Print this pageby Edwin Shank, April 6, 2015
Hi Family Cow Family,
You know what?...There's a lot that's going right with Americans and food for 2015. You heard right... There's a lot going right.
Maybe you think I'm overly excited because we just got back from two days in Pittsburgh at the annual Farm to Table Conference where we gave away 800 raw milk pints plus sold 100's of servings of Family Cow raw milk and other healing foods to the crowd of 5000.
And you would be partly right. That was exciting. The teaching was fun...the crowd of healthy food enthusiasts was exhilarating. At times there were seven of us explaining raw milk, raw milk kefir, raw honey, lacto-fermented veggies at once. New Family Cow tribe members were signing onto drop points as fast as they could write.
But I'm not overly excited. Last week's conference is not even what started my thoughts in this direction. The spine-tingling realization started almost a year ago. It started as I increasingly, almost unbelieving at first, picked up signs that mainstream Americans are waking up to the truth of real food and its undeniable, no-brainer, connection to real health.
Maybe you have noticed it too, but if not, I'd like to point out the signs of a nation awaking from the processed food stupor that has held its grip ever since the 1970's. The awakening comes in several distinct areas.
"DGAC has recommended limits on dietary cholesterol be removed from the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. This is a reversal of the cholesterol limitations that have been widely circulated since the 1960s." Cleveland Clinic cardiologist Dr. Steven Nissen told USA Today: "It's the right decision. We got the dietary guidelines wrong. They've been wrong for decades."
Organic Announced as Fastest Growing Segments in All of Food History! In April 2014, Dan Flynn, a Food Safety News writer announces the astounding "increase in sales in 24 years makes organic the fastest-growing consumer food and lifestyle trend in modern history."
Yes!... together we are winning one bite at a time!
Not that this will make any of our tribe supporters of Nestles or McDonald's, but still...it's a remarkable testament to the real power of the real food revolution when the big boys start to tremble.
WHO Pronounces Glyphosate quite likely Carcinogenic: Of course, we are not at all surprised about glyphosate being a carcinogen. The surprise is that WHO (World health Organization), after 30 years, is finally acknowledging it! If you are new to the organic conversation, Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Monsanto's most popular herbicide, Roundup.
Smooth move for the farmer wanting to farm 3000 acres instead of 300. And of course, smooth lining for Monsanto's deep pockets...
But very bad for American families as the eaters of the non-organic corn, non-organic soybean and non-organic wheat food crops.
Hmm... no wonder Organic is the fastest growing segment in all of food history. Thank you for your help Monsanto! :)
Moms Steer Clear of Pasteurized Milk: Pasteurized milk consumption fell roughly 30% in the past 15 years and no amount of milk mustaches or other energetic marketing campaigns can do a thing about it.
It seems, milk mustache or not, moms and children instinctively steer clear from the bland, highly processed white stuff that gives them digestive upset and congestion.
Raw Milk Demand is Exploding! Especially for organic raw milk from grass-fed Jersey cows. I just ran the calculations today. At The Family Cow, our raw milk sales have grown on an average of 40% per year for our past 7 years. Many other raw milk farmers across the nation report the same phenomenal, passionate interest from moms and dads and their children.
In the past three years since Dawn and I pioneered our own laboratory, I have had the personal pleasure to mentor 16 other raw milk farmers from 9 states and 3 counties to set up and operate their own raw milk laboratory. All of the laboratories are on-farm and without fail the farm families are both surprised and pleased at how much cleaner and safer their raw milk is as a result. Dawn and I feel a lot of satisfaction and reward to pass on what we have learned.
But Most Amazing of All! Progressive Dairyman magazine printed not just one but three positive raw milk articles in their March 2015 issue! To fully grasp the astounding importance of this development, and the shift in thinking it represents, you must know that Progressive Dairyman is not a magazine for small producers. They cater to the biggest of the big commercial, CAFO, confinement dairies. To see them give this nod of affirmation and legitimacy to America's raw milk dairy families is a major shift and a first of its kind for an industry publication.
One of the articles was titled, Making Clean Raw Milk: A How To Guide and was written by Nick Zigelbaum the director of a microbiology Laboratory in Vermont.
Another was written by Emily Caldwell, the east coast editor of Progressive Dairyman. I thought it significant that her closing sentence was this quote from FTCLDF's Pete Kennedy. "I think in another 5 to 10 years we will see raw milk access in all 50 states."
And you know what! ... I can't think of a better way to express what is going right in America than that!
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So anyway, folks, I hope I didn't bore you... I just thought you'd like to know my personal take on the positive state of food in America. We have a long way to go, of course...but the trend is on the upswing...the food giants are trembling...conventional Ag-Business is noticing and things are a-changing in America!
And it's all because of you educated mother lions, protecting your young, and speaking repeatedly and passionately with your buying decisions.
In spite of what Monsanto would like to think, the Real Power still resides in "the People!"
Think about it... Spring is coming in more ways than one!
Your Farmer ~ Edwin Shank
