#chicken feed production line

[headspace-hotel]

I will write this thought about Veganism and Classism in the USA in another post so as to not derail the other thread:

There are comments in the notes that say meat is only cheaper than plant based foods because of subsidies artificially lowering the price of meat in the United States. This is...part of the story but not all of it.

For my animal agriculture lab we went to a butcher shop and watched the butcher cut up a pig into various cuts of meat. I have had to study quite a bit about the meat industry in that class. This has been the first time I fully realized how strongly the meat on a single animal is divided up by socioeconomic class.

Like yes, meat cumulatively takes more natural resources to create and thus should be more expensive, but once that animal is cut apart, it is divided up between rich and poor based on how good to eat the parts are. I was really shocked at watching this process and seeing just how clean and crisp an indicator of class this is.

Specifically, the types of meat I'm most familiar with are traditionally "waste" parts left over once the desirable parts are gone. For example, beef brisket is the dangly, floppy bit on the front of a cow's neck. Pork spareribs are the part of the ribcage that's barely got anything on it.

And that stuff is a tier above the "meat" that is most of what poor people eat: sausage, hot dogs, bologna, other heavily processed meat products that are essentially made up of all the scraps from the carcass that can't go into the "cuts" of meat. Where my mom comes from in North Carolina, you can buy "livermush" which is a processed meat product made up of a mixture of liver and a bunch of random body parts ground up and congealed together. There's also "head cheese" (made of parts of the pig's head) and pickled pigs' feet and chitlin's (that's made of intestines iirc) and cracklin's (basically crispy fried pig skin) and probably a bunch of stuff i'm forgetting. A lot of traditional Southern cooking uses basically scraps of animal ingredients to stretch across multiple meals, like putting pork fat in beans or saving bacon grease for gravy or the like.

So another dysfunctional thing about our food system, is that instead of people of each socioeconomic class eating a certain number of animals, every individual animal is basically divided up along class lines, with the poorest people eating the scraps no one else will eat (oftentimes heavily processed in a way that makes it incredibly unhealthy).

Even the 70% lean ground beef is made by injecting extra leftover fat back into the ground-up meat because the extra fat is undesirable on the "better" cuts. (Gross!)

I've made, or eaten, many a recipe where the only thing that makes it non-vegan is the chicken broth. Chicken broth, just leftover chicken bones and cartilage rendered and boiled down in water? How much is that "driving demand" for meat, when it's basically a byproduct?

That class really made me twist my brain around about the idea of abstaining from animal products as a way to deprive the industry of profits. Nobody eats "X number of cows, pigs, chickens in a lifetime" because depending on the socioeconomic class, they're eating different parts of the animal, splitting it with someone richer or poorer than they are. If a bunch of people who only ate processed meats anyway abstained, that wouldn't equal "saving" X number of animals, it would just mean the scraps and byproducts from a bunch of people's steaks or pork chops would have something different happen to them.

The other major relevant conclusion I got from that class, was that animal agriculture is so dominant because of monoculture. People think it's animal agriculture vs. plant agriculture (or plants used for human consumption vs. using them to feed livestock), but from capitalism's point of view, feeding animals corn is just another way to use corn to generate profits.

People think we could feed the world by using the grain fed to animals to feed humans, but...the grain fed to animals, is not actually a viable diet for the human population, because it's literally just corn and soybean. Like animal agriculture is used to give some semblance of variety to the consumer's diet in a system that is almost totally dominated by like 3 monocrops.

Do y'all have any idea how much of the American diet is just corn?!?! Corn starch, corn syrup, corn this, corn that, processed into the appearance of variety. And chickens and pigs are just another way to process corn. That's basically why we have them, because they can eat our corn. It's a total disaster.

And it's even worse because almost all the USA's plant foods that aren't the giant industrial monocrops maintained by pesticides and machines, are harvested and cared for by undocumented migrant workers that get abused and mistreated and can't say anything because their boss will tattle on them to ICE.

[leviathansshadycorner]

Rope Him In ( Cato x District 10! Reader x slight! Marvel) Pt. 1

Summary: In which Cato falls for a tribute from 10.

____________________________________

Chapter 1 : The Reaping 

“And no matter what happens, just know that you’ll be alright. You’re going nowhere.” Amaranto, your older brother tries to sooth you. His man hands on your shoulder, making you look him in the eyes as he attempts to stop your sobbing. Teary eyed you just nodded your head. That was easy for him to say. He had reached the cut-off age only three months ago. 

“I swear it’ll be alright.” He pulls you into a hug, his tan arms squeezing you to the point where you let out a small laugh. 

“Alright…” You reply, wiping away your tears. 

“Come on, maybe work will distract you.” He says, picking up his tin foil container which held the rice and eggs you had packed him and yourself. 

It’s a little past 6 in the morning. The sun barely pushed the dark blue sky away to take its place. The reaping wouldn’t  take place for about another 7 hours or so. Giving people enough time to cry over their loved ones, or finish their final trades before more peacekeepers flooded the area. The two of you decide to go into work today, even though they give off reaping days to the younger workers. You nervously headed out, eyes fixated on the pale yellow of your house, hoping it wouldn’t be the last time you saw it. 

District 10, your home, never seemed more somber than on reaping day. The only other time you saw people’s moods this down was when the Capitol decided to take the horses away from the district as a punishment to those who tried to escape on them. Noises of chickens, cows, and pigs echoed throughout the empty space as you and Amaranto walked through the desolate farming sections. You had assumed the farmers were either at the markets trying to buy feed for their livestock, or out in the bar trying to get over the fact that their best farm hands could get taken from them. 

The smell of fresh manure filled your nostrils as you neared some of the dairy cows. You hesitantly stopped, trying to keep in line with your routine, your hand reached up and rubbed the snout of a large spotted cow. Its markings were peculiar, since they all looked like rounded shapes rather than blotches of ink. “What I’d do to trade places with you.” You told the cow. Dairy cows were prized in this district, they were the only cows that weren’t sent off to be packaged into meat. They were the ones who got to live a long peaceful life, while their counterparts were met with a bloody fate. 

“Come on (Y/n), the faster we get there, the faster we can eat lunch before the reaping.” Your brother said, already miles ahead of you. 

District 10 was divided in its work. There were jobs in the production of  dairy and eggs, the slaughterhouses, butchery , farming, breeding, and then there were the  people who actually raised the livestock. Before making leather was moved to district 8, it belonged to 10. The breeders and farmers were people with a little bit more money than the rest. The breeders being where the smartest of 10 would use their knowledge of science and splicing to breed superior meats to send off to the capitol. Most kids in 10 spend their first few years working as farm hands and helping around in the creameries. The older ones take jobs in the killing and cutting  of the meat. It was a shame that so much work went into something that its citizens couldn’t even have. The only good thing about 10 was that they got the capitol’s scraps. Small eggs the size of a cotton ball, cuts they deemed too disgusting to eat, cheese on the brink of its expiration, the list went on and on. 

Amaranto and you worked at the slaughterhouse. Ever since your dad broke his leg, you both had to quit your jobs at Farmer Alfie’s and trade in your coveralls for white rubbery aprons. The slaughterhouse always smelled metallic. The smell of iron was one that would stay with you for as long as you live. The ceilings held fans, but they only helped so much to drive the smell away. Metal decorated walls and tables greeted you as you walked in. Your job was to drain the poor animal of its life. Walking past the pen of the to-be-killed animals felt hypocritical of you. You related a bit too much to the poor bovine creatures. Afterall, just like them, you were born to die. 

“Dad’s in the building next to ours cutting up some lambs.” Amaranto said as he placed his lunch box in his locker. “And you know where to find me.” He finished, closing up the locker and turning to look at you. “If you feel like you can’t handle work today just go look for him or me ok?” He spoke, his kind voice reassuring you. Amaranto worked out with the men killing them. They were under the close eyes of peacekeepers, since their job was the only one requiring guns. 

“Alright…” Was all you could muster up.

“Damn (Y/n), you’re quiet today.” Clarabell, the girl who was sweet on your brother, spoke from behind you. She was your coworker, and quite literally your only friend. “My my, and why is it that you are wearing that gorgeous top to work?” She asked with a fake scolding voice. 

“She’s nervous about the reaping.” Amaranto told her as they both exchanged a flash of worry about you. 

“I thought I’d get dressed before coming in today, since I don’t think I’d get out in time to change.” You had gotten up early in the morning to go out of your way to put on your reaping clothes. It’s not like you anticipated the event, rather you felt that getting ready earlier would be better than struggling to change an hour before the reaping. 

