Chewing The Cud

Michigan dairy producer, Melissa Hart helps me with my series against the Why Go Veg? campaign. Here is her version, with why drink milk.

This is part one of a two part series of radio shows addressing the 2007 Cancer Report released this week by the World Cancer Research Fund. The study links red meat consumption to cancer, and in Part One, I talk with Dr. Eric Westman, Duke University Obesity Professor, and Mary Young, registered dietician for NCBA.

Let's sort out the facts. Tomorrow, I'm joined by the Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine, a vegetarian organization that consists of less than 5% physicians. And they are going to tell me why we shouldn't consume red meat. Join the fun. It will undoubtedly be an interesting debate.

Maybe I'm biased, or maybe the 700,000+ reports don't coincide with the facts--but red meat does not have a direct correlation to cancer! To prove this point, I'm joined by several experts in the nutrition field. Dr. Eric Westman, Duke University professor of obesity and nutrition and Mary Young, registered dietician at the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. Don't forget to listen to the show, found on the right hand side of the page.

Then stay tuned because tomorrow I continue my two part series with the OTHER side of the spectrum. Vegetarian and registered dietician Susan Levin, for the Physician's Committee For Responsible Medicine will join me to discuss her viewpoint.

*Remember who PCRM is? PCRM consists of less than 5% physicians and health professionals. It's another animal rights organization in disguise.

It will UNDOUBTEDLY be a pretty interesting debate... don't miss it!

Readers, I need you again! It has been far too long, and I have ignored, completely ignored my beef recipes section of this blog! Forgive me! I know that there are countless amazing recipes resting in the hands of your favorite grandma, your mom, and even YOU! Surely you have tackled the best cooking tool there is on the face of this planet--BEEF! If not, why don't you head on over to Beef It's What's For Dinner?

So share it with me! Send me your favorite recipe. I'm dying to hear from you, and don't forget to tell me a little about yourself. I would LOVE to include your bio with your recipe! Shoot me an email at mandy_nolz@hotmail.com or leave it in a comment!

Thanks everyone! I can't wait to hear from you!

An article from My TSC Store online:


In North Dakota farm country, barns rarely draw a second look. But, one barn three miles outside Jamestown stands tall, red, and eminently eye-catching with a mural that turns barnyard culture upside down.

"We do really make an effort to be advocates for agriculture," she says, "and to share our story with people not directly connected to agriculture so they know where their food comes from."

What a breathe of fresh air after a long week of fighting the correlation of red meat and cancer and of tackling attacks on milk and meat. I love it when people are working hard for the industry they love. Congrats to Jeremy and Sarah Wilson, and THANKS for the story!

To read the entire article, link here.

Or better yet, take a further step into the Wilson farming operation with their interactive blog and website. They are truly a pair working to promote the agriculture story! God Bless 'em!

It's one of those days again. It's cold, it's Monday, and life is a blur. Blurred by the snow that is! We had SNOW today! EEEEK, could winter be coming already? Readers, I'm sorry for keeping you on your toes for another blog spot, but I'm off to help with an FFA District competition in Watertown. I'm judging Extemporaneous Speaking. :)

But hey, if you like to read some of the articles that are sent my way, and if you have some time on your hands. Here is Amanda's suggested light reading of the day...

Loos Stands Up For Agriculture That Stinks
Down On The Farm
Preserving Dairy History

Every agriculture professional should know their dining etiquette right?

Last night, I went to a new restaurant in town called Bravo's. I'm in Sigma Alpha Professional Agriculture Sorority, and we hosted an etiquette dinner for our membership. We ordered our meals, caesar salads and beef, of course! About thirty of us dined to the lessons of the most wonderful woman that taught us everything from how to fold the napkin to where to hold your wine glass, depending on white or red.

You'll have to forgive me for the brief posts this week. Life is CRAZY busy here at SDSU. Trent Loos and I had a great interview together yesterday. I'll have it posted soon, so make sure you stop back and check it out! :)

Have a great Wednesday. The week is half done. Can you feel Friday in the air yet?

Much love! Your pal, Amanda

Today I received a comment that posted this question:

I'm in the middle of some serious research and I need all the help I can get. I'm not going to preach Jesus to you, but I do hope that He is your personal savior. My question has to do with the phrase "Chewing the Cud." In the book of Leviticus 11:3 they talk about hoof animals that chew the cud. What excactly is chewing the cud? Both physical like what cows do and what you mean by just chwewing the cud. I need to tie these 2 together. Living in Chicago I have never heard that statement before. Please help me. I look forward to you returned email. -Min

Instead of replying with an email, I thought this would make a great post. You'll all get to learn a little about me, hear about the brainstorming behind chewing the cud, and get to learn what cattle do too! :) Read on, and as always--let me know what you think!

