Category: Health

Pet Food

Leave a comment

Pet food has become more expensive, along with other food. Here is a suggestion for cutting costs and at the same time giving your pet an even better quality food. Feed your dog or cat the parts of the pasture raised chicken that you get from us that you can’t eat – the carcass. The savings on pet food will reduce the real cost of your chicken. Dogs will readily eat raw chicken bones and they need the calcium and minerals in the bones. When a fox kills and eats one of our chickens, all that is left is a pile of feathers. Raw chicken bones are not brittle, and a dog can eat them and readily digest them. There is a growing trend of feeding pets a BARF diet (Bones and Raw Food). You can do a Google search to find out more information.

Many pets are getting the same degenerative diseases as human beings. They are eating the wrong foods and poor quality foods, just like most people are. Your pet has a shorter lifespan than what you do which means that degenerative diseases show up sooner than they do in people. If your pet eats a similar diet to your own, and they get a degenerative disease, it may be a warning sign to you that your diet is not what it should be. While the diet needs of humans and animals are not totally the same, we can learn a lot about human health and nutrition by observing our animals and learning from them what makes them healthy.

How to prepare the chicken carcass for your pet food.
When you take the fresh chicken home, it is relatively simple (after you do it a once or twice) to cut off the leg and thigh on each side of the chicken. Using a large sharp knife, cut the skin separating the thigh and the carcass. Then bend the leg to give access to the hip joint and cut through the joint in the hip. Cut off the wings in a similar manner. Then slice off the breast meat starting along the breast bone, and carve the meat off following the rib cage. If you didn’t cut it up quite right, that’s alright. There is no real loss. It just means you get a little less meat and your pet gets a little more. You can cut the carcass into smaller pieces using a knife to cut and break the backbone at a joint, or you could use a clean hacksaw to cut through the bones. The carcass pieces that you don’t feed the first week you can put in small packages and put in the freezer.

Another suggestion for cutting pet food costs is to feed a raw egg to your dog or cat. A dozen large eggs weighs one and a half pounds. Eggs are a cheaper source of protein for both you and your pet when compared to meat. We feed some of the cracked eggs to our cats. They love eggs and it puts a shine to their fur. However, if we feed them too many eggs they get tired of them. They need more variety than just eggs. Spice up their life and give them some variety of good healthy foods.

What is the Difference?

Leave a comment
Jehovah-Jireh Farm Chicken Grocery Store Free-range Organic Chicken
True free-range, pasture raised

Large confinement factory farm chicken house with limited or no access to the out of doors.
No Vaccinations Many vaccinations
Practically no ammonia smell in shelter Lots of ammonia vapor in the chicken house
Normal day lighting Artificial lighting 23 hours a day
Small groups (350 or less) Huge groups (10,000 or more)
Low stress in small groups High stress in large groups
Clean air Air hazy with fecal particles and ammonia
Fresh air and sunshine Limited or no access to sunshine
Plenty of exercise Limited exercise
Fresh daily salad bar (pasture) Basically no greens
Local Trucked in from out of state
Promotes family farming Promotes large corporations
Rural revitalization Promotes urban expansion
Consumer/producer relationship Consumer/producer alienation
Environmentally friendly

Same environmental impact as conventional confinement chicken houses

The difference between the two is much more than the "free-range" grocery store label implies. The "free-range" grocery store chicken is not much different from conventional chicken, except it receives organic feed and does not receive antibiotics, or arsenic (fed as a growth stimulator!). A door may be open to let a few broilers out to scratch in the dirt.

Meat is much more than a combination of nutrients that we eat. All meat is not the same. We have been conditioned to believe that all meat is the same and that the main difference is the price. That is not true. Even though the nutrients in a downed cow and the nutrients in a healthy beef may analyze in the lab basically the same, the true nutrition is NOT the same! The same is true in the way chickens are raised. Just as we need sunshine, sunshine is important for chickens too. Just as fresh green vegetables are important in our diet, so fresh green vegetables (grass, clover, etc.) are important in a chicken’s diet. It is important that we get exercise to be healthy. So it is important that the meat we eat had the proper amount of exercise to be healthy as well. It is important that we get plenty of fresh air. In the same way it is important that the chicken meat we eat was not raised in an environment where the air was hazy with with manure dust and ammonia. We are what we eat. The way that the meat that we eat was raised is important. It has an effect on our bodies. That is why we, at Jehovah-Jireh Farm, go to the extra work to produce a product that is raised in the best way possible.

The Importance of a BIG Breakfast

Leave a comment

Several months ago we shared with you the account of the gigantic old-fashioned mountain breakfast of 75 years ago. I asked a number of questions: Should we change the order of the size of our meals with the largest meal at breakfast and the smallest meal in the evening? Does our body work best if it is operating off of the energy from the meal that we just ate, or does it work best refilling the body reserves with a big meal in the evening? Does eating a big meal in the evening and a small breakfast program our body to store the food we eat as fat for a reserve rather than flushing out the surplus?

