Why Is Rainbow Ranch Farms CORN-FREE?
Corn is a grain which is naturally contaminated with mycotoxin molds and, mycotoxins can be deadly. They can also build up in your body and, eventually cause disease, illness and, cancer. In addition, some people may experience allergic reactions to corn and, corn contamination.
Rainbow Ranch Farms is corn free for various reasons. As the holistic, physio-organic animal culturalist of Rainbow Ranch Farms, it is my responsibility to make educated and well informed decisions (based on viable research) that provide the livestock with optimum, safe and healthy environments. Feeding our livestock with real organic food is not an option, rather a requirement. We do not compromise the integrity of the food quality just to save a buck or make a buck.
Water Conservation: Corn requires a tremendous amount of water. Our home-farm is in the High Desert of California which also means that it does not rain very much. It would be quite challenging to grow corn here and remain water-wise.
Climate: Corn is a giant grass that is not conducive to our climate, terrain or bio-region.
G.M.O: Most corn is genetically modified. Even organic corn is not the old fashioned grass seed anymore. Originally corn was a small seed head, about the size of a wheat head. It was not sweet and I'm not sure if it was even as tender as the corn today.
Soil Deprivation: Corn strips the soil of nutrients and the soil then requires constant treatment. In my opinion, this is not a sustainable product and it does not fit into our mission.
Digestion: Corn is very hard to digest, not only for people but also animals and livestock. It is a very cheap product which is produced on a mass scale by the largest of commercial agricultural giants. I try to make educated and informed choices and this is one of those that I think does more harm than good to our environment, natural resources and ecological system. In addition, so many people today have allergies and environmental reactions to corn and corn products. It's my duty to protect our livestock and to produce holistic healing foods for the betterment of our customers. Corn does not fit into our mission.
Optimizing Consumer Health: There is no scientific evidence to support "CORN" is of any positive benefit to livestock. In fact the evidence suggests that corn-based livestock diets can cause various health problems. Corn-based livestock diets only benefit the farmer and not the livestock or the end consumer. Real organic pork is physio-organic (as designed by nature).
Real Food: There are many good, wholesome foods besides "CORN" and to be quite frank, the livestock at Rainbow Ranch Farms are corn-free.
What Is Corn?
Corn is a small edible fruit which grows on the outside of a giant grass-genus plant. It grows at the very top of a mature grassy plant. It grows in a mass cluster covered with thin hair-like strands of corn-silk and the colors of the corn range from pale to yellow, from blue to purple and even black. The colors depend on which global region you are in and specific strains of corn. Corn has been traced as far back as 9000 years.
Corn is both a seed and a grain
What Is A Seed?
A seed is an embryonic organism, which is usually covered in a seed coat. It is formed from the ripened ovule, most often, after fertilization. When the seed is fully formed, the plant has completed its reproduction cycle. This is when the plant begins to form its flower and seek pollination The embryo grows from the zygote while the seed coat grows from the ovule rind.
An ovule rind is basically a very thin layer of skin that covers and protects the seed ovary (ex. the brown skin over the avocado seed).
A seed typically has three basic parts
1. Embryo: The embryo is the most important part because it contains the cells that eventually divide and grow into the various organisms and tissues that constitute the plant (eventually and under the optimum conditions).
2. Seed coat: The seed coat provides cozy, safe, necessary support and direct protection to the embryo
3. endosperm: The endosperm also provides added necessary support mechanisms to both the embryo and the seed coat. In some cases such as the peanut, it acts as armor.
The seed coat and endosperm are also critical to the embryo’s development
What Is A Grain?
A grain is a small edible fruit (usually has a hardened outer shell), which is harvested from the seed pods or otherwise fruit of grassy crops. Grains basically grow in a cluster at the very top of the mature plant. Because grains are generally grown on a large scale, they are considered staple crops and they are the number one energy providers worldwide.
Technically, a seed is an ovule containing an embryo within it (such as peanut), while a grain is a fusion of the seed coat and the fruit (such as corn, wheat barley, rye). In some grain-like legumes like peanut, the shell can be separated from the fruit to reveal the seed. A peanut also has a seed coat (the brown paper thin coating located inside the hard shell, that you can remove with your fingers). However, in other grains like corn, the seed coat and fruit tissue cannot be separated.
Is Corn Vaccinated?
There is a corn vaccine which involves the insertion of bacteria and fungi called endophytes into a plant's seeds. The relationship between the corn plant and the endophyte vaccine varies from symbiotic to bordering on pathogenic.
Edophyte; A studied and researched biological herbicide.
Mr. Carlson, who founded Crop Genetics International in Hanover, Md., to produce the plant vaccine, has completed two years of field tests of corn that was vaccinated to protect it against the European corn borer, and a tiny caterpillar.
Statements made by Mr. Carlson (developer of corn vaccine) include
"As the plant grows, the endophytes spread the protein throughout the plant" ,Mr. Carlson said at a seminar on agricultural research.
"The bacteria or fungi organisms have been genetically altered to carry a naturally occurring protein that kills insects", said Peter S. Carlson, who developed the vaccine.
"Unlike human vaccines, the plant vaccine does not bolster the plant's immune system to ward off pests. The endophytes are genetically modified to include a gene from a bacterium called Bacillus thuringiensis. Once that gene has been put into the endophytes, they make a Bacillus thuringiensis protein that kills the European corn borer".
"The endophytes spread through the corn plant as it grows, causing it no harm but carrying the insecticidal protein with them. When corn borers move into the corn stem, where they feed, they encounter the protein and are killed".
"The endophytes and their toxic protein were not passed on to future generations of the plant through its seeds. And the corn produced by vaccinated plants has not been genetically altered itself, so it need not pass rigorous Federal safety tests required for genetically modified organisms".
In May, 1990 The New York Times published the following statement made by Mr. Carlson
"Vaccinated corn could be on the market by 1993 or 1994, if the tests are successful and the Government approves the vaccine".
Are Vaccines Permited in Certified Organic Corn?
YES.
Organic:
BioEnsure® products contain a mixture of beneficial fungal endophytes designed to improve the plant's ability to handle Mother Nature’s stresses. This revolutionary breakthrough in seed treatment technology delivers protection from the elements enabling farmers to consistently achieve high yields during stressful growing seasons.
Are There Adverse Health Effects OR OTHER RISKS Associated With Feeding Livestock Feeds And Forage Grown With Endophytes?