Appreciating the small joys during a difficult time

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April 3, 2020

The girls who work on the farm and diligently pack your orders every week gave me a gift for Christmas - a calendar with pictures of lovely sunsets and quotes from the Bible. I was moving soon, so I didn’t look past the cover and stuck it in a box.

A couple months later, I moved. And last week, my husband and I started unpacking decorations. And there it was. The calendar I had almost forgotten about!

I opened the calendar and was taken aback by what I found inside. I started to cry.

Each page and each day is filled with handwritten notes, inspirational quotes, fun easy tasks to complete, short poems, and birthday wishes for my family (they must have done some covert detective work for that last one).

It was undoubtedly a group project. The pages are filled with each person’s handwriting, a variety of inks, and a cornucopia of ideas. Each month is themed with the season.

On the day that I opened it, the day read “Don’t overlook life’s small joys while searching for the big ones…”

And that was it. I’m in week three of strict self isolation. My life is quite different from before. “Boring” is the word that our modern society would label it. And fear is unfortunately rampant. But, regardless of that, there are many, many small joys.

So I started thinking of the joys in my newfound life.

Opening the calendar certainly falls into the category of small joys. Watching the season change with spring flowers budding. Laughing with my children. Listening to the wind rustle the trees and the sound of a stream nearby. Hiking with my family. Starting my gardens. Sipping a warm cup of tea. Eating really great home cooked meals made from quality small farm ingredients.

Once I started thinking about it, I realized I had so very much to be joyous about.

It is no secret that happiness and health are inextricably related. It boosts the immune system, fights stress and pain, and supports longevity. I encourage you to find joy in your life, small or large, especially in turbulent times like these.

What’s bringing you joy lately? I would love to hear from you. That would bring me some joy, too :)

Best wishes for your family’s health and happiness.

Opinion

Ugh greenwashed labels. What does it take to get ___ on a label anyway?

Not a fan of the confusing, greenwashed labels in store? Yea, me too! And it's especially real for me, because I'm responsible for getting our labels approved with the "powers that be". Here's a little story with a big inside scoop... I made new labels for our bone broth a little while ago. It didn't go as smoothly as planned. Why? I put the little icons about our farming practices on them. They look like this: Yup, despite being 100% accurate and true, they were denied!! We're not allowed to put those statements on our food labels. So, I asked the USDA guy, "What would it take to get those claims on the labels, anyway?" The answer was kinda shocking. First off, there's some guidance on wording. Silly technicalities in my opinion. For example, you can't use the term "No Spray" but you can say "Produced without the use of synthetic pesticides." Or another example is that you can't say "No Routine Antibiotics or Vaccines" but you can say "Raised without routine use of antibiotics or vaccines." Second, the processor needs to update their documents to provide traceability. In other words, they need to document how they make sure the bones for our bone broth don't get mixed up with bones from other farms. I mean, this is pretty simple, especially with small batch foods like ours. But the documentation needs to be meticulous. Drafting it in government-approved language can be time consuming and/or costly. And lastly, once you get the wording and process right, you need proof. This was the real shocker for me: Want to know what proof would suffice for all the claims above? A 2-3 sentence affidavit (AKA a super short letter) signed by all farmers that supply us. That's it!? This lead me to a bunch of questions: What if a company submits a letter from one farmer but actually has other farmers that supply them, too? What if a company changes farmers? Will they submit new letters?What if a company's farmers change their practices in the future? Will they immediately update their labels?Are the "powers that be" checking on this? Is anyone checking on this?Is this why most farms and food facilities don't allow outside people coming in? It seems to me that, if a business isn't doing what the label says, the only way to find out is via a whistleblower. And the only way to make them stop is to take them to court. You know, like what's happening with Vital Farms and their pasture raised egg claim right now. It seems to me that, all that good natural stuff on labels - grass fed, pasture raised, antibiotic free, etc - doesn't mean it's true. Certifications are a little better, but the same kinda thing can be said about those, too. This is why, at Miller's, we choose to NOT sell in stores. No wholesale for us. In fact, we don't even have an on farm store. We only sell directly to our customers via our website. And, we choose to only get certified for what's required. This way, we can make our own natural standards. And, we can provide you will all the info and proof you need. Descriptions, photos, blog posts, test results, and more. So, what do you think? Should we do the affidavit thing to get claims on our bone broth labels? What proof do you need to feel confident in your food choices? I'd love to hear from you. Comment below (no account required - just start typing) or contact us 😊

Should I choose animal rennet or vegetable rennet in my natural cheese?

Let’s take a look at what rennet is and why it’s used in cheesemaking, compare the different types of animal and vegetable rennets, check out the labeling requirements for rennet, and consider the potential health consequences. Keeping all this in mind, Miller’s Bio Farm aims to produce the most nutrient-dense, natural, A2/A2 cheese we can and gives you all the info you need to make the choice that’s best for your body!

Is yolk color is no longer a great indicator of the egg's nutrition?

It used to be true that, if your egg yolks were darker in color, then the better the egg's nutrition. Conscious consumers of the past would look for that deep orange yolk and stray away from lighter yellow yolks. It's sad, but this simply isn't the case anymore. Here's why you can't trust cheap store-bought eggs with orange yolks and need to know your farmer instead.

Appreciating the small joys during a difficult time

More from the blog

Ugh greenwashed labels. What does it take to get ___ on a label anyway?

Should I choose animal rennet or vegetable rennet in my natural cheese?

Is yolk color is no longer a great indicator of the egg's nutrition?

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