Archive for June, 2011
Hobby Farms Choked Out by Corporate America
Rural living for pleasure and profit. This is a simple, yet honest definition of the Hobby Farm coined from Hobby Farms Magazine. Since Paleolithic times, families have farmed the land. In now modern day Iraq, the Fertile Crescent, between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers was perhaps the location of the first Hobby Farms. Sumerians farmed for food, and ultimately for survival. Further west, the now Gaza Strip was creating a way to irrigate Petra and Bostra for the survival of the Nabataen civilization. Even in the powerful Egyptian civilization, farming was a way of life from the Nile’s Delta, and south on the banks of the great river.
From ancient to modern times, farming was/is one of the most important tasks for the survival of clans, tribes and of course modern families of today. When walking into a health store and strolling into the organic foods section, most likely those foods were home-grown on a hobby farm, and the money from the purchase is used for the survival of the families and the farms. So what happens when corporate America begins swallowing up all these hobby farms? Families suffer. Mountain Valley View Farm Inc. suffers. Hobby farms are important and there are negative affects on society when capitalism chokes out the little guy.
It is unfortunate to see Big Business buy out families to create cash crops such as wheat, cotton, and corn. These cash crops are not for family consumption, but rather, pure profit for the corporation. According to the Center for Rural Affairs,
“Corporate farming leads to closed markets where prices are fixed not by open, competitive bidding, but by negotiated contracts and where producers who don’t produce in large volumes are discriminated against in price or other terms of trade.”
Basically, there is a huge argument against the rise of Industrial Agriculture. And, as stated above, all the hobby farm owners producing small quantities of food for both themselves and vendors take a major hit in profit. However, it is not only the farmer who suffers but also the consumer. As Industrial Agriculture rises, so do the prices for food. There are no longer competitive prices by small businesses, but one high price set by the industry.
And prices are not the only issue in the negative affects of Industrial Farming. Corporate farming is often criticized for their food production and methods used to maximize their crop yield. This creates many problems with the consumption of these products as well. There is a much higher amount of chemicals found in the produce. Genetically modified crops, hormones, preservatives, color additives and insecticides are prevalent in corporate farming. Corporate slaughterhouses are inhumane. Cattle so frightened they soil themselves in the slaughter process are not fully cleaned, thus, contaminated meats are packaged and sent to vendors for our consumption. Further, these corporate farms also taint water and pollute the air of nearby farms from their mega factories.
The rise in Industrial Agriculture is distressing to the family farmer, and should be alarming to the consumer as well. In 1980, only five percent of corporations sold hogs and grain, and in 1997, an alarming sixty percent were sold under some form of contract. According to the Factory Farms Food and Water Watch website, the livestock from factory farms rose over one-fifth between 2002 and 2007; hog farms increased by forty two percent averaging ten thousand hogs per factory farm in seven different states; egg operations have grown fifty percent and “…[the] largest flocks all average at least 750,000 hens per factory farm.”
What then should consumers and family farms do to fight against these Industrial farms? First and foremost, the general public needs to be made aware of exactly what the repercussions of factory farming includes. And second, all consumers and farmers must take action. We must challenge the control of our food system by creating and signing petitions against the monopolization of the food industry. Factory farms need the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate their industry as the only regulations now include getting permits for facilities that release manure directly into waterways. And, we must not support corporate farming and purchase directly from private family farms. If enough people support local business, corporate farming will begin to lose their profits. It isn’t a final solution, but it is a step in the right direction.
About the Author:
Mountain Valley View Farm, Inc. is a small 30-acre farm situated in beautiful Greenacres, WA. We breed Icelandic horses and keep a variety of other farm animals including goats, chickens, and pheasants, and ducks. Our orchard and berry patch provide an excellent variety of fresh fruit. In addition, our farm raises honeybees and sells natural honey. We also offer gift items with honeybee and honey themes, including cookbooks. Our popular Cookbook Delights series is also available for sale and covers recipes for many special events and foods. We also decided to try our hand at a small vineyard, planting approved cuttings of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah grapes. We look forward to being able to share our very own wine with our guests and customers soon.
We also offer the Getaway Studio, a unique Bed & Breakfast that brings the unique tranquility of country life to you. The Getaway Studio is a completely furnished one-bedroom apartment that can accommodate up to four guests. With a full kitchen, private bath, laundry, and access to amenities like our swimming pool and hot tub, it is the perfect place to escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life!
