The weather is unseasonably warm and it is a great day for tailgating at football games and all manner of fall recreational activities that a health-conscious person is particularly free to enjoy. While the skies are a clear blue color, I regret to inform you of gathering storm clouds in the distance that threaten the fun and freedom of fall days and our carefree lifestyle as we know it. Please take some time today to sit quietly and absorb this important information– and then take action as well as personal steps to prepare for the deadly “storm warning” that the gathering clouds portend.

Life, Liberty and the Right to Eat

Thomas Jefferson once observed, “If people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny.”

We Americans today don’t know what we’ve got because we didn’t have to fight for it. We have been the beneficiaries of efforts of men and women who believed so much in a person being born with inalienable rights that they were willing to sacrifice everything they had so that someday their children could have those rights necessary to live a life of happiness and tranquility. Is there a better example of true love for God’s children? Should we at least be vigilant to not squander what was given to us so that our children not be shackled to the despairs of tyranny?

Hunger Striker, Michael Schmidt, Fighting till Death

Michael Schmidt, an Ontario, Canada raw milk dairyman, is in day 23 of a hunger strike demonstrating his passion for preserving people’s most fundamental inalienable right, the right to choose what one eats. He is looking thin and his faculties are noticeably deteriorating.

Before you go marking Mr. Schmidt off as a quack trying to make a point in an idiotic way I highly recommend you regress from such a repugnant attitude and dig a lot deeper into who he is, the developing situation and what is at stake for you and me, then you will come to appreciate the significance of his hunger strike.

At first I didn’t quite understand the point of his hunger strike other than thinking it was an act to get government’s attention, which I surmised would not work with the people we typically elect to office these days. I was wrong about my assumption.

But Why is He Protesting This Way? Shouldn’t He Look Out for Himself?

Here’s the gist of his rationale for his hunger strike: The government of Canada has laws stipulating that distribution and consumption of raw milk is illegal, under the auspice of protecting people’s health. Raw milk, in their view, is inherently dangerous when consumed. The relevance of his hunger strike is that the government can dictate what one eats but they cannot make one eat, so what’s the point in telling people what they can or cannot eat? His hunger strike reasserts the primacy of the individual’s natural right to feed themselves, however they choose, and proves that nourishment is not a function of the state that can be mandated or revoked at will.

This is not a debate about the benefits or risks of raw milk. Do not allow the media or others to frame the argument in our heads that way. Primarily, this debate is about whether a person—you or me– has the freedom to decide for themselves what to eat– or if that authority and responsibility lies with the government.

Some citizens buy into the concept that with socialized medicine if people are supposedly getting sick from raw milk they as taxpayers don’t want to be paying for their hospitalization. While I can sympathize with their concern, can they not see the pitfalls of such a potential ploy ripe for corruption? As we are being conditioned to care only about our interests and not care about other’s health, we lose the ability to comprehend the value of a courageous political stand such as Michael Schmidt’s.

Even if laws and government programs involving heath are well intended when sold to the people and executed by current government people, what if there is a changing of the guard through the election cycle, where a rogue regime can now manipulate the laws however they wish. “No raw milk, no meat, no eggs because it is potentially bad for your health.” with the case involving Michael Schmidt, the government would have court case precedent on their side.

Keep in mind, in order to get elected it takes huge sums of money, which heavily favors the influence of concentrated sources of wealth. So theoretically it is quite possible that a few powerful, wealthy stakeholders that hold the purse can decide who gets elected simply because they have more money to manipulate the population through the media. If you are paying attention to the media involving the current GOP presidential candidate election you may be able to observe this.

I can appreciate people’s desire that we should do what we can to maintain a safe food supply, but if we think that tax dollars or lives are going to be saved when we start empowering the government to take away freedoms in the name of this “public health protection” we are sadly mistaken. Far more tax dollars and lives will be lost in a future war which will be inevitable when people realize they have been snookered and are willing to fight to regain the right to life, liberty and food.

Controlling Food Equals Controlling People

You may be asking: “Is this overstated?”, since usually people don’t discuss big things such as losing our right to eat. Let’s walk through a few scenarios that illustrate what is at stake:

First, is the state really in the business of protecting us from ourselves? If a person has the freedom to sicken or kill themselves by inhaling carcinogenic smoke, consuming too much alcohol, or simply eating too much, why then cannot a person consume raw milk? I disagree with government’s assertion all raw milk is “inherently dangerous”, but even on that argument guns and planes are inherently dangerous, yet people have the freedom to own both. Some people die as a result of hunting accidents and plane crashes, but risk is not outlawed. Just as no one is forcing people to own guns or planes, no one is forcing anyone to drink raw milk.

Second, why is controlling food a top policy priority? With all the issues facing fiscally restrained governments (-burdening debt, wars, unemployment, people’s displeasure with their governments), why is there this attention on prohibiting access to raw milk, nutritional supplements and alternative therapies under the auspices of “protecting public health”? With the government being wrong on several health related issues of the day such as: fluoride, antibiotic resistance, GMO (Genetically Modified Organism) grain nutritional deficiencies, and I might add too, processed dairy, why should we entrust the government responsibility for what we eat and our health? What if they screw that up too? “Ooops. Our mistake. We didn’t think of that.” If they screw up, do you really think the government is going to be held responsible, like you or I would be if we sickened people? Who’s going to pay for the pain and suffering damages now? Without your health what do you really have???

Having freedom means having responsibility, and there is no way the government can be held responsible for our health, so that means we have to have the freedom to be responsible for our own health choices. That is what makes the freedom to choose how we nourish our bodies an inalienable right.

Why is the government concerned with what people are consuming? If they trust us to pay taxes, can’t they trust us to feed ourselves and to know enough about what foods to eat and foods to avoid? After all, we can reason if people are unhealthy or getting sick from eating a certain way we know enough to stay away from that, and vice versa if someone looks good eating a certain way, we can figure out that it is probably okay for us too. Even cows are that smart, and they don’t have laws mooing to other cows telling them arbitrarily what they can or cannot eat either!   I highlight that the very reason more and more people are taking an interest in raw milk is because people see and feel the issues involving processed dairy and some see others seemingly doing quite well on raw milk.  Then why would a government care so much about what people are eating?

After considering these questions and contradictions, I am led to conclude that the government interfering with access to raw milk may have nothing to do with “protecting public health,” but it may have to do with controlling the food supply. Control of the food supply equals control of the people. Interestingly, what good are our other rights, such as the right to bear arms if people don’t have the nutrition and health to fight a war? A sick, tired, weak populace is much easier to domineer. People may sneer in reply, “That can’t happen to us”. Then, I ask: why can it not happen?  It has happened, and just not too long ago.

What other real reason could there be for controlling our food supply? I don’t really know though, as I’m not in control nor am I privy to the discussion content of government meetings where relevant decisions are made. However, I am not stupid and I tend to trust other good, smart people who have perspective on the issue at hand. Michael Schmidt who grew up in the aftermath of Fascist Germany, has been blessed with the wisdom to recognize what could be developing as a very ugly situation for innocent, happy-go-lucky citizens, and has the integrity, passion, and love for you and me to do something to stop it.

Wisconsin Rulings: “People do not have a fundamental right to food of their own choosing”

I realize this may sound hokey to many Americans since we are encouraged to keep our heads buried in the sand and just wave the flag proudly. If we still believe everything is just peachy and are as proud as ever of America, how can we explain what a Wisconsin judge meant in his September ruling:
- “No, Plaintiffs (people) do not have a fundamental right to consume milk from their own cow.”
- “No, Plaintiffs (people) do not have a fundamental right to produce or consume food of their own choosing.”
http://www.thecompletepatient.com/storage/WIorder-clarification9-11.pdf
This judge has since resigned from the bench and is now a lawyer at a law firm representing Monsanto.

But Michael Schmidt is in Canada, and this is the USA…

The situation is becoming dire for Mr. Schmidt, symbolic of the dire situation we all could find ourselves if we allow a government to control people’s food supply. He needs us now to join the fight for OUR food rights, before it is too late!

Why should you be concerned with this case even though it is taking place in Canada? One, this is a life and death situation for a truly remarkable man. Second, this food rights war does extend across the Canadian/US border. If you’re familiar with Codex, you know what I’m talking about.

Third, he has already on many occasions and continues to make appearances in the United States advocating for our food rights here. Yes, we owe him our gratitude and support!

I met and conversed with Michael at a raw milk symposium in Madison, WI last year. Besides food rights, we talked about flying, since he too is a pilot. It was the words in his speech that blessed those of us in attendance that day. Please read below my transcription of his speech. He is very articulate and well educated with a Master’s degree in bio-dynamic agriculture and real world agriculture experience. With a breadth of history knowledge and leadership wisdom combined with his genuine love for fellow mankind, I believe he will be drinking raw milk at the same table having plenty to talk about with Thomas Jefferson in heaven someday. I trust people like Jefferson, who committed treason which is punishable by death, and Schmidt who now is on a hunger strike, because if they are willing to put their lives on the line for our inalienable rights, that has far more credibility than the many quack medical professionals who are guided by the money trail and government minions guided by their masters. However let’s win this battle for Michael Schmidt now so we can party it up with him here! I’m sure he’d be glad to bring the beer.

Time is of the essence. Michael Schmidt who is going into day 23 of his hunger strike is willing to go all the way, willing to sacrifice his own life for our right that we may choose what we eat. Surely we can sacrifice 3-4 hours to communicate with US and Canadian government officials expressing support for Michael Schmidt and food rights. Do it today.

What if we “can’t be bothered”?

Should Michael die from the hunger strike his blood will be on our hands too if we fail to act on his behalf. Yes, this is almost kind of surreal, kind of like watching the Twin Towers collapse on 9/11, but I guarantee you this is real and how we act now will have a lasting profound impact on generations to come.

This weekend I had originally planned to attend the Purdue vs. Illinois homecoming game to play the trombone in the Purdue All American Marching Alumni band. Some things are more important though. And here I sit on this beautiful fall day, wishing I were in Lafayette soaking up the game day excitement and making music on the field, writing this for you and I, everyone in Ross Ade stadium, and most importantly Michael Schmidt. Life and death matters are more important, don’t you agree?

If you’ve got kids their next extracurricular activities are not as important as their inalienable rights. Explain to them what is going on. The sooner they know, and also learn about sacrificing to preserve their rights, the better. Turn off the TV or stop whatever you are doing and let’s get real about being people who value liberty and let’s do something to help preserve it. Not only does Michael Schmidt’s life depend on it, your quality of life and the lives of our children will too – in due time. Don’t believe me? Sit still and keep reading.

