Sunday, January 31, 2010


I was thinking...why...

Only in America ......do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.

Only in America .....do people order double cheeseburgers, large fries, and a diet coke.

Only in America .....do banks leave vault doors open and then chain the pens to the counters.

Only in America .....do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our useless junk in the garage.

Only in America .........do we buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight.

Only in America .....do they have drive-up ATM machines with Braille lettering.

EVER WONDER ...
Why the sun lightens our hair, but darkens our skin?

Why can't women put on mascara with their mouth closed?

Why don't you ever see the headline 'Psychic Wins Lottery'?

Why is 'abbreviated' such a long word?

Why is it that doctors call what they do 'practice'?

Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor, and dishwashing liquid made with real lemons?

Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?

Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?

Why isn't there mouse-flavored cat food?

Why didn't Noah swat those two mosquitoes?

Why do they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?

You know that indestructible black box that is used on airplanes? Why don't they make the whole plane out of that stuff?!

Why don't sheep shrink when it rains?

Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together?

If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?

If flying is so safe, why do they call the airport the terminal?

Thursday, January 28, 2010


Judas Asparagus

If you need a laugh today, then this should do it!!!
Arthor Unkown

A child was asked to write a book report on the entire Bible.
This is amazing and brought tears of laughter to my eyes.
I wonder how often we take for granted that children understand what we are teaching???
Through the eyes of a child:

The Children's Bible in a Nutshell

In the beginning, which occurred near the start, there was nothing but God, darkness, and some gas.. The Bible says, 'The Lord thy God is one, but I think He must be a lot older than that.
Anyway, God said, 'Give me a light!' and someone did.
Then God made the world.
He split the Adam and made Eve. Adam and Eve were naked, but they weren't embarrassed because mirrors hadn't been invented yet.
Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating one bad apple, so they were driven from the Garden of Eden.....Not sure what they were driven in though, because they didn't have cars.
Adam and Eve had a son, Cain, who hated his brother as long as he was Abel.
Pretty soon all of the early people died off, except for Methuselah, who lived to be like a million or something.
One of the next important people was Noah, who was a good guy, but one of his kids was kind of a Ham. Noah built a large boat and put his family and some animals on it. He asked some other people to join him, but they said they would have to take a rain check.
After Noah came Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob was more famous than his brother, Esau, because Esau sold Jacob his birthmark in exchange for some pot roast. Jacob had a son named Joseph who wore a really loud sports coat.
Another important Bible guy is Moses, whose real name was Charlton Heston. Moses led the Israel Lights out of Egypt and away from the evil Pharaoh after God sent ten plagues on Pharaoh's people. These plagues included frogs, mice, lice, bowels, and no cable.

God fed the Israel Lights every day with manicotti. Then he gave them His Top Ten Commandments. These include: don't lie, cheat, smoke, dance, or covet your neighbor's stuff.
Oh, yeah, I just thought of one more: Humor thy father and thy mother.
One of Moses' best helpers was Joshua who was the first Bible guy to use spies. Joshua fought the battle of Geritol and the fence fell over on the town.
After Joshua came David. He got to be king by killing a giant with a slingshot. He had a son named Solomon who had about 300 wives and 500 porcupines. My teacher says he was wise, but that doesn't sound very wise to me.
After Solomon there were a bunch of major league prophets.. One of these was Jonah, who was swallowed by a big whale and then barfed up on the shore.
There were also some minor league prophets, but I guess we don't have to worry about them.
After the Old Testament came the New Testament. Jesus is the star of The New. He was born in Bethlehem in a barn. (I wish I had been born in a barn too, because my mom is always saying to me, 'Close the door! Were you born in a barn?' It would be nice to say, 'As a matter of fact, I was.')
During His life, Jesus had many arguments with sinners like the Pharisees and the Democrats.
Jesus also had twelve opossums.
The worst one was Judas Asparagus. Judas was so evil that they named a terrible vegetable after him.
Jesus was a great man. He healed many leopards and even preached to some Germans on the Mount.


