Common Sense Agriculture's Blog

The 'Boss Burger," my favorite at 'Dotty's'!

I own and wear a pink shirt. I even have and wear several pink ties. However, this post isn’t about apparel…sorry.

“Pink Slime” has hit the media yet again in recent days. Several of my friends in social media have inquired what my thoughts were on a number of videos and news reports: Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution ‘70% of Americas Beef Is Treated With Ammonia,’ Fox News Report ‘Pink Slime in 70% Of Ground Beef,’ and ABC News ‘Where You Can Get Pink-Slime Free Beef,’ were the three most cited.

Can you imagine taking fresh picked fruit, misting it with ammonia hydroxide to eliminate bacteria, sticking it in a blender, cooking it, putting it in a jar and then selling it for human consumption? Most of us do, by purchasing jelly and jam to go with our peanut butter.

Can you imagine taking fresh picked lettuce or spinach, misting it with ammonia hydroxide to eliminate bacteria, putting it in a package, selling it, buying it, opening it, adding croutons, tomato and ranch dressing and then eating it? Many of us do, purchasing prepackaged salad to eat before supper.

This post is not intended to promote, nor condemn the practice of utilizing ammonium hydroxide, but rather to present some facts and allow you to make your own decisions. This is not a “new” process, nor is it solely utilized by the meat industry. The questions are those that I have been asked over the past four days. Read more…

Growth of Farmers Markets

For the most part, infrastructure exists to meet the needs of local markets across the country. Granted, processing facilities in many regions are limited, but generally speaking, are able to provide adequate service to keep producers with product to supply Farmers Markets and direct sales.

I feel there is general agreement that if more facilities were available and/or existing facilities were able to expand, more farmers and ranchers would be able to market their product on a regional (larger scale) than just locally. The big question is how can we improve the infrastructure to create viable regional opportunities? Read more…