“Oh come on (Y/n)-ie, you know nothing’s going to happen right? The chances of you getting picked are like the chances of your brother deciding I’m finally lady-like enough to marry.” The girl said, trying to throw some humor at you. 

“C-can we just work?” Came your reply, dry and hasty. You didn’t want to talk about the reaping anymore. You just wanted to distract yourself from your possible death sentence. 

Clarabell gave you a sympathetic hug, draping her dark red hair on your face as she nuzzled into your shoulder. “Sweet girl, you’ll be fine.” She said, then going to grab her apron. You followed, grabbing your own and shakily putting it on over your baby blue gingham dress shirt. 

“No- no, here.” Clarabell said as she  took off the shirt she was wearing. “You are not getting your pretty little self all bloodied before the reaping.” She said, tossing the shirt at you. 

“I can’t.” 

“Oh I think you will.” And like that her shirt was now on top of yours. It was stupid of you to wear your best shirt to work, now making people sacrifice theirs for you. Saying goodbye to your brother as he turned and left for work, you finally tied your apron on, and the two of you joined the others for work. 

Time passed and the sun arose. Its heat raining down on 10. The only perk about working here was that they were always blasting cold air into the building. The clock seemed like it was against you, time moving both quickly and at a skin crawling pace. Clarabell tried to distract you, but the deep feeling in your stomach only sunk further. Eventually you couldn’t handle it anymore, and went to go speak with your father. 

You hung up your apron. You hadn’t noticed how bloody your clothes had gotten until you took it off. “Damn.” You cursed looking over at the redhead. “I’m sorry Clara- I’ll wash it and bring it back to you I swear.” 

The older girl just laughed, “It’s alright, now go on- enjoy yourself, go frolic with the sheep, or kiss some boys-” She teased as she waved to you. 

You walked alongside the dirt path that connected the slaughterhouse and the butcher’s corners. Many of the men recognized you as your fathers daughter, greeting you as you sped through the halls and into the area where your father was sitting. Your heart stopped when you saw him, on his wheelchair working on slicing some skin off of a cut of meat. This was probably the last time you’d see him like this. 

You didn’t know why, but a feeling of impending doom told you that you’d be chosen as one of the kids to die in the arena. 

“Hey Papa.” You greeted. His dark head of hair shifted up to look at you. He smiled for a brief second, his serious expression returning. “What  are you doing here (N/n). Didn’t they give you the day off?” He asked, his voice deep and old. 

“They did, but Amar thought working today would distract me.” Your eyes shifted from the meat he was cutting to his face. 

“I see.” He spoke. 

“Just wanted to check up on you.” You tugged at the sleeves of your shirt, failing to realize that you hadn’t washed the blood on your hands thoroughly enough and staining the light material. 

“Thank you dear.” You knew why your Father wasn’t saying much. In fact he was just like you, not speaking much because he was scared. He was scared to lose you like how he had lost your mother. 

“I love you Papa.” You said, reaching out to hug him. 

“Look, you’re going to be fine. If you get picked or not, you’re from 10. Remember that. The district of hard-ass cowboys alright? Now you’re a badass (Y/n), so don’t let fear get to ya.” He said, turning around to hug you tight. 

Tears fell down your cheeks at his words. Nodding your head you agreed with his words. You couldn’t let fear get to you. Everyone had been saying that your chances of getting picked were slim, so they must be right. 

… 

The cries of children and mothers alike took the place of the bleating animals. Peacekeepers were now circling the district, lining up people with their guns as they ushered them to the square. The commotion made for some of the animals to go loose, but no one cared about them anymore. All that mattered to the peacekeepers was getting everyone to go witness the death of two children from home. 

You were already in line waiting to get your finger pricked. You watched as some of the older kids looked more relaxed. Your heart sank when you met the eyes of a teary eyed 12 year old. She looked at you with a scrunched up red and puffy face. All you could offer her was a somber smile. 

“God I know how them cows must be feeling.” A blonde girl spoke to her friend behind you. Flashes of the meat cows came into your brian. You had watched Amar do his job a while back, shocked at how he was able to go through with it. 

All you remember is the cow’s poor innocent eyes as it awaited its fate. The gun was raised and aimed smack dab in the middle of its head. 

Boom 

You jumped at the feeling of a needle puncturing your skin. You went to lick it, once again failing to notice the blood on your hands. Of course. You had forgotten to wash this off after helping your dad out with a few of his work. Sighing with no other choice, you wiped your hands on the sides of your shirt. Making your way to stand with your age group, you looked around, trying to catch a glimpse of anyone familiar. 

Met with Clarabell ’s green eyes you felt more relaxed, soon catching a view of Amaranto’s face. He looked stern, serious, almost like your father. In fact he was the exact clone of your Father when he was younger. Speaking of which you couldn’t find. Your Father must have been further back. A part of you was glad you couldn’t see him. You knew you’d burst out in tears if you did. 

“Welcome, Welcome!” A sultry voice came from the stage. Everyone turned their attention to the announcer. It was a tall asian man, wearing a tan outfit consisting of pants longer than his legs, and a dress shirt littered with feathers that made it seem as if his whole upper body was a chicken. Along with the outfit he wore a hen on top of his slicked dark indigo hair. Pradain Alcomore, District 10’s announcer. Nobody could stop staring. Had he dressed like this in honor or in ridicule of the district?

“Boy is it hot.” The announcer then said, wiping the sweat of his brow with a handkerchief. He placed it back in his pants pocket, returning to holding the microphone. 

“Welcome All to the annual reaping.” He said scanning the crowd for a reaction. “As you all know, a male and female tribute are to be selected to participate in the 74th hunger games.” He said with a toothy grin as he made jazz hands to the crowd. “Right then, roll the tape!” He commanded.  

As he ordered the tape you had all memorized begins to play, its music the only thing making sound aside from the sniffles of children. 

“Wonderful, that never gets old.” He giggles to the crowd as he gets their attention back. 

“Alright then, let's begin shall we.” He dipped his hands into the fish bowl, swirling it around a couple more times than was necessary. 

Being one of the poorer districts meant your name was in there more than you would’ve liked it to be. Amar scolded you when he found out what you did, but he figured since he managed to survive the reaping you would too. You only hoped he was right. 

You watched as people held hands in nervousness, awaiting to hear the first name drawn. There was a deadly silence. 

Pradain opened the slip, a smile on his face as he announced to the world the female tribute from district 10. 

“(Y/n) Cuernos.”

You wanted to scream. You wanted to scream but not a drop of voice came out. The ringing in your ears began as people around you began to back away, allowing a path to be made in front of you. The path that would lead you to death. 

Clarabell’s soft sobs were what lured you back into reality.  She mouthed the words sorry as you passed by, turning around to see if your brother was crying too. When you did find him he was on his knees, a friend of his trying to console him. You could only imagine what your father was thinking. As you looked around you spotted him, his face as serious as ever. You knew if he made eye contact with you he’d burst out yelling, so you continued to walk the path up to the stage. 

“Come Come dear, time is ticking.” Pradair says as you step up. The cameras follow you, focused on your back as you walk. “My what a fashion choice.” He speaks as he notices the blotches of red staining your shirt. 

You can’t cry. You can’t. And as you feel your face get warm, look up at the gigantic screen displaying your fear filled eyes. Your hair is braided into two braids, it makes your face look gigantic. The baby blue gingham shirt stained with cows blood looks exhausted, making you look like filth in the eyes of the people watching, or so you assume. The overalls you thought to wear covered the cowboy boots on your feet. You never noticed how long the pant legs were. You hadn’t noticed how much you looked like your mother. 

“Onto the boy!” Pradain then says as he shuffles to the other end of the stage to pull out the male tribute’s name. 

“Buckley Wheaton!” He calls out and you watch a mother scream for her boy. He’s around your age, though muscular and older looking. No doubt he’d be the winner out of the two of you. He went to school with you, only speaking to you when asking for answers to questions. Other than that the two of you were total strangers. The brunette looked unfazed, but deep inside you knew he was as scared as you. 

“Let’s give them a hand!” Pradair says, and the people only place their hands to their hearts. 

