Chipotle: A World of Pure Imagination

About four years ago, I realized the extremely important role advocacy plays in agriculture and saw the limitless value of telling my story. I’m proud to share the stories about the small role I play in food production while working alongside my father, husband and in-laws. I do this because there are plenty of people out there that daily strive to push consumers towards niche products such as organic beef, cage-free eggs or vegan bacon (which is not really bacon, btw). While I’m all about choice, I don’t like it when we suggest that making one food choice is safer, more sustainable or better than another food choice—especially when it’s not true.

Inquiring minds want to know when they're going to be fed.....

While things like the latest Chipotle video may be successful at attracting press, blog hits and consumer interest, the one thing they fall extremely short of achieving is creating constructive conversation about food production and the wholesome goodies on our dinner plates.

Whether it’s this latest video or others like it, it reiterates to me the importance of sharing stories about how food is really raised today. I strongly urge all producers to continue to use your voice and tell the real story of farming – right now there are consumers around the nation, and the world, putting their Google skills to the test trying to find out information about how beef, chicken and pork are produced and how livestock are treated. This is a critical component of agriculture – while we may not all agree on the what is the ‘right’ way to do things, we can all agree that no one benefits from denigrating farmers and ranchers other than the marketers and businesses themselves.

Baby beef!

Do you have pictures of you or your family caring for your livestock? Put them online with a short story about the pride you have in providing high quality care and producing safe, healthy food.  That’s the real story of farming and you should be proud of it.

When they hear the dinner bell (it's actually a siren) they come runnin'! As they pass by, we make sure everyone is present and accounted for - if not, we ride around the pasture to look for escapees or sick cattle.

Farmers and ranchers have been sharing the story of agriculture for several years and should continue to do so! Here are some great examples of producers opening up the barn doors to all who wish to view inside.

·         Anne Burkholder – a feedlot owner from Nebraska

·         Debbie Lyons-Blythe – a cow/calf rancher in the Flint Hills of Kansas

·         Ryan Goodman – a farmer from Tennessee who talks about beef, food and ranch life

·         Bridget Coon – a ranch wife in Washington who raises beef with her family

Even if you aren’t a wizard of words, you can post a picture and short sentence about your daily practices – a la Wordless Wednesday (or in my case, Semi-wordless Wednesday). Again, it is up to you to make sure that American consumers know exactly how their food is produced and that they can be confident in farmers and ranchers to do the right thing.

Podge is my role model for many things -- horsemanship, cattle care and his dedication to doing the right thing, even when it's not easy, are just a few of his outstanding qualities.

Are you a supplier to Chipotle, do you raise naturally raised beef or meet the Chipotle specs or know someone who is? PLEASE comment below – I’d love to talk with you and hear your thoughts on this!

Until next time,

~ Buzzard ~

The thoughts and opinions of this blog post strictly represent that of Brandi Buzzard Frobose and are NOT representative of any other entity or organization.

Kings of the Farm

Great - now I have this song stuck in my head. Substitute 'farm' for 'road'. Capice?

If you don't already know, this week is NFR week. National Finals Rodeo. The Big Show. Super Bowl of rodeo.  You get the point. The NFR is shown exclusively on Great American Country (thank God, I was so tired of waiting up till midnight for it to start when ESPN had the rights to it) and on Saturday night, the guest hosts were two boys from the show Farm Kings.

Basically, the show follows a family (The Kings, get it?) as they do their daily farm chores. The Kings own and operate Freedom Farms where they strive to provide Pittsburgh with the freshest produce around. There are TEN KIDS and the mom who do all the work - I haven't seen an episode but I would be willing to bet that Mom is one tough cookie (seriously, ten kids).

I only found out about the series because I upped my DIRECTV subscription for 10 days so I could watch the NFR. After December 15th, it's sayonara GAC and Farm Kings, too. I'll have to DVR a few episodes so I can get the lo-down. For those of you who, like me, are cheap and have the bare bones cable package, here is a clip of Farm Kings you can watch. Maybe it will entice you to upgrade!



Has anyone out there seen a whole episode? What did you think?

