Where is the Beef?
Please note: This document is an expansion of our face book post and contains references to several publications we have found helpful.
On the About Us page on www.grassfed.us.com we told how we started growing our own food because we wanted a better diet alternative. That’s the reason we started growing our own grass fed beef, Timber Raised Pork, and free range eggs, poultry and produce. We grow our livestock using genetics that existed prior to their being reengineered to facilitate faster and bigger growth and to accommodate trans-country shipment and longer shelf life in the local supermarket. All of this is done at the expense of flavor and nutrition. Over 30% people in the US are obese simply because they are eating empty calories that taste good but their bodies are telling them to eat more until it gets the nutrition it needs to function.
We invited those who share our desires to come and purchase products direct from our farm. So many people have taken us up on the offer that we have depleted the livestock we have available for harvest and we have to grow out more. This will take time because we will not compromise the protocols that allow us to produce superior products.
We entertained the idea of acquiring beef from other farmers who raise cows using the same protocols we use. We found most of it to be similar in quality but not of the consistent quality that we are able to produce and we cannot legitimately sell it as our product.
So, the result is that we will cease to offer our grass fed beef for sale until we mature our stock to market age. This will take time and should not surprise anyone. It is simply agriculture.
While we are waiting on our beef to mature we want to encourage you to seek out grass fed beef and other agricultural products that are produced from heritage breeds of livestock and plants and grown naturally the way we grow them here at Grassfed Farms.( No GMO’s.) We do not feed chemicals that are harmful to our bodies. Antibiotics and steroids fed to feedlot animals pass through from mass produced meat and accumulate in the body and can reduce the effectiveness of the immune system.
Angela and I have been motivated to search beyond the medical world for solutions to the challenges we have encountered. While we have been well served by our family practitioners we have been disappointed with those in the neurological world. The neurologists we have encountered apparently know little about brain diseases or it may be to difficult for them to explain in the fifteen minutes they can spend with us. For whatever reasons, we have not received clear information or a definitive strategy to deal with the problems. And so, we have been left with frustration.
So our take-a-way is, if you want to enjoy good health it is important to take control and learn what the body needs. Further, if you are lucky enough to have a family doctor that recommends preventive health practices he or she should be cherished and their advice headed. A pill designed to treat the symptom after the problem surfaces is not going to get it done.
Angela and I have concluded that each pill we take is a negation between the intended benefits and the side effects. As the result we have decided to let our farm be our pharmacy as much as we can. We are finding that most health challenges are diet related. So, we plan to grow the foods our body’s need and get the elements we need naturally as opposed to getting them in pill form. We are not going to be fanatical about this but so farm it makes as much since as anything we have heard from neurologists.
The more we have learned the more we are convinced the statement “You are what you eat” is true.
We started raising our on food with a mindset that says it is not good to consume genetically modified plants that are engineered to be resistant to roundup (Glyphosate) because roundup is a poison.
While Monsanto insists that Roundup is safe and “minimally toxic” to humans, new research argues that glyphosate residues on and in food enhance the damaging effects of other food-borne chemical residues and environmental toxins to disrupt normal body functions and induce disease. Glyphosate inhibits enzymes that catalyze the oxidation of organic substances, which, according to the researchers, is an overlooked component of its toxicity to mammals.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/05/14/glyphosate.asp
We have learned how animals are crowded into feed lots and given antibiotics to reduce disease. You cannot confine 100,000 cows from all over the US in a 20 acre feed lot and not expect disease. We really became disturbed when we began to understand that these chemicals are being passed through to the dinner table and we are consuming them.
To speed up the process, livestock are genetically engineered to grow bigger and faster, so in effect we are eating babies without flavor because they haven’t had time to mature. It takes at least 24 months for a cow’s body to mature properly and have good flavor. The average for a cow produced commercially is around a year. To make them taste good flavor chemicals are added so here comes more chemicals. (Read “The Dorito Effect” by Mark Schatzker) By force growing the animals’ bigger and faster nutritional benefits are reduced and we are consuming calories with less nutrition. As the result the body craves more and we eat more calories because our bodies know its nutritional needs have not been met. So we consume more empty calories and as a nation we end up with over 30% of our population being obese.