[olderthannetfic]

https://olderthannetfic.tumblr.com/post/741872748055396352/as-someone-who-loves-to-cook-very-international-a#notes

One thing I completely forgot to mention. For anyone who eats meat: A GOOD BUTCHER! Too many people really need to find a good butcher, because more than half the "bland" meat based dishes will remedy themselves if you find a good butcher. Especially if you manage to build a line of communication to get cuts of meat as fresh as possible, you'll get fresh and well tasting meat. There's a world of difference between a good butcher's cut piece of meat, and most of what you might find in a supermarket. You know how chicken is considered some of the driest and least flavourful meat? If you get a good butcher who knows some chicken farmers, you might actually be able to get some actual fat and flavourful chicken that gets to eat grass and whatever it can find outside, instead of the mass production farm chicken that get feed with pellets. So much can impact the flavour of meat. You'll also feel much more satisfied eating meat only a few times a week if those cuts actually taste good and filling, which can cut down on your meat consumption, obviously also paired with fresh and flavourful veggies and other sides. And so we don't forget it, same goes for a seafood market. Especially seafood honestly. Some seafood really only tastes good "out of the water, into the pan, onto your plate." If it takes too long, you'll end up with less than stellar tasting meat. You also get fish and seafood that way that hasn't been processed with chemicals and other additives to keep it fresh longer. Flash frozen is also a valid form to get fresh unprocessed fish, so don't be afraid if you hear the fish you're buying was flash frozen. And for vegetables and fruit: A good farmer's market, or at least a list of in-season veggies and fruits. Veggies and fruit will always taste best within their harvesting season. A farmer's market will often have more focus on flavour and actual aroma, rather than how supermarkets some times mostly focus on the looks of the produce. Some vegetables and fruits that you get at the supermarket might be watery and bland, or even dry/woody and stringy, while the farmer's market, mainly/especially for local produce will be a lot more flavourful and aromatic. Having the option to use veggies that actually taste like something really does a world of difference for your diet!

--

There's a place in the Bay Area where you can go select your chicken or duck and wait for them to slaughter it. Depressing, maybe, to have to look your dinner in the face before it's killed, but one meets an interesting cross-section of Chinese immigrants, people who want halal food, etc. Last time I was there, a little old lady told me I needed to make chicken soup immediately on returning home and not refrigerate the chicken, wait, or try to do dishes like roast chicken that require more fat because these particular chickens are too lean.

She said most people have never tasted a proper dish made from freshly killed chicken, at least around here.

[rederiswrites]

So there's a classic joke, repurposed for innumerable jobs and hobbies. It runs along these lines:

"Question: What does a blacksmith/farmer/glassworker do with a million dollars? Answer: Work 'til the money runs out."

And basically--uh. That's what we've done. When we moved here, we used equity from the old house, and withdrew an older 401K of my spouse's for downpayment and property improvement. And as we try to pull this place together and learn how to deal with it all and eventually make it financially stable, we've spent that down. And uhhhhhh it's gone. And we haven't reached any point of stability.

We don't yet have the sheep to a point where we can recoup feed and fencing costs through sales of wool/fleeces/lambs. We don't yet have the garden to a point where it reduces grocery costs. (Indeed, it still costs a great deal because it still requires substantial outside input.) The various trees will be years before they provide us any value. The chickens probably cost more than their eggs would, though their eggs are definitely better than we'd buy at the store. We don't produce any salable crops or added value products yet. The metal shop generally subsists on money the spouse makes with metal shop sales, which is a fantastic achievement I'm very proud of. On the other hand, the metal shop is essentially a second job for him, and he spends a huge amount of time and energy on it. My glass does not support itself, because I haven't put in enough effort, though it's clear that it could.

We also don't have most of those property improvements the 401K was supposedly for. Still have no permanent fencing. No equipment shed. No barn. No water points in the fields. No fucking dishwasher. At least we do have the tractor and a mower more or less adequate to the several acres of lawn we haven't ripped up yet.

The idea was certainly never to get rich off these things. It was to enjoy these things at a lower cost because we put in effort in place of money. But uh. We done run out of money and making up the difference is going to be a whole lot of effort.

So anyway I guess the moral is that being a first generation farmer is insanely fucking difficult and the economic reality is that even having a well-paying outside job can be insufficient to get started. We're gonna do it somehow anyway. But goddamn.

[super-hero-confessions]

Homelander and Vought are a lesson about how modern society raises people, in especially but not limited to religious fundamentalism and America.

You are not a person, you are product and profit margin for capitalism and billionaires.

Children go to school not to learn what will help them in life, but to be properly trained for the common 9 to 5.

You do not have a right to life, you must pay for it and take on unpayable debts for it if need be.

You must work yourself to the bone to survive, but mostly to make money for someone else.

You must obey the rules and people that leave you at a disadvantage and abuse you, for they are your makers and we must not bite the hand that feeds.

You must not want change such or to break free of this psychological dependence on them because one day, someday though statistically unlikely it may be, you too may be able to profit off of and control others as is the way.

Is it?

I once heard something along the lines that the way we treat our livestock is reflective of the way we treat people in society, and it's true.

We are just fodder to fuel a broken machine, we already don't matter.

If someone dies through this system, we are told to look the other way and move on.

It's only when it becomes personal that we are forced to face this and unable to move on or go back from our own disillusionment.

Still we are nothing more than statistics and told to allow whatever corporation responsible to continue to profit off us, whether through our lives or our deaths because we don't matter and we never have.

If a cubicle is a marker for success in the average person, does that mean it's the same for a chicken?

Homelander is reflective of the average person in a society that is built to use, abuse, and toss us for the sake of short term profit at the expense of the individual.

This is why so many people relate to him, the drive to explode or escape is a real thing.

Vought is reflective of real life corporations such as Big Pharma that use, abuse, and toss us for the sake of short term profit at the expense of the individual.

If we took just a second to look at them, we'd realize just how little we matter to them and that these seemingly cartoonishly evil portrayals of them aren't actually cartoonish at all.

They are accurate.

It hurts but it's true, corporations and especially right wing pundits and politicians which support those corporations do not give a fuck about you.

We're just useful to them.

The revelations about Homelander's past and how not a single scientist saw him as a person or thought about what they were doing to him and the long term consequences of their actions is so painfully realistic.

We have real world examples not just in the past with basic repeated history of monarchs and revolutions or all the experiments performed on innocent children in more recent history, but in the modern day as well.

People don't matter as much as profits in the short term, so of course long term consequences are irrelevant.

Of course what Homelander did in the future didn't matter to them as long as they could profit in the short term, ideally someone else would have to clean up the mess.

That's just the way the world works, it's all just normal.

Isn't it?

We still haven't learned this lesson and it always starts the same way and always leads to the same result.

In truth, Homelander and Vought are actually a brilliantly presented if very direct example of humanity's greatest foil.

The lesson we always fail to learn.

[justhilary123]

Old McMickey Had a Farm! M-O-U-S-E!: Episode 44

One day, Mickey welcomes us to his farm. After turning his tractor around, Mickey slips and falls over. Don’t worry. He’s okay. After recovering, we joined Mickey as he gave us a tour of his farm.

The first animal we saw is a cow, Mickey moos like a cow and asked, "How are ya, mooing?", and after mooing like a cow, Mickey explains that cows make dairy products, like milk and one of Mickey’s favorites, cheese.

Moo-ving on! Mickey explains that a lot of farm animals eat hay, such as his horse, buttercup, his goat and his starfish?! Wow! That’s a funny farm animal!

Mickey then introduces us to his chickens, as well as a rubber chicken, a mommy chicken and her baby chicks. We helped Mickey feed the chicks and Mickey told us that the chickens are great singers and that made him feel like dancing and that’s when we do a chicken dance together. It was a lot of farmyard fun touring the farm with Mickey

If you’re looking for farmyard fun, the "Farm Tour" vlog is the one for you.

Mickey Mouse is in top form here. Throughout this entire vlog, Mickey wore a farmer’s outfit.

This vlog gets off to a rather comical start. Mickey drives a tractor and sings his version of Old McDonald Had a Farm and replaces E-I-E-I-O, with M-O-U-S-E. Mickey then slips and falls over, but, not to worry. He’s okay.

One thing that makes this vlog a winner is the part where Mickey introduces us to his cow and he moos like a cow and Mickey asked, "How are ya, mooing?", and after mooing like a cow, Mickey explains that cows make dairy products, such as milk and cheese (Mickey is a mouse after all).

Another bright spot is the unexpected appearances of the starfish and the rubber chicken. When Mickey explains that a lot of farm animals eat hay, he introduces us to his horse, Buttercup, his goat and his starfish. When Mickey introduces us to his chickens, the rubber chicken appears and it later reappeared during the chicken dance scene, which is a perfect way to end this farm-themed vlog.

And with nothing else left to say, let’s take a look at some farmyard screenshots. E-I-E-I-O!