As a beginning farmer I am faced with the typical challenges most farmers face. Money to get started, equipment breakdowns, animal breakouts, etc. Plus Mother Nature just loves to test a farmer’s resilience. These are givens when farming, and I am perfectly fine accepting those challenges. What I find particularly disheartening, especially after being taught in school that America is a great place because we are “free”, is seeing my own government play favorites and even work against me and others who simply wish to provide food nutrition to people who want to get it directly from us. To rub salt in the wound, while seeing the government pee in my face my fellow American’s with their heads still stuck in the sand still believe the water on their backs is rain warmed by sunshine.

What will it take to get people’s attention? How much freedom do we have to lose? Ask people to draw a line in the sand, otherwise we will not have a relative understanding of the freedoms we are losing. Even with patriots like Michael Schmidt willing to sacrifice their lives, most people still will not act. I doubt most who read this letter will act with the urgency this matter requires. We’re comfortable right now. We’ve got food, decent health and wealth. “No worries for me, no need to be concerned about tomorrow, I’ve got the World Series or my favorite shows to watch, I’ve got my kids’ performances to see. I’m plumb, dumb, and happy.”

Did 9/11 get your attention? Did 9/11 not have a profound impact on our lives? If I had explained to you before September 11, 2001 that I had a suspicious person pretending to be a pilot from another airline, riding on my airplane, would you have taken me seriously enough to look into the matter? I’ll tell the answer: No! (apathy is another topic for another day) Years later with all sorts of information that confirms and corroborates the details of this experience in August 2001 on US Airways flight 4909, I’m telling you today with 99.99% certainty, short of a DNA sample, that the suspicious passenger was Mouhammad Atta, the lead hijacker and apparent orchestrator of the 9/11 hijackings, and the one who investigators learned made an appearance at a strip club days before the massacre, bragging to strippers that he was a pilot for American Airlines. You may say “Wowwww”. Well, me too.

Yep, the supposed pilot pretending to work for American Airlines, who knew nothing about American pilots’ new pilot contract, who appeared to have a fake airline ID (which is what caught my attention right away), who couldn’t say the technical term for my position, who said he flew the 727 out of Miami, where the hijackers in fact trained in a 727 simulator, we flew from Boston to Buffalo, where about a year later an Al-Qaeda cell was discovered and busted. Oh, and he looked just like the dude in the photo shown on TV during the 9/11 aftermath coverage, which allowed me to put one and one together. BUT, before 9/11, before the call to be suspicious of our neighbors and before we were all scared of the boogey-man, even then my captain and I picked up on something not being quite right with this fella. We had no idea he was who he turned out to be. At the time we just thought he was a flaky flight attendant who connived the system so he could hitch a ride to Buffalo. (He wasn’t in uniform) We couldn’t read his handwriting on the jumpseat form either. Perhaps in hindsight it was Arabic? I now realize we erred greatly in our judgment in failing to recognize that there was no way he could be who he said he was, and we should have acted more forcefully than we did, when we had the chance. But at least we can look back and say we acted.

My captain did try to inform and query someone at American Airlines regarding our suspicious jumpseating pilot and got nowhere quickly with the employee having an “I don’t want to be bothered with this nonsense” attitude. Trust your gut – if something about the Canadian government watching Michael Schmidt die seems “not quite right” then listen to your gut and do something! You may very well be helping to prevent something much bigger than the consequences of a hunger strike gone bad or government interference with food rights.  This could be much, much bigger than we know, but we don’t know, and if we are successful we probably never will know. But if we don’t act, this has the makings to make 9/11 look like a picnic in terms of the cumulative effect of government control of ½ billion people’s food rights.

“I don’t want to be bothered with this nonsense.” This is the same attitude and view out-of-touch government statists who are supposed to be public servants may have towards citizens simply wanting to exercise their inalienable right to produce and consume food of their own choosing. This “I don’t want to be bothered” attitude will be the default attitude for many fellow Americans when watching the World Series, shopping for the latest fashions, or managing their stock portfolio and preferring not to be bothered with helping a modern-day patriot defend everyone’s right to eat! You and I and those in your sphere of influence, however, can change this paradigm, choose to get involved, and change minds and hearts before it is too late!

We are taught about how awful Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin were. It is one thing for an evil, crazy person to wish to control people; and that somehow it is another matter for citizens to stand by and essentially allow it to happen. Well, it just doesn’t happen. It is very insidious, but people do have a sense of what is going on. When fascist policies are being carried out, in reality there are no innocent bystanders. The government agents, police, the prosecutors, the wardens, teachers, clergy, friends, neighbors, family and all the people who stand by and watch tyranny develop and swipe its hand of destruction are no less guilty than the tyrants themselves! This reality check is what concerns me the most – what might happen to all of us, who may become soulless zombie-like executioners if we choose to ignore the warning signs or to “not be bothered” even when we can see that a civilized government’s treatment of Michael Schmidt signals ominous disregard for life and human rights.

Americans self-identify with animals, but Monsanto is designated a “Person”!

In January 2010 the United States Supreme Court granted complete personhood rights to corporations. Corporations used to be limited in the amount of money they could donate to political election campaigns. Being given personhood a corporation can now donate as much as it wishes, so in effect what used to be elections are now political auctions. Corporate campaign funds can buy media to brainwash and spread fear and smear potentially good candidates. How can we effectively fight that?

Thou who holds the purse makes the rules.  Food and pharmacy are the largest industries in the world. Nowhere in the world are corporations as powerful and influential as they are in North America.  Is it a coincidence that Canada and the United States also have the most restrictive laws in the world concerning people’s access to raw milk?  Working hand in hand – bad food–sick people–trips to the drug store–socialist programs (slavery uh-hum, I mean tax dollars) to pay for the drugs-transfer of wealth to drug companies-control. You get the picture.

If you don’t want to have your name on this picture of America, take action. It’s not that hard to take action, as one popular case shows.

Some Americans fall over themselves to protect the rights of animals, and will in turn behave like obedient, scared animals as they watch fellow Americans get stripped of their dignity and rights using all sorts of ploys, underhanded methods and disparaging tactics. While we are being taught to identify with and even conditioned to act like scared animals, “corporations” are taking our spot as persons with inalienable rights!
http://morallowground.com/2011/01/21/on-this-day-2010-us-supreme-court-rules-corporations-are-people-money-is-speech/

Lessons from the Past 
What happened in Germany and Russia was less than 100 years ago, and I’m afraid to say we haven’t learned our lesson yet.

Pastor Martin Niemöller, wrote “In Germany they first came for the Communists and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me — and by that time no one was left to speak up.”

Government dictating what we can eat is a slippery slope, folks. The US “Food Safety Modernization Act” already allows the FDA, without a court order or warrant, to search and seize your computers and bank accounts if you are even suspected of using “unapproved farming methods” or “unapproved seed sources.”

Think your backyard garden is safe? Think again. And support Michael Schmidt.

Wishing you and future generations bountiful harvests for good health and prosperity,
Farmer Mark Grieshop
Bio-Entrepreneur
Pasture’s Delights
Decatur, Indiana

Take 4 EASY Patriotic Steps!
1. Learn more about Michael Schmidt’s hunger strike at The Bovine blog:
http://thebovine.wordpress.com/2011/10/21/21-days-for-responsible-food-freedom/#more-26533
2. Email Premier (Governor) Dalton McGuinty of Ontario asking him to talk with Michael Schmidt. Dalton McGuinty’s e-mail address: dmcguinty.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org

3. Contact Canadian and US Government officials.
http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=wm5dahcab&v=001zHmPEHN4waMkCMtVLHRnOmj0t5Y5qHZTZJO9anaYf9YFPbii4lon1A4Aik8U86wr1SNKAvHnQFnnRcV5RM83YLNB3hIDs3OssLHEug6nIi4NhQ_gXFz0gBCJvghT94EwjDoiYJ6Q7NmB2meb3oAnyjgNwr48Ngiaf6v0om0HDfcD-uQIeMnSdTOAxGq_nGvIbuT0FcgunejgeSL00pSnhT2IbjMi3fPYrDCZcrlLJoE%3DS

4. Forward this email to family and friends! Have the courage to stand for something lest    we will fall for anything.  That’s love, and they’ll love you for it someday.

Michael Schmidt in His Own Words
Raw milk producer Michael Schmidt of Canada was born in Germany and earned a Master’s degree in Agriculture. He moved to Canada in 1983 where he has been leading the crusade for raw milk freedom for the past 17 years. This modern day Thomas Jefferson describes what this whole raw milk controversy is about:
“Let’s open by acknowledging some sobering developments in agriculture and the food industry. I say “food industry” because those words describe quite well the nature of our current struggle.

Food is looked upon as a commodity by regulators and industry. Those who control food (Monsanto) control the people, control countries, control the world – all without the huge expense of a paid army. Food is the most important element in determining whether you enjoy health or suffer from disease. Food affects your spiritual well-being. Food influences your mental ability and can even make you crazy. Food can turn you into a liability for society. Food can turn you into a non-thinking member of society. Food can turn you into the perfect slave in a society where free-thinkers and moral consciousness could be inherently dangerous for those run this country and world.

We are at war and to those who don’t get that – we are at war over food rights. To some this may seem like a silly thing but to others there is a growing concern.

We have a new form of dictatorship. A dictatorship established with our consent. A dictatorship of regulations and laws intended to limit our individual liberties.

To be silent means consenting. To be silent means accepting the consequences of our consent. To be silent makes a mockery of those who fought on our behalf for freedom and justice. And to remain silent cannot be an option for you, for me, and for all of us.

We need to look at the historical significance of our struggle. Making comparisons between our struggle and those of the past such as the civil rights movement draws criticism from some. However going back through history today’s government and players behind the scenes have learned in fact much better than us how to use their power, and how to create the illusion of democracy. They clearly understand how to paralyze our will, our will to resist. They do understand how to create fear in our hearts. They do know that we do not present at the current time a real danger.

We need to ask ourselves why this is true. Most of us have been around during the evolution of materialism. Let’s be honest, everything comes down to money, assets, and personal security. We have developed a fake sense of comfort which offsets often the courage to question human rights abuses or the courage to question the steady increase of infringement on individual liberties. We really need to ask “does our comfort and material security weaken our willingness to maintain and protect individual liberties for the sake of all?”

Does our current state of mind prevent us from seeing that in fact in the near future we are facing an even greater danger than all the other past struggles for freedom and justice?

Many have no ability to resist out of fear of the current bureaucratic and soulless control structure. Many have less ability to think and be critical because of the lifeless food we eat. Many have no chance to be healthy because of our weakened bodies. We are in fact for the government an unlimited natural resource if you are sick because Big Brother can milk us to death.

