Homestead mailing list

[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

On Jan 31, 2008, at 10:27 AM, Clansgian AT wmconnect.com wrote:

> The first line of defense, of course, would be to grow your own.   
> Baring
> that, buy from  the people who are actually growing it, people you  
> know well
> enough or are open enough for you to see that it is orgainic and  
> free-range.  Only
> if those fail, look to the label.  And if you are stuck with relying  
> on the
> label, you are rolling the dice.

All true.

I have talked to a couple poultry meat and egg producers in the south- 
central Missouri area. While they do their best, they both stated that  
it is nigh impossible for them to produce meat or eggs using only  
organically-grown grains. All of the commercial grain sources require  
large bulk purchases before the price is low enough for the poultryman  
to make a profit. Providing proper storage facilities for these  
quantities is out of the question for them. That part of the world  
tends to be rocky, poor soil on which grains do not do well, so there  
is also the issue of distance/transportation/energy waste.

Likewise, when I am keeping my own hens, I have thus far been unable  
to find organic feed at any reasonable price. Until I grow my own  
grains I am eating eggs that may well be less organic that what I can  
buy in a store. The best I can do is to provide so much pasture,  
kitchen scraps and garden waste that they eat very little of the  
purchased, non-organic feed at the end of the day. Feasible in summer,  
impossible in winter.