So, here’s our mouse farmer, Mickey.

As mentioned before, Mickey sings his version of Old McDonald Had a Farm, which is obviously Mickey’s best line in the entire vlog.

Whenever I think of this vlog, my mind immediately goes to the part where Mickey moos like a cow. How are ya, mooing?

Mickey explains that cows make dairy products, such as milk and cheese. Wow! For a mouse like Mickey, he really likes cheese.

Wow! A horse, a goat and a starfish stacked on top of each other. Now, that’s something you don’t see everyday.

And of course, here’s Mickey introducing us to his chickens, as well as a rubber chicken, a mommy chicken and her baby chicks.

Mickey clucks and squawks like a chicken. This is the first time he does it.

Time to help Mickey feed the chicks!

Wow! When Mickey said the chickens are really great singers, he wasn’t kidding!

And here’s the second time Mickey clucks and squawks like a chicken.

Anyone who remembers the chicken dance would surely remember this vlog.

Wow! Mickey looks like he’s having some farmyard fun today.

Closing Line: "Till next time we can play, have a Mickey-Riffic Day! Old McMickey Had a Farm! M-O-U-S-E!"

[rhinozilla]

Detroit: Become Family 2022 - Prompt 1: Alone

@dbh-found-family

Hank remembered one of the big selling points when androids first hit the market was how low maintenance they were. How they had internal self diagnostics and repair programs built into them. How technology had reached a point that it could heal itself from damage or viruses or whatever.

Of course that had its limits, but some of those commercials were burned into Hank’s memory. He found them resurfacing in his mind as those first few weeks after the android revolution unfolded. The memory of the cheery voice of some paid actor—chirping “they’re so durable!” and “they can handle more than the average human and will last longer without getting tired!”—churned through his head against today’s televised imagery of battered and broken android bodies being processed through the recycling centers, of any that hadn’t shutdown limping into the sanctuary of Jericho’s walls, of those that braved the public walking stoically and trying to live their lives while having insults and judgment thrown at them.

Sure, anything could be low maintenance if you didn’t give a shit about it. Hell, humans could be low maintenance, and Hank was learning the hard way what low maintenance—and really, active self sabotage—could do to a body and a spirit. And after those first few weeks, reality was setting in for the population of Detroit, and one aspect of this new reality was that androids were people who needed maintenance just like humans did. And right now, there was a dearth of capable professionals willing to help them.

Cyberlife’s doors had been closed for nearly a month. All their storefronts, warehouses, corporate offices, supply shops, and repair shops had all closed in the aftermath. Anybody with Cyberlife on their resume had by and large fled the city, maybe fearing a violent turn in the android revolution that would have put a target on their backs. There were a few independent businesses that offered android maintenance and repair services, but Cyberlife had kept such an iron grip on their products and services that they had done an effective job in running most independent competitors out of town.

So when Connor finally, quietly, sheepishly admitted to Hank that he was having some system troubles that his self repair program couldn’t fix…Hank knew they were in trouble.

Connor had been shot at least once during that tussle with the other RK800 in Cyberlife’s basement. And between when he left after that and when Hank saw him again the next morning at the Chicken Feed, he’d managed to look worse. So who knew what happened to him in that period of time. He’d been so insistent that his self repair program could take care of all of it, and Hank didn’t know enough about android shit to argue otherwise.

Until here they were a month later, and Connor had admitted that his self repair program had fixed the external damage of getting shot in the shoulder, but it hadn’t been able to repair everything going on under the surface. Something about…synthetic muscle belts being out of calibration and limiting his range of movement…contaminants from the bullet casing penetrating his thirium stream and causing micro-tears in his lines…which gave those contaminants room to dig in…And how his system was working overtime to try and flush them out, causing him to start overheating, especially around the damage point…and that was making the area tender to the touch as thirium flow and delicate manufactured sensors started acting essentially as nerve endings.

Now Hank didn’t know fuck about shit when it came to android stuff, but all of that to him sounded like Connor had an infection at the damage site. His theory had been reinforced when he’d seen how inflamed, for lack of a better word, Connor’s shoulder looked when Connor let him see it. Yep, it looked infected, and it was making him sick.

So…now Hank had a sick android on his hands and no technicians or…android doctors or whatever they were calling themselves now…in sight.

Jericho had gathered a few resources. They had some supplies and certainly the know-how that would help…but Connor wasn’t welcome there. Markus and some of the others had accepted him and forgiven him for his role as the Deviant Hunter, but they were a minority. So Connor was emphatic that going to Jericho wasn’t a good idea.

The surviving independent businesses that were still offering repair services were slammed all day long with androids with all manner of damages and maladies. Again, androids who had cause to hate Connor and who might see his vulnerability as an opportunity for revenge. So Connor was emphatic that it wouldn’t be safe to go there.

A bunch of shady back-alley repairmen had started cropping up too, offering cheaper, low quality repairs to androids who were terrified of being on the radar and were willing to prioritize discretion over professional standards. That was out of the question.

The DPD…or the 7th precinct where Hank worked at least…was in the process of bringing back the law enforcement androids who had worked there prior to the revolution. Hank hadn’t told Connor this, but Hank had been having private conversations with Fowler about bringing Connor back on board. He was a good detective and officer, and those were in short supply at the moment with everything going on. Fowler was still resistant to the idea, but Hank was wearing him down. He had already brought back all the PM700s and PC200s that had wanted to come back, along with some ST300s that used to work the reception and file rooms. Plus some new ones.

All that to say, the 07 had elected to bring on an in-house technician, a guy formerly of Cyberlife but reputable, to take care of when the DPD androids were inevitably targeted or damaged in the line of duty. The station tech was the only option Connor had left, and despite Connor not being employed or registered to the DPD at the time, Fowler had at least pulled a few strings for Hank to let him bring Connor in for an examination and repairs.

Connor had reluctantly agreed, avoiding the bullpen or anywhere that the other androids or officers might spot him, and Hank had felt his heart twisting his chest at how anxious he was about being recognized—or worse—for being where he ‘didn’t belong.’

The station tech had worked wonders, got Connor patched up and on some round of…android antibiotics or whatever…and sent them on their way.

Now they were safely back home afterward, and the poor guy was exhausted and hadn’t moved from the couch since.

Hank kept glancing at him as he folded laundry on the kitchen table, and every time the sight was the same. Connor was lying on the couch, eyes closed, deep in rest mode per the tech’s instructions. The immobilization sling on his arm was keeping his shoulder still, and in a few hours he was supposed to take another dose of that anti-inflammatory powder mixed in with some cold thirium to help flush out that infection.

Sumo would occasionally lumber over and sniff at him before losing interest and coming over to nose at Hank’s leg. Currently, the dog was standing beside the couch, tail swishing slowly with curiosity as he watched the android rest.

“Sumo,” Hank whispered at him, setting down a folded towel. “Leave him be. He’s not feeling well.”

Sumo glanced at Hank, looked at Connor again, and made a tiny whine of protest as his favorite android didn’t immediately get up to play with him.

“Hey,” Hank chided quietly. “C’mere.”

Sumo huffed and then plodded over. Hank set down the laundry and ruffled his hands behind both of the big dog’s ears.

“I know, I’m worried about him too, but he’ll be okay. He’s got us, right?”

Yeah, Hank and Sumo were about the only ones that Connor had nowadays. Christ.

Hank shuddered to think what might have happened, how much worse it could have been, if Connor had been truly alone since the revolution. Cyberlife had done a bang-up job of making sure he was truly ostracized from his own people, and humans like Hank hadn’t wanted anything to do with him before the revolution. Most didn’t want anything to do with him now.

No other friends. No family. Pretty much no support from Jericho. Abandoned by Cyberlife. Cast out of anywhere that had ever made use of him. Alone. Hank couldn’t say he knew what that felt like on an android-level, but…he knew what loneliness was.

Well, he wasn’t alone now. And if Connor could peel a pathetic drunk like Hank off his kitchen floor and manhandle him into becoming a functioning human again, then Hank could sure as Hell make sure Connor had what he needed to get healthy again after this. And he could probably do it without breaking and entering through a kitchen window like a maniac.

Sumo huffed again, then trotted back over to the couch, turned in a circle, and flopped down on the floor beside it protectively.

“There you go,” Hank bobbed his head, picking up another towel to fold. “You keep an eye on him, a’right? And maybe I’ll google some home remedies for, uh, for how to cool down overheating androids, yeah? Yeah…we’ll get him back on his feet in no time.”