This opens the door to a very scary scenario where soon the majority of people in any given society will be easier to be managed. That’s why those who are in power have learned much better how to control us than we have learned. “Give them bread and games” was the successful motto of the Roman Empire, which after all imploded as history taught us. Today we have all the food we can think of. We have all the entertainment we can imagine and most people are content as long as they are financially secure and physically safe.

I can tell you it is much easier to fight when you have nothing to lose. It is easier to fight when you are hungry and it is easier to fight when all you want is dignity and respect.
We have consented in silence to a food culture which will destroy years of evolution. We have consented to a society of government dependency beyond imagination.

Need I remind you, we are the ones that gave up our rights. We just need to get them back. We have consented to the loss of liberty for the sake of convenience (i.e. FDA “food safety” protection). Laws are passed with our knowledge that should raise millions of voices in protest. Laws have been debated and passed which only grant us certain freedoms instead of protecting our freedoms. Laws have been passed ignoring and ridiculing the Constitution and most of the people are consenting in silence. Our land, our food and lives are the most powerful tools we have to shape the future of our country.

Dear friends, what we are facing will not be less important than the human rights movement. What we are facing will not be less important than the Civil War and the battle to end slavery.

Be it Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and be it thousands of unnamed heroes of the past, let’s be inspired by them. Let’s have the same resolve and courage. Let’s look at the future as a responsibility we have chosen freely. Let’s be prepared to suffer. Let’s be prepared to die. Unless we are truly willing to take a stand for our children, our grandchildren, and all the generations to come we will make a mockery of those who had a dream of a just and caring society.

We are in the forefront not by default. We are in the forefront to defend the most important element of our society – the health and sanity of our body, our soul and our society.” – Michael Schmidt, address delivered in Madison, Wisconsin, April 10, 2010.

http://www.naturalnews.com/033727_food_freedom_cows.html

Support H.R 1830
H.R. 1830, a bill that would allow the interstate shipment of raw milk and raw milk products for human consumption, has been introduced by Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) and co-sponsored by Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME). Passage of HR 1830 into law would enable everyone to exercise their right to consume raw milk, whether they live in a state where the sale of raw milk is illegal or in a state where the sale is legal but sources are limited.

http://www.ftcldf.org/petitions/pnum1079.php

Attend a call-out to learn about Pasture’s Delights, how we produce REAL milk and how to get it delivered to a location near you!
Nov 6. Indianapolis, IN. Time and place TBA
Nov 10. Valparaiso, IN. Time and place TBA
Nov 15. Roanoke, IN 6:30 p.m. (SevenSons / Honored Prairie).
Contact Krista Braman for more information: marketing@pasturesdelights.com

NEW Delivery Location!

We have added a new Fort Wayne Delivery Location. This new location is located near I-69 and Dupont Rd. If you would like to start picking up your milk at this or any of our locations please email Krista. kbraman@pasturesdelights.com

Current Delivery Locations:

-Seven Sons Farm- 15718 Aboite Road Roanoke, IN

-South Fort Wayne- Near Calhoun and Pettit.

-North Fort Wayne- Near I-69 and Dupont

-Munster, IN – 1844 45 Street, Munster, Indiana

Current Delivery Fees to these locations are $2 per gallon!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. With 1 in 8 American women eventually being diagnosed with breast cancer the disease certainly merits attention….on prevention. While predators behind the scenes, with the support “professionals” cloaked with titles and credentials, bilk the goodwill of unsuspecting Americans through the use of emotional propaganda and colorful pink decor, I wish to spread awareness of what causes the disease, how to prevent the disease, and why it is becoming more and more pervasive in our country which spends more on health care than any other country in the world.

Several years ago while absorbing information on bio-dynamic farming (aka producing REAL food) I stumbled upon some information about nutrition’s effects on breast cancer. The following remarks are from the late Charles Walters, whose brain was unbelievable at understanding and connecting the dots of the atomic level of life in soil, plants and humans, to economics, and brought it full circle to how economics and politics affects our food and health. Read on please…

A Quick Refresher: What is Cancer?
“In the cell – plant, animal, or human – there are chromosomes that carry all the information needed to direct the cell’s growth, division, and production of chemicals such as proteins. The chromosomes are composed of information-bearing genes. Radiation and many of the chemicals used in agriculture can injure the chromosomes either by altering the chemistry of a single gene so that the gene conveys improper information (called point mutation), or by actually breaking chromosomes (called deletion). The cell may be killed, or it may continue to live, sometimes reproducing the induced error. Some types of cell damage cause genetic misinformation leading to uncontrolled cellular growth – cancer.”

An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure
Breast cancer, as with most cancers, is largely caused by environmental factors and one’s lifestyle. So in the pursuit of “curing” cancer a good place to start is looking at what we are ingesting into our body and how we live.

“Toxicity generally locates itself in the fatty tissues. That is why so many weight reduction schemes result in the expression of cancer. As fat departs, toxins are released to perform their mischief. Obesity warehouses the inventory of toxins that “better living through chemistry” has accounted for. In a manner of speaking, one can point out that the average American carries so much toxicity that he or she, based on FDA guidelines, would be unfit for human consumption in a cannibalistic society.”

Many geneticists hold that the life, comfort and death of a human being are all programmed by the genetic package gifted the infant via its XX and/or XY chromosomes. This is not the position Richard Olree holds in Minerals for the Genetic Code. There are tumor-suppressing genes that can offset the inheritance bestowed by a cancer-prone gene. Olree has consulted an abundance of literature that says the tumor-suppressing genes often fail for want of a suitable mineral load, or because of chemical toxicities.

The “Pill” – Toxic Junk Food – Stress – Obesity: Every 13 Minutes Breast Cancer Takes the Life of an American Woman
“It can be said that we have a near pandemic of breast cancer in the United States. A precancerous condition which may or may not be genetic – sets up a series of bio-events. Unregulated by tumor-suppressing genes, these events result in every form of cancer.

The human breast is a repository for a measure of fat. That fat is a catchpan for toxicity. If the proper kind of selenium is missing from the diet, activation of the tumor suppressing genes – notably P-52 – is stalled out.

P-52 is not a fighter plane. It is the guardian of the genetic code. P-52 is the most potent tumor-suppressing gene, and it will not function in the absence of selenium. The lady who allows herself to run out of selenium is inherently a target for the expression of the cancer-producing gene. If the lactating woman is selenium deficient, she will likely have poor breast-feeding results.

“Honey, I care about you!”
When I get married I’m going to be sure my wife is provided a healthy source of bio-available Selenium so she doesn’t get breast cancer!

For every type of cancer discovered so far, we have also discovered a tumor-suppressing gene. And all tumor-suppressing genes require the right chemical activation. In sequencing these genes Richard Orlee has found that all have a high requirement for iodine. Iodine, in turn, cannot be activated without selenium. Therefore it is incumbent on people to take charge of their selenium levels. The highlight of any trip to a health food store looking for a good multi-vitamin should be reading the label. If that package does not say selenomethionine, it should be shunned the way the devil is said to shun holy water.”

You Can Obtain Bio-available Selenium From REAL Milk!
Those of you who have toured Pasture’s Delights Dairy are aware of our practice of including Selenium in the mineral mix for the dairy cows producing REAL milk. We supplement the cows with Selenium for two good reasons: One, it is important for immune function in helping cows produce milk with lower Somatic Cell Counts, a practice which aids milk quality. (Somatic cells are white blood cells that “chew” on the fatty acids in milk affecting flavor and storage quality) There are other methods which also help reduce somatic cell counts but we like Selenium because consumers of REAL milk are going to benefit from the selenium that passes through to the milk. (You are what you eat.)

Other benefits of Selenium: when expelling selenomethionine via urine it will remove lead, mercury, arsenic, all the heavy metals. Medical literature also says selenium protects against artery furring (atherosclerosis).

Breast Cancer Prevention & Therapies

Beating a dead horse…
In tests with Selenium enriched garlic or yeast, breast cancer inhibition was achieved at levels between 31% to 70%

Got REAL milk?
A study of 4,697 women: The more whole fat milk (from grass-fed cows: more Conjugated Linoleic Acid – a powerful cancer fighting fatty acid) = lower risk of Breast Cancer. Women drinking the most (Real) milk had a 60% lower risk of Breast Cancer.

Get Your Sunlight!
Two studies conclude sunlight is beneficial for humans, although some might be startled to that the benefits include combating cancer. Stanford University researchers report that women with higher sun exposure cut their risk of advanced breast cancer nearly in half. According to another team that studied 4 million people in 11 countries, the risk of developing internal cancers (not skin cancer) was lower among people living in sunny countries.

Get your Vitamin D!
I’m sorry. I’m repeating myself because we just said this. (Get your Sunlight!). 50% reduction in risk of breast cancer with plenty of Vitamin D. Vitamin D has an impact on cancer with it affecting 200 human genes, including those controlling proliferation, differentiation, angiogenesis, metastasis – also involved with cancer.

89 identified studies show Vitamin D intake reduces cancers of breast, prostate, colon, esophagus, pancreas, ovary, bladder, kidney, lung and uterus.

Dine With Iodine
Both Japan and Iceland have few breast cancer cases, and both rely on iodine from ocean plants and air for their essential protection. The reverse is true in Mexico and Thailand.

Stay off the Pill
“Chemical castration” shuts down a woman’s ovaries with carcinogenic drugs that impair a woman’s fertility, compromises her immune system, depletes her body of key minerals and vitamins and puts her on a compromised road for many years to come – including increased risk of breast cancer”.
Read more of this very informative article:

http://www.acresusa.com/toolbox/reprints/Sellman%20Interview_Dec04.pdf

If You Get Breast Cancer
Laugh it off! (okay, easier said than done) but if you are serious about trying to win the battle against cancer you will heed this advice. Go to comedy clubs…. Spend time doing anything or with anyone that makes you laugh! There are many studies that conclude simply that happy people have higher survival rates.

Take Your Vitamins!
Breast cancer survival 67 months with vitamins (28 without vitamins).

Become a “farmer” and grow some wheat! Wheat Grass Juice helps prevent chemotherapy side effects, with no effect on the therapy. Get a cow to mow your grass and drink some raw milk. It helps with side effects of breast cancer too.

Get High!
Properties of a compound in marijuana (CBD) can slow breast cancer by preventing cells from taking destructive paths of growth. Researchers were careful to note that the levels of CBD necessary for treatment are not attainable through smoking the leaves.

