yearofplenty

Top Ten Posts of 2010 at Year of Plenty

According to Google Analytics these were the most popular blog posts on Year of Plenty in 2010.

1. Newsflash: Dairy Industry Wants You to Eat More Dairy - What's So Controversial About That?

This post created quite a stir. It got picked up by the president of Dairy Management Corp. and was emailed to all of his contacts. The folks at Domino's Pizza linked it all over the internet. James McWilliams at the Atlantic Monthly credited Bill Bishop at the Daily Yonder with being the first to grasp the way this story was being misreported, but I think I was the first one on the story. My first official big scoop.

2. World Comparison: Fresh vs. Processed Food Consumption

Google placed this high on their search criteria, so it has received a steady flow of clickers all year and also got picked up in some online communities.

3. How My Little Blog Out-Reported the New York Times

This was my follow up to the Newflash post about Dairy Management.

4. Roast House Coffee Newest Roaster on the Spokane Scene

This year I actually started doing some in-the-field reporting, visiting local businesses and writing up short narratives. Roast House was one of the first.

5. What Would You Do If You Had One Year to Live?

This was my first and only blog post to get "Dished," meaning Andrew Sullivan at the Daily Dish linked to it as one of his "Quotes of the Day". 

6. Wendell Berry: Gardening as Health Regimen and Holy Sacrament

This post got picked up a couple different places on the web.

7. American Farm Bureau President Declares War on "self-appointed and self promoting food experts" 

Unlike the post on Dairy Management where large ag interests were eager to see my blog as an asset, this post led to quite a push back from folks at the AFB and the conventional farming community. The AFB PR took issue with my characterization that the AFB president had declared war on consumers concerned with large ag. practices. 

8. Why You Shouldn't Rototill Your Garden

I did a whole series of gardening posts last Spring and this was the most popular of the bunch. Other popular gardening posts include; How to Turn Your Lawn Into a Vegetable Garden, Planning Your Garden Plot (Companion Planning, Rotation, and Location), How to Make Your Own Professional Seed Starting Soil Mix, Tips for Planting the Garden, 

9. How to Get Started Raising Chickens in Your Backyard: Choosing You Chickens

This was part of a series of posts on raising backyard chickens. The other posts included one on building and designing a chicken coop and another on convincing your spouse it's a good idea.

10. Year of Plenty | The Book

I'm told the book goes to print on January 15 and will be released on March 1, 2011.

Thanks for everyone who has contributed and commented on the blog in the last year. If you want to follow along in 2011 you can sign up for the RSS Feed here, you can follow the blog on Twitter here, or click the Like button below to follow on Facebook.

New Trend - Chicken Diapers for Your Household Chickens

I'm fairly passionate about backyard chickens but do people really bring chickens into their homes? I guess they do given the apparent popularity of chicken diapers pictured to the right. Here's the description at www.chickendiapers.com.

Welcome to the world of ChickenDiapers.com, a clean
place for chickens and their humans to sit! So you are looking for something to catch the recycled food coming out of the backside of a chicken.  You are afraid your friends and relatives think you have a screw loose.  Well, fear no more!  You are in the company of a steadily growing number of people who have discovered the joys of birdy companionship outside AND inside your home.  With so many of us, we can't all be wrong.

Actually...

Spokane Chicken Revolution Ctd - Meeting Nov. 17 to Change Spokane County Backyard Chicken Laws

On Wednesday, November 17 there will be an initial community meeting to discuss current zoning laws and draft new zoning language for backyard chickens in Spokane County. The meeting will convene at 5:30 pm at the Fresh Abundance Store, 2015 N. Division St., Spokane WA 99207. Email lparlange (at) hotmail (dot) com if you have questions. You can sign up for the Facebook Group related to changing backyard chicken laws in the Spokane area here. For more background go here and here.

Chicken Goodness

This picture of mechanically separated chicken has been floating around the internet for over a year. I think it originated here. According to Fooducate:

Someone figured out in the 1960’s that meat processors can eek eke out a few more percent of profit from chickens, turkeys, pigs, and cows by scraping the bones 100% clean of meat. This is done by machines, not humans, by passing bones leftover after the initial cutting through a high pressure sieve. The paste you see in the picture above is the result.

This paste goes on to become the main ingredient in many a hot dog, bologna, chicken nuggets, pepperoni, salami, jerky etc…

The industry calls this method AMR – Advanced Meat Recovery.

I noticed this weekend as I was eating a seafood version of Thai soup that I didn't mind so much eating the processed rolls of imitation crab made from fish paste. Maybe it's the blood or the bones but the picture above makes me glad I don't regularly eat industrial meat products anymore.

Bring on the Spokane Chicken Revolution

Yesterday I did an interview with KREM News regarding Spokane area chicken ordinances. Here's the headline for the story on their web site; "Man fights to make Spokane Valley more chicken-friendly." I hadn't really thought of it that way but I'll go along. Let the "fight" begin. It's time to organize the restless masses and work together for comprehensive changes to ordinances in the County, the City and Valley. Viva La Chicken Revolution. Go here to join the fight or drop me an email to get on the email list.