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

p.s. My rodeo man crush, Trevor, is pursuing his 10th all-around title. For more info on his awesomeness, check out previous posts. I'm also a big fan of first time NFR qualifier Jared Keylon. Jared was my boyfriend's roommate when we were at Fort Scott Community College and lived next door. You'll never meet a more hard working, determined bareback rider than Jared. He's making a solid showing at this year's NFR and you can bet he'll be back for more in future years.

Other faves I am loving right now:
Cory Solomon - calf roping
Kelli Tolbert - barrel racing (that horse can eat up a third barrel)
Trevor Brazile and Patrick Smith - team roping
Chad Masters and Clay O'Brien Cooper - team roping
Tuf Cooper - calf roping 

Winter is nearing

and even though the temperatures have cooled down significantly from the 100+ days during the summer there is a key element of fall/winter missing....

MOISTURE.

The last time it rained in Manhattan, KS was about a month ago. Normally in the eastern part of Kansas, it rains quite often in the fall. We've seen nary a drop for several weeks and the forecast doesn't look good. We also haven't seen any snow or sleet, which would both be welcome at this time.

You may be asking why I am pointing out this obvious dilemma but for some it may not be so clear. Even though it's not hot, winter wheat still needs moisture so that cattle can graze during this mild weather. Livestock still need to drink during cold months. For those who aren't part of agriculture, let me assure you that water is an essential need on every single agricultural operation. And the longer we go without rain/sleet/snow, the longer producers carry the stress of the drought on their shoulders.

So when you say your prayers at night, please send up an extra two or three for moisture for our ag producers.

Or you could do a rain dance. If you need help coming up with moves, this guy might be able to help.



Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

Chipotle Strikes a Nerve with Grammy Commercial

10:30 pm Sunday: I'm so livid right now, I can't even form a coherent sentence. So I may have to come back and finish this post in the morning.
*********

Monday morning/afternoonish: Ok, I'm back. A good night's sleep and a few deep breaths has me calmed me down enough that now I can at least form sentences and not scream at stupid Chipotle commercials.
If you haven't seen the commercial that aired last night during the Grammy's (I didn't watch the Grammy's but once I saw my Facebook and Twitter blowing up, I went to YouTube and watched the disaster), please do so now, so that you're aware of what I'm talking about.

I can't even begin to explain everything that is wrong with this commercial, but I'll try:

1. Livestock are not raised indoors because farmers are lazy. Quite the opposite actually. As I type this, there is snow on the ground and it's 27 degrees in Kansas and spitting sleet oh and don't forget it's Kansas so it's always windy. If I was a dairy cow or a pig, I'd wanna be indoors and out of the snow and wind.

2. Supporting local farmers is a great endeavor however, there is not always a year-round farmers market that has every grocery item from A-Z in every small town. Without Hyvee, Dillons and yes, the dastardly Wal-Mart, my little family would starve. Transporting food from where it was grown to where it is sold is not evil or wrong. It's called infrastructure and we should be very thankful we have it. Countries in Africa don't have very good infrastructure and therefore have a lot of food shortages and hunger problems.

3. Did you know there is 77 times more hormones (estrogen) in ONE EGG than in a 100 gram portion of implanted beef? I didn't make that up, it's the facts. Antibiotics are used during stressful times in an animal life when the immune system is compromised and when they need to be treated for sickness. Antibiotics on farms are not used irresponsibly or willi-nilli.

4. Farmers and ranchers aren't running factories. To say otherwise is absurd. Producers check their livestock on a daily basis and are always striving to provide the utmost care possible so that the quality of life for their livestock is as best as can be.

Also, did you know that even though Chipotle claims to use local, certified organic products they quite often can't find enough supply to meet their demand and end up using conventionally produced products? They admit it:

“We do, however, face challenges associated with pursuing Food With Integrity. For example, current economic conditions have led to natural chicken and steak supply shortages. It can take longer to identify and secure relationships with suppliers meeting our criteria, and there are higher costs and other risks associated with purchasing naturally raised or sustainably grown ingredients. The growing time for naturally raised meat and sustainably grown vegetables can be longer. Herd losses can also be greater when animals are not treated with antibiotics and hormones and field losses can be higher for organically grown produce. Given the costs associated with natural and sustainable farming practices, and recently due to decreased demand as a result of the weak economic environment, many large suppliers have not found it economical to pursue business in this area.” -- taken from Chipotle's annual report.

