Giving Tuesday: Give Cows to Help Feed the Less Fortunate

Many people get caught up in the spirit of "BUY-BUY-BUY" at this time of the year, not necessarily for others but because there are such great deals in every single store at the mall. How can you avoid a good deal when Black Friday, Shop Small Saturday and Cyber Monday bombard us starting in mid-November? In my opinion, we really should be focusing on "Give. Give. Give some more" amd when is a better time than Giving Tuesday? Material possessions often cloud the real reasons behind Christmas and I believe we should always be striving to help those who are less fortunate.

I'm part of the Rockin' Rural Women group on Facebook and this year we are encouraging our fellow rural women and social media networks to buck this materialistic trend and help others by participating in a Heifer International drive to purchase cows for families suffering from hunger and poverty.

Our group has a collective fund, which you can access here, and our goal is $1000. With that we can purchase a cow which has the potential to have a massive impact since its offspring are passed on to even more members of the community. If you choose to donate, your gift will be multiplied and create a sustainable impact for future generations.

Please help us purchase a cow for a family who needs a helping hand. Even if you can only spare $5 that is so very much appreciated. If you have questions, please feel free to shoot me an email and I'll be happy to answer them.

I'll close with this quote which is taped up on the mirror in my bathroom - please keep this in mind on today, Giving Tuesday, and for the remainder of this holiday season and consider helping those in need.

Somewhere, someone else is THANKFUL for less than you have

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

 

World Food Day 2014 - #wfd2014

Today is World Food Day and the theme is Family Farmers: Feeding the World, Caring for the Earth. Well ain't that the truth?!

Did you know that worldwide, family farmers account for 500 million farms (97% of US farms and ranches are family owned and operated)?! That is a load of families investing their time, passion and energy into feeding the world and making sure that the land can sustain the next generation.

Some other cool nuggets of information about family farming around the world:

• Family owned farms are responsible for at least 56% of agriculture production worldwide
• Family farms are the main source of rice production - especially in Asia (although rice is grown here in the US in states like Texas, California and Arkansas).
• Family farmers in the US produce 84% of all produce.
• Farmers and ranchers work everyday, worldwide, to sustain the land and natural resources for the next generation.

You can read more about World Food Day efforts to feed the world and end world hunger by looking at this inforgraphic or visiting www.worldfooddayusa.org.

Photo courtesy FAO

How are you celebrating World Food Day? Are you taking a farm tour? Are you going to #toastafarmer when you drink milk at supper tonight?

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.

I Don't Want to Live Without Meat in 2050

I just read an article on Yahoo! that said the world may be forced into vegetarianism by the year 2050, according to some scientists at the Stockholm International Water Institute in Sweden. Here is a link to the article -- http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/vegetarian-2050-190426669.html.

Hell no. I refuse to live in a society where there is no meat. I would starve. Literally. If I didn't die of energy depletion first. 

There's a few things I want to point out on this...

- Cattle spend about 75% of their life eating grass in pastures. In the Flint Hills, where I live, if there were no cattle grazing this land it wouldn't be used. Rolling hills with lots of rock aren't viable for crop production. So putting those acres into crop production isn't realistic.

- Another point that the author makes, who does a very poor job of presenting an unbiased story, is that we can't really produce more food. Wrong! We can produce more food - farmers and ranchers are becoming more productive every year and if legislators in D.C. would listen to producers who have real experience instead of listening to lobbyists, they would know that we can continue to improve our efficiency with science, technology and gasp! the help of GMO's.

- I'd really like to see the study that cites 70% of all water is for agriculture - I want to see how this data is presented. Notice that doesn't say 'animal agriculture' just agriculture in general. Furthermore, I don't know of a cause that is more important than food production that we should be funneling water towards - aside from drinking water. Maybe we should start reusing water from purification plants for water in our toilets, yard spouts, washing machines and dishwashers.

These are just my opinions - but I'd love to hear yours.

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

Real quick addendum: Cutting meat completely out of production is NOT going to feed the people who are starving in other countries. The infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa needs to improve, for example. There could be 4 tons of food arrive to major societal hubs in food deprived countries but if there is no way for the food to be moved to rural, impoverished areas or if the local government uses food provisions as a way to control people, then all the food aid in the world won't help. There is more than just food production at the center of those issues - it's a web of underlying causes that need to be addressed to stop world hunger.