It's Time to Update Spokane County, Spokane Valley and City of Spokane Backyard Chicken Ordinances

There have been years of informal rumblings about problems with ordinances for people who want to keep chickens in residential areas in the Spokane area. The increasing popularity of backyard chickens and chicken coop tours has intensified the problem and it appears that the time may have arrived for residents to do something about it.

A resident of Spokane Valley has been put on notice because her property size does not meet the city's prohibitve requirement of having a very large lot in order to keep her chickens. She wrote a letter to the city council and they brought it up at their meeting last night and have referred it to the planning commission.

KREM news will run a story on the evening news tonight about the problems with the ordinance in the Valley and more broadly the problems with the County Ordinances, which don't allow chickens in residential neighborhoods at all, and the City of Spokane where the required distances of a coop from property lines and buildings are unreasonable.

I was interviewed for the story and it has spurred me to initiate some grassroots organizing to help with the effort of updating ordinances.

I've created a very basic Facebook page for people to "Like" and be in the loop on development. You can also email me at the link to the write if you'd like to be added to an email list. Make sure to let me know if you're in the County, Valley, or City of Spokane.

I've spoken to folks at Aslin Finch and Purina and they have expressed interest in helping with the cause.

Go here for my series of posts on Backyard Chickens.

Stay tuned for more information in the coming months.

The Low Down on the Egg Recall and Salmonella

I see today that the ever expanding egg recall has reached Washington State. To date 380 million eggs have been recalled as part of the current concern over people being sick from Salmonella. Here's the  lowdown on Salmonella bacteria;

This comes via the "You Can Prevent Food borne Illness" publication available through WSU extension.

Two similar groups of bacteria, Salmonella and Campylobacter, are normally found in warm blooded animals such as cattle, poultry,and pigs. These bacteria may be present in food products that come from these animals— such as raw meat, poultry, eggs, or unpasteurized dairy products. Salmonella also may be present on fresh fruits and vegetables.

Rinse all fresh fruits, including melons and vegetables, thoroughly under running water before preparing or eating them. It is true this will not remove all microorganisms, but it will reduce the number present. Pathogens have been isolated from a wide variety of fresh produce, and outbreaks of food borne illness have been associated with many types of produce—cantaloupes and tomatoes, for example. If the skin of the fruit or vegetable is contaminated, the pathogens move into the fruit when it is sliced. Removing the skin or rind reduces the risk.

Here's the more detailed version;

Salmonellosis and Campylobacteriosis Bacteria: widespread in nature; live and grow in intestinal tracts of humans and animals.

Examples of foods involved: Raw or undercooked poultry, meat and eggs. Unpasteurized dairy products. Contaminated raw fruits and vegetables.

Transmission: Eating contaminated food, or contact with infected persons or carriers of the infection. Also transmitted by insects, rodents, farm animals, and pets.

Symptoms: Diarrhea, fever, abdominal cramps and vomiting. Infants, elderly people, and immunocompromised persons are most susceptible. Severe infections cause high fever and may even cause death. In a small number of cases, can lead to arthritis and Gullian-Barre syndrome, an autoimmune disorder.

Onset: 1–5 days.
Duration: 2–7 days.
Prevention: Cook foods thoroughly. The bacteria are destroyed by heating the food to 140F for 10 minutes or to higher temperatures for less time— for instance, 160F for a few seconds. Chill foods rapidly in small quantities. Refrigerate at 40F. Wash hands, work surfaces and equipment after touching raw meat or poultry.

It's important to note that chickens naturally have salmonella bacteria in their intestinal tract so there is no way to guarantee the absence of the bacteria on eggs or in chicken meat. (UPDATE: Apparently the type of salmonella they are tracking down is in the ovaries of the chickens so it is found inside the egg.) The key distinction is the level of contamination. The more bacteria that is present in the eggs or in the meat, the more likely someone will fall ill.

Local organic chickens are going to have less bacteria. A recent study on chicken meat makes this very clear;

They found that 2/3 of the chicken for sale in the store had salmonella bacteria but if you look more closely the chickens raised and processed in factory conditions like Tyson and Foster Farms had over 80% of their product with salmonella. One of the problems is that an industry standard is to dunk all the chickens in the same big tub of water after processing. Organic chicken using air chilled coolers had only 40% of the meat with the presence of bacteria.

I'm not aware of a similar study with eggs but it stands to reason that the results would be similar. You can buy eggs at your local farmers' market or better yet, get your own chickens and you'll never have to buy another industrially polluted egg. Go here to see a series of posts I did on "How to get started raising chickens in your backyard."

Backyard Chickens and Arsenic Update

Hi all. Back from vacation and settling back into blogging routines.

I wanted to follow up on my two previous posts regarding the recent discovery of high arsenic levels in children from the eggs they were eating from their flock of backyard chickens. I reported previously that roxarsone is the ingredient in their backyard chicken feed that got into the eggs and ultimately into the kids' bodies.I spoke with a local sales representative from Purina and he had some helpful insights.

