Don't Hang the Pigs

When I first heard Sec. Vilsack ask us to use "H1N1" as the name for this new flu virus I laughed. After hearing what's going on in Egypt, with the slaughter of all the nation's pigs in the name of "disease prevention," I'm not laughing anymore.

While I would love to know if there is a correlation between industrial swine operations, with their manure lagoons, and the spread of the disease to humans, I don't blame the pigs. I doubt the government or the industry is going to admit if such a relationship exists. But isolated pigs, feral ones, or ones being kept as pastured pigs, aren't going to attracting the scads of flies that would come to an industrial operation. Certainly the pigs play a vital role in the Egyptian society, whether as a food source or as a part of the "clean up crew." Government agents aren't even discussing how they will deal with the aftermath of such a slaughter, especially in Cairo, where pigs are used as a part of the solid waste disposal system in that city.

I understand how scary this outbreak is. But there are certain assumptions being spread, not promoted, by the Internet and the media, make no sense. Keeping pigs does not necessarily invite the disease. Eating pork, if properly cooked as always, does not invite the disease. And, avoiding pigs doesn't necessarily avoid the flu, as obviously most of the people in the US who have contracted it have had no contact with pigs. The cat is out of the bag. And nature was going to make this particular "cat" somewhere, some day. Now it's time we learned how to take care of ourselves again.

That doesn't mean medicate up to wazoo. It means being considerate when you're not feeling well. It means washing your hands well, and often. I still think good old soap and water is the best solution, not alcohol soaps all the time. "Anti-Bacterial soaps" may make you feel better for the short term, but if H1N1 or other "germs" mutate to be resistant to such scrubs, then what do we have? The practices we need to recall are the ones our ancestors practiced last century and for centuries before that: Eat well, Get lots of sleep, Avoid contact with others if you're sick and stay away from people who are sick. Is that paycheck more important than the lives of your co-workers? We can't medicate our way out of this mess. Nature and time will work it out, if we let them. Meanwhile, being safe and considerate is a better practice than blaming the pigs

I Blew It

Do I get any credit for planning this "educational piece" for weeks? even though I didn't get it out in time. It won't be ready for this Friday either, I'm afraid. We've had a population explosion in the barn this week, and thankfully, some sales to go with that. I haven't forgotten my pledge, I'm just having to delay it a few weeks . I'm sorry, but it's getting busy around here.

Meanwhile, Happy Earth Day to everyone. I hope that this growth in awareness of our planet and our place on it, continues beyond this event, and this year. As a long time "eco-geek," it's heartwarming to see the Earth finally getting some consideration, even if it is a little bit late.

Don't Give Up Now

The USDA announced today that it will be holding "listening sessions" throughout the nation for the next six month. What are they listening for? Ways to make NAIS more acceptable. Congress is getting frustrated with the lack of movement on this program, which many of us see as unnecessary and intrusive. Sec. Vilsack has stated that he wants to hear as many voices as possible about how to make NAIS more palatable. I think we need show him how many different ways it's unacceptable.

The USDA has also announced that it will be reopening the Federal Registry for comments in coming weeks. They will be posting the question and the "listening session" schedule pretty soon. You can read more about this announcement at

http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB?contentidonly=true&contentid=2009/04/0108.xml

What is a Farmer?

I read a post the other day on one of my lists. The author had been shopping at an Amish market and was shocked to learn that the Amish use Round-Up. The writer' s impression was that because of the Amish work ethic, they surely have a reverence for the land too. That got me to thinking about what people actually know about farming. It's part of the reason I started this blog. Impressions vs. Reality.

There are good farmer and there are not so good farmers. I actually try to find language that explains the difference, but not with much success in our American language. The closest I've found is a "small holder," being a small scale diversified farm, managed primarily "old order organic," practices. But there are many larger operations that meet that definition, but wouldn't consider themselves "smallholders."

I had a conversation with a friend of mine the other day re: the difference between a breeder and a farmer. She breeds goats, but holds farmers in disdain. In her mind farmers think only with the bottom line, and are selfish and cruel. In other conversations I've learned that "farmers hate environmentalists," and that "all farmers are conservative." Well, I'm a farmer, who breeds goats, has always been an environmentalist and consider myself progressive in my politics.

People farm for a variety of reasons, and "supporting farmers," is a bit like saying "you like air." Who doesn't? But actually having conversations with farmers, smallholders, landkeepers, land stewards, etc, is the only way to actually find out what kind of farmer you want to support.

To that end, this week's "Farmer Code Educational Activity," is going to be a word puzzle and a scavenger hunt. Only you'll know your success at the hunt, but I'll be listing different things about farms that "hunters," should learn more about. Hope you'll enjoy it. It'll be ready on Friday.

By the Way, from what I understand, the Amish value hard work, but some Amish see the animals and the land as just tools for their labor. Just like some people are fastidious in the care of the tools, others leave them out in the rain, and just plan on replacing them every year. You can decide what kind of "tool keeper," you are, or want to be, just as any Amish person, or any farmer, can decide how they want to farm their land.

New Venture

Okay, I'm going to try and stick to a timetable. Bear with me if I don't. It' s not my strongpoint.
Every Friday, starting next week, I will be posting a "Farm lesson," for those people who are interested in learning more about an aspect of farming. My focus will be on livestock, because that's my forte, but you can't have animals without plants and soil, so they will be included.

I've been trying to write a book on this subject for years and haven't found a way to do it. So, rather than struggle chapter by chapter, I'll take it week by week. Topics will vary, and sometimes the support information will be different than other times. This meant for families and adults, so there will be activities that can be shared with kids, and some that are more scholarly. But who doesn't like fun? Sometimes we'll use our digital video camera, or put together a podcast, but I'm going to try and keep it multi-media.

Have a question? Suggestion? Let me know and I'll try to address it. Give me until after Easter and then we'll kick off this project. Hope you enjoy it.

A Bit of Hope

I got to watch part of a confirmation hearing the other day for Dr. Kathleen Merrigan. She's been appointed to fill the position of Deputy Secretary of the USDA, and she hails from Massachusetts. It was wonderful to see a woman in such an important position, and the fact that she supports sustainable and organic agriculture is all the better.

The main comment that came out of the hearing was that Dr. Merrigan "loved organic" a little too much, and that she might give short shrift to conventional ag. I thought she responded appropriately by stating that there are a lot of different ways to farm, and that the USDA should be addressing all kinds. Sen. Harkin, the committee Chair, went on to state that he saw the fastest growing part of beginning ag in Iowa is organic farming, so even "the big guys in D.C." are noticing the change in the air.

Now if we could just get them to believe that we know what we're doing. There is a bill in the House that calls for a unified Food Safety organization, combining USDA and FDA into one organization. Part of their rationale is that the government would create "best practices" that farmers would need to ascribe to. The government is already taking suggestions for what these "best practices" might be. How long do they want the code to be? It needs to consider religion, geography, species, scale and philosophy. That's hard to do. My fear is that it will be "best practices" as described by the USDA which means corporate ag. I understand that there is fear out there about our food safety. Rather than coordinate all the farmers to try to think alike (every herd cats?) isn't it better than we educate the public and give them choices? I guess "home ec," wasn't such as a bad idea after all.