Interesting TRUE story…
Man is given prescription medicine for high cholesterol. Man returns to his doctor complaining of nausea and headaches. Doctor prescribes a different medicine. Man returns again complaining of sore joints and side pains. Doctor says “huh, I guess I’ll just give you niacin.” Man returns a couple weeks later reporting to his doctor that he feels great and that his good cholesterol went up and the bad cholesterol went down. The man scratched his head wondering why the docor didn’t try the $5/month niacin treatment before the $100 / month prescription treatment.
The Mayo clinic endorses the use of niacin as a cholesterol treatment.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/niacin/CL00036

The point is health professionals can be like car salesman. They will be glad to sell you a costly drug when a much less expensive, effective treatment is available. The FDA is not responsible for your health. You are.

It’s More About the Money…
The pageantry surrounding Breast Cancer Awareness Month is quite impressive. However, all the pomp and circumstance is really not so much about saving lives. It’s a misleading effort to dupe Americans into giving money for a “feel good” cause.

More people make their living from the Cancer Industry than die from cancer. Annual cost of treating cancer is an estimated $150 Billion. With a cash-Cow that BIG, don’t you think there are a few people who want to protect their interest from any potential threats? Selenium, Vitamin D, CLA from raw milk are like kryptonite to the “super” duping drug companies.

Cancer is a win-win for the chemical & drug industry. Americans spend $10 billion a year contaminating the environment and our food supply with their health debilitating products. Through fund-raisers they sucker us into paying for expensive research on all sorts of chemical cures. Then when cancer strikes Americans get to pony-up again to pay for the expensive drug treatments that are really not guaranteed to work any better than alternative treatments, which are shunned in the Gospel according to the Food and Drug Administration. And people fall for this charade wrapped up in a nice pretty pink ribbon hook, line, and sinker.

Wishing you wisdom, great health and lots of happiness!

Mark Grieshop
Bio-Entrepreneur
Pasture’s Delights

Save the date! Sunday afternoon August 21.
3:30 p.m. at the Third Coast Spice Café
761 Indiana Boundary Rd., Chesterton, IN 46304
Less than a mile south of Interstate 80/94 on Route 49 and east on Indiana Boundary Rd.

Mark Grieshop and Krista Braman from Pasture’s Delights will describe the farming operation, REAL Milk herd-share program, and how the Delivery Service works.
Provided there is sufficient interest and demand we can begin serving people in NW Indiana and from Chicago with REAL Milk as early as this Sept 1st.

Do you want our Delivery Service bringing REAL Milk to your area? Can you help organize and publicize a call-out? At call-outs attended by 40 or more people the organizing host will receive one year herd-share boarding fees complimentary of Pasture’s Delights. If you wish to discuss this further please contact Krista Braman, marketing@pasturesdelights.com

Return to top.

A Word From Mark

The recognized disconnect between people and their understanding of where food comes from is a significant component that has propelled animal rights groups, vegetarians, vegans, and a plethora of Food Safety laws intended to protect people from themselves, all into proliferation. Thankfully more Americans every day are choosing to take responsibility in educating themselves about their food and making better choices as a result.

There is however another disconnect that is not so widely recognized, this being the disconnect between people and their understanding of economics, in particular business economics. Do you need any more proof than the debt problem being dealt with in Washington today? Just as with the food disconnect where too many people think that hamburger comes from McDonalds, pork comes from Kroger and chocolate milk comes from a brown cow, today people think money comes from an employer or from the government. I am grateful for those reading who also may recognize this issue. Too many people forget how an employer or the government gets the money to pay their checks! As a business entrepreneur I get to wrestle not only with the food disconnect, which is the easiest of the three to deal with, but also with both customers’ and employees’ disconnect in understanding of business economics.

Interestingly most of our REAL-milk customers are as responsible in understanding business economics as they are in being responsible for their food choices. We have an inventory management system at Pasture’s Delights that works well in maintaining adequate supply of fresh milk, while keeping costs as low as practical. When people come to our farm they are supposed to get the oldest milk first so no milk ever gets too old. Most of our herd-share owners understand and comply with this program. Every so often we do get someone with the typical American’s shopping market mentality (thinking only of themselves) and deciding they are entitled to only the freshest milk. When this happens the older milk just gets older. Then the next person comes and instead of seeing milk that is normally 3-4 days old, they see 5-6-7 day old milk and to top it off, that the previous customer got 1-2 day old milk. “hmmm, this is too old. If they got the freshest milk, I’m going to too!” and it dominos from there. For our standards we discard milk older than 7 days. Discarding milk is wasteful and we lose the revenue from that milk. We have to feed and milk more cows, not to mention incure the cost of the milk containers thrown away. We are in business to provide a product and service, but the language of any business is numbers. It is simple math; if our costs go up we have to raise prices. Money our customers could have spent elsewhere is now spent on increased boarding fees all because someone failed to comprehend the down-line consequences of their actions. We all lose when people waste resources.

On a recent airline trip, when checking in at the layover hotel a fellow crewmember described how they were going to open the sliding door in their room (on a hot, muggy day), turn on the air conditioner and fall asleep to the sound of the outside rainshower and finished remarking “besides, I’m not paying for it anyway.” Oh yes they are! So are you, and so am I! Personally I am not critical so much of this person’s desire in creating a hotel room environment that will help them enjoy relaxing and rejuvenate their body after a day’s work. What I am critical of is this person’s belief that they don’t somehow pay for this. Running the air conditioner excessively because the sliding door is wide open to the outside costs the hotel more money. The hotel then has to raise their prices for everybody who stays there. The airline bears this cost for the crewmembers who stay there, passes it on to passengers in increased ticket prices. Now the passenger doesn’t have as much disposable income to go out to eat at the restaurant where the crewmember’s daughter is working in order to save money for college. Everything affects everything. The more compartmentalized we become and the farther we stray from responsibility, having freedom of choices and also bearing their consequences the less likely we are to SEE the consequences, but they are there.

How do these disconnects come about? Obviously with regards to food, if fewer people live on or near a farm (out of sight, out of mind) they are going to forget about what is all entailed in production agriculture. Same things applies to business. 100-110 years ago there were approximately 6 million farms. Thousands of small town main streets were flourishing with gobs of small family businesses. Between these main street and farm businesses you had millions of families sitting at the supper table discussing business matters, some of which included sacrifices that the family would have to make in order to start a business or sustain the business through difficult times. Millions of children grew up in these business families exposed to hearing these conversations and to the impacts of any sacrifices first hand. These were all people that understood what business is and what it took to give life to a business. Today with the loss of over 6 million farms (those farming for a living) and main street business having closed shop and their owners now clocking in at Wal-Mart there no longer exists an appreciable segment of society that understands business, economics, or even where money REALLY comes from (wealth creation and the economic cycle). People get a check from their employer, or from the government with the proverbial back-yard “money tree”, and are consequently disconnected in understanding the process that got the money in the account to make their check good. Their children, with doors open and air conditioning blasting cold air, see this as business as usual and have no comprehension of how their actions today will affect their livelihood years from now.

2011 is fixing to be a year of records. In April and May many areas of the bread-basket received record rainfall totals, delaying planting until June. In July we experienced the longest heat-wave since 1940, causing numerous complications in livestock, livestock deaths, and also affected corn pollination. July is also fixing to be one of the driest Julys on record, affecting crops (hay, pasture, grain). 2010 was a great production year and prices were still high! 2011, is nearly the opposite in fixing to be one of the worst production years since 1988, the last severe drought year in the bread basket. Resources will be scarcer than before and already high prices have nowhere to go but up. August 2nd, our record debt will probably be allowed to increase. You and I will begin to fully realize the impact of this record-breaking year this winter and early 2012. Suffice to say, now is not the time to be wasting food, energy, and labor resources.

Stay tuned to future Pasture Bites as I discuss

* The regulatory impact on our business, your health, and our economy.
* A1 milk casein protein: the devil in the milk
* Business employer and employee dynamics: thoughts for designing a sustainable organization

Dear fellow Americans,

As Thanksgiving quickly approaches, hopefully we are able to slow down to appreciate and recount our many blessings.

God has blessed Pasture’s Delights with 3 new additions to the cow herd! Hef, Bad-Night, and Shelby all gave birth to really nice, healthy calves.

Turkey

Like many of you, we will be having turkey on Thanksgiving. The nice thing about our turkey this year is that it will be one of our own: a pasture-raised all-natural turkey from our educational, experimental test batch. With interest in Pasture’s Delights turkeys, we decided to raise a small batch this fall to see how things go. We started with 15 babies and ended up with 9 big turkeys. On processing day, this past Saturday, we realized we grew them a tad too big! I’ll let you know how the turkey tasted in the next newsletter. If we can grow a delightful turkey, we’ll make turkeys available to you next year.

Delivery Service Survey

I want to personally thank the people who completed the Delivery Service Survey. You have indicated to us that there is significant interest in a Delivery Service!

Just as you know there are fewer farmers today, resulting in a disconnect between consumers and farm producers contributing to the current state of health and food ignorance, I observed from the survey results that there may be an even larger disconnect between consumers and business economics – this time due to fewer people managing their own business anymore. I realize that times are rough, but it is interesting to note the following: After putting together our financials for a delivery service to Seven Sons Farm, near Ft. Wayne, on average it costs each person nearly $18 to make the same drive to and from our farm, and yet most people are only willing to pay a Delivery Service $1.00 per gallon. Does this make sense, especially in financially difficult times? This does not even consider a person’s time, and of course we would have to pay people. This is to give you an idea of the (economics) gap and how long it may be before the Delivery Service is a viable, more cost effective option for you. We look forward to diligently thinking about how we can make this work for all of us. The Delivery Service is instrumental in connecting Pasture’s Delights and other farmers with people who wish to eat healthier food of the earth.

One other thing about the survey, it was anonymous. Unless you indicated your name in one of the write-in answers, we have no idea who answered the questions, and prefer it that way. A couple of people assumed we knew who they were and asked us to contact them. We simply don’t have that capability without some sort of identification.

Business Opportunity!

Do you have a desire to create a business and possess a penchant for management? The Delivery Service has good potential and is a wonderful opportunity for the right person(s). If you or someone you know would be a superb candidate for managing or assisting with the Delivery Service, please send your résumé and description of qualifications, interest level, ideas, etc., via email to mgrieshop@pasturesdelights.com I will reply with more details about the position and business arrangement.

Honey Bears full of HONEY!

We have in stock from local honey producer Rekeweg Honey, of Decatur, Indiana, the following honey items:

12 ounce Honey Bear – $3.00
22 ounce jar of RAW Honey – $5.50 / jar

Grass-fed Angus Beef

We included apples with the usual grass diet for our beef cows this fall. Looking forward to having a lot of great-tasting hamburger patties to sell, our processor mistakenly gave us bulk hamburger. You can benefit NOW from our processor’s mistake. $3.50 / 1 lb package. Try a package, and if you like it I recommend buying before the end of the year, as prices will be going up in 2011. We need to move this beef soon to make room for more beef. Buy 10 lbs, get 1 lb FREE! A bargain deal for tasty, Grass-fed beef!

