My old friend Bob recently asked me to share some thoughts and farming information with his gardener friends. I gladly accepted the invitation.
I’m not much of a gardener, so I worried I wouldn’t present much of a program, but I decided to talk a little about GMOs, how farmers and backyard gardeners complement each other, and see where the conversation took us.
I assumed, since we were in a small community, there would be at least one person in the room who was an active farmer or involved in agriculture in some way, but when I asked for a show of hands, there were none. I suspect a couple of folks may have grown up on some type of farm, but only a couple.
I saw a few noses curl when I gave my opinion about GMOs, but it opened up a discussion. They were shocked to discover there are actually very few GMOs, and that many food manufactures take advantage of the GMO “fear factor” plaguing consumers and stump their product as being GMO-free when it isn’t even a GMO crop. For example, olives are not a GMO crop, but some manufactures want consumers to think their product is better than the brand next to it because it has a “non-GMO” label.
We talked about how backyard bee hives help farmers with crop pollination and how the hive owner benefits with food for their bees, and how livestock producers are able to provide garners with organic matter for their gardens and flowerbed through the bagged manure they purchase at their local home improvement store.
Another discussion touched on organic and all-natural, and the definitions of each. I think some were shocked to find out that certified organic producers – be it fruits and vegetables, eggs or meat – must adhere to certain guidelines in order to obtain that certification, but anyone can claim their products are “natural” without much scrutiny. Just because it is marketed as “all natural” doesn’t always mean the animal, fruit or vegetable was actually raised in an “all natural” manner, and that doesn’t mean all heirloom seeds were raised organically.
I had the opportunity to test their knowledge about animal agriculture. A couple of people recalled raising a steer here and there for a beef, but no one had any real livestock production experience.
They were quick to ask questions about grass-fed and grain-fed beef, what the differences were and if the meat tasted differently. Members of the group also asked about veal production, dairy cows and what breed of cattle actually produces the best steak.
We even talked a little about what broke mouth, and short and solid cows are. The reaction of a couple of the ladies was almost comical when they found out why some beef was lower in price at the store than others.
Perhaps the hardest question I was asked was why there is so much mixed information about agriculture regarding what is good for you and what isn’t.
I said, in my opinion, the average consumer has no idea where their food comes from, so they depend on sometimes not-so-reputable or less-than truthful groups and organizations that present “studies” formulated out of thin air.
When asked where they should get information, I recommended they simply ask their neighbor how he or she feeds their livestock, ask the guy who sells sweet corn every summer what variety of corn is the best for corn on the cob, or ask the lady who has a sign up at the end of her driveway advertising eggs for sale why the eggs she sells are brown instead of white, or why some shells might look a little green.
After all, who are you going to trust more; a “scientist” who has never stepped foot on a farm, or your friends and family who are “boots on the ground” in the industry?
As for me, I’m going to trust the folks I know best, the farmers, ranchers and gardeners from right here in the Ozarks.
Julie