But the all of the Pontiticians put Jesus on trial before Pontius the Pilot. Pilot didn't stick up for Jesus. He just washed his hands instead. Anyways, Jesus died for our sins, and then came back to life again. He went up to Heaven but will be back at the end of the Aluminum. His return is foretold in the book of Revolution.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Health Benefits of Sauerkraut

Dutch sauerkraut ("zuurkool") mashed with potatoes in pan

[[Image:Choucroute-p1030189.jpg|thumb|right|Choucroute garnie, a traditional dish of Alsace, where sauerkraut is

Sauerkraut (including liquid)
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 78 kJ (19 kcal)
Carbohydrates 4.3 g
Sugars 1.8 g
Dietary fibre 2.9 g
Fat 0.14 g
Protein 0.9 g
Water 92 g
Vitamin B6 0.13 mg (10%)
Vitamin C 15 mg (25%)
Iron 1.5 mg (12%)
Sodium 661 mg (29%)
Percentages are relative to US recommendations for adults.
Source: USDA Nutrient database

Raw sauerkraut is extremely healthy. It is an excellent source of vitamin C, lactobacilli, and other nutrients. However, the low pH and abundance of otherwise healthy lactobacilli may upset the intestines of people who are not used to eating acidic foods. (In such cases, it is advisable to eat small amounts daily until the person's digestive system adjusts.) Studies suggest that fermented cabbage may be even more healthy than the raw vegetable, with increased levels of anti-cancer agents such as isothiocyanates.[3]

Before frozen foods and the importation of foods from the Southern hemisphere became readily available in northern and central Europe, sauerkraut provided a vital source of the aforementioned nutrients during the winter. Captain James Cook always took a store of sauerkraut on his sea voyages, since experience had taught him that it was an effective preventative of scurvy.[4][5] German sailors continued this practice even after the British Royal Navy had switched to limes, earning the British sailor the nickname "Limey" while his German counterpart became known as a "Kraut." [6]

It is now known that the preservation of sauerkraut in an anaerobic environment (in the brine) keeps the vitamin C in it from being oxidized.[clarification needed] There is some evidence that indicates that kimchi, and by extension sauerkraut, may be used to treat avian influenza in birds.[7] Currently, there is no evidence of its effect on human cases.

Sauerkraut is also a source of biogenic amines such as tyramine, which may cause adverse reactions in sensitive people.[8][9] It also provides various cancer-fighting compounds including isothiocyanate and sulphoraphane.[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]

Sauerkraut juice is also credited with high medical qualities; its consumption is recommended for flu prevention, as a gastroregulator for a variety of gastrointestinal conditions, from diarrhea to constipation, ulcers, bronchitis and various other digestive and respiratory diseases and disorders, anemia, but its most popular use in the regions where it's produced has always been as a major remedy against hangover, since it not only drives away the headache, but it also neutralises the effects of alcoholic intoxication on the stomach and intestinal mucosa and cleans the liver.[18]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauerkraut

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Three more years....





Obama's honeymoon is over !!

Would love to know who paid for this sign! Sign at Hutchinson 35 mile NW of Wichita
W O W !!!
I wonder how long this will be allowed to stand?
This Sign is POSTED on Hwy 61, Hutchinson, Kansas.

Country know the we can’t afford Obama or his CHANGE!!! IF you don't agree, delete it! That is "one" of the few rights we still have...
In God We Trust

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Ring Of Fire Eclipse

Gives Grave Warning To World

“The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life.”

John F. Kennedy (Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961)

Forty-nine years ago, on this very date, the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, stirred the World’s passion with his words of hope of what our human race had the potential to aspire to should we turn away from war and seek peace. This year will mark the 47th anniversary of President Kennedy’s dream for humanity being shattered by an assassin’s bullet fired from the hands of those not wanting peace, but war.

As war continues to rage around our Planet Earth, and with the prospect of greater ones occurring growing more certain by the day, one would be hard pressed not to believe that the destiny of our race is one of continued war and chaos expanding to such an extent that Kennedy’s warning of our abolishing all forms of human life seems all but certain.

So dangerous have wars become that aside from their potential to extinguish all human life, we have also begun exterminating other forms of life on this Planet on such an unprecedented scale that a single mind cannot even begin to comprehend its full and horrible consequences, yet alone find a way back from the abyss we are all fast approaching.

The leaders of this World, in all of their forms, who are turned to by billions to protect them from the ravages of war, economic collapse, catastrophic Earth changes, food shortages and weather chaos, seem to have no answers and have become so separated from the people they rule one cannot help but feel they have been totally and completely abandoned.

And the truth of this is…You Have! But not for any reason that you think you know, but rather for truths that are known yet are being kept hidden from you. Why are they being kept from you? The answer is simple, because if you knew the truth it is believed by your leaders that you could not function, and if you aren’t able to function you aren’t able to protect them. And how are you protecting them? Another simple answer; you are working, living and dying to support their futures, not your own!

