I Don't Care Where My Food Comes From

Other title considerations were:

"Blasphemy Causes Lightning at Whole Foods"

or
"Confessions of a Food Whore" 

or 

"My Life Was So Out of Control, I wasn't Sure Where My Last Meal Came From"

I had sort of just bought into this idea that nowadays, everyone wants to where there food comes from.  I thought I did too, but I found out recently I don't, like not at all, actually maybe I do, the closer the better, and I ain't talkin' bout local.  To care if my food was raised with care for animals and Earth sounds so wonderful, and I have nothing against it, but there is no evidence of it in my life. I can hear some of your hearts breaking as I type this. 

It was kind of a surprising discovery. Saturday, back at home after 2 days at the AgChat conference. I was hungry for lunch.  Went to the fridge and saw we had a couple of pre-cooked briskets we've been getting for a while now from Wal-Mart, yessss. Corn tortillas? yesss...Shredded Cheese? Awesome..Cholula or Tapatio sauce? We have a go....Brisket Tacos with cheese on toasted corn tortillas, its a meal that I eat 3 times a week at least. Takes about 30 minutes in the oven for the brisket to heat up, so in the meantime I get some On The Border branded tortilla chips from the pantry and pour some salsa into a bowl and pretend Im waiting for my meal at a Mexican Restaurant. Salsa is kinda spicy, so I open a compulsively bought Heineken Dark Lager. I didnt even know they made a dark beer, but its pretty good (save your beer snobbery comments if they apply here).

If nothing else the AgChat conference really got my wheels turning.  One part if the meeting was a 3 person panel who was asked varying food questions  "through the eyes of the consumer".  I'll sum it up: The Kansas City Chef/Restaurant Owner was a fan of local, traceable food for her restaurant and customers. That's how her restaurant is branded, so of course that makes sense.  Good for her, great idea, I wish her success. The Mommy Blogger wanted to know that she was putting healthy, non-processed food into her kids mouths. Good for her, great idea, way to make me feel like crap everytime I hand my kids a lunchable, "fruit snack", or I eat my second pouch of Gushers today (there must be nicotine in Gushers).  The Grocery Store Dietitian (not kidding) made an interesting comment, she said something like

 "I dont really care where my food comes from, I just want to know if its good for me." 

Yes! I didn't know it at the time, but thank you!, thats just like me, except for that second part. How do I know? Ill tell you what I did to find out: I thought about what I was eating and about to eat.  I hadnt a clue about the origin of nary an ingredient save one: the Heineken, proudly labelled with "Brewed in Holland" (hmm, this beer thinks it's better than the other beers I guess...kidding kidding)  Where were the chips from? Couldn't tell. The salsa? Kansas maybe. The shredded cheese? Well, its Great Value brand so Wal-mart, duh. The brisket in the oven? The wrapper was in the trash, and I couldve looked, but I didnt! Because I have principles that I operate under. It's what separates us from the animals:) I may or may not have been eating genetically modified corn, organic or non organic beef, jalapenos from a drug-cartel controlled jalapeno farm...I have no idea, and I am choosing not to want to know. 

In my head, its such a slippery slope. If I care where my food is from or how its made and gets here, then why shouldnt I care where and how my clothes are made or (and I love to point this out) the conditions my precious Iphone or laptop are produced.  But again, thats just me, maybe other people draw the line at food traceablity activism while proudly blogging about it on their (insert literally any electronic device here) while wearing their (insert like literally soooo many different items of clothing here).  By all means, find out where you food is from, if the cows are happy, if the workers are paid a fair wage, but it might be hard to find the time if you are sewing all your own clothes, and trying to blog about it on your imaginary computer.  Awesomely, me blogging about people doing this, using my Macbook while wearing my Retro Jordan V's is reaching Ironicspheric levels. If this paragraph has taught you anything, its that BECAUSE of my non-action,  Im actually less hypocritical than many of you, thats a relief! 

The panel discussion at AgChat looked at food choices through the eye of the consumer.  I'll give you something even more interesting: Food Choices through the Eyes of a Farmer.  There are at least 3 factors that affect what I eat...2 are explicit, and 1 is implied..almost subconscious.

Factor #1: Taste and Short-Term Body Response.  I'm old school I guess.  The experience I go through when the food enters my mouth is numero uno importante.  Followed closely by my bodies response over the next few hours to that initial experience, hopefully no unexpected numero dos if ya know what I mean.

Factor #2: Convenience in Acquiring the Food. If the food is not with the other food at the time of the food acquisitioning time, its not going to be consumed by me.  

Important to note: Both factors above swing wildly based on hunger levels at the time of the decision to eat or acquire the food.

Factor #3: Safety. This is actually the most critical factor, but its passive, implied, assumed, a result of living in a country that places high value on providing a safe food source for the world.  I havent been hungry enough yet to eat something I didnt think was safe.  WHAT A LUXURIOUS ASSUMPTION WE CAN MAKE! My wife had a great thought on the drive home from the AgChat conference:

"I just want to know if my food is safe. If it's in the store I'm assuming it's safe"

This is also why she throws away food at 11:59pm on expiration eve. Imagine walking through the store aisles and comparing price, ingredients, cool labeling, and oh yeah "which one of these tomato pastes do you think might kill us in our sleep?" That would suck, be thankful, it could be China.

We are almost to the closing prayer, better wake up.

I have a mechanic friend. I envy him, he can fix anything. Cars, trucks, diesel, gas, any kind of engine, he can take apart, rebuild, whatever, he's been doing it for years.  We were talking about motor oil one day and I wanted to know which brand I should use. If its up to me I assume more expensive is better, cooler commercials are better, futuristic labels and bottles are better, but I wanted to know from him.  He's seen it all, he works with it day in and day out, the way mechanical things work are a passion for him.  He said:

"You know, there may be little differences here and there, but there basically all the same, you'd be fine using the cheapest oil forever or the most expensive forever. Everything in the store will work just fine."