For more information, you can contact the author at her office below:
Karen Jean Matsko Hood
507 N. Sullivan Rd. Suite LL-7
Spokane Valley, WA 99037 USA
Phone: (509) 924-3550 Fax: (509) 922-9949
First Day of Summer and the Importance of Follow-up Dental Care
Hello and welcome to the first day of summer. It has been long time coming. This has been about the coldest spring on record here is Spokane, WA. All the flowering plants are about 2 weeks late. It has saved on air conditioning costs, and many people have yet to hook up their lawn sprinkling systems. Seeds planted are coming in slowly. Weeds are lush, green, and vigorous, with all the rain we’ve had. Today, the weatherman predicts the temperature to be over 80oF. If we hit that mark, this is the first day 80o or over for 2011! Not a record most people would have chosen.
During this warmest of all seasons, don’t forget about dental maintenance appointments. The most sought after 7:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. appointments are easier to find now that kids are out of school.
Today, I was talking to a lady and she said that her husband has an abscessed tooth, but it had emergency treatment a “while back.” She said he needed to have the root canal finished, but it didn’t hurt so she couldn’t get him in to have it finished.
When we medicate an infected tooth, we rely on antibiotics to get rid of the infection so that we can then seal the tooth and complete the root canal. Antibiotics, which became readily available in the mid 1940s, have been a godsend to medicine and dentistry.
Before 1900, what do you think the single most common reason for death in a hospital was? Yes, that’s right, tooth infection. Most people don’t realize how serious tooth infections can be, simply because we now have very effective antibiotics.
Today, we can effectively treat and save most infected teeth. On the earlier example, however, teeth that are treated merely with antibiotics will improve in the short term, but left untreated, the infection will return with a vengeance. And, usually, it will return when your system can least cope with fighting the infection (i.e. when you are sick, run down, over-worked, stressed, etc.).
So, the moral of the story is: relax and enjoy the summer season, take care of yourself, and maintain your dental health.
Keep smiling!
Dr. James G. Hood
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Dental Care Associates of Spokane Valley, P.S.
Family and Cosmetic Dentistry Welcomes Patients
from Age 2 to 102!
James G. Hood, D.D.S., M.A.
507 North Sullivan Road, Suite A-1
Spokane Valley, WA 99037-8576 USA
Phone: (509) 928-9100 | Fax: (509) 928-0414
Email: drhood@drhood.com
Websites: www.drhood.com
www.dentalcareassociatesofspokanevalley.com
Blogs: www.drjamesghoodblog.com
www.dentalhealthandnutritionblog.com
www.dentalcareassociatesofspokanevalleyblog.com
www.jamesandkarenhoodfoundationblog.org
www.sjogrensblog.org
Online Store: www.dentalhealthandnutritionstore.com
Father’s Day Reflection
As a father, I reflect on what it means to me to be a father. I’ve now been a “dad” for more years than not. I can’t remember or imagine not being a father. I’m pleased and proud of what I’ve done in life and of the people I’ve befriended and the places I’ve been, of the individuals I’ve helped and those who’ve helped me. I think of the degrees I’ve attained and the titles that have come along with them. However, the title I enjoy most, like the great John Wayne, is “dad.” That title, and being a dad, has brought me more joy and definitely more pain than anything I would have believed as a single man. Being a father has made me more proud than anything in my life, and has also brought me more self-doubt than I have experienced from anything else in my life.
The pride that a father can feel for his child is the greatest pride. Likewise, nothing can make you more humble than the wonder that accompanies how to best be the model father one wishes to be. I often question “Did I handle that right?” These are the joys and sorrow which accompany love in any relationship. That bond that a father has toward his daughter(s) and/or son(s) is unlike any other. Once a father, always a father. And somehow, when a father thinks of his child, the pains that come with this ultimate responsibility are overshadowed by the love and gratification, potently inherent in that association.
I, as a father, do things for my kids, just as my father did many things for me, simply because they are my kids. There is no rhyme or reason why some parents love their children despite multiple indiscretions these children may have committed against their parents. The love a parent has toward his children is virtually instinctive, and very real.
Sincerely,
Dr. James G. Hood
or more profoundly…dad.
Thank for reading and blogging!
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Dental Care Associates of Spokane Valley, P.S.
Family and Cosmetic Dentistry Welcomes Patients
from Age 2 to 102!