We have become convinced that our industrial food systems have learned how to feed the masses and over time kill the individual.
Our pursuit of better food solutions is driven by our need to overcome personal health challenges. So naturally, this leads to a search for solutions in the medical world. The information we have discovered makes us feel that had we known enough about the root causes of our challenges earlier in life we might have avoided the issues we face today. We also feel deceived by prevailing medical paradigms regarding diet and cholesterol.
I can assure you that we share this with you not to solicit sympathy because there are over 5 million other people in the US who are known to have Alzheimer’s and 29.1 million people (diagnosed and un diagnosed) have diabetes. Our purpose is simply tell you that we have the problem and It’s not been easy for us to get the information we need to manage our issues. And we are searching for it. So, it can’t be easy for others. We just want to share what we have learned in hopes we can shed light on brain related diseases others are facing.
It is all sugar related and there is a connection between the brain and the gut and it is highly likely that what we have been advised to put in the gut all of our lives have created the problems we face today.
We are not qualified to get into a discussion on dietary issues but we will tell you that we have totally switched from the diet we have all been taught which is high in carbohydrates to a diet that is high in saturated fat.
The research by Ancel Keys, who bred the current diet mythology, told us that Cholesterol is the cause of hart dieses. This information is the basis of our current daily diet recommendations which advocates a high intake of carbohydrates that produce sugar in our bodies. There is new research that says more people die of heart diseases that have low cholesterol than those with high cholesterol. Also, there is evidence that Mr. Key’s data was flawed. You will find this information in a book called the “Big Fat Surprise” by Nina Teicholz.
There is compelling research that supports our decision. There are two books by Dr. David Pearlmutter that will provide an excellent understanding of why we have converted to a high fat diet.(The brain is made up of fat and needs fat to function properly) They human brain without fat is like running a car engine without oil.
One of Dr Pearlmutter’s books is the “Grain Brain” which provides an excellent understanding of how sugar creates infection in body and the brain. The book also provides an action plan to help you change your diet to eliminate sugar and transition effortless to a high fat diet. We are doing it and feel better and more clear minded. In addition we are losing weight without nagging hunger. The other book we recommend is “The Brain Maker”. This book explains how the gut is connected to the brain and helps you understand how what you put in the gut will impact the health of your brain. And also the way we think and deal with depression.
There is also an excellent web site for additional reference ketogenic-diet-resources.com. It explains what happens in the body when you switch from a diet high in carbohydrates to a diet high in saturated fat.
Ketogenic diets emphasize natural fats and protein (meat, fish, poultry) and restrict foods high in carbohydrate (sugars and starches). The standard American diet (SAD) contains 45-65% of calories from carbohydrate, while keto diets restrict carbohydrate intake to a very small amount, about 2-4% of calories. In short, keto diets are high fat, very low carb diets and this different way of eating is not only deliciously satisfying, but has some powerful and beneficial metabolic effects on the human body.
It is my hope that the agricultural world and the medical world will come together and combine their knowledge of what the body needs and how to grow it. The result of which will make it easier for us lay people to comprehend and act upon – before we lose the ability to comprehend and take action. That’s what Angela and I are working on.
In the meantime we are working to grow our livestock to the point we can offer meat to those who have similar challenges as we have and want to follow more healthy diet protocols. If you have similar challenges give us a call and come visit our farm. We are happy to show you around and discuss what we are learning.
This post has been much longer and more detailed than intended. If you like this and you want to know more just like it on Facebook and we will continue to share our experience and the information we have uncovered. We also invite you to share your own experiences. If there is sufficient interest we will set up a blog on our www.grassfed.us.com web site.