Gift Certificates are here!

It is obvious in our hard times that food is a blessing and a gift to share with others. Perhaps there is someone on your list who is barely making ends meet but who would enjoy our all-natural products. This Thanksgiving and Christmas season, why not give the gift of quality food while putting the “sustain” in your sustainable Indiana farm! Gift certificates can be redeemed on all products sold in the farm store or applied to purchase of a herd-share or to boarding fees. You may pick up the gift certificates either from the Pasture’s Delights farm store or you may order gift certificates by indicating number of gift certificates, dollar amount each, and remit along with payment to Pasture’s Delights; 4579 N. Salem Rd; Decatur, IN 46733.

Cans and Cases of Canned Beef

In the past, we’ve mentioned the convenience advantage to having a supply of canned beef for quick cooking. For long-term food storage, canned beef also makes sense! Our beef maintains quality and edibility for years, and it is a good idea to have a few cans, or even a case, on hand. Food and meat prices are likely to rise in 2011, as are energy costs, so some meat that doesn’t require a freezer is a great investment. Especially if this meat contains cancer fighting CLAs, mind-enhancing Omega 3 fatty acids, and great Angus flavor!

Prices per can:
14 oz. can–$4.00
27 oz. can–$7.50

Prices per case:
24 cans (27 oz.)–$171.00
That’s over 40 pounds of canned, grass-fed beef at a great price!

p.s. In this season of giving thanks and sharing harvest blessings with our loved ones, our cans and cases of canned beef are very thoughtful gifts.

We at Pasture’s Delights are blessed, and are grateful to be able to serve you.

Wishing you a bountiful, healthy Thanksgiving,

Mark Grieshop
Bio-Entrepreneur
Pasture’s Delights
www.pasturesdelights.com

Ellen Rice
Editor of Pasture Bites

Musings and News from Our Sustainable Livestock Farm

Volume I.  Issue 8

Dear REAL Milk Fan  ,
 
If you haven’t been a part of the REAL Milk action yet, well, we hope to change that soon!  We are hearing from fans from all over Indiana who are looking forward to a REAL Milk experience without having to drive very far to get a piece of the action.  Making this possible via a Delivery Service is a significant undertaking and one we look forward to doing well.  If you provide us your assistance by completing the Delivery Service Questionnaire, we will be better able to evaluate how we can economically serve you REAL Milk brought to you by Pasture Delights!
 
A Delivery Service could take Pasture’s Delights to a whole new level, bringing local, organic, grass-fed and all-natural food from farm to fork all over Indiana!  Our customer testimonials (below) indicate that REAL people are already enjoying and growing healthy on REAL milk! 
 
Talking about REAL Milk delivery can generate a lot of excitement.  We feel, though, that it is best that you realize that it will take a lot of work, planning, and mutual commitment to develop the BEST delivery service for you. 
 
Farmer Mark’s Action Items for developing the Delivery Service(s):
 
1.  Ascertain what kind of service REAL Milk fans want and how much it is worth to them.  If feedback is good, we’ll move on to step 2.
 
2.  Refine business plan detailing startup and growth stages, necessary equipment investment, operating costs, breakeven and financial analysis.  If what customers are willing to pay is able to cover costs, we’ll move on to step 3.
 
3.  Determine qualified talent to execute the plan and manage the Delivery Service.  When we have team members who can make this work, we’ll move on to step 4.
 
4.  Conduct regional meetings around the state with REAL Milk fans interested in supporting a Delivery Service.  They will meet the team and discuss the game plan.  Request $30 herd-share down-payment commitments.  This is where the rubber meets the road.  If we have the prerequisite number of herd-share commitments, we’ll move on to step 5.
 
5.  Request start-up funding from REAL Milk supporters to pay for equipment and cover start-up costs.  This will give us the traction we need to make it possible to deliver REAL milk in keeping with the highest quality standards, so that the quality of milk brought to your location will be just as high as it is at the farm.  Once we have customers, help, and equipment, then we’re ready!
 
6.  We will play smart, play with heart, and we’ll deliver the kind of results REAL Milk fans love.  YOU the customer will be able to enjoy your REAL Milk from your cow boarded conveniently at our farm in the country, without leaving the city or maybe even the comfort of your home!
 
Our questionnaire is located at the end of this Pasture Bites newsletter.  In order for our business plan and service to fit your needs, we need to hear from you!
 
REAL Milk Testimonial
“Mark,
Even though you’ve only known us for a couple months, here’s a success story to encourage you! My dad (herd-share owner Roger Tew) went in for his cholesterol check last week- this was basically his last chance before he got put on meds. We got him started in March and he had this test taken last week. This is an excerpt from his email to us….

“The results are in and the winner is………………….me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   The numbers: total cholesterol – last test 169 – this test 154. hdl- the good chol - last test 37,  this test 46.  That is a real improvement.  ldl-the bad chol last test 101 this test 93.  That is real good too!!   I saved the best for the last!!! Triglycerides  last test 153  this test 74!!    I got this info from the nurse and she said that the doc said to stay on that low Cholesterol diet!!!!!!!!!!!!    I can’t wait to see him and tell him that my low cholesterol diet includes real butter, an egg everyday with sausage and coconut oil!!!  And beside that I am drinking raw milk!!  So I celebrated tonight with a bowl of sliced peaches with homemade yogurt poured over them and topped off with cheerios!! Yumm!!    I get another blood test in 6 months.    So my hat is off to Jennifer for putting the seed thoughts in my mind with her research and to Daniel with all of his research and info about what fat is and the real facts about cholesterol.  You were all so encouraging this summer while I experimented with the foods that I ate,  the results are so much better than I expected.” – (Roger Tew’s words)

So thanks for providing us with good, real milk! We love it!
Jessica Manduka” (herd-share owner from Warsaw)

There is a lot of medical advice from doctors eschewing dairy products because of their heart attack inducing causes, namely high cholesterol.  I agree with their assessment with respect to corn-fed, confinement raised dairy cows producing milk which is normally processed.  It is the corn in most cows’ diets that causes an increase in bad cholesterol in dairy products.  Scientific literature suggests that milk from grass-fed cows fed no corn has the correct cholesterol levels conducive to superb human health.  Check out this article from www.eatwild.com
 
Take care of your heart! Eat whole milk dairy products from our grass-fed cows.

For decades, we’ve been told that eating full-fat dairy products increases the risk of heart attack. Now, a study from the Journal of Clinical Nutrition says that the more full-fat dairy products people consume, the lower their risk of heart attack—provided the cows were grass-fed.  

The reason grass-fed milk is protective is that it has up to five times more conjugated linoleic acid or CLA. CLA is a healthy fat found in the meat and milk of grazing animals. People who eat grass-fed dairy products absorb the CLA and store it in their tissues. In this new study of over 3,500 people, those with the highest levels of CLA in their tissues had a fifty percent lower risk of heart attack than those with the lowest levels. Keeping Bossy on grass could prevent more heart attacks than putting people on expensive pharmaceutical drugs with all their troubling side effects. 

Smit, Liesbeth A, Ana Baylin, and Hannia Campos. 2010. Conjugated linoleic acid in adipose tissue and risk of myocardial infarction. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.  Published ahead of print, May 12, 2010.
 
Gift Certificates!
 
This Thanksgiving and Christmas season, give the gift of quality food while putting the “sustain” in your sustainable Indiana farm!  Gift certificates can be redeemed on all products sold in the farm store or applied to purchase of herd-share or to boarding fees.  You may pick up the gift certificates either from the Pasture’s Delights farm store or you may order gift certificates by indicating number of gift certificates, dollar amount each, and remit along with payment to Pasture’s Delights; 4579 N. Salem Rd; Decatur, IN 46733. 
 
Pasture Delights Chicken
 
On October 2^nd we processed 260 pasture-raised chickens.  We are sold out of chickens until next season.  Yes, we should have raised more chickens!  Stay tuned to future Pasture Bites for 2011 processing dates and early order discounts.  I want to extend a special thank-you to all our chicken lovers!  You helped get our first season off to a successful start and we look forward to serving you more delightfully pasture-raised chicken for many years to come.
 
Too Rushed to Defrost Meat?….Canned grass-fed beef may the answer.
 
Our grass-fed, Angus beef is convenient great by itself or for beef stews, fajitas, beef and noodles, casseroles and BBQ beef sandwiches… the list goes on!  All your cancer-fighting CLAs (conjugated linoleic acids)  and mind-enhancing Omega 3 fatty acids are preserved in a handy form for when the electricity goes out… and also for those last-minute dinners on busy nights (no defrosting required!)  What a convenient and economical way to serve your family nourishing food on the go… Goodbye, preservative-filled take-out meals!
 
Prices per can:
14 oz. can–$4.00
27 oz. can–$7.50
 
Prices per case:
24 cans (27 oz.)–$171.00 [You save $9.00]
That’s over 40 pounds of canned, grass-fed beef at a great price!
 
Delivery Service Questionnaire
 
Click on this link to access and complete survey:
 
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WCVCNH9
 
Want to get in on the discussion for planning the Pasture’s Delights Delivery Service?  Go to the Pasture’s Delights Facebook discussion page and share your thoughts and ideas!  www.facebook.com  search: Pasture’s Delights, click on Discussions tab. 

 Wishing you wellness and happiness,

Mark Grieshop
Bio-Entrepreneur
Pasture’s Delights
Decatur, Indiana
www.pasturesdelights.com

Ellen Rice
Newsletter Editor and Survey Developer

Volume I.  Issue 7

Dear Supporters of REAL food,

How are you doing?  Are you enjoying the fall weather yet?  It seems with the early arrival of fall-like weather we may have a lot of nice days to enjoy before the snowflakes start falling. 

An early spring and good summer rains allowed us to harvest a plentiful supply of hay for winter feed.  This is a great thing because the rain faucet turned off in August.  As pasture growth comes to a grinding halt our cows get to munch on nutritious organic hay to supplement their diet.

