CALF_News_August_September_2019

38 CALF News • August | September 2019 • www.calfnews.net I n a world of organic, natural, con- ventional, grass fed, grass finished, cage free, pasture raised, GMO, non-GMO, etc., there is a label for everything. There are producers produc- ing every type of food product in every possible way. Here’s my thing, I love the choices. I love that we live in America and have enough disposable income that we aren’t worried about when we are going to get our next meal, but rather what do we want for it. Whatever it is that you’re wanting, chances are pretty good that you can get it pretty fast. Matt and I have “pasture-raised” eggs. Growing up on a commercial cow- calf beef operation and marrying into another, chickens were a whole new world to my husband and me. We found a trailer complete with the chickens on Craigslist and, that night, we were in the chicken business. Our chickens live in a refurbished cattle trailer with a photo- synthetic door (fancy talk for the door opens automatically in the morning at first light and closes automatically at night). During the day, the girls and few roosters we have to protect them go anywhere they desire. They eat anything they want, my tomatoes and pepper plants included! We have free-choice corn for them in their trailer at all times. They lay their eggs in the boxes in the trailer, we hope anyway, and have water available inside or outside. They get to choose if they want the corn or if the bugs and grass and everything else out- side is enough. They get to choose if they want to go outside. The ladies are pretty spoiled and like their heat lamp on a cold winter day inside the trailer, but nevertheless, the choice is theirs. We have a neigh- bor who took our eggs to a family he worked with. The little girl in this family loved eggs, but got sick from store-bought eggs. The mom had tried all of the options, from conventional to organic and cage free to natural. Nothing worked; the little girl still got sick. Surpris- ingly, the girl didn’t get sick from our eggs. I can’t explain why our eggs worked for her and other eggs didn’t. SELLING WITH Are We Helping or Hurting Ourselves? What I know is the girl got to enjoy eggs without feeling sick, and I’m very happy we were a part of that. Our bodies are all made so differently. We are truly unique individuals. So many of us abuse our bodies and wonder why we feel so sluggish all the time. Just because the eggs worked for this little girl, doesn’t mean they will work for you. Just because somebody feels yucky with corn-finished beef, doesn’t mean the next person will. Just because somebody needs to be gluten free, doesn’t mean everybody does. This is the marketing that I can’t stand! We need to do a study of our- selves and figure out what makes us feel our best and not worry about every- body else. There is a place for every- body in the American market. When I market our eggs, I don’t say they are superior to everyone else’s eggs. I don’t say that they are the only eggs to eat. I don’t say that the other egg producers don’t care about their chickens because they are doing it differently than I am. I don’t say that if you don’t eat our eggs, you’re going to get sick. NO! BUZZ WORDS Story by Kelsey Pagel Contributing Editor