The best possible chance... is not with commercial agriculture.

Mrs. Hogsquash here,

Sometimes, I am curious to know how our country became so lost from our roots. Sometimes, I wonder where the real farmers went. Why do animals need to be raised in barns, stalls, or crates? Why does this earth seem to become less and less able to support our growing population? People, I think I have found an answer and I think there is a lot of hope that comes from this answer. 

There are many "new" farmers who are coming out and talking about how they raise their animals. Heck, they aren't even really "new" farmers. They are just farmers that know what they are doing, and know how to raise meat and veggies with out knocking down our Eco-system. Instead of trying to find ways to deal with massive amounts of waste, they are letting the animals naturally fertilize the soil, and in some farms, till their crops in  as well. 

When I speak of these farmers, I am not talking Smithfield, Cargill, or Tyson. I am talking Polyface, 3D Farm, Hindsight Heritage, Pork & Plants, and many others that are popping up around the country. These farms are the farms that will help keep our food security in order. These farms are the farms that can bring health back into our land. Our land is desolate for the most part because of the huge mono-culture crops we have, such as corn, soy, beef, pork, chicken, and turkey. Rarely do you find an "industrial" farm that has more than one crop growing, or if it does, the crop is one meat and one grain. 

Raising food in mono-culture manner can only mean one thing. Trouble. When you intensely concentrate something, you are setting it up for failure, sure, you may have a great turn-around on meat, or you may sell thousands of bushels of corn, or soy, or alfalfa. Whatever it may be, it is NOT healthy. Pouring that corn, soy, or alfalfa you grow to animals who never have the opportunity to see the light of day, or who are walking in their own filth, is NOT healthy. Growing that corn, soy and alfalfa, using Round-up, fertilizers and pesticides is NOT healthy. When things are so concentrated together you are going to get diseases like swine flu, mad-cow, avian flu, etc. Your crops will have to have added nutrients to the soil because such a concentrated growth of the same plant will drain that soil of any possible nutrient it can to survive. And then because you cannot add enough nutrients your crops need, you have to add animal DNA to the seed and genetically modify the seed for that crop so it will grow. 

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Traditionally, crops were inter-planted to provide the soil with constant fertility. Squash, beans, and corn all grew together, each taking something from the soil and putting back a nutrient the other plants needed, and the cycle continued and the eco-system was constantly replenished. The squash also works as a mulch and pest repellent because of the prickly vines, this keeps pests away and also keeps those pests from building up a resistance to some type of spray. 

Many people ask why would a person or in our case a couple of well educated people decide to farm? You should get your degree, and make something of your self. Start a "real" business and get a job where all you have to do is sit behind a desk and let the money flow, or "let your money work for you". 

People, there is no way this country or any country for that matter will survive on CEO's and V.I.P's. The beginning of industrialization was the beginning of a national crisis. The foundation laid by the founding fathers, would slowly be taken apart piece by piece and something so simple as our food would take a turn for the worse. 

Today, a murderers are set free, a drug dealers are given petty fines and set back on the streets to sell cocaine and meth to our children. But when trying to provide nourishing food to our children and the nation, raw milk farmers are given maximum penalty, homeschoolers are put in prison because they are not "qualified" to teach their own children, and God is no longer allowed in public. 

Our entire nation is in a crisis. And if we don't start somewhere, and fix the damage this country has done, and really become free again. There will be no hope for survival. 

What we produce at Hogsquash Hollow, is real food. It is real food from real animals. We will not become certified organic because we have found out there are farmers who are certified and are dishonest. That is not right, and we will not do it. We also will never, let me repeat NEVER feed soy. Soy is such a hormonal mess that no creature should consume it, unless it is in a traditional fermented manner. And lets face it. Fermenting GMO soy is pointless. That is one thing I (Mrs. Hogsquash) am very firm on. Our animals will not be fed anything that is detrimental to their health. I also believe there needs to be a mixed grain supplement, not just a mono-crop such as corn, or soy, or rye. Except with ruminants, they should be fed what would naturally be in their diet. Pigs and poultry on the other hand need to have some grain.  What ever it may be, an animal is not made to eat only one thing its entire life. 

We want to give our animals the best possible chance in life. And raising them conventionally is not an option. Giving our crops and our animals the best possible chance also gives us the best possible chance. Which I believe is the change we need in this country to provide us with a better future.