While we do a fine job of keeping the cows fed, we have a lot of work to do in getting our REAL food to YOU!  As we said last year, we do have full intentions of building a delivery service that will make our products more conveniently available to you.  I understand that practical accessibility is a reasonable “must” for most people who wish to include REAL Milk in their healthy diet.  Currently I am recruiting several consultant advisors and look forward to coming up with a plan that addresses a litany of logistical considerations along with a cost analysis for undergoing this endeavor.  This much I can say:  the cost to drive to a destination is relatively the same whether we are dropping off 10 gallons of milk or 1,000 gallons of milk.  Distribution and delivery is costly, but not near as costly as several people spending the time and gas to drive to our farm every week or two to pick up milk plus the cost of people forgoing REAL milk due to practical availability.  Basically, the more people who partake in the REAL Milk drop-off point delivery service, the better for everyone involved.  Please stay tuned for more information in forthcoming newsletters about Delivery Service development. 

Keeping with the theme of power in numbers, your congressman and senators need to hear from EACH of you!  Our representatives are entertaining “feel good” legislation intended to protect people from unsafe food, but this in fact exacerbates the very problems they are trying to prevent, not to mention infringing upon our core American freedom values.  Please take a moment to educate yourself on the proposed Food Safety Bills, their unintended consequences, and how they will affect you.  If you feel this legislation is bad for you and your fellow Americans, then take action and let your representatives know! 

Win Pasture’s Delights Products: Join Our New Logo Contest

Pasture’s Delights announces a Logo Contest!   We wish to turn to our herd share owners and customers for your ideas.  The person who designs the winning logo (i.e., the logo we will use) will receive $200 of Pasture’s Delights products (canned beef, herd shares, pre-ordered chickens, etc.)  The 2^nd place and 3^rd place contestants will win $100 and $50 in products respectively.  If we choose to take ideas from multiple logos we will divide the winnings between the designers of the different logo themes we use. For more information please contact Mark Grieshop cowsfly@hotmail.com

Too Rushed to Defrost Meat?….Canned Pastured Beef for Sale!

Have you ever tried Pasture’s Delights canned beef? Our grass-fed, Black Angus beef is great for beef stews, fajitas, beef and noodles, casseroles and BBQ beef sandwiches… the list goes on!  All your cancer-fighting CLAs (conjugated linoleic acids) http://www.mercola.com/beef/cla.htm  and mind-enhancing Omega 3 fatty acids http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/omega-3-000316.htm are preserved in a handy form for when the electricity goes out… and also for those last-minute dinners on busy nights (no defrosting required!) What a convenient and economical way to serve your family nourishing food on the go… Goodbye, preservative-filled take-out meals!

Prices per can:

14 oz. can–$4.00

27 oz. can–$7.50

Prices per case:

24 cans (27 oz.)–$171.00 [You save $9.00!]

That’s over 40 pounds of canned, grass-fed beef at a great price!

p.s. Our cans and cases of Canned Beef make great gifts!

Pastured Dairy Cow Profile: Meet our Founding Cow Hef  We would like you to get to know your herd better, and what a better way to start than to introduce Hef, one of our first cows and one of our best!  On August 24, 2009, after making the four-hour journey from a farm near Columbus, Indiana, a cow named Hef walked off the trailer onto her new farm home, to make history as one of the founding cows of Pastures’ Delights REAL milk dairy.

Hef tells Farmer Mark how much she likes eating fresh alfalfa and red clover!

Hef is not only a beauty; she is everything we desire in a superior dairy cow.  What Farmer Mark likes most of all about Hef is that she rarely misbehaves.  While some cows like to push a person’s buttons by going places they are not supposed to, Hef just seems to mind her own business and not cause any problems.  She is so very smart!  If Hollywood ever needs a cow for a movie, Hef could fulfill that role and win an Oscar! 

Though different dairy breeds have their pros and cons, we chose the Ayrshire for what we believe to be a very balanced ideal cow for Pasture’s Delights. 

• First of all, we chose Ayrshires for the people who consume REAL Milk.  The milk from an Ayrshire cow is the most digestible milk of any cow breed.  The fatty acid particles and proteins are of a consistently small size allowing for easier digestion. 
• We also chose Ayrshires for future enterprise possibilities such as making REAL cheese. The milk from Ayrshire cows makes a superior cheese compared to cheeses made with milk from other breeds. 
• Finally, Ayrshires are the perfect pasture cow.  Ayrshires like to eat green grass and are darn good at it!  Asking a cow to produce a good supply of milk just from grass requires a special breed.  Most breed genetics are not “tough” enough to withstand the rigors of grass-only diets and still produce a plentiful supply of milk.  Just like the momma cows, Ayrshire calves are very tough.  We feel blessed to have our Ayrshires. 

Pastured Chickens On-Farm Processing —Saturday October 2^nd!

This is a reminder to those who have pre-ordered chickens for October 2^nd.  Please come between 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. to our farm to pick up your Pasture’s Delights pastured chickens!  Our chickens are tender and flavorful, and they make great soup stock as well!

Our chickens are humanely processed on-farm while factory farm chickens are often processed using cruel and unsanitary methods.

Gift certificates coming soon!

This Thanksgiving and Christmas season, give the gift of quality food while putting the “sustain” in your sustainable Indiana farm!  Stay tuned for further announcements about Pasture’s Delights gift certificates! 

Pasture’s Delights Looking for Several Good Advisors

Before we get started developing the plans for the REAL Milk delivery service I feel it is important to have a team of people experienced in the distribution arena who are willing and able to provide their guidance and judgment to help put together a plan that will work successfully.

If you …

• Have interest in assisting Pasture’s Delights develop a quality Delivery Service and 2-3 hrs a week to commit to the planning project and
• Have experience in distribution and delivery transportation system logistics, with a background in associated business finances being a big plus

Please send an email introducing yourself and attach a short narrative describing your experience along with an example of your “talent” as it relates to the Distribution and Delivery Service, to Mark Grieshop cowsfly@hotmail.com

URGENT Food Freedom Action Item: Tell Your Senators to Oppose S. 510!

As we continue to grow, we at Pasture’s Delights are aware that real threats are casting a cloud over the future of REAL milk and local farming.  As we have mentioned before, we are primarily involved in bringing you quality products.  We need you the share-holder and customer to advocate for your rights.  When appropriate, we will provide you with Food Freedom Action Items to make it easy to make a difference!

Food safety bills prompted by Big Agribusiness and its failures to supply quality food are impacting YOUR freedom to make responsible (response-able) food choices!  REAL milk and foods produced by small farms are prime targets of this bill.  Read on for details: 

S. 510, the so-called “Food Safety Modernization Act,” is inspired by outbreaks such as the salmonella in factory-farmed eggs from Iowa.  But because of special interests, it is going to reward the same big food industry players who caused the crisis…. while crushing local and community producers of HEALTHY FOOD with massive rules and regulations!

·         S. 510 will drive up the cost of food and your cost of living by adding layers of bureaucracy to food production;

·         While OUR purchasing power goes down as S. 510 drives up food costs during these already-tough times, Section 401 of S. 510 authorizes nearly $1 billion to grow the FDA’s reach and calls for the hiring of 4,000 new federal employees in fiscal year 2010 alone! 

·         Instead of using “credible evidence” of food safety violations, the new law will substitute a broad criterion of “reasonable probability,” meaning that farmers can be charged with food safety violations, and invaded, quarantined, or shut down, without proof!  In the case of REAL milk, a few unsanitary farms can be used as examples of “reasonable probability” to shut down responsible operations like Pasture’s Delights, which tests rigorously and frequently to insure your milk is safe to drink!

·         The present safety criterion of “presents a threat of serious adverse health consequences or death to humans or animals” will be changed to “is adulterated or misbranded.”  Wow!  This means that harmless foods that are categorized as “adulterated” or “misbranded” will be considered “unsafe” even if they present no threat of health consequence to humans or animals!  Will safe, nutritious raw milk be defined by an FDA bureaucrat as “adulterated” or “misbranded”?

.         S. 510 grants blanket authority for federal agencies to harmonize ALL American food production and processes with the globalist—and fairly criticized– Codex of international guidelines and standards.  A worldwide Codex will only serve to lower food standards to a minimum “least common denominator” beneath which quality will not sink.  It will not encourage excellence but standardization.       Big Agriculture and Big Government are targeting the very same food producers who are providing diversity and wholesome and healing foods!

·      The end result will be that a SMALL number of BIG companies will have control over the food supply in the United States—and if we are subsumed into the global food Codex, the global food supply could be unjustly controlled by a handful of small elites who will, if history is any predictor of future behavior, could very well mete out or withhold food in order to consolidate power.  (“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” as the saying goes.)           

Food freedom is not a matter of party politics.  It is a matter of deciding that we have the right to make our most basic decisions for ourselves!

 Click here to contact your senators today to tell them to oppose S.510!

Wishing you freedom, wellness and happiness,

Mark Grieshop

Bio-Entrepreneur

Pasture’s Delights

P.S.  Special thanks to photographer Jim Grieshop, Ellen Rice and Jamie Pike for their assistance in developing this issue of Pasture Bites!

Volume I. Issue 6

Hello fellow freedom loving Americans,

It’s been a while since you last received a Pasture Bites newsletter, but like the Gulf oil spill we’re still here and will be for quite a while!  Normally May and June are most farms’ busiest period for production related activities and that qualifies for us too, with hay making and managing the pastures with the cattle.  In addition, we have been task-saturated with responsibilities involving the continuation of startup activities of both the REAL milk herd-share dairy and pasture-raised poultry.

Dairy cows making milk on pasture with beef in the background.

Even though the plate is spilling over with farm related activities this time of year, I feel it is important to provide you an update and also provide some remarks about some information I took home from the International Raw Milk Symposium which I attended in April.

Herd-Shares available
Yes, we still have herd-shares available for your raw milk needs. Please see our website http://pasturesdelights.com for more information and contacting us.

As I venture on in the REAL milk enterprise I am learning a whole new level of respect for tried-and-true dairy farmers. The hours they put in, dealing with the continuous curve balls thrown by Mother Nature in trying to farm, managing all business aspects including HR, marketing and finances, all the intricacies that go into having healthy livestock and producing quality, safe food is daunting to say the least. If a farmer is to be successful he or she has to learn in a hurry how to handle poor weather circumstances, equipment breakdowns, and financial challenges, things I am sure many of you can relate to also. As you may know or can imagine, this is more than enough to fill one’s plate. Yours truly readily accepts these challenges without pause, but what causes me consternation is the added burden in dealing with the politics of our own government infringing on “Proud-to-be-Americans’” freedom to obtain and consume foods of their choosing to nourish their own bodies.

Food Politics and Raw Milk

On April 10 I attended the International Raw Milk Symposium in Madison, Wisconsin. Coincidentally this event came on the heels of a campylobacter outbreak getting over 40 people sick allegedly due to raw milk from a northern Indiana dairy farm. It is a terrible thing that these people did get sick from campylobacter, no matter where it came from. Subsequent testing of milk samples tested negative for campylobacter from the farm. So who knows what really happened. All I do know is that the media coverage of the incident was quite effective in scaring people who were considering raw milk away from it, and in intimidating people who make it available to consumers. It is no secret to those in our government who monitor the raw milk industry; any new raw milk business is almost non-existent around here. The FDA got an “A” for results scored due to their unscrupulous media campaign disparaging against raw milk.

