During public radio station commute (my job) I was listening to Marketplace Money from American Public Media. The first interview on the show featured Jack Bogle – the legendary founder and retired CEO of The Vanguard Group, who has just published a book entitled: “The Little Book of Common Sense Investing.”
During the course of the interview I was reminded of a nice little saying: “Don’t consider just the probabilities that lie ahead…consider the consequences as well.” He was a strong advocate for planning long-term. Sounds about right to me.
I can relate the quote, planning for the consequences that lie ahead in terms of our farm’s decision to abandon certified organic poultry feed. In this context, it seems to make more sense. Let’s see…
If we decided to tough it out, and continue to pay upwards of $25 per 50 pound bag of organic feed, plus $20 each for both organic oats and organic corn (for scratch feed) — than we are feeding more than $65 dollars of feed per week for the birds alone. My business sense says that I should pass this cost on to the consumer in order to sustain our small farm business. I can’t. Short term, we absorbed the financial hit, and just did it. …But!
Long term, it could spell financial crisis for Wells Tavern Farm– and the consequence of that could ruin the farm — it could mean culling animals, the loss of used agricultural land, and the collapse for our family. Why? Because I think that this recession is long-term (two years) and not a little bubble.
Let’s move onto happier thoughts!
Omega-3
Some great and detailed benefits and scientific information about Omega-3’s can be found here.
What can high-omega-3 foods do for you?
- Reduce inflammation throughout your body
- Keep your blood from clotting excessively
- Maintain the fluidity of your cell membranes
- lower the amount of lipids (fats such as cholesterol and triglycerides) circulating in the bloodstream
- decrease platelet aggregation, preventing excessive blood clotting
- inhibit thickening of the arteries by decreasing endothelial cells’ production of a platelet-derived growth factor (the lining of the arteries is composed of endothelial cells)
- increase the activity of another chemical derived from endothelial cells (endothelium-derived nitric oxide), which causes arteries to relax and dilate
- reduce the production of messenger chemicals called cytokines, which are involved in the inflammatory response associated with atherosclerosis
- reduce the risk of becoming obese and improve the body’s ability to respond to insulin by stimulating the secretion of leptin, a hormone that helps regulate food intake, body weight and metabolism, and is expressed primarily by adipocytes (fat cells)
- help prevent cancer cell growth
What conditions or symptoms indicate a need for more high-omega-3 foods?
- Depression
- Cardiovascular Disease
- Type 2 Diabetes
- Fatigue
- Dry, itchy skin
- Brittle hair and nails
- Inability to concentrate
- Joint pain
SOLUTION:
Eat eggs that have been raised at Wells Tavern Farm– chickens eat little insects, worms and greens and a healthy diet that promotes higher Omega-3’s in our chickens pastured brown eggs!
Wells Tavern Farm’s chickens are now, officially not being fed organic feeds. Why? The cost was more than prohibitive, and it was very difficult to contemplate passing those costs along to the consumer.
So… what now? Well, we are excited to have researched and found a great alternative feed, that provides more protein to the hens than the organic feed did, and provides them with additional natural compounds help to prevent infection and the (ever possible) spread of disease-causing bacteria by natural stimulation of the animals immune system and binding toxins. At the same time, the resulting eggs from our farm will have enhanced Omega-3’s. That is a good thing.
This gives us some new Potential health benefits…
All-natural feed for the chickens that contains high levels of Omega 3 fatty acids. Omega 3 Fatty Acids have been used in Europe for years and the FDA has done extensive research to show that high levels of Omega 3 Fatty Acids –
- Reduce “Bad” cholesterol levels
- Lower incidence of heart disease
- Reduce levels of dementia
- Reduce levels of Attention Deficient Syndrome
There are absolutely NO animal by-products in the ingredients in this natural chicken feed. There are no hormones, and no antibiotics.
We will be offering the same high quality product, with an added omega-3 boost, to anyone who wants to stop by the farm and pickup a dozen or 18-pack of great, pastured or free-roaming (your choice of terminology) brown chicken eggs.
Posted by wellstavernfarm under
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Organic farming, or even simply the feeding of organic feeds to animals, has become cost prohibitive for many farmers. The New York Times published a very informative and horribly true article about this in the paper on the 18th. You should read it.
Here is a tease:
Sticker Shock in the Organic Aisles
By ANDREW MARTIN and KIM SEVERSON
Published: April 18, 2008
Rising prices for organic groceries are prompting some consumers to question their devotion to food produced without pesticides, chemical fertilizers or antibiotics….
On Marketplace Money, the public radio program from American Public Media that the radio station that I work at plays on Saturday evenings, had a great story about: “Paying Egg-Stra” With food prices on the rise, Sarah Gardner asks why it costs twice as much to make an omelette. She discovers cracking the price of eggs is quite the riddle.
We are facing the same issues that the very large chicken farmer in the story describes. Feed for chickens is really, really high right now. To get eggs, you need to keep the hens healthy and happy– and well fed.
Our eggs are $3 a dozen, and $4.50 for 18 eggs. That is the price that we set last year when we started offering eggs to the neighbors. I guess in a good world, that price seems high even to me, but it will only barely cover our feed costs for the ladies producing the eggs. We intend to keep our prices at this level as long as possible — we’ll see how bad things get before they turn around.
Speaking of money, if you have a Paypal account, you know about fees! I have signed up with a rival upstart company who does the same money transfer business that Paypal takes care of, but without passing along the fees to the account holder! You can’t use a credit card to fund the account — as it is actually a bank account– and, frankly, that is great with me– credit cards are evil! If you want to sign up, click the link and join the anti-Paypal movement! It will help this company attempt to give Paypal a run for their business. And don’t worry — the $25 sign up bonus for you is real, for a limited time. This company is not a scam, and is led and funded by some major international financial institutions and the FDIC.
Spring has sprung, and the chickens are back out in their pastures and happily laying eggs again.
Just stop by to purchase either a dozen or 18-pack of our pastured eggs. Take a moment and check out all of the baby goat kids in the pasture on your way to or from the farm — you can’t miss them!