After all, they were friends, right? What were friends for?

[breakerwhiskey]

185 - ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY FIVE

Please visit breakerwhiskey.com for more information or to send a message to Whiskey's radio. Breaker Whiskey is an Atypical Artists production created by Lauren Shippen. If you'd like to support the show, please visit patreon.com/breakerwhiskey.

Transcript under the cut. For more episodes, click here.

[click, static]

I probably shouldn’t be doing this, but I’ll be quick, I promise.

I came back to the house. I staked it out for a good three hours first, to be sure that no one else was here, but it’s clear that someone has been here. The house is torn apart since I was last here—I don’t know what Junior is looking for…maybe nothing. Maybe his father’s watch. Maybe he heard my broadcast the other day. Maybe he just wanted to break anything and everything in his path, just because he could.

A lot of our supplies are gone too—I don’t know if Harry took some when she left or if he’s taken them, but I just hope they’re being used by someone. I’m still not sure how to feel about the whole Junior thing—I’m mostly trying to not think about it at all if I’m entirely honest—but I’d be happy to inadvertently be feeding him or helping him survive somehow. Mi casa es su casa, I guess.

I’m not thrilled about my Carhartt jacket though—that seems to be missing as well. I’d been hoping to…I don’t know, I didn’t really pack all that many sentimental objects when I left but I wanted to—I don’t know. I liked that coat. And coming back here made me realize how much I missed—

[click, static]

Well, I fucking miss cigarettes that’s for sure. If I ever have a garden again, I wonder if I can figure out how to grow tobacco and roll my own. Though, at this point, with everything I’ve been dealing with, I might have to resort to smoking the seven year old packs lying around.

Anyway, the jacket is gone. It wasn’t on its usual hook and I searched the whole house and its…gone. I’m assuming Junior didn’t take it, but I can’t remember if it was here last week when I came back to the house for the first time. Maybe Harry threw it out the day I left. Maybe she took it with her when—

(scoffs) Probably not that. More likely she just tossed it. Or cut it up into scraps to line the chicken coop.

I should get going, I think. It’s not good to linger. But I—well, I left Harry a note. On the off chance that she does come back here. It’s got the same info I’ve said on the radio, with a new meeting place in case…

Well, in case. I also—well, I wrote—I know he probably wouldn’t want to hear what I have to say, so maybe I’ll just keep it and—

[click, static]

(sigh) I don’t know. I don’t know what to do with it. I don’t know if there’s anything I should be taking with me from the house. Any other bits of sentiment, any remaining supplies.

I have this feeling…I don’t think I’ll ever be back here after this. I think—

[a creak of the door opening behind her]

(gasps) Wh—

[click, static]

[dertaglichedan]

Today that number is over 5500

Another one bites the dust. 97 and counting.

While the fire seems insignificant, it's part of a much larger issue of a spate of "accidental fires," one by one, taking out America's food supply chain over the past year.

Here's a list of 97 so far:

1/11/21 A fire that destroyed a 75,000-square-foot processing plant in Fayetteville

4/30/21 A fire ignited inside the Smithfield Foods pork processing plant in Monmouth, IL

7/25/21 Three-alarm fire at Kellogg plant in Memphis, 170 emergency personnel responded to the call

7/30/21 Firefighters on Friday battled a large fire at Tyson's River Valley Ingredients plant in Hanceville, Alabama

8/23/21 Fire crews were called to the Patak Meat Production company on Ewing Road in Austell

9/13/21 A fire at the JBS beef plant in Grand Island, Neb., on Sunday night forced a halt to slaughter and fabrication lines

10/13/21 A five-alarm fire ripped through the Darigold butter production plant in Caldwell, ID

11/15/21 A woman is in custody following a fire at the Garrard County Food Pantry

11/29/21 A fire broke out around 5:30 p.m. at the Maid-Rite Steak Company meat processing plant

12/13/21 West Side food processing plant in San Antonio left with smoke damage after a fire

1/7/22 Damage to a poultry processing plant on Hamilton's Mountain following an overnight fire

1/13/22 Firefighters worked for 12 hours to put a fire out at the Cargill-Nutrena plant in Lecompte, LA

1/31/22 a fertilizer plant with 600 tons of ammonium nitrate inside caught on fire on Cherry Street in Winston-Salem

2/3/22 A massive fire swept through Wisconsin River Meats in Mauston

2/3/22 At least 130 cows were killed in a fire at Percy Farm in Stowe

2/15/22 Bonanza Meat Company goes up in flames in El Paso, Texas

2/15/22 Nearly a week after the fire destroyed most of the Shearer's Foods plant in Hermiston

2/16/22 A fire had broken at US largest soybean processing and biodiesel plant in Claypool, Indiana

2/18/22 An early morning fire tore through the milk parlor at Bess View Farm

2/19/22 Three people were injured, and one was hospitalized, after an ammonia leak at Lincoln Premium Poultry in Fremont

2/22/22 The Shearer's Foods plant in Hermiston caught fire after a propane boiler exploded

2/28/22 A smoldering pile of sulfur quickly became a raging chemical fire at Nutrien Ag Solutions

2/28/22 A man was hurt after a fire broke out at the Shadow Brook Farm and Dutch Girl Creamery

3/4/22 294,800 chickens destroyed at farm in Stoddard, Missouri

3/4/22 644,000 chickens destroyed at egg farm in Cecil, Maryland

3/8/22 243,900 chickens destroyed at egg farm in New Castle, Delaware

3/10/22 663,400 chickens destroyed at egg farm in Cecil, MD

3/10/22 915,900 chickens destroyed at egg farm in Taylor, IA

3/14/22 The blaze at 244 Meadow Drive was discovered shortly after 5 p.m. by farm owner Wayne Hoover

3/14/22 2,750,700 chickens destroyed at egg farm in Jefferson, Wisconsin

3/16/22 A fire at a Walmart warehouse distribution center has cast a large plume of smoke visible throughout Indianapolis.

3/16/22 Nestle Food Plant extensively damaged in fire and new production destroyed Jonesboro, Arkansas

3/17/22 5,347,500 chickens destroyed at egg farm in Buena Vista, Iowa

3/17/22 147,600 chickens destroyed at farm in Kent, Delaware

3/18/22 315,400 chickens destroyed at egg farm in Cecil, Maryland

3/22/22 172,000 Turkeys destroyed on farms in South Dakota

3/22/22 570,000 chickens destroyed at farm in Butler, Nebraska

3/24/22 Fire fighters from numerous towns are battling a major fire at the McCrum potato processing facility in Belfast.

3/24/22 418,500 chickens destroyed at farm in Butler, Nebraska

3/25/22 250,300 chickens destroyed at egg farm in Franklin, Iowa

3/26/22 311,000 Turkeys destroyed in Minnesota

3/27/22 126,300 Turkeys destroyed in South Dakota

3/28/22 1,460,000 chickens destroyed at egg farm in Guthrie, Iowa

3/29/22 A massive fire burned 40,000 pounds of food meant to feed people in a food desert near Maricopa

3/31/22 A structure fire caused significant damage to a large portion of key fresh onion packing facilities in south Texas

3/31/22 76,400 Turkeys destroyed in Osceola, Iowa

3/31/22 5,011,700 chickens destroyed at egg farm in Osceola, Iowa

4/6/22 281,600 chickens destroyed at farm in Wayne, North Carolina

4/9/22 76,400 Turkeys destroyed in Minnesota

4/9/22 208,900 Turkeys destroyed in Minnesota

4/12/22 89,700 chickens destroyed at farm in Wayne, North Carolina

4/12/22 1,746,900 chickens destroyed at egg farm in Dixon, Nebraska

4/12/22 259,000 chickens destroyed at farm in Minnesota

4/13/22 fire destroys East Conway Beef & Pork Meat Market in Conway, New Hampshire

4/13/22 Plane crashes into Gem State Processing, Idaho potato and food processing plant

4/13/22 77,000 Turkeys destroyed in Minnesota

4/14/22 Taylor Farms Food Processing plant burns down Salinas, California.

