Wordless Wednesday - The Chickies Are Growing!

 

Growth and development update coming soon - and nutrition too!

Raising Babies on the Farm

There are some new babies on the FroBuzz ranch... baby chickens! Now raise your hand if you thought I was preggo. Shame on you if your hand is in the air; tsk tsk. This uterus is uninhabited by any croissants, buns or mini-ninjas.

I'm calling this one Stella; but since they all look the same I'll probably call them all Stella. I might name one or two Rupert just because I like that name.

Anyhow, The Ninja and I are jumping into food production on a smaller scale. We'd love to have cattle but right now it's just not feasible since we have very little land and what we do rent is under the reign of the roping ponies.

 

So earlier this week, we welcomed 10 baby Barred Rock hen chicks to the ranchero. We are excited to raise them and I have every intention of giving weekly updates on their growth and also provide info about what they eat, how we care for them and basic information about raising your own chickens.

Aren't my baby Barred Rocks cute?

There were several reasons why we chose Barred Rock chickens:

- They are good layers and tend to live long lives.

- Once they reach egg laying maturity at approximately 5-6 months of age, they will lay year-round (although decreased production in the winter).

- Cold hardy breed; which is great because it's been cold and rainy this week!

- A multi-purpose breed, they are also good for meat. Fried chicken here we come!

 

Our chicks are less than a week old and even though I didn't watch them hatch, I know this because they still have their egg tooth. What's that you ask?

 

See that little protrusion on the top of their beaks?

The egg tooth helps the chick break the air sac while they're in the egg and also assists in hatching. It falls off when the chicks are a few days old because it's no longer needed. A few of our babies don't have their egg tooth anymore, they're the big sisters.

 

 As you can see in the pictures we put down pine shavings in an enclosed shelter with a light and heat source. Chicks need to be 90+ degrees F for the first few weeks of their life so we hung the heat lamp low and made sure there were plenty of shavings for warmth.

 

The heat lamp and shavings will keep our baby
Barred Rocks warm in the unpredictable Kansas weather.

You can also see a feed pan filled with starter diet and a waterer. Anyone know why the base of the waterer is red? That's because chickens are attracted to red. Some producers will cover up injuries or bleeding cuts on chickens with Blu-Kote to keep their contemporaries from pecking at the cut.

 

What chicken questions do you have? I'm so excited about our new venture!

 

Until next time,

~ Buzzard ~

 

 





It's All in the Details: USDA/FSIS Meat Inspectors

 

Will there be a meat shortage?

Some details shedding light on how the sequester will affect the meat industry have been reported. In various articles this morning, Agriculture Undersecretary Elizabeth Hagen outlines how the furloughs will be implemented and during what time frame. You can read the two of the articles I read for the full story but here are the highlights:

As detailed by The Hagstrom Report, Hagen also told the committee that:

• 11 furlough days, scheduled from July to Sept. 20, will be for no more than one day a week and no more than two days per pay period.
• FSIS has decided the fairest plan for the nation’s meat industry is a uniform national schedule.
• FSIS will likely take a total cut of $52.8 million or 5 percent of its budget.
• Furloughs will be required of all 9,212 employees of the FSIS, including 8,136 meat inspectors and others on the front line such as lab technicians.

 Let's all breathe a collective sigh of relief that the days aren't consecutive and it's only 11 days and not more. Although, this article states that since some inspectors will be forced to take the same days off, there is still the possibility of shutting down the U.S. meat industry on those dates. But let's hope it doesn't get that bad.

Just as a refresher, this furlough is significant because meat plants CANNOT operate without federal inspectors present. It's illegal and would be a serious threat to food safety. For more info on how exactly federal inspectors regulate meat plant operations, you can read this about the Federal Meat Inspection Act.

What do you think of the decision handed down?

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

Chipotle: That's Not Natural

Chipotle appears on my blog often - the burrito giant often brags about sourcing naturally raised meats while condemning conventional agriculture and even goes to such lengths to produce anti-conventional agriculture videos that are glaringly inaccurate, which makes them a high priority on the list of blog topics.

Which is why this photo I saw on Feedstuffs Foodlink's Facebook page made me giggle.

This picture, courtesy Feedstuffs Foodlink, was taken by a customer in Kentucky although it's worth pointing out that similar signs have been seen in Illinois Chipotle locations.

What does this mean? Well in this post, I talked about how Chipotle has said in the past that the economy sometimes prevents them from sourcing natural beef and chicken. Here is the excerpt verbatim:

“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.

