I turned to the article wondering whether it would be about a landrace corn or laboratory-based engineering. I’m happy to see it’s a landrace.
I assume the corn is a flour corn, since that would be most useful to the inhabitants of the area. That, too, makes it an interesting find. I’m curious about its flavor and baking qualities.
I’m worried, though, about the end-of-article mention of shared proprietary rights. Suddenly it sounds like seed patenting. I’m good with it if every packet sold adds to the monetary resources of the remote village whose ancestors developed the strain. I’m not good with it if some farmer choosing to save “seed” from one season’s crop for the next is either made illegal or made impossible in order to create a monopoly annualized crop. Shades of Monsanto… There would go its value as a sustainability crop, especially for small 2nd and 3rd world growers; but also, frankly, for me.
Animal based or vegetable based ag. I suspect one is better than the other but in the end population at scale makes it moot? Give everyone 40 acres and we still have a climate crises aka predicament. Bottom line is if the farming lifestyle makes you happy, do it now! no not then, now. https://www.landandfarm.com/
Sell that bitcoin! Do it!
This is my method. I also swim for distance in the ocean, do Qi Gong/Tai Ji and Pilates, and drink preposterous amounts of clean filtered water.
I haven’t been sick since Swine Flu in '08. And even that only knocked me down for 36 hours…
VIVA – Sager
There are lots of ways to skin a cat. All of which are probably illegal. lol
I absolutely hate the word “sustainable” btw. I just consider myself a caretaker of this 4 acres that god gave me to look after for him. It is incredibly bioactive with more birds, butterflies, bees and critters than were here before I got here.
If I had the land I would have horses again but those days are long gone. I loved harnessing up ol Ben and putting him to work.
BTW I will bet 400 years ago Joel’s land was forest.
all our squash, corn,peas, melons, beans, tomato, peppers, some onion, turnips, cole crops outcross to easy, and asparagus, is open pollinated. Our place has the advantage of several generations and several hundred acres. I sent several PP folk some seed over the years. We are esp. proud of our landrace corn, peas, sorghum, and beans. The sorghum when pressed and cooked down, makes a delightful syrup( which of course can be hydrated, fermented, distilled, chilled, swilled).
Les, I’m with you on The China Study. The data does not lie. What did the author, Dr. Campbell, get for his trouble? Ignored, defunded, and marginalized. But the guy is gonna live a long time!!!
Les, have you seen the documentary “Cowspiracy”? A great film that burrows down to the nitty gritty of growing food for animals.
The China Study got a 48% scientific accuracy rank from the non-biased Red Pen Reviews folk (non-funded scientist reviews, sharp guys). Check out the link. Quick summary:
We evaluated three key claims of The China Study:
- Animal foods such as dairy and meat are a major cause of cancer, particularly due to the type of protein they contain.
- Animal foods are a major cause of cardiovascular disease.
- A whole food, plant-based diet prevents and reverses cardiovascular disease.
The China Study is peer reviewed and was actually prompted by a study of out India in the 60’s: 100 mice were infected with cancer and fed a 20% animal based diet and another 100 mice were infected with cancer and fed a 5% animal based diet. All the 100 mice fed a 20% animal based diet died. All the mice fed a 5% animal based diet lived. Every. Time. Over. And. Over. No one in the West believed the study because macro protein was considered the top most nutrient over all others here in the US.
Are we surprised that hard data was rejected by the US based on a belief?
Well the American, Dr. Campbell, peer reviewed the Indian Study and guess what? The stats were 100 to zero EVERYTIME. Peer reviewed = golden. Dr. Campbell even skewed the parameters: he would infect the plant-based diet mice more severely than the animal-based diet mice, still the same results: Zero mice on the plant based diet died and all of the mice on the animal based diet died, every single time. He found you could literally turn cancer cells on and off with the diet. Does that sound outlandish? That diet can profoundly effect health?
Fact: meat/dairy based diet produces diseases of affluence: cancer, heart disease, diabetes, auto-immune diseases, osteoporosis, etc.