Just to clear something up: I have no problem with organic or naturally produced food products. I am very proud to live in a country where I can buy whatever type of food I want: organic, natural, conventional, grass-fed, grain-fed, etc. However, I can't afford those products and quite frankly I know there isn't a difference between them and their conventionally produced contemporaries. However, I don't condemn those farmers who make a living in a way that is different to everyone else. If consumers want to pay higher prices for organic and natural, well then props to those producers who can provide it. All I'm saying is that one isn't better than the other and we shouldn't gang up on each other. We can all agree that Chipotle is definitely not portraying an accurate picture of food production and are also not using the products of which they're so proud to endorse. Honesty goes a long ways with Buzzard.

I haven't eaten Chipotle in five years. Seriously. Mostly because of their marketing schemes but also partly because I didn't really like the food anyway. I don't mean to punish producers who supply Chipotle with food but I just can't support a company that trounces on conventional agriculture so inappropriately and inaccurately. My pride and values won't let me.

There are other great commentaries on this commercial making their rounds on the internet - I encourage you to check them out!

Food Integrity Starts with Marketing Integrity - Daren Williams, NCBA
Chipotle, Your Grammy Commercial Still Doesn't Change My Mind - Crystal Young
http://storify.com/nicksargent/negative-reaction-to-chipotle-grammy-ad
Was Chipotle's Ad Eloquent or Ignorant? - Peggy Lowe, Harvest Public Media

Oh and let's not forget about Willie Nelson. Shame, shame on you for ruining Coldplay's song "Back to the Start" and for continuing to not be a friend of conventional agriculture.

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

Keep Families Farming

We all know that 4-H and FFA are fantastic outlets to get involved with agriculture at a young age, develop skills and find our passions. But most of us developed our interests for 4-H and FFA long before we memorized the creed or participated at our first state fair.

I, along with several hundreds of thousands of young people in the U.S., grew up helping my family on the ranch. Feeding horses, filling water troughs, grooming animals - these tasks were all a daily aspect of my life and through those chores I learned responsibility, discipline and developed my love of the land and animals.

As many of you are aware, the U.S. Department of Labor is trying to pass a law that would prevent children under 18 from participating in or completing the following activities on a farm:

• Paid workers age 15 and younger would be barred from operating tractors, combines, ATVs and almost all power-driven equipment, unless they obtain special certification.
• Youths under the age of 18 would not be allowed to work at grain elevators, silos, feed lots, livestock auctions or in the transporting of raw farm materials.
• Tobacco fields would be off-limits to workers under age 16 due to concerns about a problem called green-tobacco sickness, caused by the exposure to nicotine.
• Children in both agricultural and non-farm work would be restricted from using personal electronic devices, including walkie-talkies, while operating equipment.

Anyone who has ever been on a farm knows that parents' #1 priority is safety for their children around livestock and machinery. This law would not only cripple the ability of children to get involved in agriculture at an early age but would also cause difficulty to those families who depend on teenagers to help haul hay, run the combines etc to get their work done on time.

There was a comment period for this legislation but unfortunately, it expired on Dec 31, 2011. However, Kansas Senator Jerry Moran (R), is collecting comments to continue to capture the ag community's concern with this issue. Voice and opinion is critical if we are going to stop this action.

Want to share your story? Head on over to http://moran.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/keep-families-farming and help keep our traditions of hard work and family in place on the farm.

Additionally, a YouTube video has been produced to help spread the message about Keeping Families Farming.


 If you'd like to read the Kansas City Star article about this topic click here.

Help get the word out and share your comments and stories and hopefully we can Keep Families Farming! Tweet, blog and Facebook about it - this is a rather important issue!

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~