Fair Farm Food Quiz

I took the Fair Farm Food Quiz on the Food and Water Watch website.  I have to admit that I was being a little overly negative and sarcastic when I answered some of the questions and to my surprise, I got them right.  Good news??  No, no, no.  This is very bad news.  I am learning new things everyday that can be utterly depressing.  What's even more depressing about it all is that most consumers just do not care.  We care about fancy cars, clothes, and other materialistic things.  Yet, we do not care about the food we ingest.  It's a bit sickening to say the least.  As I am feeling a bit pessimistic today I will go ahead and assume not many readers will take the quiz themselves.  So, I decided to post the questions and answers here.

1. FOR EVERY DOLLAR YOU SPEND ON GROCERIES, HOW MUCH DOES A FARMER GET?
A $0.91
B $0.66 
C $0.19
D $0.36

That's right. Less that 1/4 of what you pay goes to the farmer.  Does that sound fair to you??  It doesn't to me.

2. HOW MANY FLOWERS DO BEES HAVE TO VISIT TO MAKE ONE POUND OF HONEY?
A 200
B 2000
C 200,000
D 2,000,000

Two million!  Wow, that's a lot of flowers.  It sure does put a new meaning to the term "busy bee".

3. HOW MANY TIMES A DAY IS A COW MILKED ON A FACTORY FARM?
A Once, just like a regular cow
B Two, just like a regular cow
C Two, which is more than a regular cow
D Three, which is more than a regular cow

I assume the hormones and antibiotics these cows receive aids in the increase in milk production??  But what does it do to the quality of the milk.  My family prefers organic milk due to taste and this is no lie.  Organic tastes better.  I dare you to test it out for yourself.

4. HOW MANY EGGS DOES A FACTORY-FARM CHICKEN LAY IN A DAY?
A NONE -a chicken lays eggs only once every few days
B Just One
C Two
D Five - chickens are amazingly productive!

So, I am not a farmer and I am not 100% about how many eggs a chicken living in natural condition will lay... but I believe this is pretty normal.

5. HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE A COMMERCIAL CARROT TO GROW? 
A Three weeks

B Four weeks

C Eight weeks 

D Twelve weeks

It takes a carrot (grown under natural conditions) at least 3 months to grow fully. 

6. HOW LONG DOES THE AVERAGE FACTORY-FARMED CHICKEN LIVE?
A Six Weeks
B Three Months
C Six Months
D One Year or More

Six weeks!!!!  Naturally a chicken should take about 20 weeks. We're forcing a naturally occurring process to speed up for money.  A form a virtually non-existent trade measure. Good things will not come of this.

7. HOW MANY INGREDIENTS ARE REQUIRED TO MAKE BUTTER??
A Just one - cream
B At least 2 - cream and salt
C Several - cream, salt, and some stabilizers
D It's not butter if it doesn't have a few ingredients I can't pronounce

Now just for grins and giggles, go check your butter box/tub and see how many ingredients BESIDES cream are listed.  Ew.  Gross, right??  What is that you think you are eating??

8. WHAT DOES A "FREE-RANGE" LABEL ON A PACKAGE OF EGGS MEAN??
A Just what it says - the chicken is allowed to go wherever it wants on the farm
B The chicken must spend at least three hours a day outside
C The chicken must have access to go outside at least six hours a day, if it wants to
D It means absolutely nothing.  There is no government standard for what "free-range" means, so the company can define it for themselves

Have you ever scanned the price differences on eggs?  I have. I do.  I buy USDA organic eggs with the seal that tells me the product I am buying is regulated and worth the extra cash.  "Free-range" means the company gets "free-range" on how much more they can charge you, even if their chickens are not allowed roaming.  It sickens me.

Money, money, money!  Greed!  If you think buying the products that aren't labeled organic or all-natural will save you in the end, you are wrong.  You are still putting your money into the pockets of these mass producing tyrants.  They aren't worried about whether we have enough food to feed America.  We eat too much anyhow (68% of Americans are overweight or obese)!!  They are worried about having enough money in their pockets to live their lavish lifestyles while your bodies pay the ultimate price.  Think about it.  Start thinking about what you eat.  There is only one thing you can take with you throughout your entire life and that is your body.  Why wouldn't you want to take care of it???

I Should Have Known...

This past Thursday I did a Bird Feeder Watch program with some 3rd graders in my kids' school.  It goes along with a national Bird Feeder Watch program that tracks the migration of different birds each year.  I have to say I was pleasantly surprised.  We actually only saw two birds, but I was informed just before we started that the feeders hadn't been out but a few days so we'd need to give it time.  There were two of us volunteers and about 8 kids.  Before we went out to the courtyard, we handed out the binoculars and explored how to use them with the children.  I think they may have been more fascinated with that than the actual bird watching.  Once we were outside we talked about what we were looking for and how we needed to explore in order to actually see birds without scaring them away.  Knowing that we weren't likely to see many birds we allowed the children to walk around and explore using their binoculars.  To my surprise they were all very interested in the plants and trees that live in the courtyard.  BAM!  Brick wall.

I had little to no knowledge of the plants, much less any information to offer them when they were asking questions.  I loved it that they were so interested, but I am so disappointed in myself for not having asked to explore the courtyard and it's lifeforms before we started. 

I started taking pictures of the labels and decided the next go round I will know about these trees and plants.  I must!  How can I not when these little minds were so very interested??  I will take this failure of mine and use it as a learning experience.  Not only will I know these plants to tell the next group of kids, but I will know for me.  I should have known.  I can't believe I didn't think of it before hand.

 

Conflicts With Nature

I found myself in conflict with nature. 

I caught the ants in my house.

I committed murder.

To my surprise, the ants outside continued carrying the seeds,

They carried them out to spread them around,

They spread those seeds all over the ground.

Now the grass grows green,

But safe inside, the ants do not come in,

They will not survive.

The battle within it rages on and on,

The grass, it was green,

Now that green grass is gone.

For the Birds

"Bob-bob white!"  I remember sitting down on 'the farm' as we call it, in a porch swing with my PaPaw looking out over the land and listening to the birds.  The most peaceful time in my life I believe were those moments I spent with him, saying nothing, listening to the sounds of nature. 

    

The thing I can remember most about my PaPaw is he was always outside.  He was always doing SOMETHING.  Whether it was tending to the yard, watering MaMaw's flowers, tinkering away in his office down in that old storage shed, or sitting at the picnic table in the shade drinking iced tea and listening to the birds, you could bet if you wanted to find PaPaw.. he would be outside.  I can probably say I got my love of nature from him.  I remember wanting to run and hide away in the woods and just listen and watch.  Since I never did, I found a tree where I would sit and write or draw to my heart's content.  At some point I had lost that little free-spirited girl and in turn I lost my way in life. I've been seeking her out for a while now and I can feel her coming back alive in my heart every time my kids and I talk about and explore nature together.  I cannot tell you how proud it made me when my son asked to keep a nature journal, and his love of animals is beyond amazing.  

Tomorrow, I am volunteering at the kids' school for an activity called 'Bird Feeder Watch'.  I haven't been fully trained on it yet, but I am ecstatic to have this opportunity.  There is nothing greater than seeing the sparkle in a the eyes of children as they take in the wonders of nature.  We will be counting and identifying birds in the school courtyard, which by the way is spectacular!  I do believe this is one of the most incredible opportunities I have ever had to work with these children and help to instill a love of nature and it's beauty within their little hearts.  I can only hope that they will find it as awe inspiring and rewarding as I know I will.  Until next time!!