Reading the China Study also reveals the corruption within our so-called regulatory boards that set nutritional standards in the US. Every board is filled with industry insiders setting U.S. minimum daily nutritional requirements based on profit margins, not necessarily actual health protocols. Dr. Campbell was formerly one of those insiders.
Like Chris, I go by the data. The study began with the lab mice but Dr. Campbell took it a step further, conducting the longest running study on human population, diet and disease ever and he had fertile ground as many rural Chinese were mostly vegan/vegetarian while over the 20 year long study Western food was gradually introduced to the Chinese public and… guess what?
Diseases of affluence: cancer, heart disease, diabetes started to rip through the population. Same thing happened in Japan. Before the Western diet was introduced, the Japanese had the highest smoking rates in the world, yet had practically NO LUNG CANCER until the Western diet was introduced, then all the diseases of affluence started ripping through the population.
Numbers don’t lie.
You ARE what you EAT. Are you eating death, destruction and adrenaline or colorful, fibrous food rich in macro AND micro nutrients?
Could the US have gotten it wrong? Do conflicts of interest not matter? Is America not plagued with Piss Poor Public Policy after Piss Poor Public Policy after Piss Poor Public Policy? Since, forever?
Most folks are not motivated by what’s good for them. For me, personal health was never a top priority. I didn’t give up flesh food for health reasons. I gave up flesh food when I understood the axiomatic law of nature: for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction (Karma). I didn’t want to suffer.
Ditto for dairy. Even though I read the China Study years ago, I did not give up the dairy. I loved dairy! However, when I (finally) connected the dots, by dint of serendipity, between my dairy intake and the screaming pain in my left leg and knee, my years long problem was solved without any medications or medical interventions. I avoid dairy because I don’t want to suffer. Do I cheat? Yes, but I know I’ll be back on a dairy free diet after the indulgence and the pain/inflammation will subside after a couple of days.
I didn’t want to believe that dairy caused a mini health crisis for me. I suffered with this problem for YEARS! Never made the connection to diet. Just like I never made the connection between my first two infant children’s miserable health problems coinciding with all those ‘well child checks’ and perfunctory vaccinations.
Just remember, there has been a cleverly crafted matrix around us and it’s been going on for a long time. Re-thinking cultural norms is not necessarily a bad thing. It’s culturally acceptable to eat cats and dogs in parts of Asia while Americans consider this practice appalling. So it goes for many in India and mother cow.
It all depends on your reference point and your life philosophy. The life changing jolt for me was the realization that I was going to suffer negative reactions for taking part in the misery of another living being for my sense gratification. After all, I didn’t have to eat meat to survive.
Trust me, it was a jolt. I was a surf n turf girl from Texas who ate her steak warm!
My first thought was literally: “Oh Shit.”
Sort of like that Wiley Coyote moment.
Right now the Status Quo is in charge, and it is the status quo in America to eat a diet very high in animal protein. That aughta tell ya something.
On a side note, without any other effort, after becoming mostly vegan, I dropped 25 pounds!
PS: Anecdotes count.
Thanks Hladini
Your comments are right on. I am so happy to see other people who understand the mental matrix we live in and how the food fascists have taken over. I wonder how and why some people like you, but not most people, figure this out. MKI makes some good points too, because the China Study painted with too broad a brush. Animals differ greatly as nutrients. Fish are totally different from fatty pigs and cows, and chickens are separate as well. The demerits of the China Study come from not paying enough attention to specific nutrients, such as hard fat sources (cardiovascular disease) and particular chemicals often found in red meat (cancer).
In my case, I studied biochemistry in such depth (both teaching college courses and then studying nutrition) that I could clearly see the biochemical mechanisms behind the facts that dairy is shortening lives and causes mass and unnecessary debilitation. Surprisingly, the black and white biochemical mechanisms/facts for how dairy and other hard fat sources damage our bodies have not been assembled and published in a single go-to source such as a book. I wanted to do this myself but quickly realized that no one cares to understand how things work. No one really cares about science and if they do, do not care enough to learn basic principles needed to get a grasp of basic concepts.
