The Old Folks Home

[ChickenCanoe]

On another topic, 40% of the food produced in the US each year is wasted.
Tomorrow night there is a special called "Just Eat It, a food waste story". It is on MSNBC at 10PM Eastern, 9 Central.
http://www.msnbc.com/just-eat-it
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/watch/just-eat-it-a-food-waste-story-424128579751

When in Costa Rica, I passed a huge pile of bananas on the side of the road - it was a truckload. I didn't realize it at the time but they had been rejected because they weren't the correct curvature for export to the U.S..

 

[casportpony]

On another topic, 40% of the food produced in the US each year is wasted.
Tomorrow night there is a special called "Just Eat It, a food waste story". It is on MSNBC at 10PM Eastern, 9 Central.
http://www.msnbc.com/just-eat-it
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/watch/just-eat-it-a-food-waste-story-424128579751

When in Costa Rica, I passed a huge pile of bananas on the side of the road - it was a truckload. I didn't realize it at the time but they had been rejected because they weren't the correct curvature for export to the U.S..

The cattle place across from me has *truckloads* of rotting veggies from the local crops brought in for the cattle.

-Kathy

 

[ChickenCanoe]

This report is about perfectly good food that is discarded. Sometimes because it is close to the best by date. Which is the date it is at it's peak.
One segment is about $14,000 of organic chocolate being discarded because it had the wrong labeling.
Hear that Diva?
Another was about grocers tossing bagged lettuce 3 days before the sell by date.

 

[vehve]

When we entered EU, one of the things highlighted was that there was an EU standard for the curvature of cucumbers. That has to be the silliest thing ever. There was also a large campain in some European supermarkets about "ugly" vegetables being perfectly edible too. I think some chain started making smoothies and soups out of them and probably ended up making more money on the sub-par veggies than the regular stuff.

 

[getaclue]

Years ago, I had a friend that took on an extra job, that was temporary, to supplement his income. The job was disposing of bananas that had been shipped on a banana boat, but the refrigeration had broken down, and they were not kept cold enough during transport. There was nothing wrong with the bananas, but their shelf life would have been reduced because the temperature was not kept low enough. The insurance company for the supplier, paid the company for the lost shipment. To pay the claim for the lost shipment, the insurance company had to declare them to be of $0.00 value, and they became the property of the insurance company. My friend, and the others that had been hired to dispose of the bananas asked why they could not give some of the boxes of bananas to some of the local food banks, since it was such a waste to dispose of perfectly good bananas, and the food banks would distribute them quickly, so shelf life was not a critical factor. The response was that if they could be eaten, they would have value. In order for the supplier to be paid for the lost shipment, the bananas had to be of $0.00 value, and disposed of. Those perfectly good bananas could not be given to anyone. All boxes of the bananas were accounted for at the disposal site, to validate the $0.00 value claim for the shipment. I also mentioned that by giving the bananas to the needy, it might impact banana sales for a week or two, slightly reducing the income of all those involved, from the grower, to the end point of sale.

Our government pays millions in research for increased milk production in cows, which creates enough surplus that dairy prices would fall, so they pay millions to dump the surplus in the river(s) to keep the prices up, and the market viable.

The reason there is only Grade A, is because no one can make as much money on Grade B. Remember, our government makes money on all this too, so keeping the prices up benefits them. Are we able to make most food much more affordable to everyone, and adequately feed the needy? Yes. Should we? Yes. Do we? No, because it's not lucrative, and would impact the profit margin for everyone involved. It's about greed, not about taking care of our citizens.

 

[Beer can]

There was something I watched, probably 'Food Inc.' that spoke of how the food in our grocery stores, the produce, vegetables fruits, most of it is more of a display for looks to get people to buy, they overstock just so they have a nice display like a billboard of each thing, and then the majority is thrown away.

 

[Beer can]

'Food Inc.' talks a little about our govt. involvement in the food industry also, it's not right.
I live in a dairy area, friends and neighbors for dairy farmers, and I work at a dairy plant.
Dairy Marketing Services DMS was started to help the farmers market their milk, getting more money for the farmers as a coalition. Through the years they apparently got greedy and have become big business themselves. There is a lawsuit now against DMS for manipulating the prices lower for all the various dairy factories, somehow making more money for themselves. DMS has a monopoly on where the milk goes. Even independent co-ops and large independent market their own milk farms ultimately have to go through DMS. The judgement against them to be paid back to the farmers was in the multi millions. The judge ruled it wasn't enough and wants hasher punishment. I haven't heard any updates yet.

 

[perchie.girl]

Deb, tough decisions, weighing what's best for you and what's best for the animal, and trying to make the best of the situation. The continuing drought might eventually make it impossible for you to keep her on your land. I'd say most working animals are happiest when they're given a chance to work. However, my experience comes from dogs, I haven't spent much time around horses.

I did meet the most adorable little pony on Saturday though. It was a horrid little pig, for treats it would stand on it's hind legs or shake hands with you. Fat too, it kept walking around the stable looking for something to eat. The owner said she would like to keep it together with her real horse, as they're such good friends, but the little guy would eat way too much if it had the same access to feed as the bigger one requires, so they had to have a wall between them.

There is something called a Grazing muzzle.... Ponies are notoriously easy keepers. They make them for all sized horses. They can eat and drink through the muzzel but they can only get a few bits of food through. Sounds cruel but its Far better than having them founder....

Yep Draft horses have a huge work ethic. Though Katee is too old now to "start" a job. She would be a good pasture companion to another Draft. The gal who offered to take her Just bought her new house and land in Montana. There are no horse facilities yet... but its 20 acres of very very pretty Pine covered land. She will bring her boys up and board them till they can get a barn and fences in....

When she gets them settled in the next year or so I will gently broach the subject again. I am certainly not holding my draft horse friend to something she said in passing. If she changes her mind I have a couple more places to send Katee if need be.

If the water runs out at the house I can bring her into town till I can find a place for her. I have a srtategy that will extend that amount of time at least for her. By trickle feeding the big water tank I can go with less than 50 feet of water in the well. I can also live there with extreme water conservation.... I will have to talk to the well Guy to find out my water depth though.

deb

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

There is something called a Grazing muzzle.... Ponies are notoriously easy keepers. They make them for all sized horses. They can eat and drink through the muzzel but they can only get a few bits of food through. Sounds cruel but its Far better than having them founder....



deb

My little fatty, Yahzi, has a muzzle - there's a reason her nickname is short-round.

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
its going to take more than a good rain to refill the reservoirs..... Like ten years worth...


http://imgur.com/a/IgoUq

its a bunch of before and after pictures of the reservoirs befores are in 2011 afters are 2014.

deb