In this Great Game you are nothing but a pawn to be used, moved and sacrificed by those whom you will never know and for purposes you will not accept the truth of. So rigged is this game against you that in order for you to be awakened to the truth, you must first be educated on how brainwashed and manipulated you have become in the first place. Which the vast majority of you will never do because the truth stands opposed to everything you’ve ever been told to believe, but not against what you can see with your own eyes.

One example for you to see the truth of these words for yourself is in understanding pyramids, which were built by our most ancient of ancestors on the continents of North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and the South Pacific, basically all around the World.

As to who built these thousands of pyramids and why seemingly ‘unconnected’ peoples the World over ‘suddenly’ began constructing them all at the same time you have NEVER, and WILL NEVER, be told. Instead you are given ‘theories’ about the Egyptian and, maybe, Mayan ones too, composed of so many contradictions as to be basically unlearnable. Most of you, no doubt, were taught that the Egyptian pyramids were built by slaves, but new research is showing that they were built by free men, in just one of thousands of these contradictions.

Now let me ask you a simple question: Which ‘rings’ more true: 1.) Thousands of years ago, human beings all over the World suddenly, and without any contact with each other, decided to radically change their societies and economies and instead of devoting their energies to growing food or making technological advancements decided instead to build gigantic pyramids. –Or- 2.) Thousands of years ago our ancient ancestors had technology currently unknown to us and in knowing their World was about to be destroyed devoted their remaining resources and energies into building structures they knew could survive whatever catastrophe was befalling them so our World today would prepare, once again, to defend our human race from extinction.

If the first scenario rings true with you I can assure you that there is nothing relating to the real truth of our World you can, or will, accept. Your conditioning is too strong to be broken, your masters have won.

If, on the other hand, your most basic common sense tells you that the only logical way for thousands of pyramids to have been built all around the World in the first place they had to have been constructed by a human race all knowing each other and for a specific purpose, then congratulations! You’ve officially become a rebel because you don’t believe what you’ve told to believe, and don’t forget that makes you dangerous too.

Too how dangerous you’ve become to the established order is not just knowing the truth of why these pyramids were built, but the warning they are giving us…TODAY!

And no greater warning have they given us than in the 11 minute “Ring of Fire” Annular Eclipse of this past week that was the longest one of this Millennium and according to the ancients presages the final Great Catastrophes of our present Age to come.

The growing chaos on our Earth during the ending of this age is, also, being matched by that occurring in the heavens, where from the Mysterious Giant Ribbon recently discovered at the edge of our Solar System, to the Strange Comet being ‘shadowed’ by an ‘unknown’ object, to so many other phenomena being reported that one can clearly see, and as the ancients warned, “what was before will be no more.”

At this point in time you only have one question to ask yourself, “Do I want to survive?” If your answer is yes (and it should be) then your next question is if you are prepared to go through all of this alone. If you believe you can, I can only tell you that you are being beyond foolish, you will not survive. That is not a prediction that is a FACT.

And before you can even think of surviving you must have the one most important thing anyone needs, INFORMATION. If you don’t have information of what has happened, what is happening, and what could possibly happen, then your chances of survival are none.

The Sisters of Sorcha Faal have, for longer than any of you have been alive, devoted themselves to ensuring that where there were those willing to survive, they would be there to help them. And no greater help could they give those awakening to the truth than the most honest information and intelligence available.

But the Sisters ability to do this has always been dependent upon YOU and your willingness to participate in your own survival, a task made that much harder due to the fact that as many of you who read these words will not, have never in fact, helped us as much as we’ve helped you.

And what are the Sisters asking of you in return for what they have given you? Just a small amount of what you have that if they weren’t here you would have spent on something totally meaningless.

If every one of you reading these words gave just $20.00, the Sisters expenses would be covered for an entire year. That comes to just 5 US Cents a day, and if you think that is too much to give for what you are receiving (and the multiple thousands of dollars it takes to do it) then you should congratulate yourselves for being a part of the greatest destruction of free flowing news and information our human race has ever seen.

Because the vast majority of you will still not pay for what you receive in the false belief that everything should be free, you’ve destroyed your newspapers, your radio stations, your television networks…basically the entire news and information system it took your ancestors hundreds of years to develop. And by this massive destruction of your media you have insured that the only information that will soon be available will be for those who are able, and willing, to pay for it.

Where in the not so distant past an average person could buy a newspaper or two for less than a dollar, listen to their radio for free during the day then watch free television at night, buy a magazine for the weekend for less than a dollar too, has been replaced today by so many charges and fees that when all added up they come to multiple hundreds of dollars spent in less than a years time for less truth and information than could be had for less than 50 US cents barely 20 years ago.