The dairy industry in particular has done more than the tobacco industry in the name of profits, to damage public health, but no one seems to care. Food industry profits in the U.S. come from fat people choices. The food you find everywhere is determined by customer choice. The obese people spend the most and are in charge of the food industry in America.
Well, I will not get into a discussion or debate with others on the religion of food, just wanted to say thanks for expressing your opinion.
@Hladini, here’s my counter-testimony:
My health turned 180 degrees not when I reduced meat, but when I increased the meat and fat in my diet. As a result of changing my diet the following happened: I lost the chronic pain in my hip that had me convinced I was just a couple years from a hip replacement, the incipient pain in my finger joints disappeared, my blood sugar stabilized and so, then, did my emotions, my brain fog (that had my wife worrying about early onset Alzhiemers for me) cleared, my general vitality climbed, my tolerance for extreme temperatures expanded (so much that I don’t ever wear my Vermont-caliber winter jacket any longer, and don’t wear more than a flannel long sleeve overshirt outside until the temp drops into the single digits (Fahrenheit) and then just a polar fleece, while my tolerance of heat and high humidity surprises my friends, my eyesight improved so that now I mostly don’t wear my glasses, and over about 5 of the last 8 years my colorblindness has moderated so I see shades of red and blue that were previously invisible to me (it sure ain’t “cured” but I see lots more than I did, and had to learn the names of “new” colors).
Now, I’m convinced that it wasn’t just adding more meat than I was eating before that made the difference - because I’ve been eating meat since ending my experiment with vegetarianism nearly 40 years ago - but I think that my health changes are due to making a decision to drastically restrict carbohydrates at the same time as significantly increasing animal fats. The fats offset the carbs for energy.
That means I cut out sugar altogether (though years later I now use whole cane sugar as a spice in foods), and all but eliminated grains from my diet. (Years later, I do eat whole grains and whole cereals on infrequent occasion, usually barley, and I make a very simple-ingredient loaf of bread every two or three weeks.) Simultaneously, I eliminated all oils except olive and coconut, and butter.
I also switched how I cook meat. Now it’s mostly slow-cooked with the bone in, and with its fat, usually in moisture. I make my own beef and chicken broth now that I buy organic beef and raise my own organic, heritage breed chickens, and use that for liquid in my crock pot or Dutch oven dishes.
I started making my own fermented vegetables from organic produce, much of which I now grow, and I make kefir (it was from raw organic milk until Covid; now that it’s only available from the farm and that’s too far to justify, I’m using pasteurized local organic milk until the farmers market reopens).
I experienced the first, highly positive effects while still eating store-bought commercial meats. In fact, I got through the switch from carbs to fats by giving myself permission to eat as much poorly-manufactured bacon (!) as I desired. As I’ve transitioned to high quality organic foods over the years since, my health and vitality has only improved. At 66 I’m in better shape than when I was 58, and 35 pounds lighter, too. My cholesterol is just a bit high (not that I worry about it), but properly balanced. I take no medications of any kind, and don’t get sick. My one complaint is that my body doesn’t recover from heavy exertion the way it did when I was 62 and 63 - but I’m still working around the homestead as long and hard as guys half my age, and I’m less bothered by the heat and humidity.
I eat almost no fruit, and only moderate amounts of leafy greens. My vegetables are more the storage root crops that go into my curries, stews, and soups - all of which feature a high proportion of meat (beef, chicken, or lamb), my homemade broth, and lots of organic, exotic seasonings.
