I have two Baylis Spanish Goats, Sea Biscuit and War Admiral. They have voracious appetites. Spicer, my San Clemente Spanish Goat, eats a fraction of what the other two consume.
Spicer's ancestors evolved on an island with limited vegetation. The Baylis strain was bred in the south amid lush forage. I am not aware of an animal that converts low quality vegetation (bark, weeds, vines, etc) to protein at a more efficient rate. In addition, the Baylis line can survive in damp, even swampy environments. The Baylis goats could be an important part of the effort to combat world hunger.
But they are not. Instead, they are languishing on the verge of extinction.
Who cares? The Livestock Conservancy, formerly known as the American Livestock Breed Conservancy, cares. . The Conservancy works to assist those seeking preserve heritage lines of livestock. Modern factory farming produces a very fragile line of livestock that often have weak immune systems compared to their historic counter parts. In order to breed the fastest growing animals possible we have not allowed for any type of quasi-natural selection to weed out the weak animals.
The result is a factory farm system that places our food production system at constant risk of epidemics that could devastate the world economy. Imagine how much more of a risk we face in a world racked with terrorism and the threat of biological warfare.
It is the Conservancy that works to keep sound genetics of ancient livestock always within our reach. I believe in conservation for conservation's sake, but I believe even more in conservation for the sake of our own self preservation.
Everyone who cares about these issues should learn more about the Conservancy. Look them up, and become members.
For the good of the animals--and for your own good.
2 comments:
The ALBC's mission is even more important these days with giant "agriculture" conglomerates
(I object to the term culture..lol) seeking to control the markets of their various commodities, for instance, Swine, it is becoming more and more difficult to find prime examples of our heritage species in the face of breeding leaner hybrid pigs with lonfer racks o ribs, Cattle, where the giant holstein/jersey cross is king, and poultry, where the feathered beach ball known as the "Cross Rock" is the go to bird..cross rocks often cannot stand they get so plump and tender...not good eats, to steal a line from Alton Brown.
Ah..let's see..Guernsey cattle, pure strain Devonshires, Higland cattle, Pure Jersey stock, Lowlines, Hampshire and Berkshire pigs, the American Guinea hog, Good quality Orpington chickens, heck, good quality >any< chickens, Royal palm, and Narragannsett Turkeys..Just off the top of my head, these are among the ones that are hard to find. I recall a time when the average American county fair would be overflowing with prime examples of well tended, high quality stock of many of these breeds, This does not seem to be the case these days, take, for example, our own local fair here in Isle of Wight county, The folks who put the fair on do a great job, but the backbone is not there, the small farmer is all but extinct, kids run off to college and spend money that is not there, to get educated for jobs which do not exist. Want to work in agriculture? You should become very familiar with names like Cargill, Tyson, Archer Daniels Midland, Monsanto..these giants own the world folks..they own your food, they own your government. You eat what they tell you to eat.
end of story. Judge in a civil (?) case up north last year opined in his dismissal of a labeling lawsuit, that the american people have no right to control, or even know what goes into their food. Guess who he worked for before he bacame a judge. Go on, take a guess.
Y'all want that sort of thing fixed most PDQ, right? Right? You have not gone to sleep on me have you?
Want to fix it..you do not have to buy a farm, nor even get your fingers dirty, Shop and buy local slow food from your farmer's market, tiny holdings like Crowder's Pickin's here in town, and Rainbow's End Farm in Suffolk, are your closest salvation. Want to go further, but have no land, well, if you cannot build a greenhouse and grow veggies year around, you can very likely keep a couple of hens..two hens will produce enough eggs to supply a family of four, and you can literally feed them on table scraps (See works by Joel Salatin for details.) Make sure you buy good quality stock though.
Another alternative is a small back porch aquaponics system..raise veggies and fish right together..you will not find a better diet than tilapia and salad or stir fry veggies.
I want you to consider the effects of even a small community, almost every household with two or three hens..consider how much diesel fule it would save in refrigerating eggs, hauling eggs, the wear and tear on public infrastructure (which big ag does not pay for, folks..THINK!) how just one locally produced commodity can make such a huge difference. We send smithfield hams to bloody China. Bleh. They can make their own hams.
Think I am off subject here? Not so much. Very many of the ALBC listed species are the animals that did the work, or filled the lardar of the..wait for it...small american farmer.
-Lloyd
Cont. from previous comment..
One last statistic before I shut up. There is a place in Milwaukee Wis....on three acres mind..producing in excess of ten thousand pounds of fresh organic food each and every ninety days. What can you do on your quarter acre, half acre...five acres...would it not be better to save some animals, save some rare heirloom veggies, and enjoy the bounty this land provided our forefathers, than to mow all that twice a week to make it pretty for the neighbors? Wake up, America, Farm, get your toes dirty, it grows strong societies, strong healthy kids (just look at mine)and a strong, vital national economy.
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