In this World going more insane by the hour, the need for truthful, factual and timely information has never been more critical, and your time to step up and help is NOW! Your failure to help those who are helping you is more than unconscionable, it is downright dangerous.

So, whether it is the Sisters, or any other information source left telling you the truth, the time for your standing by and doing nothing to help are over, or all will be lost. This is a FACT, get used to it, after all…this is a mess you created in the first place, not us.

Recycle Your Coffee Please


Coffee Chaff Chicken Coop Litter

David Ruggiero is working on a new project called “Upcycling Northwest.” Upcycling, of course, is the in-word for smarter/better recycling, making use of the energy in the initial production of something, rather than using more energy to break it down into raw materials–or, as David puts it, finding “the highest and best re-use for the material rather than the easiest or most obvious.” David is sure that there is more to upcycling than making arty handbags out of gum wrappers. With Upcycling Northwest, he’s trying to hook folks up with useful industrial castoffs. And in Seattle, what better place to start than with the coffee industry?
A few weeks ago, David sent an email around to his many intrepid gardener friends, inviting us to try out coffee bean chaff–the light, airy husks blown off the beans during roasting–as mulch and compost. I said “sure,” and it wasn’t long before David darkened my doorstep with a big bag of the fluffy stuff.

I admit I wasn’t feeling super-hopeful about the mulch idea–the chaff is so soft and light, and the winter garden is so wet and mucky–I thought I might wait until spring. But David mentioned he’d been using it in place of wood chips in the chicken coop, and that captured my imagination. Next time I cleaned out the coop, I replaced the white wood shavings with a few inches of coffee chaff.

The chickens were hilarious. Like cats, they can be unnerved by novelty, and I wasn’t sure what they would think of their new chaffy home. But they all immediately ran into the coop, and started “playing” in the chaff, tossing it up with their bills. SO funny. There are pros and cons to coffee chaff in the chicken coop, but on balance, I’ve decided to keep using it. Here’s my report:
Cons: So light that it flies around, gets in the chicken water. Turns slimy when wet.
Pros: Free! Upcycled! No link to the timber industry. Smells like coffee. Light–easy to handle. Clumps with chicken poop a bit like scoopable kitty litter–easy to remove from coop. Swiftly composts.
Most coffee roasters will be happy to pass their chaff along to you. Just ask. Usually it is just tossed into the compost bin or, more often, the landfill. Spent coffee grounds and over-roasted beans are often available as well (check out this little article by Seattle garden doyenne Ann Lovejoy about the many uses for coffee industry by-products–for mulch, compost, garden paths…). Coffee chaff is rich in nitrogen and other nutrients, and I look forward to mixing it with my vegetable garden mulch. Tomatoes are reputed to love the stuff. David is also looking into the use of those great burlap bags in which coffee is imported as a replacement for that plastic weed-blocking material (see his website for info on obtaining and using post-coffee burlap). More to come on all of this…
Meanwhile, if you are a latte-sipping urban chicken farmer, I hope you’ll give coffee bean chaff a try in your coop, and let us know how it works for you!

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Have You Gone Organic?

  • Have you gone organic?
Suzi Milovanovic

You don't have to be a radical tree hugger to appreciate the benefits of organic foods have to offer, but is making the conscious effort to choose organic over conventional really worth it? We think so -- and here are 10 reasons why.

All Organic sign

Humane treatment of animals

Organic farming seeks to encourage an abundance of species to live in balanced, harmonious ecosystems. A much greater diversity of birds, butterflies and plants thrive on organic farms than on their conventional counterparts.

a healthy choice for the planet

When you choose organic, you are supporting a farming system that keeps toxic and persistent pesticides and synthetic fertilizers out of our water, soil and air. Many EPA-approved pesticides were registered long before extensive research linked these types of chemicals to cancer and other diseases. Organic agriculture is one way to prevent them from getting into the environment.

reduced dependence on non-renewable resources

Instead of using petrochemical-based fertilizers, organic farmers use recycled products from other industries that would otherwise go to waste.

healthy soils

Organic farming builds naturally fertile soil and prevents soil erosion. Organic farmers continually add organic matter to the soil, a practice that results in less water usage and soil erosion, and sustainable, fertile soil.

reduced chemical and toxin use

In conventional farming, more and more chemicals are needed as pests become more resistant to chemical pesticides and as soil structure deteriorates, making conventional farming's long-term viability questionable. Organic farming works without producing pesticide-resistant insects and preserves beneficial insect populations.

