How do you know something is legitimate??

That is a big question, right? I recently started researching the meaning of the word "spirit" in the Bible. The typical protocol I follow when doing deep dives in the Bible study is to go to the original text whether Hebrew or Greek, then I use a Corresponding Word Study Dictionary to try and understand a word that was not originally in the English language. The language barrier can be quite significant. Some single words require a 4-5 page definition, with 20-50 different Scripture references to give contextual uses to gain understanding. It's intensive for sure, but I value knowing that I have legitimate understanding.

It strangely reminds me of the food labeling industry. There are terms that were not originally in the English language that have now become trendy and sought after. The true definition of these terms are often far from what you may think they mean. In my opinion, the creators of these terms were more motivated in creating encompassing terms that serve compromised treatments, rather than legitimate, clear, and accurate terms. These terms too, often may have pages of definitions for a single word. There are agencies that Elizabeth and I use to try and help navigate these murky waters to gain a better understanding. https://www.cornucopia.org/scorecards/ Cornucopia Institute is one source that we use and recommend. There have been books written, some of which I have yet to read, but plan to. "Beyond Labels" is one written by Dr. Sina McCullough and Joel Salatin. I'm partly resistant to reading it because I'm not looking forward to further advancing my grim perspective of the American food system. However I believe it to be legitimate. Just because something is on your grocers shelf, doesn't mean it's safe to consume.

Beliefs are something that we must make sure are legitimate because our lives and lifestyles are governed by them. Sometimes we're fine to ignore the lack of legitimacy because to know calls us to make a choice. The food choices that we make are foundational to our health. How many of us have "You are what you eat" imprinted upon our brains. It's true in a lot of ways, but when the people who are creating food labels are funded by larger companies whose interest is generating the most revenue. There is a lot of money to be made out there from food.

The graph above shows the drastic increase from the 60's through 2014 and you don't have to be too savvy to see that compromise is encouraged by the number of dollars spent. I would think that the ratio has broadened over the past ten years. When the majority of food manufacturers are investor driven, they must then be profit driven. What's the next step in that equation after efficiency has been met, compromised ingredients. One way to increase customers is to cut out the competition. If you want some very disturbing information concerning cutting out competition click this link for Joel Salatin's post. https://www.thelunaticfarmer.com/blog/5/16/2024/they-dont-quit

If we're being honest, preparing food in the home is less convenient, requires more time and energy, can even cost more at times. The trade off is buying something from McDonalds that is quick, cheap, and easy. Or you could opt for some frozen meals that have a shelf life just short of a decade, kidding, I'm not sure how long but it's a long time.

I'm not trying to beat anyone over the head with a stick here, but I do want to encourage people to think things through. It's so easy for us to just get on the train because everyone else is, not even knowing where it's going. When we prepare food in the home, we know what ingredients are going in it. More importantly, we know where these ingredients come from. Can you say that when you eat out of the home? More often than not I can't.

This is just one of our motives for doing what we do. We grew tired of a compromised diet where the main ingredient was convenience. Seeking convenience often times leads to compromise and compromise nearly always leads directly to rationalize. We want to make good and healthy choices for ourselves and that led to wanting to offer some opportunities for others. We include the opportunity to know the legitimacy of your food. Come and see what the animals eat, where and how they live, and avoid the confusion that comes with "labels".

So identifying that convenience is a primary factor in our choices, what can we do to make nutrient dense products more convenient for you? Leave comments or text / email me.

Your local farmer,

Gordon