Great Lakes Echo (https://greatlakesecho.org/author/haleywalker/page/5/)
Someone once told me that few things are as powerful as an angry mom. This is true in humans and animals. Most people know not to mess with a mom whose kid gets picked on. They are smart enough not to too close to a nest full of baby birds. It’s only natural for mothers to protect their young.
The New York Times recently reported that Ohio farmers have reached an agreement with the Humane Society of the United States to ban the construction of egg farms that pack birds into cages and to phase out tight caging of pregnant sows within 15 years and of veal calves by 2017. Farmers said the agreement was made because of increased consumer preference for more natural products. The Dispatch story focuses on egg production. Ohio is the second largest egg producer in the United States. This is a celebrated and somewhat monumental agreement, considering the battle between large-scale farms and animal rights activists has lasted for decades both in the region and across the U.S.
But Ohio is not the only place where controversy exists over the confinement of livestock.
Brian Clinsky didn’t want to call the police on the produce-stealing grandmother.
But the last time she stole was the final straw. The woman had been taking produce regularly from the Muskegon garden.
Some things are simply easier to do when it comes to living more environmentally conscious. Eating seasonally and locally may be harder for residents of the Great Lake states than others, according to the Seasonal Ingredient Map.
Farmers looking to sell to their communities, families who want to support them or someone who just likes perusing tents of sunflowers and produce on Saturday mornings have plenty of opportunities in the Great Lakes area.
In a section of the New York Times called “Room for Debate,” I recently found a discussion about the fishing practice “catch and release.” The online section invites different experts to debate current events and topics. This particular one was prompted by the headline “Catching but Not Releasing” and followed by the questions “Do fish feel pain?’ and “Should invasive species be thrown on the grill?”
I suppose after writing about Great Lakes issues for the past year, my eye is trained to read and look for stories about invasive species. However, it was really the number of reader comments under each of the expert contributors pieces that spiked my interest. Part of the debate centers upon whether or not the long established conservation measure of catching and releasing actually harms the fish and leaves them with lower survival rates. The other half inquires whether anglers should release invasive species, in particular, back into the wild.
Lansing, Mich. recently hosted a recycled art exhibit and fashion show. Purses created from recycled plastic bags and can tabs, sculptures made from chip bags and fast food cups, and a motorcycle created from washing machine parts lined the lobby of city hall. Watch the video
An operation must have a certain number of animals or animal units to be considered a CAFO, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
An animal unit is a method of measurement equal to 1,000 pounds of live animal weight.
Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations are farm operations where large numbers of animals are raised in confined facilities. The farms themselves also tend to concentrate.
A Michigan native recently reconsidered farming after finding a niche in one of the newest technologies, Geographic Information Systems also known as GIS. Tom Czuba was recently featured in Michigan Farm News for finding a path back to his family’s farm heritage after modern technology reignited his interest in agriculture. Czuba’s father was a fruit farmer. After contemplating whether to farm or attend college, Czuba began using GIS, a system that captures, manages and maps data. He used the software to model the best area to grow peaches in Berrien County, Mich.