During incidents involving raw milk, media editorials hardly ever report resources as to what may have gone wrong, make no remarks on how to improve raw milk safety, and just simply advocate pasteurization of milk to be “safe”. This would be akin to plane crash investigators not looking into what went wrong and simply saying, “Flying is dangerous, better take a car”. Of course this is nonsense, but is exactly the reality of what raw milk advocates have to deal with.
I personally am not obstinate in believing that raw milk cannot and does not get people sick. Trust me, we take the consequences, both good and bad, of the milk we produce very seriously, and manage all aspects of production to minimize potential risks to the best of our practical ability. It is however my judgment, through both first-hand personal experience with dairy farming and human health, and connecting the many political dots (corruption) with respect to our food, that the picture before us is not a raw-milk “health” issue, but rather a disgusting, insidious un-American conquest of the liberties endowed upon us by our Creator.

Elsewhere the campaign against raw milk is reaching new lows to include illegal search and seizure, harassment and FBI raids on raw milk activities – this at time when there are more important issues for our government to be focusing on, say, illegal immigration?
http://www.fourwinds10.com/siterun_data/health/food/nutrition/news.php?q=1278482046

We too must remember it is not our whole government that wishes to put the kibosh on raw milk consumption but rather, certain, albeit powerfully connected, individuals hiding under the veil of our government who are utilizing our resources and agencies to achieve their devious agenda. There are still many people who work in our state and federal governments who at a minimum believe in Americans should have the freedom to choose what they eat. Even many people at the FDA stand with us on this vital American principle. It is my hope that these many freedom-loving people who serve our great country have the ability to recognize and patriotic courage to stand up and root out the few unprincipled individuals attempting to force us down a dreadful path that will ultimately bring this great experiment to a horrifying end.

Just as certain people have an agenda to stamp out the REAL milk industry, raw milk producers have an agenda to keep it going. Hey, I call a spade a spade, whether it benefits me or not. Not only is this about “health”, the “war” being fought in the media and on the internet is also about the money trail for the established dairy industry, FDA interests, and even small-scale raw milk producers like Pasture’s Delights. In this war I have observed that it is mostly the anti-raw milk groups that are using sleazy tactics in an attempt to achieve their un-American agenda. Read on to get a little taste of their tactics. The beautiful thing that makes this country so great is this: if we adhere to the wisdom and ideals of this country’s Founding Fathers, in a truly free, capitalistic, and just society where responsible Americans have the ability to make real choices, the same spotlight will cause corruption to shrivel up and the truth to flourish.

1940’s Outbreak in “Crossroads, USA”: The Lie that Started It All

Raw Milk wasn’t always viewed as “inherently dangerous”, and in fact was recommended to people and used for different cures at the renowned Mayo Clinic. A 1926 study in Boston recommended “larger use” of raw milk for babies. Research in 1928 found “less favorable calcium balances” among people drinking pasteurized milk vs. raw milk. Such research continued into the early 1940’s with researchers predicting new developments would further bolster the case for raw milk. But the trail stopped there.
It stopped largely because of a 1945 article in Coronet magazine reporting that raw milk had led to dozens of deaths from undulant fever in the town of Crossroads, USA. The article was revised for Readers Digest the following year, to “sell” the public on pasteurization. Both the disease outbreak and the town itself were fictional. The whole campaign started with a lie and it’s been generally nothing but lies since. This is not about Raw Milk. It is about controlling the food supply. There is more potential to make money from transporting, processing, manipulating the market, and redistributing the milk back to people than if consumers were to obtain their milk directly from a farmer.

Spreading fear about raw milk is the successful strategy being employed by the FDA to slow and eventually stop the spread of raw milk consumption. Those who seek to ban raw milk deliberately do everything to distort actual issues considering raw milk and to use the media to report their claims.

One has a greater chance of injury driving to pick up raw milk than from drinking raw milk itself. Let’s look at relatively risky behavior…. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), since 2000, 76 million people became ill with a food borne illness, 241 attributed to raw milk. From 1998-2008, for raw milk there were 1,614 reported illnesses, 187 hospitalizations, 2 deaths. 1 out of 20,000 who consumes raw milk may get sick. Unpasteurized milk is not even on the FDA’s top 10 list of most risky foods, yet why all the disproportionate attention on raw milk?

During recent widespread illness in an area where raw milk was suspected to be a culprit, afflicted individuals admitted to the hospitals were questioned as to whether they drank raw milk. Medical personnel tested only those who had consumed raw milk. All others were given Cipro and sent home without further investigation. By omitting cases of illness by those who had not consumed raw milk, officials inappropriately created a statistical association of illness with raw milk.

Blocked Scientific Study, Twisted Stats, and Propaganda

The role of science, or rather the lack of it, is often used to make another point in the propaganda campaign against raw milk. The anti-raw milk people make statements to the effect that “there is little science that supports claims of raw milk benefits”. That line is so full of holes where does one start? First there IS scientific literature that cites benefits of raw milk, it’s just that it is not American science. In a study at the Basel University of over 14,000 children, 30% of those who consumed raw milk had less asthma and 40% had less hay fever because of raw milk. With respect to conducting and using sound American research to settle our differences of opinion, there are two major conundrums (hurdles), which, together, practically make it impossible to conduct the research needed to establish its reputation for safety.
• Funding: First, who is going to pay for the research? Universities are not going to do research on raw milk because their money comes from Monsanto and the “Got Milk” pasteurized milk industry. Even if raw milk farmers did have the resources to fund the research themselves, university researchers have said “for the right amount of money, we can prove/disprove anything with our research”. Therefore recognizing the disproportionate amount of money certain interests have to keep the lid on raw milk, getting honest raw milk science in the United States could be difficult.
• Review requirements: The other conundrum is that all studies involving people must pass muster with a “human use board”– a committee of people that determines what research studies are ethical to conduct using people. Since raw milk is deemed a “hazardous” substance, that presents a dead end to conducting research on people to confirm or refute claims of actual human benefits derived from raw milk.

Meanwhile the testimonials from people proclaiming benefits of raw milk are met with skepticism from our agency regulator “protectors” and a “roll of the eyes” from university personnel because it is merely anecdotal. Why can we not use anecdotal evidence, especially given the limitations on ever receiving any “official” evidence? Or is it that we must conduct a double-blind placebo study on everything, including that children are normally walking by age 1, something which we have known, by observation, for years?

The FDA statistics understate how many people in this country consume raw milk and this further bolsters their manipulative, influential propaganda. They do not count conventional farmers who drink milk from their own bulk tank and the many people who own their own family cows.

The FDA says also there is no difference in nutritional value between raw milk and processed milk. They are careful in how they choose their words, as they are technically correct in that there is no difference in quantitative value, but they do fail to mention the difference in nutritional effects – or the real value of raw milk. Vitamins and minerals in raw milk are generally much more bio-available and able to be used by a person’s body, whereas vitamins and minerals in pasteurized milk are inert and much less available to the body.

Lastly, with what little real science there is available on raw milk, those who wish to ban raw milk cherry-pick what they use. Dr. Ted Beals, a M.D., Pathologist and Retired National Director of Pathology & Laboratory Services, Dept. of Veterans Affairs and researcher and faculty member of the University of Michigan, said that he does not dispute the science in most cases but rather the interpretation. “For example, just because someone with the last name of ‘Axe’ is a serial killer does not make all ‘Axes’ serial killers. The same goes for bacteria. Just because a milk sample tests positive for listeria does not mean it is infectious. Only certain sub-types of a bacteria are really harmful. Bacteria are everywhere. The world we have to enjoy is absolutely dependent on bacteria. Bad bacteria are incredibly rare. If raw milk had been hazardous to individuals in communities that consume it, then drinking raw milk would have disappeared centuries ago!” said Dr. Beals.

Not All Raw Milk is Equal: Which Type is Safe?

Government health officials cite there is no evidence whatsoever to support that raw milk cures any illnesses. Then given the obvious awareness of many Americans who do believe that raw milk is beneficial and can cure illness, why isn’t the government conducting tests on raw milk? And not just any raw milk, I mean milk produced by a conscientious farmer, which comes from very healthy cows living on food grown on healthy soil.

There are two types of raw milk:

• Industrial grade: This type, largely produced by industrial dairy farms, is destined for pasteurization. Between 10%-30% of the bulk tank samples tested are contaminated with campylobacter, salmonella, E. Coli 0151:H7, or listeria.
• Consumption grade: This type of milk is produced with heightened standards of hygiene and is higher quality milk from healthy cows. It is rarely ever contaminated with pathogens and is safe for direct human consumption. With pasteurization there is relatively little responsibility for the milk, as compared to the responsibility required to provide milk in the raw form that is safe for human consumption.

It’s not random that quality raw milk can be safe. European studies indicate virtually no milk contamination at grass-fed dairies where raw milk is intended for direct human consumption. 65,000 people a week in California consume raw milk. Claravale Dairy of California has operated 83 years without there ever being a pathogen discovered in their raw milk. People have drunk milk from their mothers and from different species around the world for thousands of years. When it is done right there have been few problems.

Not just any dairy farmer can produce raw milk for the public. There has to be more focus on cow nutrition for health vs. production, and higher standards for the cow’s environment and for equipment cleanliness. There is liability. A farmer doesn’t want to risk losing their farm, their customers or their reputation. With raw milk there is an inherent responsibility factor brought back to the farmer.

Is Pasteurization Really the Cure?

The FDA proclaims that pasteurization is THE answer that has made milk safe for people to consume. Not so fast….Looking at the statistics for milk illness one can observe a steady decline in milk illness from 1910 – 1950. The main reason for this decline in milk illnesses is due to cows escaping their original plight of being kept in unsanitary inner city confinement dairies, where they ate junk food such as distillers’ grain, and being moved to rural pasture fields along with the advent of refrigeration and better sanitation standards. The FDA’s assertion that pasteurization is what “cured” milk of its problems years ago is mostly bogus. There was very little change in the illness rate pre and post arrival of widespread pasteurization around 1947.

It is interesting that raw milk is tagged as being “inherently dangerous”, and pasteurized milk is touted as virtually guaranteed as safe to drink. Since the media does a poor job of reporting the “whole story” here’s a reminder of some recent outbreaks from pasteurized milk. In 2007 three people died from drinking pasteurized milk in Massachusetts. In 2000, 93 cases of Salmonella were linked to pasteurized milk in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. A 2005 campylobacter jejuni outbreak in Colorado resulted in 200 cases of illness. In 2006 pasteurized milk was linked to gastrointestinal illness in 1,314 people in California.