What this means is that due to a variety of factors, many of which are likely drought/supply/economy related, Chipotle has found it absolutely necessary to use conventionally produced meat instead of natural. I'm guessing it's either because it's too expensive for them to turn enough profit or they simply can't find enough of it to keep their supply chain running. Like I said, those are my speculations.

Several people commented on that post when I originally put it on my blog arguing that Chipotle didn't actually say, "We are using conventional" and to those folks I say, is this the absolute proof you need? I should hope so.

I must applaud Chipotle for being honest and not hiding their conventional sourcing from customers, although I wish they'd just drop their elitist marketing ploy altogether.

Poll the audience: Who out there can honestly say that they buy food based solely on production practices and nutrition, without considering price?
Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

USDA Sequestration is Inevitable - Meat Plants Will Shut Down

 

Picking up from where we left off on my last post about sequestration and the meat industry, this came across my newsfeed this morning. 

"USDA Says Meat Plant Shutdowns Inevitable in Budget Cuts

USDA says meat plant shutdowns inevitable in budget cuts

- See more at: http://www.dairyherd.com/e-newsletters/dairy-daily/USDA-says-meat-plant-shutdowns-inevitable-in-budget-cuts-193448121.html#sthash.Fi01bgfW.dpuf

U.S. meat packers and processors face short-term shutdowns because of impending federal budget cuts but the administration will try to minimize the impact on the industry and consumers, the Agriculture Department said on Tuesday.

The automatic cuts, also called sequestration, are due to take effect on Friday because Congress and the White House are unable to agree on other ways to reduce the federal deficit. USDA says the cuts would force it to lay off its 8,400 meat inspectors for 15 days to produce the savings ordered for its food safety agency.

Early this month, the White House raised the prospect of a mass layoff, which would shutter the meat industry for two weeks. Plants cannot operate without USDA inspectors.

A House subcommittee chairman, Texas Republican Michael Conaway, said on Tuesday that USDA might order furloughs on non-consecutive days to mitigate their effect and keep plants running.

"Specific furlough dates for (inspectors) have yet to be determined but there is no question sequestration will have an adverse effect on food inspection services," said USDA spokeswoman Courtney Rowe. "USDA is taking steps to minimize the impact of the furloughs on consumers, our employees and the meat industry."

Even so, there would be some shutdowns, USDA said, because there is no way to stretch the workforce to cover all plants while reducing outlays enough.

The administration estimates some $10 billion in production would be lost if inspectors were laid off en masse for two weeks, or their agency's share of cuts. Stores and restaurants could run short of meat temporarily.

The USDA did not respond to questions about how it would approach possible furloughs at its Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), which among other things generates prices used as benchmarks for livestock futures at CME Group Inc. The USDA has not mentioned AMS in its comments about the sequester.

Conaway said the administration has not replied in writing to his request for information about meat inspections and the White House budget office "owes us an explanation." The budget office was the first to raise the prospect of a furlough of all 8,400 inspectors and a resultant meat industry shutdown.

Although the spending cuts are due to take effect on Friday, it could be weeks or months before the meat industry is directly affected. Meat inspectors are guaranteed at least 30 days' notice of a furlough.

"This is a direct prescription from Congress to reduce every line item," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said last week.

Up to one-third of the USDA's 100,000 employees may be affected by furloughs. The USDA says the cuts would deny food aid to 600,000 pregnant women, new mothers and infants and also force closure of hundreds of Forest Service campgrounds, picnic areas and visitors' centers during the spring and summer."

So, according to this, USDA will do their best to space out the furloughs but it may not be completely possible to ensure that meat processing and packing will not shut down for at least a short while. This, obviously, will have a noticeable impact on supply and eventually price of meat in the grocery store, although it may not happen for quite some time.

Now that we have a bit more information on the topic - what are you thoughts? Upset with Congress and our White House leader for not being more responsible?

