Full Circle Farm, Ordered By The County Court, To Appear Before The Judge 5/17/19

Labels. The State wants us to properly label our milk. We do not have an issue with labels, per say, but on the other hand, foods without labels can be healthier, at times, than foods with labels! Here at our house we certainly avoid foods with long labels and especially with things on the label that are hard to pronounce. "If a child can’t read it, we don’t eat it", is a good standard. But the State sent an undercover investigator to buy food directly from our farm and now we have to appear before a judge, like criminals, because we are not properly licensed nor do we properly label our products.  But, if you look at the bigger picture, we are not a store, either! Our customers can come and meet us personally, watch us milk our cows, see the daily operation, even spend the night!  That undercover agent could have asked for a tour and we would have gladly led the way!  Why do they have to sneak in here, like we are criminals, when we have an open door policy and people can come and visit anytime they want. What a waste of tax dollars! And the labels themselves may be a waste too, as what do they add to the nutrient density of the food? I have said in my health seminars for many years, "it is better to eat foods that do not need labels."  Labels cost us money and time and add nothing, especially when you can read about each of our products on our website, before purchasing.

Remember Cleopatra’s Bath Milk? We used to sell our milk that way but now that raw milk is legal as "pet food," we thought we did not have to, but now there are so many laws about how pet food can be sold. Why the over regulation when we have many long time customers with a relationship of 15 years or more? Pretty much a private treaty sale but the state wants to regulate anyway. This is why Millers and others have buying club memberships, to properly do the private club and make it legal by the constitution where it says “no state shall obstruct the right to contract” and the membership does that, it makes it a contract of sorts. The cow share is the same. But cow share folks say it is quite a hassle with lots of paperwork. Same with membership, wrong focus, and pretty soon the poor farmer does not have time left to even think of how he might produce nutrient dense food. We can be distracted so easily. I constantly fight to stay focused on the purpose and the mission of our farm, as it is easy to wonder, "what is all this 7 day a week work really for?"  Regulations do not make healthier food and labels do not either. And why does the Dept of Ag send undercover investigators and treat the farmer like a criminal when they are supposed to be helping the small farmer? This is NOT a good use of your tax dollars. In small, rural Suwanee County, where we live, there have been 8 suicides in the last few months related to meth drug use. Why don’t we use our tax dollars to go after that instead?

Pork Story.  We thought we would share this interesting e-mail we received from a customer that goes right along with nutrient dense food (no label needed):  Hi, Mostly wanted to thank you and congratulate you for your pigs. I have a doctor, special to me, I visit every few months. Among the things he does, he has vials for different types of food, with the "essence"/"energy" of the food in the vial, and he uses this to test on his patients if it is a food to eat or a food to avoid. He has had me off pork, as testing not good for me. I brought some of your ground pork, cooked, to his office, to test that directly, as he has said it is possible that differently grown food items could have different results. Your pork tested as good for me. Just wanted to share. I did have a curiosity question ... your ground pork, unflavored, tastes like sausage to me, similar to when I would make "vegetarian sausage" and add all kinds of herbs/spices. I absolutely believe you that you are not adding anything, despite the taste I can tell it is just the ground flesh ... but, any idea why the taste ... seemingly all pork does not taste like this ... I know the pork chops and ham and bacon I had as a child did not have any hint of sausage taste. Do different parts of pigs taste that differently ... curious what part of the pig goes into the ground pork you sell ... or could this taste be from the specific pigs you have (breed and/or environment and food)? Thanks again!
Answer to the above question: Our pigs get moved to a fresh salad bar every 5 to 10 days. Eating lots of greens and wild edibles in the pasture is no doubt where the exceptional flavor comes from. VERY few people move their pigs like this. It is too much work and takes to much infrastructure. "Free Range" pork is not nearly as good because after 30 days the pigs have destroyed anything good and are basically eating out of the feed bag. It is a little better than confinement pork but not that much. Our pigs live an awesome life eating fresh salad weekly and often have our mineral rich skim milk for dessert.

Bitterweed = Bittermilk. Lately we were drinking milk at our table when one of my girls asked me if I taste the “off” flavor in the milk. I tasted again and sure enough BITTERWEED! This is a ragweed like plant that is bitter and the cows sometimes eat it when we are short on grass. We are in a somewhat dry time, too when the flavors in plants can concentrate, to help this happen. Sooo, if you have tasted it or if you are not able to use the milk you bought lately let us know and we will gladly credit your account. This milk should be good for pets and plants, so instead of completely throwing it out, use it in your garden as a last resort.  One veteran raw milk drinker told us that she would continue to drink it since she knows it is still nutritious and we joked about "drinking your bitters along with your raw milk" for added nutrition.

Gabe Brown's book Dirt to Soil is extremely good, I just finished it and highly recommend it for fellow farmer and consumer alike, he also has lots of you tubes.

https://freeshowing.secretingredientsmovie.com/?cookieUUID=db8f785e-f2fc-4134-aabe-eb3b8a3ff5ee

Thanks for supporting a small, family farm and contributing to a more REGENERATIVE future,
Dennis and Alicia