Around this time last year, I attended the Farm Food Blogger Tour sponsored by the Kansas Farm Bureau & Kansas Soybean Association. It was a glorious three day trip across the great state of Kansas. While there we met with local farmers and were given the opportunity to get up close and personal with them. We inquired on the ends and outs of farming, visited with their families, and were welcomed in their homes.
This trip removed the veil of farming, now the concept of food sourcing is no longer shrouded in mystery. Their transparency offered me a sense of security and trust in how our food is grown and raised. So when the Kansas Farm Bureau, Kansas Soybean Association, & Kansas Pork Association decided to team up for Farm Food Tour 2.0, I was excited to learn more about the science behind out food.
First stop: Merck Animal Health – Desoto, Kansas
Merck Animal Health is dedicated to preserving and improving the health, well-being and performance of animals through science. They offer veterinarians, farmers, pet owners and governments the widest range of veterinary pharmaceuticals, parasites and health management solutions. Merck Animal Health, known as MSD Animal Health outside the U.S. and Canada, is the global animal health business unit of Merck. (Source from Merck Animal Health website)
Here are a few things I learned about Merck Animal Health:
• Merck Animal Health has an Animal Welfare Committee; this committee is thoroughly inspected by the USDA where a veterinary doctor is on staff 24 hours a day.
• Former research animals become house pets via an adoption program.
• 3431 pounds of beef must be consumed to equal the amount of hormones in one pill of birth control.
• Merck Animal Health has seven research facilities around the world including Kansas, the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Spain, South Africa, and Austria.
• Contrary to popular belief, they do “not” test hundreds of animals. As a matter of fact, most of the research studies include less than twelve animals.
• Most of the piglets begin to receive vaccinations at six weeks, which happens to be around the time when their mother’s colostrum begins to be ineffective.
Next Stop – Renee Kelly’s Harvest
Harvest is an amazing Farm to Food restaurant. Chef Kelly’s foodstory is amazing as well, so I’ll give you the cliff notes version. Chef Kelly was diagnosed with extremely bad headaches. She had visited several medical and holistic doctors to find out the source of the headaches. While visiting a nutritionist she discovered some foods were linked to her headaches and after eliminating them from her diet they begin to cease. Chef Kelly believes proper nutrition and healthy eating habits can cure not only the soul, but body as well.
Have you ever wanted to dine in a Castle? Well now you can at Harvest by Chef Renee Kelly. The restaurant is not only enchanting, but the food is locally sourced and simply delicious.
Next stop on the tour: Monsanto –Their vision is for sustainable agriculture is to meet the needs of a growing population, to protect and preserve this planet we call home, and help to improve lives everywhere. In 2008, Monsanto made a commitment to sustainable agriculture – pledging to produce more, conserve more, and improve farmers’ lives by 2030. (Source Monsanto website)
Here are a few things I learned about Monsanto:
• Of course it’s no secret Monsanto created “Agent Orange”. But it was not something they set out to do, this was a mandated order received directly from the United States Government to create.
• They use gene sequences to find out why plants/food is different; this is discovered in numerous studies.
• They use Pac-Bio machines sequences to help define crop genetics, these are the same machines used for cancer research.
• They were among the first to suggest rotational crops, which is when corn is planted followed by soybean then corn again – repeating over and over. This farming method can help reduce the amount of destructive insects from destroying the crops.
• They produce BT (Bacyslisis Terrigenous), which is a bacterium that grows in the soil and produces protein. They culture the bacteria and spray it on the plants to prevent insects (see photo below)
Next up: The Maschoffs – A Family Pig Farm. The Maschhoffs LLC, headquartered in Carlyle, Illinois, is one of the largest family-owned hog production networks in North America. The company is owned by 5th generation family members Dave Maschhoff and his wife Karen and Ken Maschhoff and his wife Julie. The Maschhoffs partner with nearly 550 family farmers across the Midwest. These family farmers, known as Production Partners, work to collectively produce enough pork to feed more than 16 million consumers annually.
Here are a few things I learned about The Maschoffs:
• The Maschoffs is a family ran pig farm.
• This is by far the most well-ran pig farm I have ever seen.
• The have exterminators come out every two weeks to prevent rodent from entering their silos.
Last stop on the tour: Central Missouri Meat & Sausage – I admit at first I thought what could be so exciting about a Meat & Sausage plant. The structure is that of a state of the art barn. The facility includes a meat packaging plant, deli, restaurant, and small grocer. Not to mention they have a tasting station as well. Central Missouri Meats definitely had all aspects of the consumer in mind.
These owners really care about their meats; they explained the difference between “organic” meats and non-organic meats. I know we hear a lot on how “organic” is best, but have you ever thought about eating meat of an animal raised in the wild with no antibiotics? The inside would be filled with parasites and worms perhaps; I really do not mind my burger being treated with little antibiotics if it will prevent me from eating meat that once had parasites. If you are sick, you take medicine or antibiotics to get better right?
This years Farm Food Tour 2.0 was amazing. I learned so much about the science behind our food. Are you curious to know where your food comes from? If you live in the Kansas or Missouri area, check out The Kansas Farm Bureau, Kansas Soybean Association or Kansas Pork Association. Also, thank you’ll for allowing giving me the opportunity to learn more about the food system.
(some photography used here -courtesy of Sugarbeecrafts)
