It's Not Like They're Human

I'm not really a hunting fishing 4 wheelin kinda guy.  I sometimes enjoy those things every once in a while if I'm invited, but they're never something I would purposefully do if I had any choice. Lame intro bro.  Dont worry, I AM gonna tell you why I don't  (you can exhale now)

Hunting - they should really re-brand that word. Looking for something usually sucks until you find it. Finding what you were looking for is so great because the "looking for it" part sucks so bad.  If hunting wasn't hunting and instead was called Findin' and Shootin' then I think I would love it. I guess I need a surrogate for the Huntin' part that could radio-in when the Findin' part was taking place and maybe I could get there in time to do the Shootin'. I don't have anything against hunting though, on a moral or ethical level, except for deer hunting that is.  Deer hunting laws are way too conservative.  Body shops would be opposed, but I say we remove all limits on hunting deer. Open season, any method, lets save some cars.

Fishing - At least it sounds more fun than hunting. I however, lack the fine motor skills to handle fishing line, hooks, lures, in a manner well enough to spend the amount of time I want on the fun-ish part of fishing which is casting and reeling, casting and reeling, casting and reeling. I think I'd probably rather repeatedly cast and reel a line with only a hook for bait than spend what feels like eternities rigging up poles.  And catfish fishing? Baiting a hook and sinking it to the bottom and waiting for a bite is not fishing. Its not even any -ing, it describe enough activity to be a verb at all.  Actually I take that back, it would qualify as a member of this verb family:

I am

You are

She is

Cat fish

4 wheelin' - The risk reward ratio isn't right for me on this one.  I can have fun on an ATV haulin butt down the river bed, but not THAT much fun. It's like an amazing Subway sandwich.  I mean yeah its really good..... a really really good Subway sandwich.



Here's the thing about hobbies and interests, they all sound ridiculous if its not your hobby. Stamp collecting? ummm....Scrapbooking? kill me Gun collecting? Kayaking? Skydiving? ANTIQUING!!!!!???Blogging? AgBlogging? like, you literally do that? cause you want to? Crossfit? Nevermind that one is wayyy beyond a hobby. Mormonism is the Crossfit of religion, or is it the other way around,I forget :)

Thats why I'm not going to give you the ins and outs of why I love to play Texas Hold'em Poker.  I'll sound as crazy as someone explaining why they love to get up at 4 am on Saturdays to find things to buy out of people's garages, on purpose, on a Saturday, to spend money on things people are too lazy to haul to the dump, like, you have to go to their house to get it, its not coming down your block like an icecream truck, you have to actually compete with others for the chance to give the junk-owner money, to remove the junk from their property. So I'll spare you my Ode to Poker ,It wont make sense to you and Ill sound nuts, so you're welcome.


So there I was at this garage sale, up high in the deer stand with my twelve thousand dollar antique gun

Ok so a few weeks ago I was playin cards and visiting with a nice couple who were also at the table.  The dude owned an Italian restaurant, I work on a dairy farm, his girl had questions about how dairies work. Stuff like, How long do you keep a cow, how many gallons of milk do they make, what do they eat, where are their babies etc etc, all the standard questions. It was totally fine, no bother, it was a pleasure to lay out the whole process.

"Are all your cows girls?" Yep!
"So do you guys, like, have bulls too?" No, we don't, we artificially inseminate all of our cows.

"Really why?" Well they need to get pregnant so they can make milk, they're actually a lot like us in     that way.

"How long are they pregnant for?" About nine months just like you or me, well not me but you know what I mean

"And then they have the baby?" Yep and then they have a calf. If its a girl we will raise her til she is old enough to get pregnant, calve, and make milk. If its a boy, we will sell him and he will be raised for beef.

"So she has the baby and starts giving milk and thats it?" Well no, in a few months we will breed her again so she can have another baby and continue to give more milk.  She may have 8 or 9 calves in her time on the dairy.