1. Yes, I'm a Christian. I try to base my actions on His works. What a great role model Jesus Christ is! He teaches us to be kind, faithful, honest, obedient. He is so giving, too. I have the most loving family and great group of friends that support me in everything I do. To tie that to agriculture, I feel God gave me the abilities and strengths to produce food for the world through cattle production. By following His example, my family and I raise these cattle with best animal handling practices in mind. We truly care about the land and livestock that we raise.

2. Cattle are ruminant animals meaning they have a digestive system that allows them to utilize foods indigestible to humans by regurgitating it and rechewing the food as "cud". Cattle have four stomachs that aid in digestion: rumen, reticulum, omasum, and abomasum. I know it doesn't paint the prettiest picture, but growing up as a kid and watching the mama cows rest in the grassy pastures, I always knew they were relaxed and content as their jaws moved back in forth as they chewed their cud. Does that make sense?

3. So why name the blog Chewing The Cud? Seems pretty disgusting doesn't it? The thought behind chewing the cud as a blog name is the exact motive behind this blog. It's food for thought. In essence, I want to ask the questions to make us think about the foods we eat. When I post certain topics, its to get you to really chew on it and mull it over. Then we can discuss it and learn from each other.

My main goal is to teach you about how our food is produced and where it comes from. My hope is that through this blog, consumers learn to make educated decisions when grocery shopping, instead of basing their opinions on propaganda and silly lies spread by animal rights activists.

And for those of you in agriculture, I hope that I keep you up-to-date on some of the interesting news in the media. I try to provide you with my insight, and I encourage your feedback. Most importantly, I want to provide you with the tools needed to proudly promote agriculture to secure your future in food production.

So Min, I hope that helps. If you have any other questions about agriculture or about Bible readings pertaining to farm methods in early times, send them this way. Together we can chew the cud and enjoy some food for thought! :)

To learn about beef from pasture to plate, link here.

As found at MeatingPlace...

According to PARADE magazine's biennial "What America Eats" survey, 21 percent of Americans would choose a hamburger as their only food on a deserted island.

If a TV family could join them for dinner, 29 percent of respondents picked the cast of "Friends", while 24 percent preferred "The Brady Bunch" and 15 percent want to eat with "The Simpsons." Only 7 percent want to eat with The Costanzas from "Seinfeld". Rachael Ray was the pick (38 percent) for the chef Americans want to cook their dinner, followed by (30 percent) Emeril Lagasse.

Just an interesting article I ran across today. After all of the negative media attention the beef industry has undeservingly received, I enjoyed this article as proof that American's still have a love affair with beef. And it's good for you too!

I just wanted to wish everyone a great and happy long weekend celebrating our nation's veterans. God Bless all the men and women who dedicating their lives to serving our country. Happy Veteran's Day on Monday! (Or as Trent puts it, every day is Veteran's Day!)

Anyway, tomorrow I leave at 5:00 am to head to Dakota City to workout with the SDSU Jackrabbit Meats Judging Team at the International Contest, the final contest for meats judgers for the year! Luckily for me, I'm only on the junior team, so I have a full year of judging ahead of me. Stay tuned for future posts (I will be gone til Monday night!). Next week, I will explain the ins and outs of what a meat judger actually does. It's pretty tough stuff! :)

That's right. I've kissed my teenage years goodbye and now claim two decades today, November 13th. I was born on Friday the 13th, and contrary to popular belief--it's not bad luck at all (at least if you're an optimist like me!)

Good news, my morning class got cancelled. Two of my friends dropped off a pan of brownies for me. I'm going iceskating tonight...and drumroll please: I got another contract to write!

I probably haven't mentioned, but I'm working on breaking into freelance writing. One of my great friends, Melissa Hart of Michigan (who by the way is a dairy farmer and freelance writer) has taken me under her wing to help me get into writing.

Check out the great agriculture publications that I now write for, and with a little luck, hopefully this list will grow!

Farmer's Advance
Tristate Livestock News

So while yes it's my 20th birthday, no I don't think I will cry today! It's been a GREAT day! Thanks to everyone who has ever helped to make my dreams come true! Be sure to check out my radio show, produced by agriculture activist Trent Loos. I interview one of my fellow students on the SDSU Collegiate Meats Judging Team. Go Jackrabbits! :)

Listen to my interview with SDSU Meats Judger Matt Grussing, Kimball, SD. Look forward to a future article on the ins and outs of meats judging and how it effects you, the consumer.

