Thursday, April 30, 2009

Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal!


This is the title of the book I'm currently reading by Joel Salatin. I recommend it heartly!


Anyone who thinks we live in a free country or that the American Dream is still within reach needs to read it. Here is my favorite quote so far..."How much evil throughout history could have been avoided had people exercised their moral acuity with convicitonal courage and said to the powers that be, 'No, I will not. This is wrong, and I don't care ifyou fire me, shoot me, pass me over for promotion, or call my mother. I will not participate in this unsavory activity.' Wouldn't world history be rewritten if just a few people had actually acted like individual free agents rather than mindless lemmings?"


My criminal thoughts? I want to be able to bake bread in my own home and... wait for it... SELL IT! How deviant is that!? It is a sad state of being we Americans find ourselves in. We have given ourselves over to the entity that is government. A government that allows women the freedome of "choice" to kill their unborn but not to sell bread from an un-government inspected kitchen. Even if I were to move to one of the few states that do indeed allow this, I'm still probably not allowed to buy or sell milk directly from... wait for it... A COW! The government thinks it's too dangerous. We must make it "safe" first. Thank you, but I think I can make decisions on my own. Certainly there is a place for processed milk but I should be able to buy a gallon of straight from the cow milk if I desire too. When did simple living go the way of the dinosaur?

7 comments:

Kara S said...

I hear ya! Our country has come to a sad point. Our prisons are overcrowded, thousands of babies die each year, and Uncle Sam is constantly watching over our shoulder putting his finger in everything we do - where we send our kids to school, what words we say in public (it's okay to cuss but not say "Jesus loves you"), and where and how we buy our food. Gov't fails to acknowledge that people drank milk for hundreds of years straight from the cow, and now that gov't regulates the milk, we have a bunch of lactose intolerant people. Perhaps it isn't the lactose that makes people intolerant but all the chemicals/additives that are added to the milk ... b/c of the gov't. And having seen plenty of dairy farms where milk is sold for processing, I'd much rather buy from the local small farm. The conditions are a million times better and cleaner. Thinking about these things makes me grateful to live on a farm where I can trust the food source 100%. Hoping someday you achieve your dream of moving to the country. :)

Anonymous said...

I too would love to bake and sell from my own kitchen. Lately I have been seeing a lot of space sharing so I have been thinking about approaching a caterer, or baker that would let me borrow/lease space when not in use. Does your church have a kitchen? Can you make it commercial? Find a way to do what you want and fight the government WHILE doing what you love. That's what I am going to do. Thanks for the elderberry jam recipe. Am going to try it today.

Cyndi Lewis said...

Hi Anony...

I could find a commercial kitchen (our church meets at a Christian school) but I don't want to have to lug everything over (including myself and the kids). I want to earn some money from home as I have time and sell to friends and family. If I'm going to spend time away from home I'd rather it be at a farmer's market selling.

Sunday said...

Hi! I just ran across your blog. I'd love some "fresh" COW milk. The kind of cow that chews grass and walks across the green field rather than the penned in cow that eats the "feed" of the day.

I so agree with you!

I'm wondering where you get good produce local. We go to church in Hudsonville and live in Wyoming by the HSB.

Cyndi Lewis said...

Hey Sunday,

I get my produce from the Hudsonville farmer's market. It is held on Wednesday mornings and early afternoons beginning late May/early June. I know Grandville has a Friday farmer's market. I don't think Wyoming has any. Grand Rapids and Holland have a Saturday ones. I also stop by the tons of little road side stands that our in my area. (Hudsonville is very "country" in most places.

This year we are trying our own garden again. Last years didn't grow very well. There is also a CSA farm in Jenison that I would love to join. For $400 a year you get a ton of produce and herbs straight off the farm. I think the name of it is Trillium.

I can get grassfed meat and eggs from Grassfield's in Coopersville and we have quite a few people in my area that offer eggs for sale.

I also get strawberries, raspberries and blueberries from farms very close to my house and pick cherries in Coopersville.

Let me know if you want to get together sometime to check out these prospects.

Cardamom said...

Hi! Neat blog...

My hubby is from MI. We've been married 15 year and have 9 blessings. We live in FL.

We've done a lot of self-sustenance living and are getting back to it. Goats, chickens, pigs, ducks, geese, guineas, rabbits - all things we've done. Had 5 milking goats at one time - now we're down to 2 and waiting for milk again.

I get my raw milk and organic veggies from a co-op here. We're getting ready to plant our garden - August/September is the big planting month here.

We love Joel Salatin's books - hadn't heard of this new one!

Blessings on y'all!

Cardamom said...

oops - hit the wrong key before entering my website...