"Sooo as soon she has the baby, yall get her pregnant again and do it over again til shes too old or whatever?" Well yeah thats kinda it, thats how the process basically works on a dairy farm. Cows eat food, produce milk and manure, we keep the milk, gather up the manure to fertilize the crops that the cows eat as food and round and round it goes. The other big part is reproduction. Cows need to get pregnant in order to give us their milk.

"And you think thats good for them?" Well, I mean the treatment and care of these cows is our number one priority. It wouldn't make sense for us to mistreat them in any way. This is what a dairy farm does, its purpose is to harvest milk.A well-cared for cow, in a low stress and comfortable environment, produces the most milk, for the most amount of time.

"I'm just not sure if Im comfortable with that process" Well, I mean, its not like they're human.


Immediately my brain goes: LOLREALLY?? Did that just come out of our mouth?

It was hard not to laugh, I had surprised myself, which aint easy if you think about it!  I quickly rattled off a bunch more words I dont remember to keep the conversation moving past the trainwreck I just had.  It was awful  -ly funny, in a weird kinda way.

I kept thinking it wouldve been a perfect "How Not to Ag-vocate" skit,  or how funny it would look as a talking point:


                                        They Say:  "I'm scared of antibiotics in my food"                                                
                                         You Say:  "More for food for me then, Scaredy Cat!"
                                        They Say:"What about hormones?"    
                                         You Say: (In a mocking baby voice) "what about hormones"                           
                                        They Say: "Cows shouldn't be bred just for their milk"
                                         You Say: "Thank God they're not! yummm                         
                                         They Say: "I dont like how we get milk from cows"
                                          You Say:  "yeahh, Good thing they're not human huh"                   

Funnnnnnyyyyyyyyyy? oh yeah!

 Whats interesting about it though, is that it was completely and totally a Freudian Slip, a verbal "mistake" that reveals an unconscious belief.

A classic slip of the tongue, but lets think this out, it gets even crazier.

I, trying to explain dairy in the best, most accurate light possible, accidentally revealed, through conversation, that unconsciously I believe that cows are not human. Read that again. I accidentally revealed, through the words coming out of my mouth, that I must unconsciously or subconsciously believe that cows aren't human. How stupid does that sound?

Whats even more ridiculous, is that at the time, I was surprised by it, and if I wasnt so cool, wouldve felt awkward about it. It was the kind of epiphany only possible in the Western world in 2012.  "Wow, I can't believe I felt so strongly that cows aren't human, its like a part of my being, I have seen the light"

Some of you reading the conversation cringed or laughed and maybe felt a little awkward too! I bet you I'm not the only one who thinks cows aren't human, dont try and act all high and mighty. If you look deep down I bet you're no different than me.

Guess what, try this, next time animals or agriculture or food production or some other relevant conversation comes up, with a straight face blurt out "It's not like they're human though, right guys?" and see what happens. Pointing out things like that will get you blogged about and unfollowed in most of urban America.


How in the world did we get to this point, as a society, as a culture? How is it possible that proclaiming that Animals aren't Human is kind of a touchy, sensitive, polarizing thing to say?  I was amazed I said it, and felt weird afterwards about it, but now I realize that everyone else is who isn't rational!

So I'm just gonna go for it, you may wanna click away if this is gonna be too intense for you, here goes


I am not ashamed or afraid any longer. I can do this ...deep breath...

It ....is... not... like ....cows.. are.. ...human.  Did I do it? I did it! AGAIN!I am not afraid!

Cows... aren't... human! Say it with me please, cows aren't human! louder!
COWS AREN'T HUMAN!faster! COWS AREN'T HUMAN! Amazing right? COWS AREN'T HUMAN!totally liberating!
COWS AREN'T HUMANS! clap! COWS AREN'T HUMAN! and thats o-kay WHAT?
AND THATS O-KAY! like thats part two of the cheer?
YES! COWS AREN'T HUMAN! AND THATS OKAY! ah okay got it
COWS AREN'T HUMAN AND THATS O-KAY! I CANT HEAR YOU!COWS ARENT HUMANS AND THATS O-KAY! LAST TIME! COWS AREN'T HUMANS AND THATS OKAY!

whew! high fives! wow that was....whew! I cant breathe!

