If you eat, then you should see this movie!

This weekend my husband and I watched a fabulous movie.  It was so good that we even had the 11 year old watch it Sunday afternoon with us (our second time watching it!).

Before I tell more about the movie though I wanted to talk about our animals and how we raise them.  (really this does tie in with the movie)  We only raise a few animals, right now we have 26 chickens, 1 heifer and 1 steer.  In a few weeks we will be bringing home some new piglets - last year we raised 4 hogs.  This year we will raise at least that many and we are also planning to add a few turkeys.  There are a few differences in the animals we raise and what is raised on many "farms".  We do not use antibiotics for our animals.  I recall several years ago I had an egg customer tell me that she could eat the eggs from our chickens, but anytime she ate eggs from the supermarket she had an allergic reaction. Once I found out that she was also allergic to antibiotics I was convinced that the reason she could eat my eggs was because I did not use antibiotics.  Most producers today give daily antibiotics to their animals. All our animals also have pasture access on a daily basis, so they can root, chase bugs, graze or do what they SHOULD be doing.  Unfortunately most of the meat that end up on your table does not live a normal or even a clean healthy life. 

Some of our chickens being chickens!

And some of our pigs doing pig things!

The movie we saw this weekend affirmed to us that we have been doing things the right way all along even though some in our agriculture community don't understand why we do things the way we do.  The movie was called Food, Inc.  and it is documentary.  It covers how the food industry has changed in the last 50 years and how it has effected the nutrition and health of our entire nation.

In all honesty I had not seen this previously, because I thought it was a Michael Moore type film.  However it was far from that.  I knew that fewer and fewer companies were providing more and more of the food.  For instance there may be bacon by 8 different "companies" on the supermarket shelves but there are really only 3 or 4 large corporate producers.  The types of animals have also changed over the years and the animals grown for food today are not the same type of animal grown in your grandmother's day. 

I could go on and on, but I don't want to spoil it for you.  I do hope it is a movie you will consider watching if you have not already.  If you have seen it, or when you do, I would love to hear your reactions and thoughts.

Until next time......

For those of you that say grace before a meal ask for food that will keep you, and the planet, healthy. 
-----Food, Inc

Maybe we need to raise more hogs this year.....

We raise a few hogs each year on our small acreage.  At least one goes in our freezer, one gets sold on the hoof at the 4-H youth sale since our oldest is in 4-H, the others we sell whole and then some are sold as cut and wrapped pieces.  We raise all our animals without the use of antibiotics and following organic practices, but that is really another post.  What I am wondering is do you eat pork and if this piece of news will alter the amount that you do eat? 

Have you seen this news?  Argentina's president, Cristina Fernandez, has said that pork is a better alternative to...........

  (are you ready for this?)

Viagra.   Seriously!

"BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – Argentina's president thinks eating pig meat is really sexy. Many people in this beef-loving nation reacted with surprise Thursday after Cristina Fernandez promoted pork in a speech during which she not only said pork is better than Viagra, but suggested she's personally proven it.
"I didn't know that eating pork improved sexual activity," Fernandez said in a meeting with representatives of the swine industry late Wednesday. "It is much more gratifying to eat some grilled pork than to take Viagra."
She even joked that "it was all good" after she enjoyed some pork with her husband, former President Nestor Kirchner.
"I think they might be right," Fernandez said to a laughing audience."

"Argentines are among the world's biggest consumers of red meat, and most people here stubbornly reject the idea of replacing beef with chicken, pork or other meats. Despite Argentina lying along rich South Atlantic fisheries, seafood is rarely seen on dinner tables."
........."In Osaka, Japan, there is a village in which the people who reached 105 years old and ate a lot of pork had a lot of sexual activity," he told radio Mitre."
Full article:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100129/ap_on_fe_st/us_odd_pork_and_sex

Well I will let you ponder that for a bit.  I think I will go out to the freezer and get out a pork roast to thaw.  Below are a couple of our hogs enjoying the fresh air and sunshine.  We do not keep our hogs in pens and they have daily access to pasture. 

 

Twilight, isn't that the time between day and night?

Okay I will admit that I have never been one to keep up with the latest  and greatest. 

So my sister was making fun of the other day - my much older sister.  You see I have never been one to follow celebrities, the latest movies or most popular books.  I posted on Facebook that it was VERY foggy that morning.  A teen friend of mine posted that she was in Forks, WA.  This kind of confused me as it was a school day, but I assumed it must be some school trip.  Then my sister asked if I saw sparkly people.  HUH?  Well it went on from there and I was the only one who did not have a clue.  My sister did finally clue me in to what they were talking about - the Twilight books. 

My sister mentioned that popular culture has never been my interest and she is right, but maybe that needs to change.  Maybe I need to catch up a bit - after all if my sister can text then maybe I can figure it out too.  So I have made a pledge to investigate and catch up a bit. 
 
First I sent a text to my occasional baby sitter and one to my sister too - they were both shocked. I do love reading even if time is limited, so I put the Twilight book on reserve at the library. I have a Kindle, but it is still in the box it came in at Christmas.  As for movies, I have no idea where to start.  We have a Netflix account, do you have any suggestions on what we should rent?   The theater is not a good option for me since "in town" we only have 2 screens.  I am also, as I am sure you guessed,  working on blogging too.  I hope to be able to ad pictures to my next post. 

I would love to hear from you on what you think I should check out or try. What am I missing?  Any ideas or thoughts?

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog!  Since this is my first post I want to introduce myself.  I am Carol, the mom in "Why Oh Mom".  I chose the name because, as a mom of 3 boys, about every other second I am asked a question that starts with 'Mom, why....' - if you are a mom I am sure you have been there and understand. I also liked it due to a kind of play on words since I live in Wyoming and I am a mom. 

Between home schooling, 4-H, taking care of animals and more we have a busy life, but it is a life we are making and we enjoy it.  I hope to share not only what is going on with us, thoughts on parenting, some of our favorite recipes and lots more.

Until next time.....