|
|
From my lips to yoursWell, the time has finally come. We must inform our nation's lawmakers that kissing should be banned. Researchers from Lafayette College in Pennsylvania may have uncovered the answer. They found that lip-locking actually sparks an increase of hormones in the brain. Due to a series of complex chemical processes, those involved in kissing experience a combination of relaxation, excitement and love, according to the study. That is it. We can't have hormones in our life in any way, shape or form and, furthermore, if kissing has anything to do with complex chemicals, it must not happen again. I am writing this piece as I sit in Boston, Mass. I am here speaking at the Boston Tea Party, an annual event for the Northeast Ag Alliance. I will not get the opportunity to visit with as many non-farm folks as I would like to, but I am doing my best. The buzz continues to be hormones. People want hormone-free everything, except love, I guess. Why would you kiss someone, completely enjoy it and want more of it when a kiss allows your hormones to do things you would never otherwise do and then you turn around and say "None at all" when it comes to food? Anything "hormone-free" is dead; yet, the most common conversation I get into involves hormones in food. Here is the really bad news: I have just read an e-mail from a rancher in Central Montana who is critical of me publicly presenting the difference between natural beef and conventional beef. A three-ounce serving of beef that has never been given estrogen-based hormones has 1.39 nanograms of estrogen and conventional beef from steers that have had two doses of estrogen-based hormones has 1.89 nanograms. The statistics are insignificant. The greater point is that beef and meat have hormones but, compared to plant-based food sources, meat contains hardly any hormones at all. For example, a tablespoon of soy oil contains 28,000 nanograms of estrogen, yet most Americans only care about whether their meat and milk contain hormones. The most troubling part of this whole thing is that as I travel this country and attempt with every opportunity to educate soccer moms about the safety of the American produced food supply, I now have a rancher telling people that "grass fed" or "organic" or "natural beef" is better for you because it doesn't have hormones. Why should we continue to complain about the misinformed consumer when far too often people within our industry are supplying bad information, strictly for financial gain or possibly out of sheer ignorance? A similar thing happened to me here. I spent the day with Perry Raso from Matunuck Oyster Farm in a boat harvesting oysters. Perry told me he sells oysters at the local farmers' markets and everybody asks him about the difference between farm-raised and wild caught oysters. He explains that there is no difference. They are both produced in the salt water; it is just that he has more control and management of how the farm-raised oysters are grown. He then took me to a restaurant he has purchased where he plans to open a retail shop. Obviously, I suggested that he should sell some Nebraska beef along with his farm-raised oysters. He told me that he thought it would be really cool to sell "grass fed" beef. I believe it is human nature to want to avoid chemicals and hormones and things we don't truly understand. But doesn't factual knowledge give you the power to make wise decisions? Quite possibly, it is with the assistance of researchers from Lafayette College in Pennsylvania that we can all see how hormones have improved our lives. That is straight from my lips to yours. Editor's note: Trent Loos is a sixth generation United States farmer, host of the daily radio show, Loos Tales, and founder of Faces of Agriculture, a non-profit organization putting the human element back into the production of food. Get more information at www.FacesOfAg.com, or e-mail Trent at trent@loostales.com.
1
|
|