James G. Hood, D.D.S., M.A.
507 North Sullivan Road, Suite A-1
Spokane Valley, WA 99037-8576 USA
Phone: (509) 928-9100 | Fax: (509) 928-0414
Email: drhood@drhood.com
Websites: www.drhood.com
www.dentalcareassociatesofspokanevalley.com
Blogs: www.drjamesghoodblog.com
www.dentalhealthandnutritionblog.com
www.dentalcareassociatesofspokanevalleyblog.com
www.jamesandkarenhoodfoundationblog.org
www.sjogrensblog.org
Online Store: www.dentalhealthandnutritionstore.com
Floyd Zaiger a fruit innovator to the world
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
Floyd Zaiger, creator of the pluot and more than 100 varieties of fruit, eyed the group standing in his orchard.
They had come to taste 209LZ12, a vibrantly yellow-skinned, white-fleshed peach. It has less acidity than normal and relatively little sugar, which keeps it firm while retaining a mouthwatering, summery character.
He watched peach juice drip down a chin or two. “Nobody’s collapsed?” he asked. “Then, I’ll try it.”
Zaiger, 85, is arguably the most famous plant breeder alive today. From his farm west of Modesto, he has created novel new fruit – like the pluot – that grace tables around the world. He has also improved familiar varieties, such as creating plums that can weather an intercontinental voyage.
These innovations have revolutionized an increasingly global fruit industry, earning him a reputation among farmers and fellow fruit experts that is hard to overstate.
“Big, with all capital letters,” suggested Tom Gradziel, a geneticist and professor of plant sciences at UC Davis. “We’re all beneficiaries, and by we I mean the public in general and me as a breeder.”
Zaiger Genetics is hardly your average biotech outfit. At heart, Zaiger is a San Joaquin farmer, and his headquarters, with its sprawling orchards and weathered buildings, could be mistaken for any neighboring farm, save for the large gaggle of pickups in front. They belong to 15 visitors gathered for Zaiger’s regular Wednesday tour.
Experts take the tour
The group includes UC Davis researchers, one of Washington’s top cherry farmers, growers from two other continents, and the president of Dave Wilson Nursery, which markets Zaiger’s fruit in the United States. Spanish and Australian visitors were there the previous day, French the previous week.
In the orchards, everyone picks a piece of fruit, chomps down and fills their bags. It could pass for a U-Pick.
Or not. A grower from Chile pulls out a Sharpie and begins marking notes on a peach. Leith Gardner, Zaiger’s daughter, squeezes cherry juice onto a glass plate, measures the level of sugar in the fruit, and shouts that number out to the group.
Zaiger’s mission for almost a half-century has been to find a magic combination of traits that make for irresistible fruit, and these gatherings are his primary tool for R&D. Each week, he shows off his latest creations and customers assess their potential. A veto from a big grower can end a project on the spot.
1 out of 10,000
“We grow 50,000 crosses per year, and if we can get one (that works) out of every 10,000, we can break even,” Zaiger said.
Plant breeding is laborious, but the basics are simple: Find a plant that needs tinkering and another plant that’s genetically compatible and has desirable traits; emasculate one and pollinate it with the other, and hope the resulting offspring offers the best of both.
Failure comes far more than success. When success does come, the annual growing cycle makes progress slow. There are quicker options – like tweaking plant DNA with gene insertion – but Zaiger remains rooted in 1960s-era techniques.
Zaiger’s reputation has been built not only on his success but also on his conservative breeding approach.
“This is classical genetics,” said Zaiger’s son, Grant, who runs the business with his two siblings.
Great impact overseas
If Zaiger’s influence in the American produce aisle is profound – savvy shoppers will recognize the Honey Kist nectarine or the Dapple Dandy pluot by name; others will know them by flavor – his impact overseas may be even greater.
In Australia, chain stores now offer both regular and “subacid” peaches. The latter have a sweetness that shoppers find irresistible – and Zaiger has helped make subacid a formidable part of the industry, even if most Americans don’t know they’re buying subacid fruit.
Growers can order more than 100 Zaiger-created varieties. The constant feedback has provided rules of thumb: France and China love white-fleshed fruit, while the Spanish are keen on saucer peaches. Israel, South Africa and southern Spain need fruit that requires less chilling and can ripen earlier.
To read the full article by the San Francisco, please click here.
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