On the other hand, we now eat very little. My wife and I typically eat a pound of meat over 2 meals: so, about a quarter pound each per meal. That “big” meal is at lunch. We often skip breakfast, apart from a couple ounces of homemade kefir and a couple cups of coffee (often with a teaspoon of coconut oil added to one of the servings for the omega-3 fatty acids), and dinner is a small snack of some kind (bread and butter, or some cheese, or a bit of lunch reheated, a handful of nuts and raisins, or a couple dried figs with cheese, or similar), or nothing. Yet I’m doing much more work in a day than I used to do on 3 full SAD meals. In fact, I find I eat less in the summer when I’m working hard than in the winter when I’m more sedentary. I’m guessing it has to do with improved metabolism due to activity.
My opinion, offered freely and worth every penny: In our house, it likely isn’t what we do eat so much as what we don’t eat that makes the primary difference. Avoiding toxic commercial foods with ingredients we can’t pronounce, returning to the human pattern of getting calories from fat not carbohydrates (which requires distinguishing between grains and vegetables), eating higher-fiber heritage breed vegetables over modern hybrids, eating vegetables grown in rich living soil, and eating meat grazed on rich living soil, avoiding commercial high-heat processed and artificial oils and spreads, dumping sugar altogether, and bypassing feedlot and monocropped anything, all likely lead to our increased vitality because of the reduction of irritants that create acidic environments in our bodies and persistent low-grade inflammation. It is that inflammation that leads to low vitality, chronic diseases, and sudden heart attacks.
Against the typical American experience of poor health, elevated blood sugar, chronic inflammation, and so on, any diet that reduces or eliminates the sources of acidic environment and low-grade inflammation endemic to the standard American conventionally-produced diet is going to yield a sense of well-being, as well as objectively better health.
However, that doesn’t make optional approaches equally optimum, although I suspect the variations within the human family mean that some of us thrive better on more meat, or less meat, or no meat, than do others of us. That, itself, is an indication that humans are omnivorous. But we are not great apes even if we share a common ancestor, and our big brains do require abundant Omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin B-12, as do our nerve systems and joints. Eating closer to the traditional way humans grew and ate their food prior to the 20th century (and most especially prior to WWII), satisfies that. It’s what our bodies are designed for.
We also need far more exercise than nearly any of us get any longer, because exercise is essential to the lymphatic and parasympathetic nerve systems, as well as to core musculature, which in turn promote proper metabolism, organ function, blood flow, and digestion and elimination. So, increasing exercise/movement over the American norm likely also increases one’s felt sense of improved vitality, and shows up on objective health evaluations, too.
The modern, commercialized diet - not just the erroneous USDA food pyramid, but also the poor nutrient quality of the foods produced cheaply on poor soil for us - is the real, first enemy of good health and high vitality. That and our tendency to sit about.
Beyond that, I suspect individual family histories and quirks of individual metabolic differences determine whether each of us should eat more or less of any particular well-grown foodstuff. It ill behooves any of us to insist our particular diet is the only way, or that all humans should eat as any one of us does because that’s what has worked for us.
Birth
MKI makes some good points tooLook, to be clear, I never made any points on the China Study; I couldn't, since I never read it because RPR scientists (whom I trust based on long experience) have read it and shredded the science with clear and cogent reasons (I've never seen a rating below 2!). I posted my comment here only to pass the word in case folk are unaware. YMMV.
BOOK
Easiest ~$20 purchase I’ve made in a while.
As someone looking for land right now, this interview and book are perfectly timed. I like that Chris pointed out how much he learned from the book that he didn’t even know he needed to know (the types of sticks you leave). Helped seal the deal.
BUGS
On another note, I’ve been considering the environmental and economic cost/impact of beef alot lately.
so much so that I consciously filled up my newly acquired chest freezer with chicken and not beef.
And I understand that there are sustainable and good ways to raise cattle, it’s just that I’m not participating as a consumer at that level yet. Although I only buy my beef from local producers now.
But I think we might be overlooking a real potential for protein and I’d like to know if anyone here has experience with insects for human consumption.
As a child, we ate grasshoppers in Boy Scouts. Dandelions too. Wilderness survival merit badge. Dipped both in pancake batter and fried them up.
