Food for Thought Newsletter - Issue 014

 

Winter is here ❄️

Winter has arrived - know what that means? SEED CATALOGS!! What are your favorites? I ordered a Baker Creek catalog this year - I can't wait for it to come! However, the prayer "lead me not into temptation" will be recited prior so we don't have to take out a second mortgage on the farm. Haha! Their captions and photos are so captivating - I just want at least one of each variety!

 

Around the farm, the snow is lovely, the fire in the wood stove is warm, and things are very cozy in the house! Winter has arrived. I have three buckets of apples left to preserve. That means one more batch of apple pie filling and the rest are being dehydrated into apple chips. Then we're done! (Until the beef is ready mid-November, then we will can some of that up, too). But ultimately, the harvest is all harvested and put away for the winter. That feels awesome, doesn't it?

 

Lets start in the UK

 

Today, I want to share a story about something that's happening to our friends across the pond. There are some pretty crazy regulations taking place in the UK regarding chickens. But the crazy regulations are only the beginning of this bizarre, "only in Great Britain" story. (At least let's hope this stays in the UK - but there's a reason I'm sharing with you Alaskans - so pay attention!)

 

Here goes!

 

In the UK (and some other locations like Wales and Scotland), there is a new law in place that mandates that you register your chickens (and any other bird that might happen to go outside in its lifetime) with authorities.

 

Have 50 chickens? - Get them registered!

Meat chickens? - Register them!

Egg layers? - Get them signed up!

One lonely chicken? - Get its name on the list.

 

Wait, what?!?

 

If you have just ONE single chicken in the UK you must register it?

 

Yep, it's true.

 

The British powers-that-be want to know about EVERY. SINGLE. CHICKEN in the country.

 

If your hen hatches babies - you'd better register them ASAP!

 

If your chicken dies - they want to know all the details!

 

You can see where this is going…

 

What happens if you don't register every single chicken? Not much ... just a huge fine and possible jail time. (womp, womp)

 

But - there's a twist. And it's actually kinda funny, in my "don't make obscure rules that have no logic" brain. Folks who had no way to fight back when they thought this chicken registration system was messed up - they put their heads together and came up with a solution.

 

They were being told to register ALL chickens so they did! They crashed the system registering rotisserie chickens in their fridge, their kids' stuffed animals, and even chickens they put on their BBQ grill!

 

The point was made. The people are not happy - and they let it be known!

 

I know you're wondering, "Tandy, WHY did they make this mandate?"

 

Well, it's to prevent the spread of HPAI (Highly pathogenic avian influenza).

 

OOH!, I can see the light bulb coming on - and I can hear what you're thinking. "So, Tandy, they must have QUITE the outbreak going on if they want EVERY chicken registered!"

 

Nope! As a matter of fact, there hasn't been a single reported case in the wild since early this year - and none in the recent past in domesticated flocks. This is all preventative.

 

As a matter of fact, The Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs actually said in May of 2024 that the country is "free from Aviation Influenza in kept birds".

 

This is where the record player screeches and we all scratch our heads.

 

Well - heck. That kinda messes up that logic, doesn't it. 🤔

 

You see, with this required registration comes some pretty stiff laws. If there is an outbreak (wild or domestic), rather than the farmer watching their chickens and doing what needs to be done, now the government can take control of your chickens. They choose what happens to every flock from whatever distance they choose.

 

So here are my thoughts (purely my own opinion): If the powers-that-be implement a law that interferes with me taking care of my family, property, or livestock that does not use logic - then I really don't want to give them charge of the animals I have on my farm that I am taking full responsibility for.

 

If you read no other part of this newsletter, please read this: Here's another thing I would really like you to consider - because it's important ... and it's logical.

 

Let's pretend you have a flock of chickens that get sick with HPAI. There are a couple of options. Cull your herd immediately or quarantine them until the flu passes, hoping some survive. The most common government answer is "Cull the herd immediately - no questions!" However, let's say that somehow you are able to quarantine your flock and nurse them through the sickness. Some are likely to die - and it's pretty hard to watch. (See Doc Jones for natural cures for man and beast for all viruses - he shared his insight with us on our Podcast awhile back here.)

 

The chickens that live through the flu - guess what they have?!?!

 

You guessed it - IMMUNITY!

 

They built up immunity against HPAI and will naturally be able to fight off further strains of the virus. So instead of culling them, what if you were to breed them and develop a flock that's immune to the local strain and practice good biosecurity so that nothing ever spreads onto or off of your farm.

 

🙂

 

I have much more I could say about this but I'm trying not to get too far into the weeds. However, I do want to touch on one more thing - because it's the whole reason I'm telling you about this.

 

 

Back in America…

 

You may be wondering what this has to do with the US and especially Alaska. (I always bring it back to Alaska, don't I?).

 

Although we aren't being asked to register our chickens (yet), the new livestock surveillance plan (aka RFID) seems to be barreling our way - like it or not.

 

Actually, this isn't the first time this has been proposed but the initial initiative (from 2009 that said ALL livestock needs to be tracked) got so much bad press, bad publicity, and so many people spoke out against it that it didn't get very far.

 

This time, Americans seem to be quieter but I don't think it's because of compliance or agreement - I think it's just because most aren't aware!

 

This new RFID proposal starts just with certain cattle. But here's the issue at hand. It's not even a secret that revisions are being considered that are much closer to the 2009 proposal that means that every single person in the US has to register every single livestock animal they own.

 

There's no telling where it will stop. Hey, I don't care who knows what animals I have. If you've been to the farm, you've likely met Myrtle and Addi - our farm dog menagerie. However, knowing they are there and having some sort of say in their lives are two completely different scenarios.

 

The purpose of the RFID isn't just to keep count of the livestock. It's to monitor, track and alleviate potential disease outbreaks (among other things). Hmm. Is this starting to sound a bit familiar - only worse?

 

The deadline is November 5 if you want to have some say in the RFID legislation. If it's important to you to keep this at bay, we'd better speak up, and speak loud to make sure we're heard! Congresswoman Harriet Hageman has amendments that will essentially kill (again) the RFID proposed legislation. Be sure to contact your local representative and ask them to support Hageman's proposal. If enough of us do, there is hope!

 

Some resources:

• This is CRAZY! - (Video by Dr. Eric Berg DC)
• A Small Farmer's Perspective on the USDA's RFID Ear Tag Mandate - (Blog)

 

 

Make a Happy Face

 

On a final (and completely unrelated note), have you ever made anything out of fresh pumpkin? I never have but we're going to try this year!

 

We have some pie pumpkins that I'm super excited to cook down for pie, muffins, and my all time favorite pumpkin rolls (with fresh milled flour, of course). Then we will sprout the seeds and dehydrate them for a yummy snack.

 

If you have suggestions or a favorite recipe, please share!