Controversy

Rancher Timothy Teichert shares why consumers need to know where their food comes from.

Are we really giving thanks?

Pictured above: Friends and family gather around a meal to give thanks.

Thanksgiving is going to be a hot topic for the upcoming week. Thanksgiving, like many holidays, ironically can come and go without any thanks given. In fact only forty percent for Americans plan to talk about what they are thankful for before Thanksgiving dinner. Fifty-two percent say they plan to say a prayer before the annual feast. I think that most of us can agree that by the time we are sitting down at the dinner table together with our family, we are ready to eat and we are not thinking about the preparations or the origins of the feast. All we care about is getting that turkey and stuffing on our plates as fast as possible. The same goes for the meals that we eat everyday.

Pictured above: A family enjoys a fast
food meal

We could at least be thankful for the person that prepared it, but lets face the facts, numbers don't lie. In recent years, less than sixty percent of meals were prepared in the home.
Only thirty years ago, meals prepared in the home was more than seventy-five percent. The rate that people are cooking less in the home has been dropping at a steady pace. If we were to prepare our own food, there would be more "Thanksgiving" involved.  This year 14 million people are planning to dine in restaurants for the Thanksgiving holiday. Here are the reasons why:

Pictured above: Results from a poll asking reasons for
people eating out on Thanksgiving day. 

Thanksgiving is an annual reminder so we can remember to give thanks for what we have, especially the food on our plates. We should be thankful for what we have not only on November 26th, but every day of the year.
People who advocate and educate on the behalf on agriculture want consumers to be properly informed about where their food comes from and how it got to their plate. Isn't that what giving thanks is?
A survey of everyone's favorite food for a Thanksgiving meals was conducted. Here are the results: 49% like turkey, 14% like stuffing, ham, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie all tied at 5%. Here is a graph to see where the other favorite foods fell into place.

This graph has a lot of diversity of favorite foods. This statistic may surprise you though; 100% of everyone's favorite foods comes from farmers. Keep that in mind everyday of the year, not just on Thanksgiving.
Happy Holidays!

Grilled or Fried?

Beef has been an important factor in my life, in fact raising beef cattle is what my family has done for generations. With that in mind, I advocate for beef more than other agricultural products. My desire to advocate for beef is not completely based on my background in the industry. Often, when people have a background in the products in which they represent, they seem as though a biased opinion may dictate their actions. I want to promote all agriculture as a whole and help people understand more about the subject.

Pictured above: Chicken being fried in oil.

Within the agricultural world however, there are many common misconceptions. The popular trend of health is a good idea, when aimed in the right direction with the right information.
A common misconception is that beef, a red meat, is bad for your health. Meat lovers do not want to give up meat entirely, so they often turn to chicken as an alternative. Chicken, and other white meats, are indeed healthy. The factor that corresponds meat and our health, is the process in which the meat is prepared.


A statistic from the National Chicken Council indicates that 1.25 billion chicken wings were eaten during the 2015 Super Bowl. Kentucky Fried Chicken has a gross income of 6.47 billion dollars so far in 2015. That is a lot of fried chicken. 
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Nutrient Database, a chicken breast with skin fried in batter has 590 calories per 226 grams, or 1/2 pound, as well as 29 grams of fat and 20 grams of carbohydrates. The same size portion of chicken breast with skin grilled on a rotisserie has 417 calories, 18 grams of fat and 0 grams of carbohydrates. Grilling also retains more protein in the chicken than frying.
The problem is that people lean towards chicken because of its "healthy" reputation. In the name of health, we too often use fried chicken as an excuse to please our taste buds. 

Pictured above: A "Big Mac" hamburger
from Mcdonalds, a popular chain restaurant.

