Meet the interns: Ruth Saunders

The Egg Shortage- "It's like toilet paper during Covid!"

If you live in the US, you've probably been affected by the egg shortage in some type of way. Whether you had to go out of your way to find eggs, pay double the normal price, or had to buy the carton of egg whites at the store because that was the only thing they had, it would be fair to say that you've "been affected in some sort of way". If you're someone who normally doesn't eat eggs then you've managed to come out of this whole thing relatively unscathed. The latest report as of Wednesday, Feb 20th 2025 stated that there have been 23.51 M birds affected by the highly pathogenic avian influenza. There is an asterisk by the word "affected", and below it says:*number of birds on confirmed infected premises. The USDA has a specific outlined protocol for any confirmed cases of HPAI. Below is the document that outlines how even just one positive case can lead to the "depopulation" of hundreds of thousands- and even millions in some cases- of birds. Please note the difference between "depopulation" and "euthanasia". I don't really think anything else needs to be said about this protocol. Whether you agree with this protocol or not, I just wanted you to be aware of what is happening right now with regards to the bird flu and egg shortage.Many people have said to me "Oh! It's like the toilet paper during covid situation!" While that's fun to joke about and the fact that there is indeed a shortage is true, the cause is actually very different. The current egg crisis is simply a decrease in supply due to the "depopulation" of millions of laying hens. The toilet paper shortage during covid was due to rigid supply chains that couldn't adapt quickly enough to the change in consumer demand. Demand for industrial toilet paper typically used by restaurants and hotels (the really rough stuff) plummeted due to forced closures while demand for home tp- like Charmin and Angel Soft- sky rocketed. Supply chains for the two different kinds could not adapt and while there was plenty of industrial toilet paper, there was no way to get it into grocery stores and that's not what home consumers are looking for anyways. Manufacturers were found scrambling, unable to adapt and the end consumer, [us], suffered the consequences. All of that being said, we are doing our best to keep our hens happy and healthy throughout the winter. That means providing them with apple cider vinegar for gut support, oyster shell for added minerals and calcium, straw bedding so they can keep warm, and finally a wood ash/compost dust bath so they can stay dry and manage their feathers and skin health naturally. For those of you outside of our pickup location range, we are able to safely ship egg bundles from May through October. Outside of that time frame, I'd recommend going on the Eat Wild site that has producers listed by state and category. All you have to do is find your state and search for eggs in your area. We've found the Eat Wild website to be a great resource for consumers like you to find food sources they can trust in their area.

Pasture Raised Pork Lard vs. Crisco

I have to admit, I was one of those kids who was raised on margarine. I was raised on the belief that using animal intestines for sausage casings was disgusting and I needed to make sure the frijoles at the Mexican restaurants were lard free because lard will make me fat and shouldn’t be eaten. As a kid, you don’t really question these things, you just accept them as your parents instruct you to and carry on. Well, things started to change for me when I came to Brown’s Ranch and heard a different story for the first time. It is actually honoring the animal to use every part of it, including the intestines and all. Why wouldn’t you want to use as much of the animal as possible if the rest of it is being used already? Also, I learned that how the animal was raised also plays a huge part in the nutritional value of the meat. Grassfed beef is completely different from grain fed in so many more ways than I could ever imagine. The same goes for pork raised on pasture and everything else we grow on our farm. Here’s the link to a blog that Paul wrote about the pigs on pasture a few years ago that you might find entertaining. If you want to read about our fatty acid profile testing as well, you can follow this link. As we head into the holiday baking season, I wanted to share a quick comparison of our pastured pork lard to Crisco, the most commonly used vegetable shortening in baking. If you think about it, soybean oil and palm oil are naturally liquid at room temperature. That's why they're called oils. So why is Crisco a solid at room temp? Well it's because of the hydrogenation that's done which creates trans fats that are completely unnatural and something that our bodies don't know what to do with; causing inflammation. *More about TBHQ: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved TBHQ as Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS). However, some research suggests that long-term exposure to high doses of TBHQ can have negative health effects, including: Cytotoxic effects Genotoxic effects Carcinogenic effects Mutagenic effects **Source for this: https://www.nourishedwithnatur... Will you stand with us to create a Crisco free holiday season this year? Order your Pastured Pork Lard instead! Completely rendered and ready to use. Just keep it in the fridge for convenient usage. Sidenote: Refried beans made with lard are THE BEST. Traditional Mexican cuisine typically still uses pork lard because of its high smoke point, superior texture and flavor, and overall superior versatility to any other cooking oil.

Is Castration The Most Ethical Choice?

An explanation as to why we castrate our male livestock and the implications it has on land management, meat quality and animal welfare.

Meet the interns: Ruth Saunders

More from the blog

The Egg Shortage- "It's like toilet paper during Covid!"

Pasture Raised Pork Lard vs. Crisco

Is Castration The Most Ethical Choice?

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