The FARMily Life

There are lots of confusing terms on the market: "Grass-Fed Beef," "Organic Pork," and "Pasture-Raised Eggs." What do that they mean to the producer and the consumer? And what is the nutritional implication if animals are raised on a true grass-pasture or in a "grass-fed" feed-lot? Matt and Jerica disucss what the industry-standards are of "grass-fed beef" and Vital Farms' supposed "Pasture-Raised Eggs" in this session. They explore how well-raised animal protein of today can mimic the nutritional diets of rubust peoplegroups studied by Weston A. Price, and the findings of his research compiled in the book, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. It turns out that "healthy" people-groups are more about what they eat and less about physical lineage.

After they made these connections, they asked God, "How can we help people like Matt." The answer was to become farmers. But they needed a farm. Might as well add that to the prayer request list as well...

What does a truly nutritional diet look like? Plates of salad? Buckets of Kale? If it has a USDA Organic label, it's good for you, right?

Join Matt and Jerica as they recall the "beginning of the end" of Matt's Ulcerative Colitis struggle. They discuss "super-food" nutrution and dive deep into the Beef Liver vs. Kale & Blueberries Heavy-Weight Main Event! Then tag along as they remember Matt's second hospital visit, as well as the effects of yogurt, grass-fed beef, pasture-raised meats, and the first step that they took toward farming--purchasing grass-fed beef from some farming friends about 17 years ago!

Matt and Jerica discuss some fond memories from learning hand-on skills at LeTourneau University...and are now passing that knowledge (and use of some of the old machine-tools equipment) to their kids.

Then they remember the darkest hour--Matt almost fell asleep for the last time, then received gene-therepy drugs, got kidney stones, endured one of the most uncomfortable procedures ever invented by mankind, and then was "healed for a time" as the Lord was gracious enough have him released from the hospital, large-intestine intact, after the prayer, "Thy will be done."

Matt and Jerica take a look at Rebecca Thistlethwaite's book "Farms with a Future", which Shady Grove Ranch was featured in, and discuss why some of those farms failed, and what the succeeding farms had in common.

Then they take a walk down memory lane and look at Matt's athletic days...and the deterioration of his health due to an auto-immune disease called Ulcerative Colitis. The podcast ends with Matt's hospitalization and a looming disaster.

https://breakingtheviciouscycle.info/

Matt and Jerica discuss the many pieces of the family puzzle that went into creating Shady Grove Ranch. Then, they begin the discussion of the medical events that launched Matt down the dark path of developing Ulcerative Colitis

Matt and Jerica discuss their modest beginnings at Shady Grove Ranch, partnering with Matt's parents, going from engineers to farmers, and a smelly hurdle during a shoestring fencing project.