I am not condemning chicken, if fact I eat it very often. Health is important to me, therefore I take the preparation of my food into careful consideration. In fact, I seldom eat any sort of fried chicken; it is primaraly baked or grilled. I encourage everyone to improve their health by taking food preparation into consideration. 
When you think of a burger, often times the image of a greasy, round piece of meat in-between two buns comes to mind. Unfortunately, this is the image people have in their minds they think about the beef industry. As of September 2014, McDonald’s sold about 6,480,000 hamburgers in a day worldwide. This works out to 75 hamburgers every second. A popular item on the Mcdonalds menu is the "Big Mac." This burger has 550 calories.

Pictured above: A grilled eye round steak with high amounts of
protein and low amounts of fat. 

With that as America's image for beef, no wonder why people are questioning whether or not beef is healthy. When we consider health benefits of cuts of beef that are grilled or roasted, it will change perspectives dramatically.
Eye round roast and steak has 4 grams of fat per serving and 1.4 grams of saturated fat. The next leanest cuts include sirloin tip side steak, top round roast and steak, bottom round roast and steak, and top sirloin steak.
Before we exclude any type of meat, we should first consider the benefits that come when properly prepared.

Don't get caught up and confused

Picture above: A young couple enjoys a healthy picnic

Younger generations are concerned about eating healthy, and the trends are showing it. A survey of thirty thousand consumers from sixty different countries confirm the previous statement. Forty-one percent of individuals under the age of twenty said they would be willing to spend more money on healthier food products. This is a good thing for the overall health of people in today's modern world.

Pictured above: Cattle walking
in an open pasture from the Hornung Red
Angus operation in Cottage Grove, Wisconson

It seems like this is all good news, but there is just a little problem. Most of these people are uneducated on what the definition of healthy food is. There seems to be a popular trend within this younger generation of "organic all natural" food.
Two weeks ago I posted an article about the history of agriculture. In those thousands of years, humans have changed and manipulated plants and animals for our benefit and our health. The "organic and all natural" food has been changed dramatically from its original form.
A recent controversial issue has surfaced within the last month about certain chain restaurants that plan to only buy meat products that have not been treated with antibiotics. Their intentions are good in wanting to provide healthy food for consumers, but being uneducated on the matter could do just the opposite.

Pictured above: A low-fat, unprocessed,
turkey sandwich

Antibiotics have the same purpose for animals as they do humans, that is, to keep them disease free. Concerns for the vaccinations do exist, so steps have been taken so that negative effects on human health are not a problem. Vaccinations must go through the FDA, USDA, and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in order to be used for animals. Studies have shown that when the use of antibiotics decreases, the risk for food born illnesses increases.
The goal is for consumers to be healthy and happy. Producers care about the well being of the consumers. Current animal husbandry methods dealing with antibiotics will keep consumers healthy and happy.
Current trends of young adults being concerned about health is a great thing. Education on where their food is produced and how it is made, help consumers take that concern for health in the right direction.

Pumpkins inside and out

Pictured above: A pumpkin patch that would be seen in
modern times during the Autumn season. 

Pictured above: Native species of pumpkin
and squash used by native Americans from
prehistoric to colonial times. 

Traditions, holidays, and even food have been changed and introduced since the birth of this great country. Alfredo sauce is not a traditional Italian recipe and Canadian bacon pizza is not from Canada; both were invented in America. Our country seems to take parts from other cultures and mixes them together, forming our own unique culture. The use of pumpkins is a perfect example.
Pumpkins originated from Central America but were used by many different native tribes on the North American continent later on. Native Americans had many uses for pumpkins, in fact all parts of the round orange plant were salvaged for use. No records have indicated that the indigenous people of America carved scary faces into the pumpkins, that came later on.
The Irish, Scottish, and English people originally carved from turnips, potatoes, and beats. When they arrived to America, they discovered the pumpkin was perfect for carving "Jack's" lanterns.

Pictured above: A turnip carving similar
to the carvings done by the Celtic before
coming to America. 

Pictured above: A pumpkin pie
similar to the method
of preparation Pilgrims used.