I mean I dont know what came over me,... it's like it was buried deep inside of me for so long, I had no idea how much I believed that cows aren't human! I could shout it from the mountain! It feels right, is it right? You think thats ok? I feel kinda dirty for some reason.

YES ITS FINE! No one can second guess your beliefs, this is 21st Century America, if you believe it, then its true for you. And you feel dirty because organic IS different, but only when it comes to hygiene products :)


So what's changed now that I've been set free? PREACH IT! Do I go back to the old ways? NO!, tip-toeing around, NO! careful to try and emphasize all the ways we treat animals as humanely as possible? NO , um I mean YES! I HAVE NO IDEA, but I'm FIRED UP Preacha!


Ok so we all know, in life, there are racists, agists, and there are sexists, and while I am none of those, I am most definitely a human speciesist.  Chuckle or roll your eyes, but this is a real thing.  Check out the wikipedia page on Speciesism later. So yeah theres a group of people, animal rights activists especially and specifically, who believe that speciesism is a prejudice similar to racism or sexism.

Here's a comment found on a page about a Speciesism movie found here:

"So glad to hear about this! The last great social justice battle we have yet to tackle is speciesism."



Yikes. Social justice, hmmm. If I were black, or a woman, I would be really offended I think.  Animal rights activists just equated the struggle for equality among our own species, to how we should treat cows and chickens and pigs, that can't talk, that we grow for food. Now, PLEASE UNDERSTAND ME,  If cows start talking and marching down Main Street demanding the right to vote, well, thats a different story.  My fingers are getting tired, do I really need to type anything else about this?

So many of these animal welfare, animal agriculture, food production debates boil down to a matter of speciesism, in my opinion (<---I feel like Im supposed to say "in my opinion", thats the only reason it's there). Do I believe humans have a right to own and use animals for the benefit of mankind? Absolutely, and I think thats okay to talk about.

So what's the big deal, why does it sound so fingernails on the chalkboardy to talk about animals this way?

O.M.G, That farmer just said "It's not like they're human or something" he must_________________.

Assumption time! What can we assume from the statement above.............................................     Answer = trick question! Nothing can be assumed. The assumption many people WANT to make is that he must treat his animals poorly, so anything he doesnt regard as human he must treat in a negative or disrespectful manner. WRONG! he may have the puurrtiest non-human '57 Chevy in the tri-county area. But also RIGHT! He may treat his animals like crap, but he may treat humans like that too!

You just learned from me how those things aren't at all related, yes?

So here we go, time to wrap it up B

I play some guitar from time to time and I have this old electric,pawn shop special that I decided to remodel.  Yeah so if you know me you know you dont want me to remodel anything, but this was different cause its not a guest bathroom or something. This is an old electric guitar that I could take time with to make it my own, sand the neck, replace the pickups, strings, and tuner key things, I even had a buddy paint some flames down the backside of the neck. I took apart and re-soldered all the connections, put it all back together and plugged it in just hoping it would still work.  Well it definitely did, and I love that guitar, spent a lot of time playing and working on that guitar, still have it and still play it every once in a while. In fact, I've never felt the need to buy a brand new shiny guitar that would sound amazing.

So what dude, this blog is too long.

It's the same way with farmers, especially farmers who own and raise animals.

We don't love our cows because they give us a "return", we don't love our cows because we think they should be given the same rights as us or our children, we don't love our cows cause thats what we're supposed to say; We love our cows, just like I love that old guitar, because they are ours. Ours that we've spent time with, ours that we've worked hard to raise or nurse back to health if need be, ours that we want to feel good so they work well. We want to give our cows a nice environment to live in, and strive to keep them comfortable for the duration of the time they will be with us, working for us.   We do this with everything we own, and its no different for our animals. Cows aren't human, but we are, and thats probably a big reason why we love them, and treat them, like we do.

@JoshinYall

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