Tag Archives: vegetarian

Why Meats?

I have some food for thought for you to ponder as we begin to answer some of the Big Questions that surround what we, the Cadmans, do and why we do it here at Shady Grove Ranch.

I’m going to do a series of brief articles that will hopefully build your foundation of understanding your food sources and also that encourage you to continue your commitment to supporting locally, naturally-raised foods.

I’ll keep it concise, and it won’t be research-paper-worthy (my researchy engineering inner self is protesting!), but I will provide a few sources to back up my claims. If you really care about the truth about food, I encourage you to dig deeper also.

So the first question is… when we started looking for healthier foods to heal Matt’s autoimmune gut disease (ulcerative colitis), why didn’t we start with vegetables?

Veggies were, after all, a little easier to come by in those days before the organic hype was reborn (this was back in 2006), and certainly they were cheaper than the “natural meats” we could find at that time. But when we ultimately took the plunge into farming, we focused primarily on animal products (beef, pork, milk, eggs, chicken, etc), in spite of the fact that they were more costly and difficult to begin with compared to vegetable production.

Now that’s not to say that we didn’t eat/buy any veggies (because we did a personal-size garden even before farming), and it’s not to say that it’s not important to choose organically-raised produce over conventional. And finally, that’s not to say that we’ll never have veggies as a farm product–in fact, we have grand plans to the contrary! (OK, enough with the disclaimers…)

2013-jerica-shevi-axl-garden

 

But fresh, organic produce wasn’t the focus of our healing strategy. Why not?

One of the biggest influences on our eating choices was the work of Dr. Weston A. Price. Dr. Price traveled the globe during the beginning of globalization, but while there were still a significant number of people groups that continued to consume their ancestral diets. He studied groups like the Inuit, Celtic peoples, Polynesians, Aborigines, Masai, and indigenous Swiss.

Dr. Price looked primarily at dental health, fertility, and disease resistance as health indicators, and found that, though the peoples he studied ate quite a variety of foods, the common denominator was that the healthiest ones did not eat any refined westernized foods (like canned goods and processed sugars and grains), but they did eat at least some animal products from wild or sustainably-farmed sources, and they especially prized foods rich in fats and minerals, and fermented products.

Price-esque foods that Americans might be familiar with and have access to today would be things like bone broth, lacto-fermented vegetables, grass-fed butter and raw milk, pasture-raised eggs, grass-fed beef, pastured pork and chicken… Sound familiar? 🙂

 

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Meats, or more correctly, animal products (milk, eggs, broth, fats, as well as protein), are key to nourishing and healing a struggling body. Vegetables are lovely and certainly bring something significant to the table, but Matt never could have made his recovery on just those.

Careful cuts make it go together easily.

We began with things like whole pasture-raised chickens, homemade yogurt, lots of bone broth, and plenty of fat. And sure enough, Matt slowly got well and remains so as long as he sticks with his diet rich in animal fat, homemade broth, fermented foods, and minimal processed junk. I can’t tell you how revolutionary it was to be told that foods like butter and bacon were good for us, after a life of feeling guilt for eating those foods because of those “artery-clogging saturated fats.” That phrase was probably ingrained into you growing up, too!

Challenge: Try to find some real saturated fat at today’s typical grocery store. It’s only in a handful of foods! Even the meats are finely trimmed and practically devoid of fat. Clearly we have effectively eliminated saturated fat (be careful to distinguish that from hydrogenated vegetable fat) from the standard American diet, and yet our general health as a nation continues to deteriorate. Animal fat is not the problem. I believe it is our lack of nutrient-dense foods and the bewildering presence of additives, chemicals, preservatives, and drugs that are taking their toll on our health as a nation.

bacon

 

This is a glimpse at the beginning of our journey and the reason we started farming with animal foods instead of vegetables. Animal products, even conventional ones, are the most nutrient-dense and contain nutrients that cannot be found anywhere else, despite what a lot of vegetarian hype may suggest. I don’t write that to offend–I was once a vegetarian, too! But when I really began to study, I began to understand that we need animal foods. And our soils need animal pressure. But both need the right kinds.

 

Next time we’ll talk more about what the right kinds of animal products are and how to distinguish them from mainstream marketing ploys.

Thanks for reading! Hope to hear from you soon!

