By Sara Ross, CommonGround Iowa volunteer

The results of the recent CommonGround Gate-to-Plate survey inspired me to write a blog about hormones in food, specifically, beef. As a CommonGround volunteer and cattle farmer, I want to help explain food issue topics that consumers are misinformed or confused about.

The survey showed that more than half of moms surveyed believe it is important to feed their families hormone-free poultry and pork, even though it may cost more to do so.
Well, first of all, federal regulations only allow the use of hormones on cattle and sheep. If you see chicken, turkey or pork in the store labeled “hormone-free,” the label is simply a marketing ploy. Growth hormones are not allowed in the raising of poultry and pigs.
As far as beef goes, some farmers and ranchers choose to use growth hormones on their cattle to help them convert their feed into lean muscle more efficiently. Americans are demanding leaner cuts of beef and this is one safe way to produce it.

Farmers have been using growth hormones for nearly 60 years, and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) require these hormones to undergo scientific testing to make sure they’re safe for the animal and humans.

The Missouri Beef Industry Council website states, “extensive research shows that growth promotants are metabolized before the animal enters the food supply. Scientific studies show, and the government’s animal drug approval and monitoring process ensures there is no difference in the safety of beef from animals that have been treated with growth hormones and those that have not.”

A growth promotant is typically a small pellet that is placed under the skin on the back of an animal’s ear. It slowly releases tiny amounts of hormone and safely dissolves after the treatment is completed. All animals go through a withdrawal period to ensure the growth hormone has worked its way out of the animal’s system before that meat can enter the food system.

According to the Beef Checkoff website, “one serving of beef from a steer implanted with a growth promotant has nearly 20 times less estrogen than what the FDA permits and thousands of times less than what our bodies naturally produce, not to mention a fraction of what is present in many other foods such as cabbage and grains.”

Photo Source, Missouri Beef Council

You can see in the chart below the amounts of estrogen present in beef (implanted and non-implanted), milk, some vegetables and also in children and adults. As you can see, the amounts of hormones in beef is very, very minuscule.

So, please rest assured that the meat you buy in the grocery store is safe for you and your children to consume. If you have any questions on topics like hormones in food or any others, please leave a comment below. Thanks!

Here are a few dairy tidbits:

• June Dairy Month is an annual celebration that began in 1937 and serves as a time to reflect on dairy foods and the industry that makes it possible.
• Dairy is real nutrition
  Together, milk, cheese and yogurt deliver nine essential nutrients in a variety of tasty, affordable and convenient options.  Three of the nutrients dairy foods provide – calcium, potassium and vitamin D – have been coined as “nutrients of concern” by the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
• Dairy is fresh
  It takes less than 48 hours for milk to travel from the farm to the grocery store. This means families are guaranteed a fresh, nutritious product every time they shop the dairy aisle.
• Dairy is natural
  Milk is a natural source of high-quality protein for healthy muscles and calcium for strong bones (8 grams protein and about 300 mg calcium per 8 ounces).
• Should I be worried about hormones in milk?
  The World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) assure families and individuals that we need not worry about hormones in food. For example, 90 percent of hormones are destroyed during pasteurization of milk. The rest of the hormones are broken down during digestion. In fact, there are no differences between milk produced by hormone-treated and untreated cows according to FDA studies.

ENJOY making the pie!!

{Grandma Ruth’s Rhubarb Cream Pie}Ingredients

Pie Crust:
2c flour sifted
1t  salt
2/3c Crisco or lard
7T cold water

Pie Filling
1 1/2 C sugar
1/2 t nutmeg
3T flour
1 T butter, melted
3 C cut rhubarb
2 well-beaten eggs

Directions

Pie Crust:

1. Sift flour & salt, add Crisco and cut until pea size.
2. Add cold water 1T at a time to the dough mixture.
3. Roll out on floured paper.

*Makes 2 crusts and freezes well.

Pie Filling:

1. Blend the sugar, nutmeg, flour, butter and rhubarb.
2. Pour into pie unbaked pie crust.
3. THEN pour well-beaten eggs over the top of the rhubarb mixture.
4. Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes, then at 350 degree for 30 minutes.

Tastes great served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Nebraska native and CommonGround Iowa volunteer Sara Ross discusses some of the myths and facts surrounding high fructose corn syrup, or corn sugar. For more information on this topic, or to have another food question answered, please visit http://www.FindOurCommonGround.com.