That was the full extent of that sort of experimentation with nutrition, grasshoppers and dandelions, and I think all our scoutmasters were too suburbanized to extend beyond those two for eating.
But I know that (pound for pound) insects are much more nutritious than beef, and can also be used as feed for poultry if enough are raised.
So, who here has raised insects for feed or food?
I’d like to hear first hand experience if possible, but book-learned knowledge will be happily absorbed if provided too. Links if you have any on good articles/books.
I am not interested in debating veg vs. non veg. Most in Amerika get to eat what they wish. (Some are lucky to eat at all) As a disclaimer I have been a vegetarian for 50 years. I am not religious about it. I eat the rare egg and eat some yogurt, but that is about it for meat products. My bloodwork is excellent.
000 asked above about methane production in animals as opposed to ag. Here is a link to the numbers. The numbers are for feed conversion. Hands down chicken is much better than cows for feed conversion. Certainly the argument for pasture raised beef has some merit but not near enough to offset the damage to the environment of animal husbandry. From first hand experience a lot of the world depends on goats. The good news is they can and do eat everything. The bad news is they can and do eat just about everything.
This is just to put some data on the face of the debate.
https://awellfedworld.org/feed-ratios/
Diet is certainly a personal choice. It is based on many factors.
This site is committed to a mechanistic view of the world and therefore life. Other paradigms offer different views.
If one considers only care for the body as a necessity for health then one will focus on that one thing. It may or may not be effective.
Another paradigm posits that optimum health is a balance of body, mind and spirit.
Glad to be back on PP. When I read your comments, I think of you sitting in front of the that beautiful bay.
https://www.ted.com/talks/allan_savory_how_to_fight_desertification_and_reverse_climate_change#t-25194
Years ago I caught this TED talk about a different idea on the relationship between arable land and animals. I see some similar ideas here to some of the comments by Salatin.
It sounds like we have similar lifestyles, except I’ve gone from a junk food vegetarian diet to a more whole food plant based (mostly) vegan diet, with a similar intake of vegetable fats and butter/ghee. I take butter, occasional yoghurt, and a daily dash of cream in my coffee. Lots of leafy greens, brassica and root vegetables, lots of tumeric, green chilis and green tea. It sounds like we both have evolved over the decades and have adopted diets that work for us.
But again, VT, I’m not vegetarian/vegan solely for health reasons. The health reasons came much later in life as I’ve aged. It was realizing the temporary nature of these material bodies is just the temporary clothing for the soul. The body is merely a short lived vehicle for the true self. We know intuitively we are not these bodies because we don’t say: “I hand” we say: “My hand.”
Same for any living body. It’s the living force that animates the body.
The Transcendentalist withdraws from un-necessary acts of violence even at the expense of his/her own well being because the soul is recognized in all living beings. I see the slaughtering of animals for food when it’s not necessary as a form of extreme exploitation.
Isn’t that what we’re all complaining about after all? Have the elites not exploited the ‘lesser’ classes for their own well being and benefit? There’s definitely a pecking order in play.
Tell me, does anyone honestly believe the animals for slaughter at industrial scale has no reactions, no repercussions? What about the consequences of those last Monarch butterflies dying off? Would you expect a culture that feasts on the carcasses of millions upon millions of animals every day would be at constant war with others? Would such a culture press a knee on a fellow citizen’s neck? Would such a culture maybe vandalize, loot and set afire other people’s property? A culture that feasts on death and destruction unnecessarily is gonna have some blowback. Its’ the law of action and reaction. It’s like really complicated math.
I do appreciate those homesteaders who raise and slaughter their own animals. It’s more honest, you have to get your own hands dirty, the animal is much more likely to have lived a peaceful natural life and hey, we all have to face that one bad day when this body is finished.
a book about…https://www.resilience.org/stories/2020-08-14/sacred-cow-the-case-for-better-meat-review/
Our cattle have never had grain, are rotationally and cospecies grazed and are increasing the carbon and organic in our soil.