Phebe and Pat

I work with Phebe...she is a nurse in Urgent Care with me...I think we have worked together for 5 years now and do you know I have never asked her details about her family's business...shame on me!  Her husband is a rancher in Gadsden County.  They own about 100-200 heads of cattle (steers) that they sell to be fattened and then butchered.  I asked her after watching the Food, Inc movie what she thought about eating organic...she said it was a fad and a farse...I guess after looking at her in a perplexed manner, she decided to explain...

She said that eating organically is a fad brought on by movies like Food, Inc.  She said it is a great concept but she believes that it is impossible to do in America 100%.  She said that there isn't enough land to grass feed enough animals to feed all the people in America if Organic Eating became a #1 priority for all.  She said it all sounds wonderful but the logistics of it aren't feasible unless we can all do our own gardening etc. and it just isn't possible.  She quoted the FDA website and said there are percentages to how many people vs how much land etc in the United States and the numbers don't work...you can't produce that much grass fed, organic meat.  Americans just eat too much!  She said that their cows are fed organically up until they are weaned from their mother at about 600 lbs and then they sell them to the feed lots...where they can not control what happens.  Yes, they are fed corn there and given antibiotics because you have cows from all different parts of the country coming together in one tight place like a bunch of humans coming together for a big concert...she said cows get sick like humans...runny noses and all.  She said of course, they don't want their cows treated poorly and given food they aren't suppose to eat, etc but unless you can match one cow up with several families and know that those families are going to buy that cow's meat then it is very hard for a farmer to not sell the cows to be fattened to a feed lot because once a steer reaches a certain age, weight...if it isn't butchered for meat then it isn't good for anything...so it puts most ranchers that do this for a living in a bad place.  In the end, Phebe and Pat are looking into other farms, ways to do things, etc but Phebe said she buys her meat at Publix like the rest of us.  She also doesn't believe that when something says organic...it neccessarily mean organic...how far does that go back..she asks...the animal, the feed you give the animal, the grass its eating, the ground the grass grows in...etc.  They also every now and then give their cows antibiotics because as I wrote earlier, cows do get runny noses, and she said that doesn't mean they aren't good to eat anymore.  They do not give growth hormones though.  When talking about this with Phebe, she stated in not exactly these words.....The world is just not at that place anymore when land, organic eating, and such is possible for everyone...she said, and I agree,  it makes you think about the end times and how things may get and what all will happen with our food sources...hmmmm...very interesting!  So I loved talking to someone who is actually in the business.  She said I did spur her on to thinking about getting back into gardening herself...she said they would love to be able to produce these healthy, organic cows and sell them off to families and see where the fruits of their labor are going. I'm glad I finally asked her about her business!