4/14/22 99,600 Turkeys destroyed in Minnesota

4/15/22 1,380,500 chickens destroyed at egg farm in Lancaster, Minnesota

4/19/22 Azure Standard nation's premier independent distributor of organic and healthy food, was destroyed by fire in Dufur, Oregon

4/19/22 339,000 Turkeys destroyed in Minnesota

4/19/22 58,000 chickens destroyed at farm in Montrose, Color

4/20/22 2,000,000 chickens destroyed at egg farm in Minnesota

4/21/22 A small plane crashed in the lot of a General Mills plant in Georgia

4/22/22 197,000 Turkeys destroyed in Minnesota

4/23/22 200,000 Turkeys destroyed in Minnesota

4/25/22 1,501,200 chickens destroyed at egg farm Cache, Utah

4/26/22 307,400 chickens destroyed at farm Lancaster Pennsylvania

4/27/22 2,118,000 chickens destroyed at farm Knox, Nebraska

4/28/22 Egg-laying facility in Iowa kills 5.3 million chickens, fires 200-plus workers

4/28/22 Allen Harim Foods processing plant killed nearly 2M chickens in Delaware

4/2822 110,700 Turkeys destroyed Barron Wisconsin

4/29/22 1,366,200 chickens destroyed at farm Weld Colorado

4/30/22 13,800 chickens destroyed at farm Sequoia Oklahoma

5/3/22 58,000 Turkeys destroyed Barron Wisconsin

5/3/22 118,900 Turkeys destroyed Beadle S Dakota

5/3/22 114,000 ducks destroyed at Duck farm Berks Pennsylvania

5/3/22 118,900 Turkeys destroyed Lyon Minnesota

5/7/22 20,100 Turkeys destroyed Barron Wisconsin

5/10/22 72,300 chickens destroyed at farm Lancaster Pennsylvania

5/10/22 61,000 ducks destroyed at Duck farm Berks Pennsylvania

5/10/22 35,100 Turkeys destroyed Muskegon, Michigan

5/13/22 10,500 Turkeys destroyed Barron Wisconsin

5/14/22 83,400 ducks destroyed at Duck farm Berks Pennsylvania

5/17/22 79,00 chickens destroyed at Duck farm Berks Pennsylvania

5/18/22 7,200 ducks destroyed at Duck farm Berks Pennsylvania

5/19/22 Train carrying limestone derailed Jensen Beach FL

5/21/22 57,000 Turkeys destroyed on farm in Dakota Minnesota

5/23/22 4,000 ducks destroyed at Duck farm Berks Pennsylvania

5/29/22 A Saturday night fire destroyed a poultry building at Forsman Farms

5/31/22 3,000,000 chickens destroyed by fire at Forsman facility in Stockholm Township, Minnesota

6/2/22 30,000 ducks destroyed at Duck farm Berks Pennsylvania

6/7/22 A fire occurred Tuesday evening at the JBS meat packing plant in Green Bay.

6/8/22 Firefighters from Tangipahoa Fire District 1 respond to a fire at the Purina Feed Mill in Arcola

6/9/22 Irrigation water was canceled in California (the #1 producer of food in the US) and storage water flushed directly out to the delta.

6/12/22 Largest Pork Company in the US Shuts Down California Plant Due to High Costs

6/13/22 Fire Breaks Out at a Food Processing Plant West of Waupaca County in Wisconsin.

***This is from 2021 and 2022.. Can that total today be correct???

[blackbackedjackal]

If I could afford to feed better I would. Walmart is evil too but I'm still forced to shop there too because I'm poor. Capitalism sucks, what else is new. I just wanted to know where the supposed mink and fox fur farm by-products are in foods that don't have any generic ingredients and everything is named (chicken meal, beef fat, fish oil, etc) because I don't want to feed carnivore by-products to my dog.

It's not your fault you're fooled into to trusting the smoke and mirrors of shitty corporations that cut corners to save on cost then pay to cover up most bad press. They sacrifice safety for profit, always. My bottom line is of this is what they're allowed to feed our animals here, and then I'm not staying here.

It's usually "rendered fat" ingredients and likely some other things too. It's a sneaky way of saying mystery oils they buy and use for preservatives that have been proven to have limited shelf life and attract microbes and mold.

[annefic]

Ok so

I made that devilled pheasant recipe that was reported to be Anne's favorite in the issue of Country Life she guest edited (but with chicken rather than pheasant as it's a difficult bird to find around here out of season and expensive any time of year, and I didn't want to waste "shipping it in" money on something I might not even like)

Some thoughts:

I kinda had to guess my way through this because the recipe is super vague. No oven temperatures, very little indication of how long things should be allowed to cook, and based on the video I'm pretty sure the British are working with rather different definitions of "casserole" and "tender" than we are in the US

The spices the bird is boiled in smell divine by themselves, and I've saved the stock because I think it will make a great soup base. I about quintupled the garlic used because northern European recipes and especially British ones never use enough garlic. "One clove" is either a joke or like. Eating whole like a candy once it's dried or roasted amounts, not flavoring a dish to feed four amounts. I used three and also rubbed the meat in garlic powder before I did anything else with the recipe.

By the same token, I think it would materially improve the outcome if the meat were dry rubbed in all the spices (+extra garlic) and allowed to soak them in overnight before beginning the cooking process.

Included in the vagueness - it didn't say whether to keep or chuck the carrot and onions when you drain the meat. I chose to keep and I'm glad I did; the carrot in particular adds a lot to the final product

The only double cream available here comes already stiff... Not paying 15 fucking dollars for enough to have a full metric cup so I used one 6 oz jar and made up the difference with heavy whipping cream. They blended together quickly and easily.

The mango chutney-whipped cream-worcestershire mix used to dress it is... It tastes. It's very fruity and very strong. I think it would be more enjoyable if stood up against the gamey flavor of a pheasant; as it is it's very rich and rather overpowering. Definitely better evenly mixed in rather than slopped on top as the recipe asks, and I think it could stand either more heat or more time in the oven once the meat and cream are added together. (Due to the lack of a temperature in either real or fake units I assumed they meant to heat it in what Americans would call a "warm oven" - 175 to 200°F, not enough for further cooking to really occur just enough to get everything to a warm temperature.)

Overall thoughts: It's more positive than negative for me, but I don't think this is going to be the kind of dish just anyone would instantly fall in love with after the first bite. It's a very unique taste and uses fruit in a way I don't normally see it used with poultry. As I said already, I think the gamier taste of pheasant would probably help this considerably but I don't think that alone is going to make it a perennial favorite. The pheasant crumble pie in the issue Charles guest edited seems to have a more traditional flavor profile and I think that would fall more along my lines of preference - perhaps I shall make it later.

Uhhh, I don't know how to end this soooo

Bird

Frankly, it also looks more appealing mixed together. This has none of the darker more vibrant oranges showing in the picture of the finished dish on the website which is another reason I'm suspicious I didn't get the right idea of what "heat it in the oven for 10 minutes" was actually supposed to mean

[imabillyami]

for sleepover askssss

gimme your sami/jey headcanons 💕

FMK: Rhea, Finn, Damien

FMK: Naomi, Bianca, Jade

FMK: Sami, Seth, Kevin

Ohhhh these are so much fun 😍

(I’ll have to think of some to ask you as well)

Thanks for sending them!

I’ll put my actual reply under the cut cause it got quite long.

I appreciate you 💙 Hugs and kisses 😚

Sleepover asks!

Let’s start with the FMK shall we?

Rhea, Finn, Damien:

Fuck: Rhea (tattoo worship hellooooo, I’ll gladly spend hours on that)

Marry: Finn (we’d have so much fun building Lego and talking wrestling in a completely platonic marriage)

Kill: Damien (sorry buddie, I love you and you’re gorgeous, but Finn has Lego and one of the greatest wrestling minds, and Rhea is Rhea)

Naomi, Bianca, Jade:

Fuck: Jade (I mean… duh)

Marry: Naomi (Jimothy I’m coming for your wife, sorry not sorry)

Kill: Bianca (sorry hun)

Sami, Seth, Kevin:

Fuck: Kevin 🥵 (I don’t think this needs any explanation)

Marry: Sami (that one is a no brainer seriously, I could list a billion reasons)

Kill: Seth (I’m so sorry darling, ily. I’ll kiss you instead and send you back to your family, deal?)

And for the second part (actual first part), here’s an (incomplete) selection of my personal Sami/Jey headcanons:

- They VEX each other constantly. Yes, they love each other deeply, but they’re still very different from each other. They’re also both freaking stubborn, so they butt heads a lot once the honeymoon period of their relationship is over. Just like they used to. The making up is always beyond amazing though and it makes the fighting and bickering all the more fun.

- They annoy the ever loving shit out of the people around them. Constantly. (Whether with their squabbling or their heart eyes or something else is up to your interpretation)

- Sami has proclaimed his everlasting hatred for the Louis Vuitton bags and status symbols (in one of my favorite interviews to date). I think it’s common knowledge Jey owns at least one of those bags? And a lot of bling in general. Sami teases him mercilessly about it every chance he gets.