Now we can fast forward a month to the next holiday. When imagining what the first Thanksgiving feast was like, we often imagine something similar to our modern day celebration. The object of Thanksgiving is still the same, but many details of the food aspect have changed and evolved over time. Take the pumpkin pie for example; the original version was prepared much differently and didn't even resemble a pie. The Pilgrims cut the top off of the pumpkin, scooped the seeds out, and filled the inside with cream, honey, eggs, and spices. They replaced the top of the pumpkin and buried it underneath hot ashes. When the pumpkin was darkened, they ate the the custard-like content inside.
Pumpkins may be a simple detail to the holidays we all know and love, but Halloween and Thanksgiving would be much different without them.

Farmers have a long history

Pictured above: Map of ancient Mesopotamia
and its physical characteristics.
The rich soil in-between the Tigris and Euphrates
rivers provided ideal circumstances for ancient farmers.

Last week's blog post about GMO's  (genetically modified organisms) was written to inform people, with the example of golden rice, that there is no need to be concerned. GMO's pose many great health benefits. It is the idea of something modified that makes people uneasy. Modern day techniques in agriculture are much different than what the people of ancient Mesopotamia used. In fact research shows that people were farming 11,700 years ago.
GMO history is relevant to the argument of whether we should be eating "organic/all natural" food or genetically modified organisms. Believe it or not, as those farmers were domesticating plants and animals in ancient Mesopotamia, they were modifying the agriculture that helped them survive. 

Pictured above: Ancient art depicting herdsman and cattle
in northern Africa. 

Humans were gatherers before they were farmers. At some point, humans concentrated on specific traits of plants and animals they relied on for food. At that point, these traits were bred with other organisms with the same specific traits, tailoring to the needs of the ancient farmers and their families. In other words, even the "organic all natural food" has been changed dramatically from the organism it originally was. 

Pictured above: Modern John Deer combine
used for harvesting grain. Depending on when grain
is planted, it is harvested anywhere
 from May to September.

All human progression; whether it is agriculture, technology, or medicine has been relatively slow up until the last two centuries or so. In the 1900's  European plant scientists begin using Gregor Mendel's genetic theory to manipulate and improve plant species. This is called "classic selection." A plant of one variety is crossed with a related plant to produce desired characteristics. Progression of all types has accelerated from that time period, especially agriculture. 
Methods in modern agriculture have never been better. We can contribute much of the progression in agriculture to GMO's. It is not a new and untested thing, it is a science that is being perfected; and it started thousands of years ago. 

Who has the louder voice?

A major purpose in which people advocate and educate on the behalf of agriculture is because there are many people who are misinformed on the subject. In the last blog post I talked about how good I had it; in regards to the opportunity of having a background and knowledge of agriculture. As I left home and spent time in bigger cities and even out side of the country, I realized that many people are against agricultural practices that we use today.
One of the most controversial subjects in modern agriculture is the subject of GMO's (genetically modified organisms). People don't like the idea of their food being modified or changed. Trends of "organic" and "all natural" food are becoming more and more popular. I don't blame people for eating healthy food instead of processed food, although they need to understand some important facts about the food they are eating.

Pictured above: Physical differences are shown between traditional
 rice and "Golden Rice" at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines.
The GMO contains vitamin A to prevent deficiencies
 such as blindness in children in third world countries.
Photo by: Erik De Castro / Reuters

GMO's have DNA that is genetically altered so that they can be more efficient and beneficial for us. For example, products such as rice are used as a staple food throughout the world. Unfortunately, rice is not high in nutritional value, yet it is eaten almost every day in some cultures and areas of the world. Often, these people who use rice as a staple food live in third world or developing countries. They do not have access to other types of food that give them the nutrition that they need. A product was developed called "Golden Rice" to help solve the problem of vitamin A deficiency that some countries face. Health benefits from golden rice and other GMO's could help solve the problem of world hunger.
This topic of discussion has been one sided for too long. It is important that this side of the story is told. When people come to the knowledge of the benefits of modern agricultural practices, we can continue to go forward.