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

U.S. meat packers and processors face short-term shutdowns because of impending federal budget cuts but the administration will try to minimize the impact on the industry and consumers, the Agriculture Department said on Tuesday.
The automatic cuts, also called sequestration, are due to take effect on Friday because Congress and the White House are unable to agree on other ways to reduce the federal deficit. USDA says the cuts would force it to lay off its 8,400 meat inspectors for 15 days to produce the savings ordered for its food safety agency.
Early this month, the White House raised the prospect of a mass layoff, which would shutter the meat industry for two weeks. Plants cannot operate without USDA inspectors.
A House subcommittee chairman, Texas Republican Michael Conaway, said on Tuesday that USDA might order furloughs on non-consecutive days to mitigate their effect and keep plants running.
"Specific furlough dates for (inspectors) have yet to be determined but there is no question sequestration will have an adverse effect on food inspection services," said USDA spokeswoman Courtney Rowe. "USDA is taking steps to minimize the impact of the furloughs on consumers, our employees and the meat industry."
Even so, there would be some shutdowns, USDA said, because there is no way to stretch the workforce to cover all plants while reducing outlays enough.
The administration estimates some $10 billion in production would be lost if inspectors were laid off en masse for two weeks, or their agency's share of cuts. Stores and restaurants could run short of meat temporarily.
The USDA did not respond to questions about how it would approach possible furloughs at its Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), which among other things generates prices used as benchmarks for livestock futures at CME Group Inc. The USDA has not mentioned AMS in its comments about the sequester.
Conaway said the administration has not replied in writing to his request for information about meat inspections and the White House budget office "owes us an explanation." The budget office was the first to raise the prospect of a furlough of all 8,400 inspectors and a resultant meat industry shutdown.
Although the spending cuts are due to take effect on Friday, it could be weeks or months before the meat industry is directly affected. Meat inspectors are guaranteed at least 30 days' notice of a furlough.
"This is a direct prescription from Congress to reduce every line item," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said last week.
Up to one-third of the USDA's 100,000 employees may be affected by furloughs. The USDA says the cuts would deny food aid to 600,000 pregnant women, new mothers and infants and also force closure of hundreds of Forest Service campgrounds, picnic areas and visitors' centers during the spring and summer.
- See more at: http://www.dairyherd.com/e-newsletters/dairy-daily/USDA-says-meat-plant-shutdowns-inevitable-in-budget-cuts-193448121.html#sthash.Fi01bgfW.dpuf

U.S. meat packers and processors face short-term shutdowns because of impending federal budget cuts but the administration will try to minimize the impact on the industry and consumers, the Agriculture Department said on Tuesday.
The automatic cuts, also called sequestration, are due to take effect on Friday because Congress and the White House are unable to agree on other ways to reduce the federal deficit. USDA says the cuts would force it to lay off its 8,400 meat inspectors for 15 days to produce the savings ordered for its food safety agency.
Early this month, the White House raised the prospect of a mass layoff, which would shutter the meat industry for two weeks. Plants cannot operate without USDA inspectors.
A House subcommittee chairman, Texas Republican Michael Conaway, said on Tuesday that USDA might order furloughs on non-consecutive days to mitigate their effect and keep plants running.
"Specific furlough dates for (inspectors) have yet to be determined but there is no question sequestration will have an adverse effect on food inspection services," said USDA spokeswoman Courtney Rowe. "USDA is taking steps to minimize the impact of the furloughs on consumers, our employees and the meat industry."
Even so, there would be some shutdowns, USDA said, because there is no way to stretch the workforce to cover all plants while reducing outlays enough.
The administration estimates some $10 billion in production would be lost if inspectors were laid off en masse for two weeks, or their agency's share of cuts. Stores and restaurants could run short of meat temporarily.
The USDA did not respond to questions about how it would approach possible furloughs at its Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), which among other things generates prices used as benchmarks for livestock futures at CME Group Inc. The USDA has not mentioned AMS in its comments about the sequester.
Conaway said the administration has not replied in writing to his request for information about meat inspections and the White House budget office "owes us an explanation." The budget office was the first to raise the prospect of a furlough of all 8,400 inspectors and a resultant meat industry shutdown.
Although the spending cuts are due to take effect on Friday, it could be weeks or months before the meat industry is directly affected. Meat inspectors are guaranteed at least 30 days' notice of a furlough.
"This is a direct prescription from Congress to reduce every line item," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said last week.
Up to one-third of the USDA's 100,000 employees may be affected by furloughs. The USDA says the cuts would deny food aid to 600,000 pregnant women, new mothers and infants and also force closure of hundreds of Forest Service campgrounds, picnic areas and visitors' centers during the spring and summer.
- See more at: http://www.dairyherd.com/e-newsletters/dairy-daily/USDA-says-meat-plant-shutdowns-inevitable-in-budget-cuts-193448121.html#sthash.Fi01bgfW.dpuf