ETBU Students Visit Shady Grove Ranch

Last week we were able to welcome some students from East Texas Baptist University (ETBU) who are interested in learning about sustainable food production. Earlier this summer, Dr. Cassie Falke contacted me about bringing some of her students to the ranch to learn a little bit more about the connection between people and food. We love to share what we do, and what better way for someone to learn about food than to help produce it? They gave up their Saturday sleep-in time to have a chance to share in our labor on a typical morning. Here are some photos of their adventure at Shady Grove Ranch.

First we relocated the laying hens. Their nest house is mobile, so while the girls leap-frogged the nets to an adjacent paddock, Matt moved the house with the tractor. Afterward we explained some of the Egg-Mobile’s functions, such as roost space, shade, predator cover, and nest boxes. It was too early in the day to collect eggs, but we had plenty of other chores to do!

Left to right: Krystin, Melissa, Dr. Falke, and Esther meet one of the older chickens up close.

Shevi is always excited for an opportunity to touch the infamous electric fence. His favorite question is, “Fence off? I’d like to touch it.”

Our next stop was to check on the turkeys. Along the way, we showed the students a common weed that we are dealing with. We call it “goatweed,” but even goats won’t eat it, which says a lot. It is really called Hogwort or Wooly Croton (Croton capitatus). Poor or bare soil will tend to grow lots of weeds in attempt to keep the soil from eroding. But if the weeds are not managed properly, they will shade out grasses and take over. Being a no-chemical farm, we manage our weeds mechanically—either by mowing or by pulling them up by hand. I offered Charlie, Dr. Falke’s son, a chance to earn some money during his visit. A penny per goatweed was our deal. He started yanking! He ended up with over 100 weeds, and I offered to pay him in eggs, which he was thrilled about. He got to choose his own out of the henhouse—a blue one and a brown one!

We arrived at the turkeys and refreshed their feed and water. I caught one of then hens to let her meet our visitors. Charlie got to pet a turkey!

Next we were off to the broilers to move them to new pasture. We explained some of the challenges we face with pasture-raised chicken, including weather, predators, and labor requirements. They jumped in immediately to help. Step 1 is to remove the water bowls and feed troughs to the new location. Melissa and Charlie helped with that as Matt positioned the dolly at the back of the pen.

Jermaca was in charge of keeping the chickens away from the back of the pen during the move so that none of the birds would get run over. Matt’s hat doubles as a chicken-herder, so she borrowed that and made effective use of it.

Laura, Esther, and Krystin watered the groups after they were moved.

Esther made friends with Zeke, our livestock guardian dog, and kept him company while we moved his chickens. He loves visitors, as long as they only have 2 legs!

As we do with all our visitors, we warned the ETBU’ers about the electric fence. They got curious what it feels like, so Matt showed them  how to test it with a piece of grass. Kristin was among the brave ones.

Jermaca and Laura laugh about the experiment. Charlie is thinking he’d like to try it, too, but just isn’t sure. He ended up getting first-hand experience later down at the pig paddock, except he got the real thing!

Finally, it was time to check on the beef cows. Matt demonstrates how docile his cattle are. His favorite group is the bulls because they are the most interactive. Don’t try this at home unless you’re 6’5″ and have really heavy boots.

We had a great talk with the girls at the end of their visit, discussing what part college students might play in changing their food culture. I asked the question, “Does food production matter to you?” One of the girls had chosen to be a lacto-ovo-vegetarian because of the factory farming practices that abound in the meat industry. Another of the girls wondered what she could do as a college student. It was a rich time of conversation about a very real issue in our country—one that covered the topics of reproductive health, environmental protection, weight management, nutrition, and humane stewardship of our animal resources.

Some of the ideas we discussed were to shop at farmers markets for their non-cafeteria meals. Perhaps they could get involved with their school’s decision-making committees and vote for organic and/or local options for their cafeteria. I encouraged them to take small steps forward. Any step a person takes in the right direction is better than what they were doing yesterday. It doesn’t require a total overnight transformation to make a difference in the way food is produced in our country. One meal, one drink, one bite, can be a step toward positive change.

I hope that by seeing a direct-to-consumer small family farm they will be encouraged to think about their food choices and begin to build their eating habits around sustainable, local, and organic. We are excited to see college students get involved with real food!