Here at Polyface, we live for Dec. 21, not because we're wiccans or druids, but because we have laying chickens.  Assuming diet is adequate, three things affect how well a chicken lays:

            The Wall Street Journal is hosting a health forum March 24 and the full page ad jumped out at me after just attending Dr. Al Sears' Confidential Cures Summit in Florida a week ago.  Just for fun, I'll give you the names of the speakers at the WSJ forum and then the ones from the lunatic fringe.  Here we go:

Perhaps the most interesting speaker at the Dr. Al Sears' Confidential Cures summit in Florida last weekend was Nora Gedgaudas. Her emotional opening, showing pictures of her mother with alzheimer's, added impact to her emphatic statement: "alzheimer's is preventable and almost reversible . . . and it is NOT a genetic disease." Wow. How's that for an opener?

If you've never heard of Rob Greenfield, look him up. He only had 25 million views on one of his YouTubes. He was only on national news a month ago for finishing his latest stunt: going one full year eating only what he grew or foraged. No grocery store. No farmers' market.

The sheer volume of biomass burning on the planet never ceases to amaze me. Jill English in CBC News just came out with a story about Roundup and fires in Canada, especially British Columbia. For reference, here at Polyface we use about 20 tractor trailer loads of wood chips a year in our animal bedding/composting program. That includes what we use on leased properties as well. For example, one one of our leased farms we have a couple of large hoop houses where we winter up to 200 hogs; they need a foot and a half of bedding.

At this time of year, lots of organizations ask for donations and I know none of us can give to every one that's worthwhile. We have to make choices. I pick one, and it's this one. No outfit has done more to protect the right to freedom of food choice than FTCLDF.

My friend Matt at WhatsGood showed me a TV ad this morning from Dunkin' Donuts.  Have you seen this? It opens with Dunkin' Donuts erecting a vendor tent at a farmers' market and then cuts to pretty pictures of produce like tomatoes and cucumbers and lettuce at the market.

Have you seen the screaming headlines in today's USA Today network newspapers?  Feral pigs are destroying the country.  A map shows the counties where they're known to exist.  They destroy things, carry diseases and are incredibly smart.  They were brought here by those pesky Spaniards.