U.S. meat packers and processors face short-term shutdowns because of impending federal budget cuts but the administration will try to minimize the impact on the industry and consumers, the Agriculture Department said on Tuesday.
The automatic cuts, also called sequestration, are due to take effect on Friday because Congress and the White House are unable to agree on other ways to reduce the federal deficit. USDA says the cuts would force it to lay off its 8,400 meat inspectors for 15 days to produce the savings ordered for its food safety agency.
Early this month, the White House raised the prospect of a mass layoff, which would shutter the meat industry for two weeks. Plants cannot operate without USDA inspectors.
A House subcommittee chairman, Texas Republican Michael Conaway, said on Tuesday that USDA might order furloughs on non-consecutive days to mitigate their effect and keep plants running.
"Specific furlough dates for (inspectors) have yet to be determined but there is no question sequestration will have an adverse effect on food inspection services," said USDA spokeswoman Courtney Rowe. "USDA is taking steps to minimize the impact of the furloughs on consumers, our employees and the meat industry."
Even so, there would be some shutdowns, USDA said, because there is no way to stretch the workforce to cover all plants while reducing outlays enough.
The administration estimates some $10 billion in production would be lost if inspectors were laid off en masse for two weeks, or their agency's share of cuts. Stores and restaurants could run short of meat temporarily.
The USDA did not respond to questions about how it would approach possible furloughs at its Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), which among other things generates prices used as benchmarks for livestock futures at CME Group Inc. The USDA has not mentioned AMS in its comments about the sequester.
Conaway said the administration has not replied in writing to his request for information about meat inspections and the White House budget office "owes us an explanation." The budget office was the first to raise the prospect of a furlough of all 8,400 inspectors and a resultant meat industry shutdown.
Although the spending cuts are due to take effect on Friday, it could be weeks or months before the meat industry is directly affected. Meat inspectors are guaranteed at least 30 days' notice of a furlough.
"This is a direct prescription from Congress to reduce every line item," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said last week.
Up to one-third of the USDA's 100,000 employees may be affected by furloughs. The USDA says the cuts would deny food aid to 600,000 pregnant women, new mothers and infants and also force closure of hundreds of Forest Service campgrounds, picnic areas and visitors' centers during the spring and summer.
- See more at: http://www.dairyherd.com/e-newsletters/dairy-daily/USDA-says-meat-plant-shutdowns-inevitable-in-budget-cuts-193448121.html#sthash.Fi01bgfW.dpuf

U.S. meat packers and processors face short-term shutdowns because of impending federal budget cuts but the administration will try to minimize the impact on the industry and consumers, the Agriculture Department said on Tuesday.
The automatic cuts, also called sequestration, are due to take effect on Friday because Congress and the White House are unable to agree on other ways to reduce the federal deficit. USDA says the cuts would force it to lay off its 8,400 meat inspectors for 15 days to produce the savings ordered for its food safety agency.
Early this month, the White House raised the prospect of a mass layoff, which would shutter the meat industry for two weeks. Plants cannot operate without USDA inspectors.
A House subcommittee chairman, Texas Republican Michael Conaway, said on Tuesday that USDA might order furloughs on non-consecutive days to mitigate their effect and keep plants running.
"Specific furlough dates for (inspectors) have yet to be determined but there is no question sequestration will have an adverse effect on food inspection services," said USDA spokeswoman Courtney Rowe. "USDA is taking steps to minimize the impact of the furloughs on consumers, our employees and the meat industry."
Even so, there would be some shutdowns, USDA said, because there is no way to stretch the workforce to cover all plants while reducing outlays enough.
The administration estimates some $10 billion in production would be lost if inspectors were laid off en masse for two weeks, or their agency's share of cuts. Stores and restaurants could run short of meat temporarily.
The USDA did not respond to questions about how it would approach possible furloughs at its Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), which among other things generates prices used as benchmarks for livestock futures at CME Group Inc. The USDA has not mentioned AMS in its comments about the sequester.
Conaway said the administration has not replied in writing to his request for information about meat inspections and the White House budget office "owes us an explanation." The budget office was the first to raise the prospect of a furlough of all 8,400 inspectors and a resultant meat industry shutdown.
Although the spending cuts are due to take effect on Friday, it could be weeks or months before the meat industry is directly affected. Meat inspectors are guaranteed at least 30 days' notice of a furlough.
"This is a direct prescription from Congress to reduce every line item," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said last week.
Up to one-third of the USDA's 100,000 employees may be affected by furloughs. The USDA says the cuts would deny food aid to 600,000 pregnant women, new mothers and infants and also force closure of hundreds of Forest Service campgrounds, picnic areas and visitors' centers during the spring and summer.
- See more at: http://www.dairyherd.com/e-newsletters/dairy-daily/USDA-says-meat-plant-shutdowns-inevitable-in-budget-cuts-193448121.html#sthash.Fi01bgfW.dpuf

