Fighting the NAIS Battle

I think one of the best things that could happen in the fight against the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) is that consumers would become as outraged as the small farmers are across the country. I admit that to the average consumer something like the NAIS probably sounds like an idea that is best for everybody, but if you dig down deep it to what the system really entails you will find that is far from the truth. To that end I asked my friend, Michael Y. Park, over at the Epi-Log if he could do a post on the NAIS.

I think he came up with an excellent and very informational post on the subect, and the comments afterwards are equally interesting. Take the link above to check out his post and whenever you come across some good NAIS information pass it along!

Still Swamped...

As you may know I write a for the Epi-Log three times each week, but the blog isn't the only thing that Epicurious.com has to offer. They also have a lot of great recipes, cooking tips, reviews, and news. Sometimes when I have a chance I like to browse through the recipes looking for something tasty. Yesterday I found a good looking recipe that I plan on trying out in the near future ... especially with our pigs nearing finish weight!

Take the link to check out the recipe for the "Bacon-Wrapped Maple Pork Loin". To me it looks like a perfect storm ... pork ... covered with more pork ... and then you get to add in some maple syrup! Let me know if you have ever tried a similar recipe or what some of your favorite pork loin recipes are.

Just In Case You Missed It...

(A very quick post today ... the last day of Vacation Bible School ... but, at least this one is earlier in the morning)

On Tuesday (after reading the article I posted on Monday) I asked the question, "Are You Willing to Pay More?" over on the Epi-Log. I had a decent response, and the consensus was that people are willing to pay more to a point. Click on the the question above if you would like to read the posts and comments.

One thing that popped into my mind is this question ... Does local have to cost a lot more? Does grass-fed have to cost more? I think it needs to cost a little bit more, but I do not believe it needs to cost twice is much. If we really want to take local foods and pasture raised we need to be as competitive as possible. Then the quality product and the price will become a selling point.

The one reason people said they didn't buy local is when money wouldn't stretch far enough ... but, I think we can get around that...

Writing for the Epi-log...

Well, I'm two weeks into writing for the epicurious.com "epi-log". It was a pretty cool opportunity that became available to me around a month ago and I decided to grab onto it and see what happens. If you missed my first post let me give you a quick description of the "epi-log". Basically epicurious.com is the online home of Gourmet and Bon Appetit Magazines and the "epi-log" is their blog. Their staff writes for the blog and so do a handful of guest bloggers (mostly chefs, food lovers, and food writers). I fall into the category of "guest bloggers", but not so much because I'm a chef (I do make a mean corn casserole though). They wanted a blogger with a farmers perspective ... kind of me ...

But, the reason I bring this up again (it has only been a little while since I first mentioned it) is because it has been an interesting experience. I have received some interesting comments and feedback on posts ranging from calving to the NAIS from people genuinely interested in understanding more about farming and the farmers who provide the food that they eat. It has been great to see non-farmers thoughts on some of the issues that farmers face and to just share some of the joys of farming.

The more I think about the people who are reading the "epi-log" the more I realize that these are the people that are potentially customers (maybe not mine, but possibly customers of their local farmers). These are people that love good food! They love to prepare it, they love to talk about it, they love to write about it, and they love to eat it (as do I). But, for whatever reason ... maybe because of where they live or where they were born, possibly because there is an agricultural stigma, or even because farmers have become isolated from their customers ... these readers and writers have not had too many opportunities to connect with their food providers.

My hope is that in writing about my joys, concerns, hardships, day-to-day chores, and all that is farming they will be able to find a connection with farmers in their area ... wherever their area is! So, make sure you go and check out the "epi-log". Read through the posts (they have some great thoughts and topics) and make sure to check out the recipe section (if you like to eat good food).

And finally, spread the word (not about the blog, but you can if you want) about the need for a connection between farmers and the people that eat the food the farmers raise and grow!

**The above picture was from the "photo shoot" we did when we were trying to get a picture for my bio. As you can tell from the picture it is very easy to make fun of me from time to time because I do silly things like that! Oh, and in case you are wondering I have gloves on because it is COLD, not because I'm afraid of chickens. I've had about five people comment on that when they saw the picture!**

**You can check out my by looking on the left column of the "epi-log". If you want a direct link to my posts you can always click the red link on the right side of this blog.**

Eating Local ... What is Local ... Why Even Try?

Writing over at the epi-log is kind of a new experience for me, and hopefully it will be a chance to discuss and promote local eating. For my first post (if you haven't read it yet click here) I wanted to give an brief introduction of some of the reasoning behind or desire to farm. Knowing where our food comes from is important to us and supporting our community is equally important. It was a brief post and not very detailed, but it did spark a couple of interesting comments that you should check out at the bottom.

I think the poster brought up some points that many people would agree with. What is the definition of "local"? Why shouldn't we enjoy the benefits of living in an affluent society and purchase food at lower prices? Isn't one of the benefits of the global trade that we can eat fruits in Iowa in the middle of the winter? And, how about one of the commenters last points ... buy purchasing overseas products we are actually supporting farmers who are poorer than the farmers in the United States.

As I mentioned these seem like valid points to most consumers in the United States, maybe even more so to people who love to dine at a higher level than I do. But, I think it just shows why we (farmers) must produce food that is better than anything out there so that the eating speaks for itself. We must be educated, informed, ready to answer questions, and engage intelligently and winsomely in debate.

What do you think of those points that were brought up? How can we as farmers educate the consumers on those specific areas? Thanks to "The Beginning Farmer" reader mellifera I have a feeling that purchasing food products that originate overseas may not help the farmers as much as we would like to think. So, what else do you think? What do we need to do to educate our friends and neighbors?

Big News for The Beginning Farmer...

Check out "The Beginning Farmer" on "the epi-log".



I have been holding on to this big news for quite awhile now as I waited for everything to come together... But, since my first post appeared yesterday I thought I would spill the beans and encourage you to check out the newest place to read the rambling posts of me, The Beginning Farmer, and a bunch of chefs ... cookbook writers ... wine affecianados ... and people who just plain love food. Of course the other bloggers posts probably won't be as rambling as mine usually are!

Hopefully this will be another great resource to help connect consumers with the producers. And, if it could be truly successful we would no longer need to call them consumers or producers ... we can just connect the people with their farming neighbors. I'm pretty excited about the possibilities to share with people from across the country and around the world my passion for farming and for sustainable and beautiful agriculture.

So, make sure you check out the main website www.epicurious.com if you are interested in good recipes and other food articles. Surf over to the "epi-log" for food related topics, and of course thoughts from me a few times each week. And, if you want to have a direct link to my posts you can always click on this link in the right column: