Fat is not the enemy

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December 7, 2018

Tallow. Bacon grease. Lard. Butter. Goose liver. These are bad, right?

After a lifetime of anti-fat propaganda based on soft science, it’s understandable that you may still be fearful of butter and steak. However, there’s an overwhelming amount of research (and common sense) telling us otherwise.

We need animal fat. Humans have evolved for thousands of years to eat animals.

There are many reasons why animal fat is healthy. I’m not going to get into super specific scientific reasons. Rather, I’m going to focus on what I believe to be the two most important reasons you should eat animal fat.

1. Animal fats are stable.

Animal fats are not prone to spoil or turn rancid. On a molecular level, they no not oxidize or break down, releasing free radicals into your system.

Vegetable oils and spreads oxidize over time and when exposed to heat, light, and oxygen. Once oxidized, they cannot serve a constructive role in your body’s health.

2. Animal fats (from animals fed a natural diet) provide vitamins found in no other foods.

Animal fats naturally contain vitamins A, D3, and K2, which are all incredibly important for healthy functioning of your body.

Vitamin A supports vision and the immune system.

Vitamin D3 maintains good bone health and immune system.Vitamin K2 prevents the buildup of calcium in the arteries, which makes them hard.

Vitamin K2 puts calcium where it belongs - into the bones - to keep them hard.

These are all fat-soluble vitamins. This means your body needs fat for the vitamins to be stored and used.

Animals are our natural multi-vitamin.

Whether this is shocking news or a confirmation of your beliefs, in modern times, it’s difficult to know what’s the “truth”. You’re surrounded by misinformation on all sides. However, when it comes to animal fat, it’s time to unlearn the propaganda and be acquainted with the happy, healthy truth.

For me, this started with a bottom up approach. I have listened to transformative stories of healing from people who changed their diet and saw outstanding results. I challenge you to talk to friends and family members. What dietary choices are they making, why, and what changes have they noticed over time?

If you do not incorporate many animals fats into your diet, I have an additional challenge for you. I challenge you to replace your vegetable oils and spreads with animal fat. Keep cooking your normal meals, but just use different fats. Take on this challenge for 4 weeks, and see how you feel. If you notice a difference, let me know!

Health and Nutrition

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 😊

Fat is not the enemy

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Miller's Bio Farm, 523 Valley Road, Quarryville, PA 17566