U.S. meat packers and processors face short-term shutdowns because of impending federal budget cuts but the administration will try to minimize the impact on the industry and consumers, the Agriculture Department said on Tuesday.
The automatic cuts, also called sequestration, are due to take effect on Friday because Congress and the White House are unable to agree on other ways to reduce the federal deficit. USDA says the cuts would force it to lay off its 8,400 meat inspectors for 15 days to produce the savings ordered for its food safety agency.
Early this month, the White House raised the prospect of a mass layoff, which would shutter the meat industry for two weeks. Plants cannot operate without USDA inspectors.
A House subcommittee chairman, Texas Republican Michael Conaway, said on Tuesday that USDA might order furloughs on non-consecutive days to mitigate their effect and keep plants running.
"Specific furlough dates for (inspectors) have yet to be determined but there is no question sequestration will have an adverse effect on food inspection services," said USDA spokeswoman Courtney Rowe. "USDA is taking steps to minimize the impact of the furloughs on consumers, our employees and the meat industry."
Even so, there would be some shutdowns, USDA said, because there is no way to stretch the workforce to cover all plants while reducing outlays enough.
The administration estimates some $10 billion in production would be lost if inspectors were laid off en masse for two weeks, or their agency's share of cuts. Stores and restaurants could run short of meat temporarily.
The USDA did not respond to questions about how it would approach possible furloughs at its Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), which among other things generates prices used as benchmarks for livestock futures at CME Group Inc. The USDA has not mentioned AMS in its comments about the sequester.
Conaway said the administration has not replied in writing to his request for information about meat inspections and the White House budget office "owes us an explanation." The budget office was the first to raise the prospect of a furlough of all 8,400 inspectors and a resultant meat industry shutdown.
Although the spending cuts are due to take effect on Friday, it could be weeks or months before the meat industry is directly affected. Meat inspectors are guaranteed at least 30 days' notice of a furlough.
"This is a direct prescription from Congress to reduce every line item," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said last week.
Up to one-third of the USDA's 100,000 employees may be affected by furloughs. The USDA says the cuts would deny food aid to 600,000 pregnant women, new mothers and infants and also force closure of hundreds of Forest Service campgrounds, picnic areas and visitors' centers during the spring and summer.
- See more at: http://www.dairyherd.com/e-newsletters/dairy-daily/USDA-says-meat-plant-shutdowns-inevitable-in-budget-cuts-193448121.html#sthash.Fi01bgfW.dpuf

Slaughter Plants and Rendering Facilities - Different but Mutually Beneficial

I'm a huge fan of The Office -- the Ninja and I own all the seasons on DVD and I am fairly adept at whipping out a Michael Scott quote in the middle of a conversation. One of the many reasons I love the show is that on the show Dwight is a beet (yes, beet. not beef) farmer so from time to time they make agricultural references about farming or slaughter. I've posted about it before here.

Last week, Dwight talked about his office co-workers not knowing the difference between a slaughter plant and a rendering plant and I thought that most people are probably unaware so here we go.

Slaughter and Rendering Plant 101

Beef carcasses in a slaughter plant in South Africa 

that I toured during a study abroad experience

A slaughter plant is a facility where animals that are at an appropriate market weight are sent to be processed into retail cuts of meat. There are numerous plants throughout the United States to accommodate the different species of livestock animals. For example, in southwest Kansas there are slaughter plants that receive cattle from the surrounding feedlots and from the panhandle of Oklahoma.

In northwest Missouri the pork slaughter plant is positioned so that it can accept pigs from all different areas of the corn belt. And there are even processing plants for lambs and goats in places such as Colorado, Montana and Michigan. There are currently no horse slaughter plants in the U.S. -- that's a whole 'nother can of worms.

Of course, we can't forget about poultry plants. There are a ton of them in the southern U.S. where a large percentage of poultry broiler farms are - Arkansas, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina etc.
There are even plants that can do more than one specie and did you know there are slaughter plants for bison and elk? I thought that was pretty cool.