- Jey has recently proclaimed he wants to take Sami clothes shopping. Sami resists and they squabble about it. “It’s not my fault your shoe collection alone could feed an entire country.“ is totally something Sami said. “Babe I love you, but you look like a homeless person.” is totally something Jey said. It’s all good natured though (mostly, see the “they vex each other” hc)

- They’re both family men. But their understanding of what family does and doesn’t do for each other is very different. It’s keeps causing tension and is a topic they constantly return to.

- They both have a lot of unresolved trauma to work through and move past and they’re deeply supportive of each other throughout the whole process.

- Surprisingly (or not?), once Roman and Jimmy come asking for forgiveness and a second chance, it’s Sami who encourages Jey to hear them out and consider it (Jey is still very deep in his trust issues for obvious reasons, so he constantly doubts their intentions, Sami is constantly by his side as a sounding board and to reassure him. That doesn’t mean Sami isn’t wary of their intentions, still.)

- Jey tries to go vegan for a month and it does not go well. Sami is touched by the gesture, but finally tells him to “get his damn Waffle House already”. Jey eventually forgoes pork products altogether further down the line once they move in together though. He always liked chicken better anyway.

- While the crop tops disappear from Jey’s ring gear over time, they’re still very much a thing in their daily home life and the bedroom. (As if Sami would ever give up on crop top Jey, helloooo?)

- As much as Jey loves to give Sami crap about his “lack of style”, he secretly loves it. There’s his man, always wearing the same 5 shirts, not giving a crap what anyone thinks of his looks or belongings. The familiarity of him is beyond comforting. Being able to run his fingers through Sami’s long beautiful hair (even as is gets thinner with time) and the way his beard tickles him when they’re close are an added bonus.

- There’s no fixed top or bottom in this relationship, they switch things up constantly depending on their mood.

- Jey is the one to propose.

[shadybeanie]

Let's talk chickens, yall. If all you feed your chickens is commercial feed, they will be unhealthy and your hens will not lay well. There is not enough nutrients in commercial feed to meet the daily requirements that chickens need to be healthy, let alone be healthy and produce eggs.

Let me explain it this way. When someone who has a period starves themselves, more likely than not somewhere down the line of starving themself, they will either stop having or will have a smaller/shorter/spottier period. That is because severely restricting the number of calories you consume can stop the production of hormones needed for ovulation, which causes the period to be absent.

Not enough calories = less or no eggs

Ideally you should let your chickens run free range on top of having grain set out for them, so they can get the nutrients they need themselves. However, if you cannot let them free range, here are some things you can add into their diet to help meet those nutrient and calorie needs:

Vegetable peels, bananas, apple, berries, carrot, bok choy, silver beet, spinach, cabbage or broccoli. Forage or grain crops such as sunflowers, dent corn, alfalfa, clover, sorghum, amaranth and buckwheat are also good, as they are high in protein and fiber.

HOWEVER-Hens should never be fed food scraps that contain anything high in fat or salt, and do not feed them foods that are rancid or spoiled. Specific types of food that hens should not be fed include raw potato, avocado, chocolate, onion, garlic, citrus fruits, and uncooked rice or beans.

*** If you are unsure about whether a type of food is safe to feed your hens it is best to check first with an expert.

Make sure your chickens (not just hens!) Have plenty of grit- ground up shells, stones or gravel, especially if they do not have access to an outdoor area with dirt or grass, is necessary to their health. It helps them to digest their food.

Without it, it can cause them to get Sour Crop- When a chicken eats, the food goes down into the crop for storage and later digestion. If the food cannot be processed due to lack of grit, the food will start to rot and your chicken will develop a sour crop. Holding the grit in the gizzard is essential to process and derive nutrition from the food.

[catdograbbit]

Special Kitty is a well-known brand in the cat food industry, offering a wide range of products to meet the nutritional needs of cats. The brand has a long history, dating back to the 1980s when it was first introduced by Walmart. Over the years, Special Kitty has gained a reputation for providing quality cat food at an affordable price. The product line of Special Kitty cat food includes both dry and wet options, ensuring that cat owners have plenty of choices when it comes to feeding their feline friends. The brand offers a variety of flavors and textures to cater to different preferences and dietary needs. Whether your cat prefers chicken, fish, or beef, Special Kitty has a flavor that will satisfy their taste buds. Key TakeawaysSpecial Kitty Cat Food is a popular brand of cat food that offers a range of flavors and textures.Special Kitty is the best choice for your cat because it provides nutritional benefits and high-quality ingredients.Special Kitty's cat food contains essential nutrients that help maintain your cat's health.Special Kitty's affordable price point makes it a great option for cat owners on a budget.Customer reviews of Special Kitty Cat Food are overwhelmingly positive, with many praising its taste and quality. Why Special Kitty is the Best Choice for Your Cat When it comes to choosing cat food, there are many options available on the market. However, Special Kitty stands out as the best choice for your cat for several reasons. Firstly, Special Kitty offers a great balance between affordability and quality. While some cat food brands may be expensive, Special Kitty provides high-quality nutrition at a fraction of the cost. In addition to being affordable, Special Kitty cat food is also made with high-quality ingredients. The brand understands the importance of providing cats with a balanced diet that meets their nutritional needs. Special Kitty uses real meat as the primary ingredient in their products, ensuring that cats receive the protein they need to thrive. Nutritional Benefits of Special Kitty Cat Food Proper nutrition is essential for the overall health and well-being of cats. Cats are obligate carnivores, which means they require a diet that is rich in animal protein. Special Kitty cat food is formulated to provide cats with a balanced diet that meets their nutritional needs. Special Kitty cat food contains a variety of nutrients that are essential for cats' health. These include protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals. Protein is crucial for cats as it helps support muscle growth and repair. Fat provides cats with a concentrated source of energy, while carbohydrates provide them with the necessary fiber for digestion. Special Kitty's High-Quality Ingredients Ingredient Quality Real Chicken High Salmon High Whole Grain Corn High Wheat Flour High Beet Pulp High Vegetable Oil High Special Kitty cat food is made with high-quality ingredients that are carefully selected to provide cats with the nutrition they need. The brand uses real meat as the primary ingredient in their products, ensuring that cats receive a high level of protein. In addition to real meat, Special Kitty cat food also contains other wholesome ingredients such as whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. These ingredients provide cats with essential vitamins and minerals that are necessary for their overall health and well-being. How Special Kitty Helps Maintain Your Cat's Health Special Kitty cat food is designed to help maintain your cat's health in several ways. Firstly, the high-quality ingredients used in Special Kitty cat food provide cats with the necessary nutrients to support their overall health and well-being. Special Kitty cat food also contains added vitamins and minerals that help support a healthy immune system, promote healthy skin and coat, and support proper digestion. These added nutrients can help prevent common health issues in cats such as allergies, skin problems, and digestive issues.

