Thanksgiving Safety 101

The holidays are upon us! The next six weeks are full of food, celebrations, family and fun. However, speaking from experience, food poisoning and several hours spent in misery are NOT the way you want to spend family time. Here is a great infographic from www.fightbac.org that preaches food safety as you shop, prepare and serve your Thanksgiving and holiday meals!



Food safety during the holidays for shopping, preparing, storing and serving your goodies. Click to enlarge - source

Wherever you are and however you choose to celebrate, be mindful of those who raised, harvested and prepared the food you are sharing with your family and friends.

And, while you're thanking people keep in mind those members of society who will be working on the Thanksgiving holiday:

• law enforcement
• firemen and women
• shop clerks
• restaurant servers
• turnpike operators
• 911 operators
• medical professionals

I'm sure there are many more but it's pertinent to remember that farmers aren't the only ones working hard to make the world go round and it sure would be bleak without them.

This year, and every day, I'm thankful for a supportive husband and family, a heaping passel of friends, my health, my amazing job [and fantastic colleagues] and a burning passion for agriculture.

Blessings to you and yours.

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

#Foodthanks this year

This year, I'm spending Thanksgiving in Ohio with the Ninja and his family.  It's been great to get back on the farm and do chores, feed animals and go four-wheeling in the woods.  I've missed that experience during my tenure at K-State.  Anyway, for those of you on Twitter, the theme of the past few weeks among many food and ag people is #foodthanks -- thanking those people who are key in producing our nation's food from farm to fork.

Everyday, I'm thankful for the farmer's who feed these guys:

and those who grow and harvest these:

So I can enjoy a spread like this!

If you are a food producer - thank you for your neverending hard work.  You are appreciated!

Have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving!

Until next time,

~Buzzard~

I'm Ag Thankful

Hi readers - today I am featured on Ryan Goodman's (@AR_ranchhand on Twitter) blog Agriculture Proud.  Ryan is running a month long feature called 'Ag Thankful' focused on the many ways agriculturalists are blessed. 

Any opinions on what I should be thankful for?  Please visit Ryan's blog and read what I, and many other aggies, have to be thankful for.  Leave us some comment love!

Until next time

~Buzzard~

Grace by Baxter

I was reading the The All-American Cowboy Cookbook the other night (yes, I know some of you are in shock) trying to find new and interesting recipes that both the Ninja and I would like (quite a feat considering he likes vegetables and trying new things and I....well, don't).  I stumbled across a cowboy prayer written by Baxter Black - cowboy poet, story teller, agriculturalist and veterinarian.  Here is one of my favorite excerpts from the prayer:

I don't take it lightly if it's real good

'cause I'd eat it anyway

See I know there's people, in all likelihood,

That might not eat today.

So count me in if yer needin' grace said

and bless those who provide it.

The farmers and rancher, the bakers of bread,

the loving hands that fried it.

You can read the rest of the prayer if you buy the cookbook, but the point is that we should all be very thankful that we have such an abundant, cheap and healthy food supply. Imposing regulations on farmers and ranchers may not decrease the quality of product (though that is debatable) but it can definitely cause an increase in the price of our food.

The U.S. has the cheapest food supply in the world - we spend less than 10%  of our income on food. Other countries like India spend 39.4% and in Indonesia the number is a staggering 49.9%. Can you imagine spending half of every paycheck on food? I don't even want to think about that.

So today, while you're grilling your delicious pork chops or steak or burgers don't forget to say a prayer for the farmers and ranchers who provide our nation with the cheapest and largest food supply in the world.  Then you can dig in!

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

These Boots.....

I love Eric Church.  I love his voice, I love his music and I'd love it if he were my arm candy (not all the time, just temporarily).  Last night I went to a FREE and amazing Eric Church concert in the Power & Light district in Kansas City.

One of Eric's hits is a song called "These Boots." He talks about a lot of life events and stupid things he's done while wearing them.  It's an example of great songwriting and you can read the lyrics or listen to the song later to find out what I mean.

 But let me get to my point.....
 You know who else experiences a lot in their boots?  The fine folks that produce our nation's food supply - yep, America's farmers and ranchers have more stories to tell about what happens during a day in their shoes than anyone I know.  Don't believe me?  Ask one of over 2,000,000 American farmers how they feed the nation day in and day out - I'm sure they'd be glad to tell you. 