So what's the difference between a slaughter plant and a rendering facility? A slaughter plant breaks down the whole carcass into cuts of meat, whereas a rendering facility produces a variety of by-products. There are two types of rendering facilities - independent and integrated. An independent plant is one that picks up grease, blood, feathers and offal (internal organs and entrails) for further processing and development. Integrated facilities are physically connected to the slaughter plant and operate in conjunction with each other. The by-products of slaughter are used to make several essential products that fall into two categories: edible and inedible.
 Below is a list of what types of products fall under each area.
 -- Inedible: tallow and grease for livestock feed, blood meal, soap and fatty-acids.
 -- Edible: these plants process fatty animal tissue into edible fats and proteins. The only material that goes into these products (which are USDA and FSIS inspected) are fats from the animals carcass.
THERE IS NO BONE OR OTHER INEDIBLE MATERAL THAT ENTERS THE EDIBLE FOOD SUPPLY

Rendering and its subsequent products play a vital role in agriculture - rendered products account for approximately 35% of the fats and oils used worldwide. More than 1/2 of the world's animal fat is produced in North America. Furthermore, rendering is a very efficient way to control environmental pollution. For example, with today's technology it is possible to recycle nearly 100% of inedible poultry raw material. Rendering products also creates competition in the market for animal feeds, preventing producers from being forced to choose between few options that are expensive.

Getting geared up for a slaughter plant tour - I've been fortunate enough to tour plants 

in 5 countries on 4 continents!

If you want more information about the whole process of rendering, check out these links. There is a lot of science and technology behind the whole process - steam, boilers, throughput etc - this is a great resource to find out more about the technicalities if you're interested.

Hope you've learned a lot - I know I did while researching this topic. If you've got questions or comments, shout 'em out!

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

P.S. - interested in the difference between harvest and slaughter? Check this out.

Beef, Food Safety and Smart Choices

This post is brought to you by a personal experience that I remembered because I was wide awake way too late at night due to Fort Riley dropping bombs on my doorstep. That didn't sound right but it was loud and I was awake.

On to the story - the date is February 15, 2011 and DH and I are getting ready to leave for our honeymoon (to where you ask? I didn't know at the time). We still needed some last minute things before leaving for the airport so I made a quick trip to Wal-Mart to get some more luggage locks, a travel pillow and some mini-shampoo. While in town I decided to be the perfect wife I was (we'd only been married 3 weeks at the time, bear with me) and pick up some lunch. I got The Ninja one of his faves, Rally's, and I stopped by my favorite grease pit, Long John Silver's. We ate, caught our flight, had a layover in LAX and while preparing to get on the plane I got the "uh-oh, things aren't going so well" feeling in my stomach. Sure enough, not more than 10 minutes after we took off from LAX, I was hugging the porcelain plastic toilet-bowl of the airplane facilities. Not my finest moment. I had food poisoning. On my honeymoon. And it lasted for almost two days. This was most definitely not how I had expected this trip to go (we were in Fiji, by the way). Thanks a lot Long John's, for your undercooked chicken. Yes, I get chicken at LJS. Sue me.

I told you that story to drive home a point - me getting sick wasn't caused by the farmer who produced the chicken. It had nothing to do with the rate of gain, the feed given to the chicken, how the chicken was raised etc. It had everything to do with the chicken not being cooked thoroughly and killing some mean little bacteria. I have since remedied that problem by asking for my chicken to be cooked longer at Long John's (and every other fast-food chicken place) and when I make fried chicken at home, I ALWAYS make sure that I cook it to the proper temperature so that it's safe for myself and my dinner guests to eat.

The moral of those stories is that lots of food borne illness problems can be fixed via proper food safety handling and techniques. If we get sick at home from a hamburger that we only cooked to medium-rare, whose fault is that? It's not the farmer's fault and it's not the packer's fault. It clearly says on ground beef, purchased from the grocery store, to cook the product to 160F. See?

I took this picture last night at Dillon's on a package of 85/15 lean ground beef. Look in the bottom right-hand corner, right next to the 'Peel' sign - it says "Cook to 160F". Plain as day.

Ok, enough stories for now. There is a lot going on in the news lately about beef and food safety. I want to address some food safety measures you can take to make sure you're consuming wholesome American meat products and staying safe all at the same time. Double whammy, right?

