’d learned from the so-called agricultural experts was wrong or at least slanted to make me believe I needed to do this or that or spend this or that to make things grow properly. At the end of the day it was THEM making money… not me.

So when I talk about food, it’s not only my passion, it’s in my blood… my family… my DNA!!! I want to live a long HEALTHY life and as I see it, the only way that can happen is if I pay attention to what I put into my mouth on a daily basis!!

Healthy trails,
Dale