High quality standards

Organic certification is the public's assurance that products have been grown and handled according to strict procedures. You can be certain that the foods you eat have been grown without the use of chemicals -- no more questioning the ethics of the farmer who raised the produce on your plate.

a safer workplace for farm workers

Eliminating exposure to toxic pesticides creates a healthier environment for people who work in the fields -- and their families, too.

higher nutrition

Organic produce contains more vitamins, nutrients and cancer-fighting antioxidants than non-organic food. It makes common sense: Well-balanced soils produce strong, healthy plants that become nourishing food.

superior taste

Many top chefs are cooking with organic fruits and vegetables primarily because of their fresh, clean taste and excellent quality. The richness of the natural flavors reflects the pure nutrients of the soil.

Protection of future generations

Eating organic foods reduces unborn babies' exposure to pollutants during prenatal development. Likewise, organic farming protects the environment they will inherit by using less water and eliminating pesticides and airborne toxicity.

When it comes to growing and processing organic food and products, less means more for both you and the environment.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Health Benefits of Juicing

Health Benefits of Juicing
Recently, the National Cancer Institute began a campaign to get people to do one simple thing - EAT MORE FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. Specifically, the recommendation was to eat five servings of fruit and three servings of vegetables a day, and their reasoning was simple: a diet high in fruits and vegetables will prevent or cure a wide range of ailments.

Breast cancer, cancer of the colon, esophagus, stomach, lungs, ovaries, and rectum - pick an ailment these days, it seems, and researchers somewhere are searching for chemicals in plants that will prevent them, or offer a cure. These plant chemicals, known as phytochemicals, are the cutting edge of nutritional research because they hold the keys to preventing some of our most deadly diseases, such as cancer and heart disease, as well as some of our most common, like asthma, arthritis, and allergies.

In some ways, this isn't news. For years, epidemiological studies that compare disease states and diet in large populations of people have already been bearing out the value of a diet high in fruits and vegetables. Such studies, which have been done in Africa, China, the Mediterranean, Russia, and elsewhere have shown that in cultures where the diet consists of fruits and vegetables, making it high in both carbohydrates and fiber, a number of diseases that afflict North Americans simply don't exist. For example, during more than 30 years of study, British researchers working in Africa didn't find a single case of such common ailments as diverticulitis, hernia, cancer of the colon, or cancer of the prostate. The only reason that they could attribute to the lack of these diseases: differences in diet.

Proof that juicing helps fight cancer There are the questions that led researchers at the National Cancer Institute, at the department of Agriculture, and elsewhere, to begin looking for specific substances in foods that could be providing protection against disease. In the process, they have found quite a few.

A tomato, along with vitamin C, vitamin A, and several minerals also has 10,000 other chemicals in it, most which researchers are trying to isolate, identify, and study.

The phytochemicals that researchers have uncovered are changing the way we think about food, especially fruits and vegetables. For example, broccoli contains a substance that may prevent - even cure - breast cancer. Citrus fruits have substances that make it easier for your body to remove carcinogens, thus decreasing the chance of contracting cancer. Grapes contain a phytochemical that appears to protect each cells' DNA from damage. Similarly, a number of green vegetables contain phytochemicals that appear to offer protection against cancer-causing substances. The list goes on and on: bok choy, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, collards, kale, kohlrabi, mustard greens, rutabaga, turnip greens, red beets, peppers, garlic, onions, leeks, and chives are but a few of the vegetables that appear to have cancer-preventing phytochemicals.

The problem, though, is that most of us don't eat enough fruits and vegetables to reap the benefits they offer. For example, although the National Cancer institute recommends five servings of vegetables and three of fruits each day, the truth is this: The average American eats only 1 1/2 servings of vegetables and, on average, no fruit on any given day.

This is why juicing is so important!

Really, it isn't a new idea. If you study the traditions of most juicing programs, you discover that the vegetables being studied at various facilities around the country are often the same vegetables that have been juiced for years. Collard greens, kale, kohlrabi, mustard greens, rutabaga, peppers, carrots, and cabbage are not only vegetables being studied for their phytochemical content, they are also the vegetables that are most commonly juiced. Not only are researchers looking into the cancer-prevention capabilities of citrus fruits, grapes, and apples, these are also the fruits that we most often associate with fruit juicing.