For example - every day dairy farmers mik their cow herds 2-3 times per day.  The work day starts before the sun comes up and ends after the sun has disappeared.  Dairy farmers do this 24/7, even on the holidays. How does that milk taste? Thank a farmer!

Right now, in Colorado, farmers are in the middle of wheat harvest.  Wheat harvest, regardless of location,  isn't your typical 9-5 with breaks at 10 and 3.  When I was in high school, I used to go up to my room at 9 or 10 pm and look out the window to see the neighbors harvesting wheat with the headlights on the combine blazing.  They worked late into the night and were back at it again early the next morning. 

My best friend in elementary school, Heather, and I used to bottle feed the calves that her dad had put on the porch.  He had been up all night checking mama cows and calves every 2 hours to make sure that the calves were standing and able to nurse.  If they were too weak, they went to the porch and we got to take care of them.

These are just a drop in the ocean compared to the endless knowledge and experience an American farmer has.  Below, I've listed some great sites for true, and humorous, farm stories. 

Baxter Black, DVM and cowboy poet - On the Edge of Common Sense
The Chronicles of Newman (and other farm stories) - http://www.stargazingfarm.org/chronicles/
Five Farms: Stories from American Farm Families

And just for good measure, I had to throw in a picture of my boots ;)

Until next time,
~Buzzard~

Thanks for the Stress

Dear God:

 I hate finals week - I actually despise it and wish I could disappear from this campus the way Kit-Kats disappear from their wrappers when I'm around.  But thank you for providing me with the strength to overcome the stress of writing my thesis, working two jobs, planning a wedding and saying ta-ta to two of my best friends since they are graduating (Martha, Graber). 

I hate that my shoulders hurt from being punctured with a needle multiple times - I hate needles. You know that, God.  But thanks for putting me in a country that is relatively free of life threatening diseases (relatively) where I only need vaccinations for typhoid and malaria when I leave.

Lord, all of this writing and lab work is time consuming and stressful - and cuts into my social and sleep time.  But, that reminds me.  God, you know that I really cannot stand getting less than 5 hours of sleep a night. But somehow, with your strength and my stubborn determination, I have made it to Thursday night/Friday morning and have only one day left of this disastrous week and then I can sleep all the way to South Africa and not worry about protocols, papers, pigs or plasma. Thank you for stubborn parents that drove me crazy but instilled me with a strong work ethic.

That's all for now God - thanks for letting me know how good I have it.

Until next time,
~Buzzard~

Buzzard's Blessings

With Thanksgiving in just two days I thought it would be appropriate to list things for which I'm thankful. I think sometimes in between our whining about classes, rent, high price of groceries and the horrible offense of our Cats on Saturday... that we forget to be thankful for the fact that we have the privilege of being an educated American with a roof over our head and that we can afford to eat whatever we want and watch football games at our whim.

I'm thankful for.....

-- my parents
-- my right to pursue a degree(s) at Kansas State University
-- the fact that my pants are too tight because that means I'm not starving
-- my soft bed
-- a wonderful brother and sister
-- God's love
-- freedom of speech
-- my dislike of vegetables; it means there are more to go around for the rest of the crowd
-- my rodeo background
-- not being pampered and spoiled as a child- it's made me the tough, independent woman I am today
-- my roommates (past and present) who have always been there for me
-- my crappy phone - because I can communicate with the ones I love
-- the Ninja
-- my new desk, I can now study and research in comfort
-- my super awesome co-workers in waters 120, 117 and 119
-- my grandma's noisy house at family gatherings; indicative of a large group of people that I love and who support me
-- the 4 ft. high stack of dirty clothes by my dresser -- I will never be cold and without a shirt
-- how tired I am after a day at work and school -- it feels good to have accomplished something
-- the tears I shed when a trip to see good friends who've moved away ends; it means friendships don't dissipate when several hundred miles become a part of the picture
-- my friends and future family in Ohio; I rarely get to see them but I love that they're there :)

Life in general is pretty damn good


There are many many more things I could list but I don't feel like writing a novel so I'll leave it at these.

Happy Thanksgiving to all -- be safe.

Until next time,
~Buzzard~