I'm working on my next story for the Tristate Livestock News, and I NEED YOU! My story is focused on young people returning to the family farm. This is a topic of mixed emotions for me. I love my family's Limousin cattle operation and so desperately wish to make it back someday. However, the ranch is not large enough to support another family. Getting enough capital to buy land, livestock and equipment is nearly impossible. It's hard to know what to think, but if you know me--you know I'm quite the determined lady. I just don't give up.

I will farm someday.

So tell me what you think. What are your thoughts and opinions on young people returning to the farm or starting their own? Do we stand a fighting chance? Fill me in! Don't be shy! I NEED YOU! :) Happy Friday!

I was shopping yesterday afternoon and even though I don't often have to buy meat at the grocery store as I eat my own steers, I usually swing through the meat case just to see what's new in the world of beef products. I know I'm a bit wierd, but humor me and keep reading okay?

Boy oh boy did I get excited!

Beef is so versatile, but I didn't realize just how easy it was for people to prepare these days. You're familiar with convenient, all-in-one, just warm 'em up from the box, type meals like this one... Cook in 5 minutes, this potroast includes potatoes, carrots, onions, and seasoning. Scrumptious and doesn't take all day in the crockpot to simmer. A perfect option for those that don't think about supper until they get home from work (By the way, do you say dinner or supper? Let me know.)

Then I found spectacular Tyson's Foods new outlook on their meat products. I picked up a package and found these instructions for easy preparation. Add cloves into the slits of this chuck roast for a gourmet flavor.

This one looked tasty too. For this top round, Tyson recommends pan broil in a bed of sauteed onions, peppers and mushrooms for a delicious meal.

Now for those of us who had super moms that prepared for us the most WONDERFUL beef meals without the help of labels, then I think that's great. (Thanks Mom!) In these days, however, life is busy and food is often on the go. You can still be a super mom though will all of these amazing options! Why not pick up one of these bad boys and warm it up in 5 minutes or less? Or, go big and grab these cuts ready to prepare and throw in your own vegetables. Meals in minutes, and they are oh soo good! :)

*So what is it dinner or supper? The debate is on!

Does it sometimes feel like you just quite can't keep up with your tight schedule? Your things-to-do list is adding length by the minute? Your homework is bogging you down? You have Thanksgiving Fever? That was me last week, and I responded by completely ignoring this blog. As guilty as I should feel, it was really, really good to take a break and enjoy a relaxing week with friends and family.

Here are a few pictures and highlights and my long weekend...

My parents, Dave and Peggy, and I pose for a picture! I love you Mom and Dad!

Here is me with Travis. He came to visit from Colorado.

Sisterly Love! Courtney and Kaley both want to be Beef Ambassadors someday!

My family and I worked on the show calves over the weekend! Gotta love those Limousin!

Aside from spending time with family and friends, Thanksgiving is a time to reflect upon the good things in your life. This week reminded me to be thankful for all of the wonderful people that have touched my life and made me who I am today. It reminded me to count my many blessings and to truly appreciate my roots in agriculture that shaped me into a person my family can be proud of.

I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving weekend. Count your blessings, and thank God for all of His many gifts! :) I look forward to another week of discussing hot issues in agriculture with all of you. Warm up those fingers, and get ready to type up some dialogue. This week promises to stir up some heated issues. Stay tuned!

Everyday, I read through my various agriculture publications, hit the hot spots online for latest industry news, and skim through my beef updates sent to me from various sources. It's how I stay up-to-date on the current issues in agriculture. I'm sure you do it too--afterall, there is no better way to find success than knowing what's going on in the world around you. That way we can be proactive instead of reactive.

Lately, the most reoccuring message I have received has been the finger pointing blame from animal rights activists that links cattle production to global warming in the form of methane gasses. While I think this is simply ridiculous, (Click Here to read my other blog entries on the subject) it's always reassuring to find positive information in the media about how cattle production actually helps the environment.

So today, I'll share with you that positive story provided by the Cattle Business Weekly:

Ranching For a Better America by Codi Vallery

In October the practice of ranching had positive reinforcement with the publishing of a new study by Richard Knight of Colorado State University who says ranches are important to maintaining biodiversity in American's West.

The study says since ranching naturally encompasses large amounts of undivided land, involves grazing and altering of native vegetation in modest ways, it lends itself to supporting biodiversity that is of conservation concern.

For the study, Knight, who is a professor in CSU's Department of Forest, Rangeland and Watershed Stewardship, observed biodiversity across exurban areas (prosperous areas past the suburbs), ranchlands and protected areas without livestock.

The research found private land and ranches support species of conservation concern and had minimal weed growth. Exurban areas had the same common species available as urban areas and had a greater weed population.

Link here to read the rest of the story.

A really good friend of mine sent me this little piece of information, and I thought I would share with you...Let me know what you think about it!