He mentioned that the feed with roxarsone is typically only used in the first couple months of a chicken's life as an antibiotic, specifically to treat and prevent coccidiosis, a common infection in animals caused by a parasite that can kill young chicks. When we started our backyard chicken flock we had a choice at the local feed supply store of medicated or non-medicated feed. We chose non-medicated and had no trouble with disease.

Layer feeds for chickens, the feeds designed to help chickens lay eggs, do not in general contain roxarsone. I checked the ingredient lists on our feeds that we've been using that they do not contain it. I'm guessing that with the family in Utah that ended up with high levels of arsenic in their kids were at fault. They were likely using a medicated feed intended for Pullets, and were mistakenly using it as a layer feed.

This brings up an important aspect of the rise in backyard chicken flocks. There are a lot of people out there who are getting chickens and are prone to making mistakes like the one the family in Utah made. With dogs, cats and fish the mistakes of novice owners are usually limited to the well being of the animals, but in the case of food providing chickens the mistakes can effect not only the health of the animals but the health of the family as well. I encourage new owners to get to know the folks at their local farm supply store and ask lots of questions.

My new friend from Purina mentioned that the news of the arsenic had created a huge stir in the animal feed world and he pointed the finger at blogs that hyped it up. I guess that would be me. If you Google "backyard chickens arsenic" my initial post is the top result. If I did unduly ring the alarm bells I want to moderate that a little. Like Gary Angel said, it's the responsibility of people to read the ingredients of what's in the feed. I had initially indicated I would move to organic feed but now that I've examined the ingredients in my feed I'll stick with it.

My Purina friend also mentioned that a common mistake of new chicken owners is to use white lights instead of red lights/heat lamps. Apparently the white lights can drive the chickens crazy, leading them to peck and cannibalize other chickens. He also mentioned that the next backyard farming trend that's gaining steam right now is goats. He said goats are huge right now. Hmmm. Not sure if the neighbors are ready for that yet, but it's something to think about. :)

Following Up on Arsenic in Chicken Feed - Recipe for Homemade Feed

Gary Angel, a veteran chicken farmer from Rocky Ridge Ranch, has chimed in on how to respond to the issue of arsenic in chicken feed. I thought it was worth sharing in a post.

Not all feeds contain antibiotic or arsenic. Just like human food better look at the ingredients label. If you can't figure it out, better not eat or feed it. Garbage in - Garbage Out! Organic Feed is not always the answer. Just because Organic doesn't mean quality.

Here's a recipe for home made feed: Cracked corn and cracked wheat (non Gmo) (Hutterites sell it), Alfalfa meal and/or ground peas, about half the mix.for protein and trace elements. Free Choice Oyster Shell. Mix in some Livestock salt with Minerals or order some Poultry Base Mix from WolfKill or other supplier. A little flax , canola, meal is also good. For young chicks add fish meal for more protein. Offer birds produce and fruit scraps, lawn clippings and meat scraps if chem free. Only give what they clean up right away. Kelp for trace elements. This is what we fed our birds before we got a grinder-mixer for doing large qty.'s

PS: If you have a barn or corral area with a lot of flies and other bugs, free ranging chickens are great for pest control.

The ingredient to look for on the label of your chicken feed is roxarsone. This is the arsenic based additive you want to avoid. You can buy meat, vegetables and eggs from Rocky Ridge Ranch at the Millwood and South Perry Farmers' Markets. The picture is of Gary's laying hens on the ranch.

Arsenic In Kids Traced to Backyard Chicken Feed

Some kids in Utah were found to have high levels of arsenic in their bodies and they traced the source to the eggs they were eating from their backyard chickens. Apparently the feed contained roxarsone, an arsenic based additive common in chicken feed. Grist has the scoop;

Used in combination with antibiotics, arsenic helps keep chickens, turkeys, and pigs from getting sick in crowded conditions, and also makes them grow bigger, faster. While this sounds nuts -- feeding a notorious poison to animals you plan to eat -- the poultry industry, along with Food and Drug Administration officials, is quick to point out that there are two kinds of arsenic: inorganic, aka the cancer-causing "bad" kind, which occurs naturally in the environment in combination with other elements such as oxygen, chlorine, and sulfur; and organic. No, not the kind you can get from Whole Foods: in this case "organic" refers to compounds containing carbon, or hydrogen. Organic arsenic is considered less toxic, and that's what's used in animal feed, usually in the form of roxarsone.

The key word there is "less." FDA spokesperson Ira Allen wrote in an email to me that:

FDA completed food safety assessments in conjunction with the approval of the arsenic-containing animal drug products. As part of that assessment process, FDA established tolerances for the presence of arsenic in animal-derived food. For example, the tolerance for total arsenic in uncooked muscle tissue from chickens is 0.5 parts per million (ppm). FDA does not at this time have evidence that residues of total arsenic in animal-derived food are exceeding the established tolerances.

Looks like our chickens are going to get an upgrade to spendy organic chicken feed.