He should know. I trust him to know. He's not a scientist in a labcoat tryin' to confuse me with his molecular voodoo talk. He has direct first-hand experience.

When it comes to food, farmers know.  We know what we do to produce a safe food product.  We take pride in it.  I've met many farmers and seen many different operations. The quality and safety of our food in this country is so assumed even farmers don't discuss it much.  We produce tons of milk here on our farm, but since most of it goes it all is sold out of state, I doubt I've ever had a drop. When I get a gallon of milk at the store it isn't from our farm.  I dont worry about it though because I know that that milk or the cheese on my pizza was made by another American farmer who takes pride in what he or she does.  We are farmers, we know that the 5 different brands of eggs are just that, 5 different brands...... of eggs. We are farmers, we know that that milk's still good for a few days (my wife doesn't care). 

So if you're wondering what you should be eating, ask a farmer what he eats, there's a good chance he's not even eating the food he produced. I think he'll say that if you bought your food here, in this country, you'll be just fine.  As for me, I'm pretty simple,if the food on my plate came from a farmer who produced it with pride. That's good enough for me, 'cause when it comes to food, farmers know.

-@JoshinYall

    

I Don't Feel Comfortable Being the Spokesperson for All Black People

Its funny the things we remember.  I was in a literature class 15 years ago in a small classroom with maybe 20 others.  I dont remember the material, the faces, or the building, but I do remember the exchange between the professor and a student and the way it stuck in my gut and shaped the way I feel to some extent.  Evidently we were covering some material that had a racial element to it and the professor directed a question toward the only African-American in the room.  I dont remember the question, but I'll never forget her response: "I dont feel comfortable being the spokesperson for all black people." .....AWWWWKWARD!  Quick someone say anything else! Evidently the prof thought itd be interesting to throw it to this poor girl to get the black perspective, or at least this is obviously how this girl took it. I cant remember if I thought the girl was brave or too sensitive, but I do remember thinking I couldve easily done the same thing the professor did, and it made me feel kinda guilty.  Luckily I had a close black friend at the time and he resolved me of my racial guilt (joke, lighten up)  I usually give people the benefit of the doubt, so Im gonna assume it was just an honest mistake or misunderstanding. I seriously doubt a professor teaching a childrens' lit class in Texas is a blatant racist...or was she? (sinister music) Anyway this points out a couple of serious things:

point #1 - Its not my responsibility and shouldn't be my responsibility to be the spokesperson for the larger group that I may be a part of.

I think most people would agree with that.  We are all our own people. I can only speak for myself and to an extent my business or operation. We would never expect the girl in my class to speak for "all black people", its unfair to her and it should make us reflect on how we can throw people into groups based on superficialities.

I want to start a blog, I want to advocate for agriculture (agvocating) among other things. I want it to be real, personal and honest.  I want it to promote all of agriculture but only really speak for me, my family, and our operation.

It doesnt matter what I want.

It didnt matter that Charles Barkley never wanted to be a role model.

The reality is that regardless of point #1, whats true is
point #2 - To many, many people, I will be the spokesperson for the larger group I am a part of , rightly or wrongly, like it or not, its out of my control.

Scary. Heavy. I have to be sure Im ready to speak up.  If I decide to jump in this social media world that is always on, always connected, able to share knowledge at the speed of light, for good or for evil, I will need a plan. Remember, its not my job and it shouldn't be my responsibility, but these aren't things we can control.  The girl in my class had no control of whether her professor viewed her as the spokeswoman for the NAACP.  In fact, she could've answered the question with something like "Actually as a young black woman I think the author captures the feelings a young slave might've been feeling....." etc etc And you know what? No one would've thought anything of it and would've probably appreciated the perspective.   She was the only African-American in the room, so there were no others there to say "Wait a minute, thats not the way I see it" or "Who invited Mrs. Jesse Jackson, you dont speak for me!"

I still cringe when I think about that day.....I cringe every time they trot out Pat Robertson or Rick Warren on tv to give us the Christian perpective.........

I just got back from the AgChat conference.  It was a lot like going to a high school reunion , except not your high school, but you had seen the yearbook ahead of time, kinda weird at first.  Maybe before the internet creepers used yearbooks? idk...   AgChat is a group of amazing people who have an amazing amount of energy and passion and technological knowhow that all share the same goal: to empower farmers and ranchers to connect with communities via social networking.  Well I guess it worked cause I feel empowered, I hope I know what Im getting myself into.

I've been hesitant to get too involved because of the old saying:

                           The nail that sticks out the farthest gets hammered the hardest.

Guess thats no way to live though.

Best I can figure it, if I'm not out there telling my story then some other unsuspecting spokesperson might be, and I guarantee It wont be as good as mine. So here's a quick version:


Our family milks cows and grows crops to feed those cows.  The milk goes all over the country, the manure goes back into the ground as fertilizer for the crops the cows eat which in turn produce the milk, its a neat little cycle.  We are a family farm, started in 1984 by my father-in-law and his dad. We now have 5 family members directly involved and more are on the way. We operate humanely, profitably, and efficiently and are always looking for opportunities for growth.  Our purpose is 3 fold: Cows, Families, and Feeding the World. We care for cows, they are our livelihood, and the #1 priority in all decisions.  We provide for families, our own, and the families of our 80 employees.  We are proud to provide work for men to support their families. We feed the world, 75 thousand gallons of milk each day and counting.  We will continue to produce as much quality milk as we can, as long as all of our purposes are met.

This is our story up til now, but online and off, its only the beginning.

-@JoshinYall