Hollywood Lobbies for Farm Bill Amendment -- Celebrities, including HBO's Bill Maher and Saturday Night Live alumni Kevin Nealon, support the Farm, Ranch, Equity, Stewardship and Health Act. Indiana Senator Richard Lugar and New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg hope to introduce the FRESH Act as an amendment to the Farm Bill. The proposal delivers more support to the fruit and vegetable industry, while cutting the available funds for meat, cheese and butter in the school lunch program. Voters in California are receiving a recorded message from actress Alicia Silverstone and the activist group, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. In the message, Silverstone says "the Senate will decide whether to continue massive subsidies for meat, dairy products and other foods that are fueling the epidemic of childhood obesity. Our kids need help and now we have a chance to change things. A good amendment to the Farm Bill called the Fresh Act will cut subsidies for unhealthy food." Silverstone is best known for her role in the movie 'Clueless.'

Interesting huh? What's worse, Silverstone's latest run in with the media has been a nude commercial for PETA advertising vegetarianism. I find it ironic that a girl who played in a movie titled Clueless could possibly be able to give an educated voice for the nutritional health of youn people. I know this is a family friendly website, but I thought it was important to include the photo. Forgive me, or better yet, COMMENT and let me know what you think!

I'm headed to Watertown, SD to attend the South Dakota Cattlemen's Association Annual Trade Show and Convention. Yes, I'm skipping a few classes and headed to learn about the cattle industry that I love. With me, I'm taking South Dakota State University's Block and Bridle Club. We are an agriculture based organization, and we have recently established our beef interest group. This will certainly be a great way to kick off the festivities!

Even better news: there is a great lineup of speakers at the convention. Pfizer Animal Health-Dr. Jerry Stokka, South Dakota Secretary of Ag-Bill Even, South Dakota Beef Ambassador-Suzanne Swett, USDA Under Secretary Marketing and Regulatory Programs-Bruce Knight, Senator John Thune, Dr. Bill Burdett, Troy Marshall, and Lowell Mesman. Their insight is going to be interesting and educational for sure!

With industry leaders gathered, hot topics to discuss, and old friends to meet up with--it is bound to be a great time. Stay tuned for a radio show about the event tomorrow! Have a great day!

I spent the last couple of days at the South Dakota Cattlemen's Association 59th Annual Convention and Tradeshow in Watertown, SD. I enjoyed learning about some of the hot issues in agriculture, and last night I had to punch out two articles about the event for the Tristate Livestock News. I wrote about Troy Marshall who addressed families in agriculture and included reactions from my Block and Bridle club who attended the meeting. I also wrote an article about carbon credits, which is an opportunity to generate new revenue for farmers and ranchers. I'll give you some more info about that next week.

Well enough of the recap, I have another topic on the agenda for the day. Be prepared to be grossed out, but don't quit reading, endure through it, and I know by the end you will have a greater appreciation for the beef industry....

BEEF BY-PRODUCTS

I work at the SDSU Meat Lab. I took this job because I feel it is important to understand every aspect of the beef industry from pasture to plate. That means getting to know the consumer, visiting packing plants, touring feedlots, studying how stocker operations work, understanding the cow/cow operator, and tying it all together into a big chain that ultimately puts a juicy steak at the center of your plate.

With that goal, you can't skip any corners in an education about the entire beef industry. That means the not so fun stuff has to be understood and explored as well. Which brings me back to the meat lab. I'm fortunate to work at a school that offers a meat lab that harvests cattle, processes the meat, and finally makes sales with the consumer. It gives a wide range of lessons to be learned, and there is never a day when I don't take home new information from my job. However, some information is harder to learn than others. Every Friday, the rendering guy comes to pick up all the offal we have collected over the week.

Offal is any parts of the animal that is inedible for human consumption. Offal includes organs, bung, blood, extra external fat, bones, etc. In a nutshell, it's pretty nasty stuff when it's piled up in the offal cooler for a week. Offal serves its purpose though! You have probably heard me use the phrase that we use 99% of a beef animal, everything except the moo. Offal certainly helps make this a true statement as this is what is used for beef by-products.

We use so many items in everyday life that all originate back to cattle. Insulin for diabetics, stearic acid for tires, antifreeze, shoes, belts, crayons, makeup, deodorant and countless other items are all by-products of cattle.

Anyway, as I was cleaning and scrubbing barrels with caked with blood and fat this morning, it hit me what a great industry this really is. Isn't great to know that even students are involved in the process of cattle making the world a better place? So while cleaning offal barrels may not be my favorite task at the meat lab, I have a new appreciation for this great industry we call agriculture.

Now that's some cud to chew on... Have a great weekend everyone!