1. Cook meat to the recommended temperatures - employ a meat thermometer. I've highlighted proper cooking temps before but I will summarize them here too. You can also easily find this information on the packaging from the grocery store (see above).

Ground beef and pork - 160°F
Ground poultry - 165°F

Steaks and lamb - 145°F/155°F/165°F/170°F  medium rare/medium/medium-well/well-done

 Poultry - 180 °F/170 °F  whole chicken and turkey, thighs wings and legs/breast meat
**Salmonella is killed at 165 °F but I usually go to 180 anyway

Pork:  145 °F/160 °F/170 °F  medium rare/medium/well-done
 **Many people worry about trichinosis and tend to overcook pork. However, trich is killed at 140 °F.

2. WASH YOUR HANDS. I know this seems like a no-brainer but if you want the grocery store employees to have their hands clean when they package your meat, you should have equally clean hands when you're preparing it. I'll resist going into poo-related comparisons of livestock and people but for goodness sakes, lather up those paws.

3. Don't cross contaminate surfaces. Don't slice sirloin strips and then turn around and chop tomatoes with the same stinkin' knife. Use separate cutting boards and employ Lysol wipes. Check out these sweet cutting boards from Bed, Bath n Beyond - this should help your food safety tactics.




 See? A separate board for beef (red meat in general), fish, poultry and veggies. If you have room/desire for four cutting boards, these should be right up your alley (and if anyone is wondering, I DO have room for these and Christmas is in 12 days, so ya know, get on it).

 4. When in doubt, cook it to well-done. I hate to encourage anyone to eat charred, black and burned meat but if you are truly scared of ingesting bacteria of some sort and getting sick, then just cook it to the well-done temperatures I listed above.

5. If it's expired product -don't use it. I feel like this is a no-brainer. Don't try to be cheap. Buying fresh meat is way cheaper than a doctor's visit so if it's green and slimy, just toss it.

I think that's about it for my food safety suggestions. These are all really simple rules to follow and if you do so, you're ensuring a safe and nutritious meal  packed with protein for your family.

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

Another One Bites the Gestation Crate Dust

While the rest of the U.S. is abuzz about a case of BSE being found in California - something I am not scared about at all, since I know the safety of our food supply (more on that here) - I am more concerned about this recent piece of news.

Burger King becomes first US national chain to pledge cage-free pork, eggs

That's right, another chain has jumped on the bandwagon.

I recently wrote an article about the quickly disappearing use of gestation crates in the U.S. and worldwide on http://swineweb.com.  I won't paste that article here because I want you to visit the site so please do so by clicking on this link.

The state of our animal agriculture industry concerns me - I hope that I never live to see the day that a real live Hunger Games era exists.

Until next time (probably two weeks),
~ Buzzard ~

HSUS and United Egg Producers are Uniting

If you thought you smelled ballot initiatives in the air - you were right. The United Egg Producers and HSUS have decided to work together to achieve, through a federal legislative initiative, the following objectives:

-- Require a moratorium at the end of 2011 on new construction of unenrichable battery cages -- small, cramped, cages that nearly immobilize more than 90 percent of laying hens today -- and the nationwide elimination of barren battery cages through a phase-out period;
-- Require phased in construction of new hen housing systems that provide hens nearly double the amount of space they’re currently provided;

-- Require environmental enrichments so birds can engage in important natural behaviors currently denied to them in barren cages, such as perches, nesting boxes, and scratching areas;

-- Mandate labeling on all egg cartons nationwide to inform consumers of the method used to produce the eggs, such as "eggs from caged hens" or "eggs from cage-free hens";

 -- Prohibit forced molting through starvation -- an inhumane practice that is inflicted on tens of millions of hens each year and which involves withholding all food from birds for up to two weeks in order to manipulate the laying cycle;

-- Prohibit excessive ammonia levels in henhouses -- a common problem in the industry that is harmful to both hens and egg industry workers;

-- Require standards for euthanasia of hens; and

-- Prohibit the sale of eggs and egg products nationwide that don’t meet these above requirements.
If passed, this legislation would be the the first federal law relating to on-farm treatment of any farm animal. If you'd like to read more about this potentially devastating legislation click here and here.

My 2¢: I am 100% for humane treatment of farm animals however, I believe that hens raised in battery cages can have just as good or better welfare than those who live in cage-free environments. Additionally, labeling a product 'cage-free' does not necessarily convey excellent well-being but rather just indicates how the animal was raised. A wide sweeping federal law is also not going to cure every so-called 'problem' associated with battery cages. Remember the backlash and consequences that occurred after horse slaughter was banned?