For more information about your food and where it comes from, please visit: http://www.FindOurCommonGround.com

What are the benefits of food biotechnology to agriculture?

Growing food with GMOs can result in better-tasting fruits and vegetables that stay fresh longer and are naturally resistant to insects. Plant breeding also results in crops better able to withstand the environmental challenges of drought, disease and insect infestations.

By developing special traits in plants, food biotechnology allows for more food to be grown in more places using fewer chemicals and fewer natural resources. This increased availability of crops provides significant economic gains to farmers in developing countries.

It helps your food budget as well.

An Iowa State University study shows that without food biotechnology, global prices would be nearly 10 percent higher for soybeans and 6 percent higher for corn.

Biotechnology also benefits the environment.

A Council for Agricultural Science and Technology report says biotech soy, corn and cotton have decreased soil erosion by 90 percent, preserving 37 million tons of topsoil. Food Biotechnology crops also provide a 70 percent reduction in herbicide runoff and an 85 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

USDA also says research on potatoes, squash, tomatoes and other crops continues in a similar manner to provide resistance to diseases that otherwise are very difficult to control.

No need to fear your food!

Summer Salsa
Ingredients
2 ears cooked sweet corn (2 cups)
3 med tomatoes chopped (3 cups)
¼ cup chopped red onion
1 clove garlic chopped
1 tablespoon cilantro leaves (or chop fresh if avail.)
1 tablespoon lime juice

Directions
Mix well. Let sit at least an hour. You can adjust the amounts according to your own preferences. This salsa is great when you have fresh corn and tomatoes from the garden (later in the summer for those of us in Nebraska!) but thanks to food biotechnology, we can enjoy these vegetables year-round.

But don’t forget about food safety.

Here are a few tips to keep your food safe, from the USDA’s Grill it Safe program.

Be sure to:

• Keep food refrigerated until ready to use.
• Avoid the “Danger Zone!” Bacteria can grow rapidly between 40 to 140 °F.
• Don’t allow perishables to stay unrefrigerated for more than 2 hours (1 hour if the temperature is above 90 °F).
• Store perishables, including leftovers, in the refrigerator or a cooler. Use ice or gel packs inside the cooler to keep food cold.
• Always follow the manufacturer’s guidelines when using a grill, whether it is charcoal or gas.
• Start with clean hands and a clean grill and utensils.
• Prepare your ingredients, like marinades, dry rubs, oils, and sauces, ahead of time.

Washing Hands:

• Wash hands for at least 20 seconds with warm, soapy water. Many people don’t realize that they can make people sick if they fail to wash hands before handling food.

Cross-contamination:

• Cross-contamination can occur when a cutting board or plate that held raw food comes in contact with foods that are ready to eat.
• Clean cutting boards and food thermometers in hot, soapy water between uses. Use a clean plate for cooked foods that you remove from the grill.
• Discard marinades or sauces that have come in contact with raw meat juices. Keep raw meat juices away from cooked foods by using a clean plate.

Charcoal or Gas:

• It is important that the grill is hot enough to safely cook your food. One way of gauging this is when you can’t keep your hand over it for 2 seconds.
• If charcoal is your choice, buy commercial charcoal briquettes or aromatic wood chips. Follow the manufacturer’s directions on the package label.
• A gas grill has hot and cold spots. Know your grill and read your manual.

Meat and Poultry:

• Completely thaw meat or poultry before cooking.
• Trim excess fat from meat to prevent fire and grease flare-ups.
• Always marinate foods in the refrigerator using a glass or plastic food-safe container.
• Use a food thermometer to ensure that meat and poultry have reached a safe minimum internal temperature.

See more at: http://www.bestfoodfacts.org/food-for-thought/grill-it-safe#sthash.6fLjb8y6.dpuf

Check out CommonGround Nebraska volunteer Leslie Boswell on KMTV’s Morning Blend talking about the difference between corporate farms and family farms.

Great job, Leslie!

A culture is a way of life of a group of people: the behaviors, beliefs, values, and symbols that they accept, generally without thinking about them, and that are passed along by technology, communication and imitation from one generation to the next.

With fewer of us down on the farm, there’s also fewer that understand our culture.