What if the FAA was in charge of food safety?

California raw milk dairy farmer and founder of Organic Pastures Mark McAfee had this to say:

If the FAA was in charge of the American food chain…nearly all food would be grounded. It would be September 11th 2001 for fake food in America. There are the equivalent of at least seven Boeing 747 aircraft crashing everyday from the depressed immune systems and diseases being brought on by the highly processed, GMO created, cloned, antibiotic abused, preservative filled, artificially colored, fake sugar, fake fat, grain fed, pasteurized, dead, sterilized, homogenized, standardized, stabilized, oxidized, irradiated things that are sold as food in most Americas stores. To read more of his enlightening keynote speech visit the link here:
http://hartkeisonline.com/2009/12/28/mark-mcafees-speech-at-acres-usa/

The FDA vs. Our Way of Life: “Americans do not have a fundamental right to obtain food of their own choosing”

Most of you, I am sure, are no longer blind to the corruption rampant in our government’s politics including the politics of food. In fact you are probably aware that in May the FDA officially stated in black and white, in response to a lawsuit regarding raw milk freedom, that Americans “do not have a fundamental right to obtain and consume food of their own choosing?” Excuse me? What country do we live in? I cannot believe an agency of our government– a government “of the people, by the people and for the people”– is telling you and me what we can and cannot eat, while our armed forces are on foreign soils “defending our freedoms”. Last I heard there were no foreigners infringing on our freedoms as to what we Americans can and cannot eat. Seems to me that some people who work for us in our government have forgotten the ideals of what it means to be “Proud to be American”. The FDA has shown that they truly think we cannot decide what to eat or drink without their permission. It’s amazing. One would think that we could not have possibly lived prior to the formation of the FDA just over one hundred years ago. It is absurd that people cannot be allowed to make choices about their food and health!

It is interesting to observe too many people proclaim to be “proud to be American”, but fail in their responsibility to uphold the very principles of freedom and free markets that made this country so great. It is a wonderful thing we still have the freedom to choose the color of the car we drive and how big or small a house we live in. I personally walk the talk with respect to our American ideals, even when it inconveniences me or I have no interest in the matter. Although I think smoking cigarettes is bad, I do not oppose a person’s right to smoke them. Similarly, I am not opposed to a person having the freedom to drink pasteurized milk. If they want to drink something that is dead and causes issues such allergies, heart disease, and osteoporosis, then they should have that right, and responsibility.

Food safety legislation sold to people under the guise of “protecting public health” will continue the erosion of personal freedom and responsibility. Dietary information will be restricted as only a certified dietician will be able to give dietary advice. That on the surface may seem “well meaning”, but the insidious corruption in the details is the fact that registered dieticians are not allowed to give certain advice, such as what could be labeled as “alternative”, and definitely cannot say things like “do not drink soda pop”, or “try raw milk”– statements deemed inflammatory to corporate interests with strong financial ties to organizations such as the American Dietetic Association. The sponsors of this legislation just so happen to be Coke, Pepsi, and several drug companies. This protectionist legislation intended to protect health dilutes our freedoms, interferes with the free market, and is hardly anything we Americans should be proud of.

Most European governments do not have a political agenda with respect to food, as we do here in the United States. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has demonstrated his lack of support for raw milk freedoms, grew up on raw milk in his native country of Austria. Most Europeans still have uninhibited access to raw milk. In fact, just as Americans dispense high-fructose sodas out of vending machines, Europeans can get raw milk out of vending machines! Austria has vending machines. Switzerland has them. France and Slovenia have them. Italy alone has over 1,300 raw milk vending machines! Citizens of Europe would not accept the situation we have here in the United States with our food being politically controlled.

Raw milk producer Michael Schmidt of Canada was born in Germany and earned a Masters degree in Agriculture. He moved to Canada in 1983 where he has been leading the crusade for raw milk freedom for the past 16 years. This modern day Thomas Jefferson describes what this whole raw milk controversy is about:

Let’s open by acknowledging some sobering developments in agriculture and the food industry. I say “food industry” because those words describe quite well the nature of our current struggle.

Food is looked upon as a commodity by regulators and industry. Those who control food (Monsanto) control the people, control countries, control the world – all without the huge expense of a paid army. Food is the most important element in determining whether you enjoy health or suffer from disease. Food affects your spiritual well-being. Food influences your mental ability and can even make you crazy. Food can turn you into a liability for society. Food can turn you into a non-thinking member of society. Food can turn you into the perfect slave in a society where free-thinkers and moral consciousness could be inherently dangerous for those run this country and world.

We are at war and to those who don’t get that – we are at war over food rights. To some this may seem like a silly thing but to others there is a growing concern.

We have a new form of dictatorship. A dictatorship established with our consent. A dictatorship of regulations and laws intended to limit our individual liberties.

To be silent means consenting. To be silent means accepting the consequences of our consent. To be silent makes a mockery of those who fought on our behalf for freedom and justice. And to remain silent cannot be an option for you, for me, and for all of us.

We need to look at the historical significance of our struggle. Making comparisons between our struggle and those of the past such as the civil rights movement draws criticism from some. However going back through history today’s government and players behind the scenes have learned in fact much better than us how to use their power, and how to create the illusion of democracy. They clearly understand how to paralyze our will, our will to resist. They do understand how to create fear in our hearts. They do know that we do not present at the current time a real danger.

We need to ask ourselves why this is true. Most of us have been around during the evolution of materialism. Let’s be honest, everything comes down to money, assets, and personal security. We have developed a fake sense of comfort which offsets often the courage to question human rights abuses or the courage to question the steady increase of infringement on individual liberties. We really need to ask “does our comfort and material security weaken our willingness to maintain and protect individual liberties for the sake of all?”

Does our current state of mind prevent us from seeing that in fact in the near future we are facing an even greater danger than all the other past struggles for freedom and justice?
Many have no ability to resist out of fear of the current bureaucratic and soulless control structure. Many have less ability to think and be critical because of the lifeless food we eat. Many have no chance to be healthy because of our weakened bodies. We are in fact for the government an unlimited natural resource if you are sick because Big Brother can milk us to death.

This opens the door to a very scary scenario where soon the majority of people in any given society will be easier to be managed. That’s why those who are in power have learned much better how to control us than we have learned. “Give them bread and games” was the successful motto of the Roman Empire, which after all imploded as history taught us. Today we have all the food we can think of. We have all the entertainment we can imagine and most people are content as long as they are financially secure and physically safe.

I can tell you it is much easier to fight when you have nothing to lose. It is easier to fight when you are hungry and it is easier to fight when all you want is dignity and respect.

We have consented in silence to a food culture which will destroy years of evolution. We have consented to a society of government dependency beyond imagination.

Need I remind you, we are the ones that gave up our rights. We just need to get them back. We have consented to the loss of liberty for the sake of convenience (i.e. FDA “food safety” protection). Laws are passed with our knowledge that should raise millions of voices in protest. Laws have been debated and passed which only grant us certain freedoms instead of protecting our freedoms. Laws have been passed ignoring and ridiculing the Constitution and most of the people are consenting in silence. Our land, our food and lives are the most powerful tools we have to shape the future of our country.

Dear friends, what we are facing will not be less important than the human rights movement. What we are facing will not be less important than the Civil War and the battle to end slavery.

Be it Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and be it thousands of unnamed heroes of the past, let’s be inspired by them. Let’s have the same resolve and courage. Let’s look at the future as a responsibility we have chosen freely. Let’s be prepared to suffer. Let’s be prepared to die. Unless we are truly willing to take a stand for our children, our grandchildren, and all the generations to come we will make a mockery of those who had a dream of a just and caring society.

We are in the forefront not by default. We are in the forefront to defend the most important element of our society – the health and sanity of our body, our soul and our society. – Michael Schmidt, address delivered in Madison, Wisconsin, April 10, 2010.

In January 2010 the United States Supreme Court granted complete personhood rights to corporations. Corporations used to be limited in the amount of money they could donate to political election campaigns. Being given personhood a corporation can now donate as much as it wishes, so in effect what used to be elections are now political auctions. Corporate campaign funds can buy media to brainwash and spread fear and smear potentially good candidates. How can we effectively fight that?

Food and pharmacy are the largest industries in the world. Nowhere in the world are corporations as powerful and influential as they are here in the United States. Working hand in hand – bad food… sick people, trips to the drug store, socialist programs to pay for the drugs ….control. You get the picture.

We need to stop this ugly scenario from playing out any further. But like I mentioned at the beginning of this newsletter, my plate is already spilling over with activities related to producing healthy food for you and me. The food rights war affects all of us and we need to all work together in addressing it prudently. Consumers cannot simply enjoy the “high life” at home consuming nutritious raw milk and other healthy foods and do nothing to ensure the future availability of those products. Understandably many parents are very busy taking the kids to soccer games, dance recitals and other types of extra-curricular activities important to children’s development. Please remember though, one of the most loving things you can do for your child is demonstrate your patriotism by helping protect their freedoms, especially the freedom of food choice. An appropriate amount of resources should be allocated to doing just that. Commit time. Discuss this with your family. Spread the word and forward this newsletter. Communicate with our government and agency officials. Write your local paper. Commit funds to defending our liberty. Contribute your talents and skills. Love and Pray.

I’m raising the flag to warn you, there will be immense forthcoming federal and state pressure to interrupt your ability to obtain raw milk. It is perhaps prudent to view the controversy surrounding raw milk as the “canary in the mineshaft” with respect to many American freedoms. If we do not sacrifice at this moment to protect the freedom of uninhibited access to foods of our choosing we are going to lose much more in due time. Time to prepare for battle is now, not when we see the enemy running towards us.

Encourage each other to take personal responsibility and seek a variety of sources for information instead of relying on what we are told to believe through the television and newspaper. The more people who start doing this, the more informed we will be and the more collective courage we will have in taking the proper path towards sustainable prosperity for us and future generations.

Wishing you liberty and wellness,

Mark Grieshop
Bio-Entrepreneur
Pasture’s Delights
Decatur, Indiana

Ellen Rice
Editor

Curious cows coming over to meet their new neighbors with feathers.

Links of Interest

Farmers to Consumer Legal Defense Fund
http://www.farmtoconsumer.org

Pasture’s Delights
www.pasturesdelights.com

Raw Milk Facts
http://www.raw-milk-facts.com

Eat Wild
http://www.eatwild.com/articles/superhealthy.html