Sunday, February 23, 2014
Sunday, February 16, 2014
GMOs and Fertility
The information presented here, has caused this journalist to want to do further research. In homesteading for nearly a decade, I've watched the fertility rate decrease in my goat herd. When I first began homesteading, triplets didn't arrive every day, but were certainly not uncommon. Usually, at least one doe gave birth to triplets each year. Twins were abundant! It seemed in 2010 that all changed. It probably wasn't that drastic, but that was the last year twin deliveries exceeded single births, and the last year for triplets.
I'll be clear about this, as I never purchased the special feed with hormones to increase weight and productivity, but it is available. I also made a point of not purchasing medicated feed, but organic and natural are defined rather vaguely, so I'm sure in the mix, even without hormones and medication, it wasn't without human tampering . . .
Our Creator impressed upon me last year to begin raising my own livestock feed, as GMOs are rumored to be causing fertility issues. So, I did what I understood to do. I raised an heirloom beet that was recommended for growth and weight in livestock. The herd loved them! I didn't plant enough last year, so I have had to purchase some non-GMO feed which is more expensive than what I used to buy, but I didn't purchase any feed until this last month, when I ran out of the beets I'd raised.
Interestingly this year, with the exception of two young nannies, this year's kids are arriving in pairs. I realize this isn't enough research to draw a conclusion at this time, but it is enough evidence that I'll be raising my own livestock feed again this year.
I'll be clear about this, as I never purchased the special feed with hormones to increase weight and productivity, but it is available. I also made a point of not purchasing medicated feed, but organic and natural are defined rather vaguely, so I'm sure in the mix, even without hormones and medication, it wasn't without human tampering . . .
Our Creator impressed upon me last year to begin raising my own livestock feed, as GMOs are rumored to be causing fertility issues. So, I did what I understood to do. I raised an heirloom beet that was recommended for growth and weight in livestock. The herd loved them! I didn't plant enough last year, so I have had to purchase some non-GMO feed which is more expensive than what I used to buy, but I didn't purchase any feed until this last month, when I ran out of the beets I'd raised.
Interestingly this year, with the exception of two young nannies, this year's kids are arriving in pairs. I realize this isn't enough research to draw a conclusion at this time, but it is enough evidence that I'll be raising my own livestock feed again this year.
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Food Bill Becomes Law
It would seem having friends in high places works very well in this country. I shudder to even imagine what the American food supply will be in less than five years. A comment and thread in social media about GMO usually catches my attention, and this time, I felt the need to post a reminder that it was none other than Monsanto that brought us Agent Orange.
I was a bit shocked to be taken to task on my post. Not that I'm a stranger to reprimands on social media, but in defense of Monsanto. Seems I ruffled the feathers of someone who thinks speaking against genetic altering was "judged" to be judgmental and unforgiving. I was told a company could change their ways. I don't disagree, but this one hasn't. As for judging. That Scripture out of context has gotten a real work out lately.
Is it judgmental to say we shouldn't eat what our Creator has called unclean? Is it judgmental to prefer no scorpion DNA in my cabbage? Is it judgmental to state the obvious demise of the bee population in correlation to pesticides and manufactured pollen? Then I guess, I have to admit being judgmental. Perhaps, if organic farming and creationism had their own personal FDA appointee and their own personal Supreme Court Justice, I'd feel differently, but that's not the way it is.
I'm alright to be judged as I'm judging. With labeling I could keep the GMOs out of my diet, so I don't have to worry about hypocrisy.
I was a bit shocked to be taken to task on my post. Not that I'm a stranger to reprimands on social media, but in defense of Monsanto. Seems I ruffled the feathers of someone who thinks speaking against genetic altering was "judged" to be judgmental and unforgiving. I was told a company could change their ways. I don't disagree, but this one hasn't. As for judging. That Scripture out of context has gotten a real work out lately.
Is it judgmental to say we shouldn't eat what our Creator has called unclean? Is it judgmental to prefer no scorpion DNA in my cabbage? Is it judgmental to state the obvious demise of the bee population in correlation to pesticides and manufactured pollen? Then I guess, I have to admit being judgmental. Perhaps, if organic farming and creationism had their own personal FDA appointee and their own personal Supreme Court Justice, I'd feel differently, but that's not the way it is.
I'm alright to be judged as I'm judging. With labeling I could keep the GMOs out of my diet, so I don't have to worry about hypocrisy.
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)