Or, for another example, consider fresh juices ability to deliver another important group of nutrients, know as enzymes. Enzymes are your bodies work force. Acting as catalysts in hundreds of thousands of chemical reactions that take place throughout the body, enzymes are essential for digestion and absorption of food, for conversion of food stuffs into body tissue, and for the production of energy at the cellular level. In fact, enzymes are critical for most of the metabolic activities taking place in your body every second of every day.

Fresh juices are a tremendous source of enzymes. In fact, the "freshness" of juice is one of their key features, because enzymes are destroyed by heat. When you eat cooked foods, whether its meal, grains, fruits, or vegetables, if the food is cooked at temperatures above 114 degrees, the enzymes have been destroyed by the heat. Since fruits and vegetables are juiced raw, the enzymes are still viable when you drink the juice.

The Healthyjuicer produces virtually no heat as opposed to centrifugal juicers in which the high speed causes friction which in turn produces heat.

In addition, fruit and vegetable juices are good sources of the traditional nutrients. Citrus fruits (grapefruit, oranges, etc.) provide healthy portions of vitamin C. Carrot juice contains large quantities of vitamin A, in the form of beta carotene. A number of green juices are a good source of vitamin E. Fruit juices are a good source of essential minerals like iron, copper, potassium, sodium, iodine, and magnesium, which are bound by the plant in a form that is most easily assimilated during digestion.

Plus, since juicing removes the indigestible fiber, these nutrients are available to the body in much larger quantities than if the piece of fruit or vegetable was eaten whole. For example, because many of the nutrients are trapped in the fiber, when you eat a raw carrot, you are only able to assimilate about 1% of the available beta carotene. When a carrot is juiced, removing the fiber, nearly 100% of the beta carotene can be assimilated.

Friday, January 8, 2010

Seed Savers for Animals

A new kind of frozen meat

By Jonathan Bender

http://blogs.pitch.com

livestock.010710.jpg

The future of the locavore movement might be in a cryopreservation facility in Newport, Rhode Island, where the SVF Foundation is hoping to catalog and ultimately promote rare heritage livestock breeds by freezing their embryos and semen.

It sounds like science fiction, but the science is very real and reflects a back-to-nature approach with fertility technology being used to make sure that heritage livestock are available in case things don't work out with our industrialized food system. Dr. George Saperstein, chief scientific adviser to the foundation, explained that idea to The New York Times:

"Think of this as a safety valve program. If there was a disaster, if something like the potato famine of livestock ever hit, these frozen embryos would be made available, and in one generation we would be back in business."

The SVF Foundation launched in 2001 with the goal of centralizing the effort to protect endangered breeds by storing germplasm -- a particular breed's genetic resources -- in the same fashion as seed banks.

Heritage breeds are those which have evolved through natural selection rather than selective breeding practices. This is seen as beneficial because of the potential for increased resistance to disease and the ability to adapt better to a given climate. The argument is that because the industrialized agriculture system demands consistency in livestock, the possibility of a massive disruption to that system is significantly greater.

In addition to storing embryos and semen, the SVF Foundation has begun to sell animals to other farms in an effort to create satellite populations. This feeds into the group's secondary mission, which is education about the importance of heritage breeds. The organization believes that starts at the dinner table.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010



Borscht

Adapted from Students for Sustainable Agriculture Seasonal Cookbook

Serves: 4-6
Time to prepare: 1 hour

This dish may also be Lacto-Fermented...three days at 50 degreesF.

  • 3-4 Beets, cut in 1/4 ” sticks
  • Greens from the Beets, chopped
  • 1 Onion, chopped
  • 2-3 cups shredded Cabbage
  • 2 Carrots, chopped
  • 2 TBSP dried or fresh Dill
  • 1 TBSP Caraway seeds
  • 2 tsp Cumin
  • 1 1/2 tsp Paprika
  • 1/2 tsp White Pepper
  • pinch of Salt and Pepper
  • pinch of chopped Parsley
  • Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 3-5 cups Water
  • Live Cultured Yogurt

Sauté chopped onion in olive oil with some salt and pepper until translucent. Add dill, caraway seeds, cumin, paprika, and white pepper and stir. Add beets, cabbage, and carrots. Sauté for a few minutes, then add water. Stew until vegetables are tender and the soup has thickened a bit. Adjust the seasonings to taste and add some chopped parsley. Serve with a dollop of yogurt on top and enjoy!

Variation:
  • Add potatoes and/or celery.
  • Some traditional borscht recipes call for “ Sour Salt ” (Citric Acid) to give this soup a sweet and sour flavor. Try adding Lemon juice at the end to create the same effect.