What are your thoughts?

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

image from here

Agvocacy Down Under - Sheep, Swine and Poultry

There are way more sheep here than people - 3.5X as many sheep. In June 2008, the sheep population was 80 million while the current population of Australians is 22.5 million people. Australians eat a lot of sheepmeat - there is far more sheepmeat in the supermarket than either pork or chicken. Beef still reigns supreme, at least on the shelves :) Anyway, in my last post I said that Hyatt and I had been to the biggest livestock in Australia, the Royal Easter Show in Sydney. That was the beef edition; this is the sheep, swine, poultry and consumer information edition.
As with beef, there many posters explaining animal care procedures, nutrition information and details about how hard farmers and ranchers work.

I really like this one that explains that chickens aren't dual purpose - certain breeds are for meat and others for laying eggs.

When we ventured into the swine barn we had a few reactions: 1) there are hardly any hogs here 2)  there are a lot of people here learning about hogs!

This little dude was trying to pet a pig - shame on his father for denying him that

 simple pleasure of life.

Back in the Food Farm building, children were running amuck learning about different aspects of food production. There was a 'collect your own hen eggs' station (sorry, no picture), a cooking station where people were making sausage and then there was this fun interactive learning station.

Some kids having fun on the "Livestock Learning Wall"

Is our red meat industry important to all Australians? --> YES!

I would have taken many more pictures of the Food Farm but unfortunately I haven't yet learned how to pack a camera charger for a roadtrip - so both cameras (yes, I have two and yes, I forgot both chargers) died. So sad.  Didn't get any pictures of the Opera House either.

Summatime and the Grilling is Easy

I apologize blogging world for being gone for so long. I realized it has been almost TWO WEEKS since my last post, but I swear that won't happen again.  After this, look for a post about wildlife in South Africa and an update on the Angel Food Cake saga!

Anywho, it's that time of the year again. It's summertime and grilling and BBQ'ing are at their peak. Backyard meals are a great time for everyone, whether youre grilling a flank steak for fajitas or preparing the perfect pork loin for a family reunion. However, when you're armed with your fork in one hand don't forget to fill the other one with a meat thermometer. Many people don't pay attention to meat temperatures - just because it looks done doesn't mean it is done. Heck, it might even be TOO done and nobody likes tough, dry meat. Did you know that even though you have taken it off the grill, meat temperatures still increase 5 degrees after removal? To avoid improperly cooking your meat, refer to the following guidelines:

Ground Meats: Pork, Beef and Lamb: 160 °F
                       Chicken and Turkey: 165 °F

Steak and Lamb: Medium-Rare 145 °F
                          Medium 155 °F
                          Medium-Well 165 °F
                         Well Done 170 °F

Poultry: Chicken & Turkey, Whole 180 °F
             Breast Meat 170 °F
            Thighs, Wings & Legs 180 °F
             Duck & Goose 180 °F
**Salmonella is killed at 165 °F

Pork: Medium-Rare 150 °F
         Medium 160 °F
        Well Done 170 °F
**Many people worry about trichinosis and tend to overcook pork. However, trich is killed at 140 °F.
To get some great recipe ideas for your next grilling experience,visit these sites for pork, lamb, beef and chicken recipes. Hopefully, these tips will ramp up the safety, and flavor, at your next backyard gathering. Enjoy!
Until next time,
~Buzzard~

CBS to air segment about antibiotics in livestock

Tomorrow and Thursday night, CBS will air a segment about the use of antibiotics in the livestock industry, primarily the pork and poultry industries. NPP spokesman Dave Warner said that the poultry and pork producers who were interviewed found the questions to be very accusing in nature.

Besides meeting with farmers, CBS also met with Representative Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) who has introduced legislation that would regulate antibiotics used in livestock production. Additionally, CBS crews traveled to Denmark where antibiotic use has been regulated for quite some time now.  Industry groups are crossing their fingers that the edited and aired parts of the segment are not completely derogatory.

We all know that antibiotics are used in livestock production only when necessary and that they keep animals healthy.  We also know that healthy animals produce a healthy, safe product that keeps our food supply going strong.  Be sure that your peers, friends and family know that too.

Tune into the CBS Nightly News tomorrow and Thursday night to see what's in-store for the livestock industry.