The Agrarian's Alcove

Thanks to the great responses I got from my poll, this week’s post is on none other than lab grown meat! First, we’ll discuss why lab grown meat was even a thought. Then, we’ll discuss a little about how it works. And finally, we’ll discuss what it could mean for our future. Ready to dig in? We all know PETA is against the animal agriculture industry as well as literally any other industry that has anything to do with animals. It isn’t a surprise that they offered a reward for the first person to develop lab grown (sometimes called cultured) meat and market it successfully. This is a project that has been in the making for several years. By 2012 more than 30 research teams worldwide were trying to make it happen. PETA wanted to be able to prevent animal “cruelty” by removing the animal entirely (although...this would require stem cells from animals, and lab tests so I’m not really sure what they were thinking.) Others saw test-tube meat as a means to satisfy the food source for a...

I have had some people ask me about GMO’s, and to clarify some things. I have written a post about being #ProGMO and about the Non-GMO Project , but they’re from when I was first getting the blog started, and I feel like I can do better. So in researching more, I have found about a million articles on how GMO’s are bad… but guess what? All of the articles are from 2010-2015. It’s 2018 yall!!! They clearly have no new cases to make. If you go through the articles they often mention studies that are vague or seemingly biased; that say more research needs to be done, and other things that are ambiguous. I will say, I was actually impressed with this WebMD article . It was on point, unbiased, and told you to make your own decisions. So let’s take a look at what others have to say. The Natural Society website had some awful, awful things to say about GMO’s. They claim that GMO’s are linked to more than 22 diseases. The study they use is from the Journal of Organic Systems. While ...

When you’re at the grocery store, do you ever feel like all you see is greenwashed logos and brands? It’s hard to find anything that’s not “all natural” or non-GMO. We’ve talked about labels before, and how they can be misleading. For example, meat is always gluten free, but now tons of meat products have a gluten-free label on them. Some consumers likely don’t realize that all meat has always been gluten free, and they pay extra for that little banner. One of the most misleading labels-in my opinion at least-is the “uncured” label on processed meats. What do you think of when you see that label on your lunch meat or bacon? I assume  most people, when they see this label, think Oh, there’s not as many chemicals! It’s gotta be better. More natural. Maybe even healthier! The good news is, I was really impressed with how accurate the first few Google results were when I looked up the differences between uncured and cured bacon. I saw only a few statements that uncured bacon ...

Did you know that elevator buckets touch everybody’s life? Okay, I know at least half of you are like what even is an elevator bucket? And even if you do know what it is, you are probably wondering how it reaches you. Tuesday in class, I got the incredible chance to meet Paul Phillips, president of Maxi-Lift, Inc. Maxi-Lift is an awesome company that started from scratch. They are family owned and privately held. They have had significant growth in the past 15 years and have incurred no debt! They are what business pro’s would call a PRMG company. They are a company where you would never have to worry about your job (if you’re doing the right thing of course). Maxi-Lift produces elevator buckets. Elevator buckets are these heavy duty, plastic buckets that attach to grain elevators. Grain elevators are used in agricultural and industrial settings and they are used to move product. Product is poured into a bin, which pours into a vertical conveyer belt that has buckets attached. ...

This is the last post in the Savvy Shopper series! This post has taken me awhile to write, mainly because it is hard to find unbiased facts about this specific topic. Today I am going to be discussing food from free range animals. This is a seriously growing trend with all the animal rights activists, and animal welfare . I’m going to start by defining free range, and then I’m going to try something new. I want to compare the cold-hard facts about free range animals to an article written by PETA. Saying PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is like a saying a really bad word to people in my industry. For those who don’t know, PETA really wants everyone to become a vegan. They’ve had several law suits against them, and they make law suits against several individuals and companies every year. PETA believes that animals are being enslaved to humans and don’t want people to own pets. Okay, there’s your background on PETA; with that said I am going to try my very hardest to pr...

Alright, let’s face it. It’s a new year. And if you’re in college in the US, then most of you are going back to school this week. But whether you’re a mom, a college kid, or a single adult, we ALL have to grocery shop. With the New Year I know many people have resolutions to eat healthier, cleaner, or maybe to just cut back on spending so much money on food! In 2013 people spent over $717 million on food **at home (no restaurants)** in the US alone. I imagine that with the trends in organic and natural foods rising, we will surpass $730 million mark if we haven’t already (find the charts here ). So, welcome to my second post in the series of The Savvy Shopper’s Guide series. You can read the first post here . Let me start by clearing up some confusion. I think people get confused by the labels “natural,” “naturally raised,” and “organic.” Some people I have spoken to, thought they were all very similar or meant the same thing. They are not the same thing. To be organic, produce...

Hey everyone! I am going to begin a 4 post series called the Savvy Shoppers Guide. It will include facts on organic, locally grown, all natural, and free range products that you buy. This way you will be able to make savvy shopping decisions when you purchase groceries! You will also be able to understand why we have conventional agriculture and why we need to continue with conventional ag even if you choose to opt for non-conventional. Today we will be covering organic food items. So first I would like to say that I do not believe that there are any food safety advantages that come from producing organic foods. In fact, in 2002 Alex Avery, research director for the Center of Global Food Issues stated that natural and organic foods are eight times more likely to be recalled than conventionally produced foods 1 . The USDA has found that drug residues in ALL beef, not just organic, to be virtually zero 2 . Of course all foods from animals naturally have hormones. While organicall...