Culture of working together: My grandpa and great uncles cutting the neighbor’s wheat in the early 1930s. International tractor with a pull-type Massey combine; the biggest combine available then. My Dad says this is ’28 or ’29 Ford Model A truck. He says he drove grain to town with that same truck when he was about 11. Just like today’s farmers, they used the latest technology.

To be sure, times have changed. There’s less manual labor and more mechanization, but farming still requires substantial knowledge and is still physically demanding. Thanks to technology, a tractor and planter might be set to drive automatically, but Mr. Corn Farmer still likes to turn it around himself at the end of the row to ensure proper alignment. He must possess a tremendous understanding about agronomy and mechanics in order to be able to tell that same tractor what to do. While the tractor drives, he will monitor the equipment, phone the grain broker or his Real Farmwife, use the Internet to check news that affects markets, and review the weather forecast. Every once in awhile he’ll get out to adjust the pressure, seed flow, air supply, and tend to other maintenance issues. There are still some problems that the newest sensors can’t sense, as well as tasks that require heavy lifting and some “old man strength.”

A farmer must also be well acquainted with principles of Soil Science, Genetics, Meteorology, Biology, Chemistry, Math, Animal Science, Grain Marketing, Construction, Water Rights, Business Law, Economics, Finance, and Accounting. All of this is balanced with heavy dose of common sense, computer savvy, work ethic, and strong communication skills.

Technology for food production

See the duct tape on the combine’s corn head?
Even the toys on our farm break down and get “farmerized.”

Despite the technological changes over the years, little girls and little boys start learning about this way of life long before high school job shadowing opportunities. They live it by helping feed livestock. (Animal Science) They play at it with a full line of toy John Deere Equipment. (Mechanics) They listen to discussions of break even analysis at the dinner table. (Accounting) They pick up small bales of hay in the summertime. (Work Ethic) They chop ice for the water tank in the winter. (Common Sense) They help in the backyard garden. (Agronomy) They learn how to set the planter for proper seed depth when planting the sweet corn patch. (Soil Science)

They live and breathe farming along with their parents.

Today’s farm kids may be technology savvy, but they retain yesterday’s values. They see us help neighbors and anyone else that needs a hand. They see us take care of baby animals beyond the point of a cost incentive to do so. They learn practices that conserve water and build topsoil in such a way that also makes a living. They see us work long hours on weekends. They are taught to appreciate family, friends, and blessings in the midst of the unpredictability of farming.

In our house, our boys do all this; and then they play sports, practice band instruments, chat with friends, go to Boy Scout meetings, ride bikes, read books, play on the iPad, mow the yard, help with dishes and do all the things that other non-farm kids do.

As much as farming is about passing on skills to the next generation, it’s even more about passing on the attitudes and attributes that make a farmer adaptable, inventive, and ethical whether the planter is pulled by a horse or 425 horsepower tractor.

So what’s the status of “culture” of agriculture? On our family farm, as we consider beliefs, values, traditions and technology, we think it’s alive and well.

This recipe we’ve made for 20 years in our family and is a favorite. You can use any type of apple for this recipe, but in my quick cooking video, I share three types of apples that our family uses: store-bought, apples grown by our neighbor who has an orchard, and organic. All three types of apples will work

• Store-bought: Some have a tougher skin, but will stay in the refrigerator for a long time, so I like to keep these apples around.
• Home-grown: Not organic as my neighbors spray to keep bugs and fungus away. But I just thoroughly wash them before we eat and they’ll last in the refrigerator for a couple of months. They are also only available for about a month’s time every year.
• Organic: I get these from the Farmer’s Market only during a couple months of the year and they do not last very long in my refrigerator. It’s still important to wash organic foods and to cut out the spoiled part.

Start by combining egg and shortening to a bowl and mix well.

Add in sugar, vanilla, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.Fold in apples. Dough will be stiff.Put the mixture in muffin cups, filling about 2/3 of the cup.Cook at 425 degrees for 20 minutes.

{Raw Apple Muffins}
Ingredients
1 cup chopped apples
1 egg
¼ cup shortening
½ cup sugar
2 tbsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp salt
½ cup walnuts, optional
½ cup raisins, optional

Directions

1. Combine egg and shortening to a bowl and mix well.
2. Add in sugar, vanilla, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
3. Fold in apples. Dough will be stiff.
4. Put the mixture in muffin cups, filling about 2/3 of the cup.
5. Cook at 425 degrees for 20 minutes.