Just Three Things…

Just these three things before you put the weekend behind you and start your week…

1) 2% of the U.S. population is engaged in the work of producing the food that feeds their neighbours (and to some extent, the world). You would think with so few in the business the powers that be would not have to resort to fear mongering in order to sell their products. Alas, that is not the case. Of course we expect that sort of sh*t from peddlers and salespeople like The Food Babe (yeah…I ain’t gonna link to her page here. You want to read her crap and sales pitch you go right ahead or you can just trust me when I say that if someone is going to resort to talking about beaver butt * then maybe, just maybe they are more interested in shocking then they are in providing information). So, to recap-we expect crap and fear mongering from slick salespeople like the Food Babe (and Panera and Chipotle). We do NOT expect the same sort of fear based sales pitch throwing farmers and ranchers under the marketing bus from other farmers. In the fine tradition of Oakhurst labeling its milk and dairy products “rBST Free” thereby inciting the idea that there was something inherently “wrong” with rBST and its use to garner a higher profit many bottlers have followed suit, promoting their products not on its merits or what they offer, but on the implied and supposed “threat” of what the competition may offer. Even the Washington Dairy Products Commission is now promoting milk and dairy products from Washington state farmers as rBST free because, “Regardless of how you feel about rbST, Washington residents can drink a little easier knowing that Washington milk is rbST-free.” So, not that there’s anything WRONG with all the other milk, but you can certainly rest easy knowing that there might be and you can avoid it by buying our stuff. (That wasn’t a speed bump-the bus just ran over a bunch of dairy farmers). As if all this wasn’t bad enough Only Organic recently released a commercial that basically takes the cake (a gluten free, non-GMO, Organic, and non-radioactive cake) with regards to fear mongering, surpassing past efforts by Panera and Chipotle (extra points were awarded to Only Organic for their use of children and the fact that Only Organic actually represents farmers and their hard work so yeah, I tossed in extra points for the cannibalism.)

The thing is, most of us farmers didn’t even hear this bus trucking like a bat out of hell before it hit us.

But the upside? The Upside is that Organic Valley listened to farmers who expressed their sorrow, dismay and disappointment in the video. Listened well enough to remove it from their Facebook page. Bravo Organic Valley, and thank you. It would be nice if all farmers stuck to farming and the folks selling stuck to selling and everybody left the bus driving to those who are duly qualified, or at the very least, the ones who avoid pedestrians.

2) There’s no point seeking truths and facts from someone who is not passionate about the subject matter. There’s also no way you can’t love a person who can create a kick ass flow chart. If you are looking for the facts and truths about the food you put on your table then Jude Capper is the person you need to be following.

It just doesn’t feel like a normal day if you haven’t been called a cow rapist by 9am

3) If you are going to engage in a Twitter fight make sure it is over something worthwhile, like defending your High School Band. Let’s just leave it at that…

…one last thing, because laughter is a tribute too:

*I’m not kidding. Beaver butt.