Beef Sting

JBS S.A., the world's biggest beef processor, and others are under investigation by Brazil's federal prosecutor's office in a widespread corruption case. Several meatpackers and leather and hide companies are part of the investigation, which began about a year ago. The public relations department of Brazil's federal prosecutor's office released a statement saying 22 people had been arrested following police sting operations, including officials at the Banco da Amazonia bank, and local and federal officials of several government offices and ministries. The prosecutor's office said it was investigating the bribing of public officials, racketeering, corruption, fraud and collusion.

What does that legalese translate to in real words? That companies under investigation paid inspectors and public servants to approve projects and clear products such as meats for consumption.

They PAID officials to allow people to eat meat that most likely should NOT have been consumed!! Out.Freaking.Rageous. Just add this to the long, long list of reasons why it's not only good for the American cattle farmer, but good for consumers to KNOW where your beef (and any other meat product, for God's sake) comes from.

And by the way, Broken B Farms meats are bribery-, racketeering-, corruption-, collusion-, and fraud-free. They don't have any dyes or ammonias or fragrances either. And they've never been tested on animals - only people. Who seem to love 'em.

I'm published!

Okay, so it's just a letter to the editor. And it's in a weekly rag in KC. And they had to cut down my original letter to their 300-word limit (cause I can write for years when my industry gets bashed).

But it's still IN PRINT. Yee-haw!!

A few weeks ago when I was in KC, I picked up a Pitch. I only got as far as the letters to the editor, though. The first one was from an ignorant animal agriculture Nazi, revelling in the horrors of feeding corn to animals rather than people.

Weeeel, that lit my fire. So I got onto my computer and composed a congenial rebuttal online. Which was cut down to fit, and published in this week's Pitch.

With an awesome headline. :) Thanks, CJ Janovy, Editor.

One man's trash ...

... is another man's trash. This lovely item was seen at an auction this past weekend. (No, I did NOT take this one home with me. I'm tacky-to-the-max, for sure. But I gotta draw the line somewhere!)

How does your garden grow?

Having been raised on a farm, one could reasonably assume that I know how to grow things. Well, one could not be more wrong.

Animals, yes. I can grow animals. Plants? They typically don't stand a chance around me. I'm the human equivalent of herbicide. But for whatever reason, I can't help but keep trying. Maybe I just love to have my hands in dirt. (Have you tried it? There's something awesome about getting your hands dirty when you're doing something for your own benefit.)

My parents, on the other hand, have green thumbs. Thumbs, fingers, hands, toes ... the people can grow anything. Not only can my mom grow just about any plant, she's the 'social worker' who takes dying plants away from me and my sister and rehabilitates them into beautiful, lush, textbook examples of flora.

Last year, I had one little tomato plant. And it did, through some miracle, bear fruit. So with that one little success under my belt, this year, I really wanted to try my hand at a more grand scale of gardening. In true me fashion, I was ready to till up a good half acre and stick billions of plants in the ground. But, reason (and compassion for plants) took over, so before I launched into my own endeavor (that would, undoubtedly, end in disaster) I enrolled myself in Gardening Bootcamp. Which means I helped plant a few things in the family plot, and am going to participate in the watering, weeding, picking, canning, etc. over the next few months. With the experts to guide me, hopefully I can't screw this up. (And look! A couple of things are actually above ground, green, and growing!!!)



That, plus the fact that green beans are the cockroaches of the plant world. I'm not sure even I can screw them up!