Factory Farmer Exposes Industry

Factory Farmer of 22 Years Exposes the Truthful Horrors of the Industry.

When CompassionUSA got the call from Craig Watts, they were shocked. 

Not only is the factory farm normally restricted and off limits to the public, but certainly a no-go for farm animal rights advocates, like CompassionUSA.

You may wonder why he made that call,  since factory farms such as Perdue claim complete transparency in their practices. 

This video, produced by CompassionUSA and narrated by a Perdue contract factory farmer, Craig Watts show precisely why.

It also shows why groups like Moms For Real Food Initiative promote and educate consumers to seek out and buy from small, local and sustainable farms - going to them, seeing the animals KNOWING where their food comes from.

If we all start doing this, it will stop the horrid conditions seen in this video.

Alberta Egg Farmers - Organic and Small Flock Listing

Eggs. We all (well, ok, most) eat them, love them and find them as a staple of our diets. So we've taken some time to compile a (somewhat) spread out list of Alberta Egg Producers who view a holistic and natural way of chicken brooding, raising and laying.

Why? We have a growing concern for egg production. The thousands of birds who sit their entire lives inside a cage or barn, without sunlight and in cramped conditions. These birds also endure massive antibiotics and injury due to these close quarters.


We wish to promote the smaller farmers who use free range, free run and organic methods of egg production - because not only are the eggs better for you, the lives of the chickens are the primary focus instead of how many eggs they'll produce.

We contacted Egg.ab.ca to get some information on what being CFIA certified means, and why there aren't more of these farms around;

"The way the egg industry operates across Canada, is that individual egg farmers sell their egg to graders (they operate the CFIA-certified grading stations), who then clean, grade, package and sell the eggs to grocery stores and restaurants.  In Alberta, most eggs are graded by Burnbrae or Sparks Eggs.  All free-range or organic eggs would be from one of those graders, or provided by them to the grocery stores for their private label eggs.

At the end of 2015, about 2.4% of eggs laid in Alberta were from farms using free-range hen housing.  I’m not sure what % of those farms are producing organic eggs (free-range housing is a requirement for organic eggs, along with the requirement to use only certified-organic feed). 
There are basically two reasons why free-range/organic hen housing is not more widely used in Alberta: first, only about 4.5% of eggs sold at grocery stores in Alberta is free-range or organic; second, Alberta’s climate is not ideal for free-range housing (we import the missing 2% of free-range/organic eggs from BC egg farms).  Most of the year, when it’s too cold for the birds to be outside, the free-range/organic housing is converted to free-run housing.


Of course, there are some registered egg farms in the province that grade their own eggs and sell direct to consumers, usually at farmers markets.  One such farm that produces organic eggs is Sunworks Farms"

 -David Webb


Marketing and Communications Manager
www.eggs.ab.ca

Pressure Cooker Beef Stew

Pressure Cooker Beef Stew Recipe

Mmmmmm Comfort Food.
For us beef stew, like chicken soup, is good for the soul! Sometimes though, our preparation is a little wanting ... as in, I totally forgot to take anything out to thaw.
#AmIRight ???

So - that is where the handy dandy pressure cooker comes in handy! We use the Fagor Pressure Canner that also doubles as a regular pressure cooker.

Top 5 Seed Companies

 

 

It's Spring, Now What?

Well spring actually kicks off in 10 days (but who’s counting), spring is definitely in the air here in Didsbury. The snow is almost all gone, weather has been above 5 degrees for almost 2 weeks, the gophers are out scampering across the road, bears are coming out of hibernation in Banff National Park, and I have busted out my Birkenstocks. So I would say spring is here!

This year we have spent 25+ hours planning our gardens, and then scrapping the first round and re-planning it all over again. So now with our minds set of what we want to grow. We are on the big kick of we want to know what we eat and grow what we love. I have found a few pre planning websites if you need them www.almanac.com/vegetable-garden-planning-for-beginners, and of course the lady who knows everything (or so it seems) http://www.marthastewart.com/275017/planning-your-vegetable-garden. If you are a go big or go home kinda person (we won’t judge) here’s a great resource which is the one we are using this year. Be prepared to lose days or weeks to planning the massive amount you want to grow (you’ll thank us come fall and you’ve harvested the last of your 900 bed feet of squash, pumpkins and root veggies) http://cog-shop.myshopify.com/products/crop-planning-for-vegetable-growers.

So with your info in hand here’s our TOP 5 Seed Companies to get you GROWING. I’ll do a count down to leave you in suspense: 

Constipation - Embarrassing But Everyone Gets it!

Constipation. 

It's a cringe worthy word which usually induces blushing, lowered eyes and quiet voices. The funny thing is; nearly every single one of us gets it or have suffered from it at some point. 

If you poop, which we all do, you are prone to being constipated.

Many people who suffer from constipation have suffered in silence. They have also given into a regiment of anti-inflammatory medication, stool softeners, laxatives and other drugs to relieve themselves. (No pun intended)

There is another way to deal with the issue of constipation from a holistic and "get to the bottom of the problem" manner. (That pun was intended)