We decided to try eating a big breakfast. Our whole family was pleased with the results. We found that we do not get as hungry the rest of the day, even when we do a lot of physical work like splitting firewood. We have more energy. We do not feel as much of a need for a mid-morning snack. Cathy was pleased to find she lost a little weight as well.

In researching about breakfast, I found that breakfast is an important meal of the day. Most of the food we eat passes through the stomach in about three hours and starts giving us the energy for the tasks at hand. It gives our brain energy to be able to think and function. Eating a big breakfast can help in weight control because it helps you eat fewer calories the rest of the day. When we eat a large meal in the evening and then do not exercise much, our bodies tend to store the excess food energy as fat.

Eggs are one of the best protein sources and are an important breakfast food for growing children who need protein to build strong bones and bodies. Eggs are an excellent quick breakfast food for adults as well. They have found that eggs do not contribute to cholesterol in adults like they used to say that they did. The best eggs are those from hens that are fed organic grains, have free access to the out of doors, sunlight, and can eat plenty of fresh greens. Our pasture raised eggs help you start your day right.

By the way, did you ever see how little grain is actually in a box of store bought cereal? I weighed out some wheat that was the same amount as the weight of a box of bran flakes. It only filled 1 1/2 inches in the bottom of the box! At $9.50 a bushel for wheat, the farmer would have received only about 17 cents for the food in a box of cereal! The box probably costs more than the grain.

MSG is Being Sprayed on our Fruits and Vegetables!

Leave a comment

    I (Myron) was shocked when I found out that free glutamic acid, the main ingredient in MSG, is being sprayed on some fruit and vegetable crops to make bigger and more attractive produce. It is also used as a pesticide. My father had problems with pain in his shoulders, and the doctor tested him and found that he had a lot of MSG in his body. My parents were surprised, because they have been careful to not use MSG in their food. What we found is that MSG is being used in food and listed under many different names other than MSG. It is in almost all processed foods. In addition, it is being sprayed on some crops such as grapes, celery, cucumbers, navy and pinto beans, green beans, peppers, Iceberg lettuce, Romaine and Butter Leaf lettuce, tomatoes and watermelons, as well as many others.

    Another thing that I found is that "organic" does not mean no MSG.  Autolyzed yeast, natural flavoring and hydrolyzed protein in organic products contain just as much processed free glutamic acid (MSG) as conventional products. Products sold, or labeled as 100 percent organic have to be 100% organic. However, products sold or labeled as organic must contain at least 95% organic material. As much as 5% of an organic product can be non-organic ingredients (most of the flavorings, etc)!

    It is thought to be cheaper or at least easier to buy our fruits and vegetables at the grocery store. However, this is one more reason why it’s time to start growing your own food or to at least purchase it from a trusted source where you know how it was raised. In addition, as more and more of our food is being imported from countries that do not have the regulations on chemical usage that we have here in the US, we become even more vulnerable in the chemical contamination of our food supply.

You may find some of these articles on MSG being sprayed on our crops interesting:

http://www.relfe.com/07/glutamic_acid_glutamate_msg.html

http://www.truthinlabeling.com/organicP.html

http://www.westonaprice.org/MSG-Updates/

The following is from Dr. Jordan Rubin’s recent newsletter:

How to Get Sick: Eat Grocery Store Produce and Processed Foods

"What a mouthful—literally! Pesticides and herbicides are among the world’s most deadly chemical compounds. If a pesticide or herbicide kills one thing, it will probably kill, mutate, or seriously damage a whole host of other things. The problem with these compounds is that they tend to stay on the fruit, vegetable, or plant they were applied to. Toxins from our water, air, food, and buildings only make things worse."

Farming and Health—There is Much More To Learn

Leave a comment

Several months ago we realized that we need to learn more about farming and health. Yes, pasture raised meats are important, and organic is important, but they are only two pieces of the pie, not the whole pie or the whole picture. We asked God again to teach us how to farm and from then to now has been an intense learning time. I feel like I am being catapulted along faster than my little brain can absorb everything.

One of the things we learned was at a seminar in Lancaster Pa. where Dr. Arden Anderson was one of the speakers. Dr. Anderson is a medical doctor as well as an agronomist — an unusual combination of training but one which all doctors should have. One of the things that he said was that insects are the garbage crew. If insects are eating a plant or fruit or vegetable, it means it is garbage and is not nutritious enough to eat. He has found that by increasing the mineral and nutrient content of the plant, fruit, or vegetable, insects will leave it alone. Their digestive system cannot handle the increased nutrients in the plants. They get diarrhea and die. Modern science and farming has taken a different approach. They kill the garbage crew (insects) and feed us the "garbage"! The majority of the food we eat today is "garbage".

After we were home again a Bible verse came to our minds "Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles" (Psalms 103:5) How does an eagle renew its youth? How can we become young again? The answer is fascinating. An eagle can live to be as much as 50 years old. Periodically, after a certain number of years, an eagle will go somewhere by itself. It will shed all of its old feathers and grow new feathers. Its claws will grow until new claws have appeared. When the eagle returns to its natural habitat it looks like a young eagle even though it is many years old.

