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A Chinese Proverb

written by

Ben Simmons

posted on

October 23, 2023

Good Morning from your farmer,

During my professional career as Director of Global Sourcing, I was fortunate to travel to many foreign countries. The first country visited was China in late 1993. Since my initial trip, I later travelled all over the country spending up to 3 weeks at a time and three to four times per year between 2000 and 2005.

I have stood on the Northern end of the Great Wall where you can see over into N. Korea and the military gun placements along the river between the two countries. I've stayed in a hotel in Dandong where I was the only Westerner there - Dandong is also where the bridge that Gen. McArthur bombed during the Korean War to keep the Chinese from supporting N. Korea. The Chinese interruption of the Korean War is displayed in a museum there as well.

There are many fascinating as well as sad sights to see. There are many wealthy as well as very poor people.

China is a country with a long history filled with prosperous times and hardship. One of my observations was there are very few birds, animals, etc. in the wild like we have here. I was told that was because during one of the hard times the people ate anything they could find to stay alive.

A lot of my time spent in China came to mind when I was reading Joel Salatin's Homestead Tsunami book where he shared this Chinese proverb: Plenty of Food - Plenty of Problems. No Food - Only One Problem.

How true that is. But, for most of us in the United States we seldom have to worry about where our next meal comes from. We have been a nation blessed with aplenty - so much so we often become very picky about what we will/will not eat. Plenty of Food - Plenty of Problems!

How long will it last? Good question. I don't have the answers. However, I do know there are serious concerns happening that should get our attention - especially if you like farm-raised REAL FOOD meat and vegetables.

Henry Kissinger, a protégé of the powerful Rockefeller circles declared, "If you control the oil, you control entire nations; if you control the food, you control the people; if you control the money, you control the entire world." From the book Gods of Money: Wall Street and the Death of the American Century by F. William Engdahls.

I assure you at both the Federal & State level, big business along with their lobbyists & associations like seed growers, poultry, cattlemen's, etc. are writing regulations, law, and policies that favor their bottom line. I will discuss more about how Mississippi law, regulations, and policies negatively impact our farm in a future newsletter.

The problem does not start with the business CEO. The CEO is hired by the Board. Board members are appointed by shareholders (majority shareholders). Now we are getting close to the problem - only THREE firms own the majority share of 94% of the S&P 500. The three are Blackrock, Vanguard, and State Street. The last I heard, the funds under management exceeded $19 trillion. They are not competitors per se as they also own each other.

Recently, a new documentary was released titled: No Farmers No Food: Will You Eat the Bugs?

The documentary reveals untold stories of farmers forced out of business and exposes the hidden agenda behind "Green Policies" that are pushing people to eat bugs, a global food crisis ignored by the world's media.

In closing, I should have the details on thanksgiving turkeys this week and will post next Saturday. We made a decent start at aerating our soil and inoculating with compost extract - followed by our no-till drill planting rye grass and fescue. Work in the plant has become close to a full time job! This week we processed chicken, cut and packed fresh pork (cured items are in the brine) and made sausages. Lastly, on the new ground I had a contractor build a pond to serve two goals. First, to provide reserve water for our cows in case of power failure to the well. Second, to help with drainage.

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At Nature's Gourmet Farm, our intent is to create a community that evolves around one of the most intrinsically important things of the ages, and that’s the provision of sustenance. That's our passion - to raise healthy food to nourish families and strengthen immune systems.

** Product Availability Update **

NOTE: Restocks are made about 6 PM on the dates indicated below!

Chicken - Restocked October 18th. Next restock will be November 1st. We currently have about 850 broilers on our farm. Processing will continue for twice per month for the balance of the year.

Turkey - Oct 10th restocked ground, wings, thighs, and legs. We also have two separate age groups on pasture now, but will not be ready for Thanksgiving.

Eggs - Restock each Wednesday.

Beef - Next restock will be October 27th.

Pork -Restocked October 18th for fresh cuts. About 10-12 days later for smoked cuts.

Lamb - Restocked September 13th. Scheduled to process about 12 lamb in November just in time for Christmas

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