We too, just like the eagle, are continually shedding old cells and new cells are taking their place. Regardless of how old you are, you are not more than about 16 years old!! You will be 16 until the day you die! About the only cells that are with us from birth are our brain cells and perhaps our nerve cells.

  • Gut lining cells are about 5 days old.

  • Skin cells are 14 days old

  • Red blood cells are 120 old or less

  • The entire human skeleton is replaced every 10 years or so.

  • The cells in the liver have a turnover time of 300 to 500 days.

  • Muscle cells are about 15 years old.

  • Gut cells other than the lining are about 16 years old.

Suddenly I realized how people before the flood could have lived to be 900+ years old. The fountain of youth is within us and our youth is continually being renewed. At least that is how the body was originally designed to work. There is a prophecy in Isaiah that when the Messiah comes for the 1000 year reign, people will again live very long lives. "There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die a hundred years old; but the sinner being a hundred years old shall be accursed." (Isaiah 65:20)

So why are we not living longer now? Part of the answer is found in Psalms 103:5 where it explains how our youth is renewed. It states that our mouth is filled with good things and then our youth is renewed like the eagles. The problem is that we have been eating garbage (food) that is grown in mineral and nutrient depleted soils. This is not a new problem. Farmers and rain have been depleting the soils since the flood. The soil is not nearly as rich, healthy, and productive as it has the potential of being. Our cells are built from the garbage. When our new cells replace the old cells, the new ones are made from mineral and nutrient deficient food, just like the ones they replaced. The new cells don’t have the energy to be youthful. However, if we fill our mouths with good things and eat nutrient dense foods, then our new cells will be stronger and more healthy than our old cells – the renewing of our youth.

Understanding that the cells in our body are renewed on a regular basis sheds some light on our health. One is that it is possible to change the makeup of our bodies over time by changing what we eat. We are not necessarily doomed because of where our body is now health wise. Another is that our body is what it is because of what we have eaten over the last 16 years and what we eat now will affect the quality of some of our cells for the next 16 years. We like instant results in health, but in reality, some of the health renewal will take years of eating right until all the cells are rebuilt with healthy components. This concept of our youth being renewed like the eagles has shed a whole new light on the importance of us producing nutrient dense nutritional food. Again, let me emphasize that this is not the full picture of what constitutes health, it is only one piece of the full picture.

Gigantic Breakfasts

Leave a comment

We thought that you would find the historical perspective of breakfasts in the Appalachian mountains interesting. Breakfast is an important meal. It gives us the energy we need after fasting for 12 hours or so during the night to go through the first half of our working day. The following is an excerpt from the cookbook, Mountain Country Cooking: A Gathering of the Best Recipes from the Smokies to the Blue Ridge by Mark Sohn.

"People may argue about what to serve for an old-fashioned mountain breakfast, but on one issue everyone agrees: Fifty to seventy-five years ago, mountain people ate gigantic breakfasts. Over the last seventy-five years, however, our lives and our breakfast have changed.

"I have observed three phases in the evolution of mountain country breakfasts. First, seventy-five years ago, just after the railroads pressed their steel tracks into mountain coal fields, breakfast was really big. The cook loaded the table with bacon, sausage, and pork chops – all at the same meal. If they were saving the pork chops for another day, they served ribs, back bones, fried chicken, or country ham.  With this they often ate fried potatoes or hash browns, buttermilk biscuits, breakfast sausage gravy, homemade blackberry jam, grits or hominy, and eggs, eggs, eggs. To top it off, they may have eaten apple or pumpkin pie, milk, juice, and coffee. These foods, which they called victuals, stuck to the ribs and supported outdoor labor until the mid-day lunch.

"In the 1950’s breakfasts got smaller. We traded toast for biscuits, the pie disappeared, and bacon, sausage, or ham often stood alone with eggs. Hot cereal or sweet potatoes sometimes managed a place on the table. We served milk, juice, and coffee, and perhaps hot or cold cereal."In recent years – the fat fighting  nineties – country cooks, like others, reserve eggs and bacon for special occasions. We worry about cholesterol. We cover dry cereal with skim or low-fat milk, we microwave a frozen bagel, or we lower a toaster pastry into the toaster. No time for hot cereal. No eggs. No pork chops. No cooking. It’s often an on-the-go breakfast."

After reading this account of the gigantic old-fashion mountain breakfast it got me to thinking. Should we change the order of the size of our meals with the largest meal at breakfast and the smallest meal in the evening? Does our body work best if it is operating off of the energy from the meal that we just ate, or does it work best refilling the body reserves with a big meal in the evening? Does eating a big meal in the evening and a small breakfast program our body to store the food we eat as fat for a reserve rather than flushing out the surplus? This is a subject worth researching and finding out more about it.