Special Kitty's Range of Flavors and Textures Special Kitty understands that cats can be picky eaters, which is why they offer a wide range of flavors and textures to cater to different preferences. Whether your cat prefers chicken, fish, or beef, Special Kitty has a flavor that will satisfy their taste buds. The brand also offers a variety of textures, including pate, chunks in gravy, and shredded options. This variety not only adds excitement to mealtime but also provides cats with different textures to chew on, which can help promote dental health. Special Kitty's Affordable Price Point One of the biggest advantages of choosing Special Kitty cat food is its affordable price point. While some cat food brands can be quite expensive, Special Kitty provides high-quality nutrition at a fraction of the cost. By offering affordable cat food options, Special Kitty makes it easier for cat owners to provide their feline friends with the nutrition they need without breaking the bank. This affordability can be especially beneficial for cat owners who have multiple cats or are on a tight budget. Customer Reviews of Special Kitty Cat Food Customer reviews of Special Kitty cat food are overwhelmingly positive. Many cat owners praise the brand for its affordability and quality. They appreciate that Special Kitty provides their cats with the necessary nutrition without compromising on taste or ingredients. Customers also appreciate the variety of flavors and textures offered by Special Kitty. They find that their cats enjoy the different options and look forward to mealtime. Additionally, many customers have noticed improvements in their cats' overall health and well-being after switching to Special Kitty cat food. How to Transition Your Cat to Special Kitty Cat Food If you're considering switching your cat to Special Kitty cat food, it's important to do so gradually to avoid any digestive upset. Start by mixing a small amount of Special Kitty cat food with your cat's current food and gradually increase the amount over the course of a week or two. During the transition period, monitor your cat's appetite, stool consistency, and overall behavior. If you notice any signs of digestive upset or if your cat refuses to eat the new food, slow down the transition process and give your cat more time to adjust. Why Special Kitty is the Best Cat Food for Your Feline Friend In conclusion, Special Kitty is the best choice for your cat due to its affordability, quality ingredients, and nutritional benefits. The brand offers a wide range of flavors and textures to cater to different preferences, ensuring that your cat will enjoy mealtime. Special Kitty's affordable price point makes it accessible to cat owners of all budgets, while still providing high-quality nutrition. Customer reviews of Special Kitty cat food are overwhelmingly positive, with many cat owners noticing improvements in their cats' overall health and well-being. If you're looking for a cat food brand that provides balanced nutrition, high-quality ingredients, and affordability, Special Kitty is the best choice for your feline friend. FAQs What is Special Kitty cat food? Special Kitty is a brand of cat food that is sold exclusively at Walmart stores. It offers a variety of wet and dry cat food options for cats of all ages and dietary needs. What are the ingredients in Special Kitty cat food? The ingredients in Special Kitty cat food vary depending on the specific product. However, they typically include a combination of protein sources, such as chicken, beef, or fish, as well as grains, vegetables, and vitamins and minerals. Is Special Kitty cat food nutritionally balanced? Yes, Special Kitty cat food is formulated to meet the nutritional needs of cats. However, it is important to choose the appropriate formula for your cat's age and dietary needs. Is Special Kitty cat food affordable? Yes, Special Kitty cat food is generally considered to be an affordable option for cat owners. It is sold exclusively at Walmart stores, which helps to keep the cost down.

Is Special Kitty cat food high-quality? The quality of Special Kitty cat food is generally considered to be average. While it may not be as high-quality as some premium cat food brands, it is a good option for cat owners on a budget. Are there any recalls on Special Kitty cat food? There have been some recalls on Special Kitty cat food in the past. However, these recalls are relatively rare and are typically due to issues with specific batches of food. It is always a good idea to check for any recalls before purchasing any pet food.

[drnishargpatel]

How Diet Affects SIBO: Foods to Eat and Avoid

Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) is a condition where excessive bacteria grow in the small intestine, leading to a variety of digestive issues. This sickness is often linked to underlying digestive problems and can cause significant discomfort. Understanding how diet affects SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth): Causes, symptoms, and treatment is crucial in managing the condition effectively.

Gastroenterologist in surat offers specialist care for individuals suffering from SIBO and other digestive issues, with specific treatment options that include dietary modifications.

Diet and the Management of SIBO

Diet is important in managing SIBO since some meals can either feed or starve bacteria, resulting in fewer symptoms.

 An appropriate diet for SIBO management focuses on limiting the intake of fermentable carbohydrates, which are the primary food source for the bacteria causing the overgrowth.

Foods to Eat When You Have SIBO

Low-FODMAP Vegetables: FODMAPs (Fermentable Oligo-, Di-, Mono-saccharides, and Polyols) are a group of short-chain carbohydrates that are poorly absorbed in the small intestine and can ferment in the gut, leading to symptoms of SIBO. Bell peppers, carrots, spinach, and zucchini are examples of low-FODMAP veggies. These vegetables are less likely to cause fermentation and bloating.

Lean Proteins: Proteins such as chicken, turkey, eggs, and fish are safe choices for people with SIBO. They are easily digestible and do not feed the harmful bacteria in the small intestine. Maintaining your general health and muscle mass can also be achieved by including enough protein in your diet.

Lactose-Free Dairy: Lactose is a sugar found in milk that can be difficult for some people to digest, especially those with SIBO. Lactose-free dairy products or alternatives like almond milk, coconut milk, and lactose-free yogurt can be included in a SIBO-friendly diet.

Gluten-Free Grains: Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye that can be difficult to digest for individuals with SIBO. Gluten-free grains such as rice, quinoa, and oats (if certified gluten-free) are better tolerated and can be included in your diet.

Spices & Herbs: Not only may fresh herbs like basil, oregano, and thyme enhance the flavor of your food, but they also include antibacterial qualities that can aid in preventing the formation of bacteria. Examples of these spices are ginger and turmeric.

Healthy Fats: Fats such as olive oil, coconut oil, and avocado are generally well-tolerated and provide essential nutrients without feeding the bacteria causing SIBO.

Bone Broth: Bone broth is a soothing and nutrient-rich option for those with SIBO. It is easy to digest and can help heal the gut lining, which may be compromised due to bacterial overgrowth.

Foods to Avoid When You Have SIBO

High-FODMAP Foods: High-FODMAP foods can exacerbate SIBO symptoms by providing fermentable carbohydrates for the bacteria. Foods to avoid include onions, garlic, asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, and beans. These foods can lead to bloating, gas, and discomfort.

Sugary Foods: Sugar is a major fuel source for the bacteria causing SIBO. It's best to avoid foods high in sugar, including candies, desserts, sugary drinks, and even some fruits like apples, pears, and mangoes.

Gluten-Containing Grains: Wheat, barley, and rye contain gluten, which can be difficult to digest and may worsen SIBO symptoms. Avoiding these grains and opting for gluten-free alternatives is recommended.

Dairy Products Containing Lactose: Milk, cheese, and other dairy products that contain lactose can be hard to digest for people with SIBO. Lactose-free options or plant-based alternatives are better choices.

Processed Foods: Processed foods often contain additives, preservatives, and hidden sugars that can aggravate SIBO symptoms. These foods are also typically low in nutrients and can contribute to inflammation in the gut.

Alcohol: Alcohol can irritate the gut lining and disrupt the balance of bacteria in the digestive system. It’s best to avoid alcohol or limit it significantly if you have SIBO.

Carbonated Beverages: Sodas and other carbonated drinks can cause gas and bloating, which can exacerbate SIBO symptoms. It’s best to stick to still water, herbal teas, or non-carbonated beverages.

SIBO Diet Plans: Tailoring Your Diet to Your Needs

While the guidelines above provide a general overview of what to eat and avoid, it’s important to remember that every individual’s response to food can vary. Working with a healthcare provider, such as a specialist in gastroenterology in Surat, can help tailor your diet to your specific needs and symptoms.

Some people with SIBO may benefit from a Low-FODMAP diet, which has been shown to reduce symptoms in many individuals. This diet involves eliminating high-FODMAP foods and gradually reintroducing them to identify triggers. Others may find relief through a Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) or a Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS) diet, both of which are designed to reduce inflammation and bacterial overgrowth by limiting certain carbohydrates and focusing on easily digestible foods.

The Importance of Probiotics and Prebiotics

While it may seem counterintuitive, certain probiotics can be beneficial for those with SIBO. Probiotics introduce beneficial bacteria into the gut, which can help restore balance and outcompete harmful bacteria. However, not all probiotics are suitable for people with SIBO, so it’s important to choose strains that are specifically recommended for the condition.

Prebiotics, on the other hand, are a type of fiber that feeds the good bacteria in the gut. However, in SIBO, prebiotics can sometimes feed the bad bacteria as well, so they should be used cautiously and under the guidance of a healthcare provider.

Treatment Options for SIBO

In addition to dietary changes, treatment for SIBO often involves antibiotics to reduce bacterial overgrowth. However, antibiotics alone may not be sufficient, and dietary management plays a crucial role in preventing recurrence.

Some individuals may benefit from herbal antimicrobials, which can be effective in reducing bacterial overgrowth without the side effects of conventional antibiotics. These include herbs like oregano oil, berberine, and garlic (in supplement form, as raw garlic is high in FODMAPs).

Working with a specialist in gastroenterology in Surat can help e​nsure that you receive a comprehensive treatment plan tailored to your specific needs. This plan may include dietary changes, medications, and lifestyle modifications to support long-term digestive health.

Conclusion

Managing SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth) through diet is essential for reducing symptoms and improving overall digestive health. By focusing on low-FODMAP foods, lean proteins, and easily digestible nutrients, you can help starve the harmful bacteria causing SIBO and support a healthy gut. It’s important to avoid foods that can exacerbate symptoms, such as high-FODMAP vegetables, sugars, and processed foods.

Consulting with a healthcare provider, such as a specialist in gastroenterology in Surat, can provide you with personalized guidance and treatment options. Together with dietary management, this approach can help you achieve better control over SIBO and enjoy a healthier, more comfortable life.

[foodandbeverages]

Poultry Feed Market Size 2023 Global Industry Share, Top Players, Opportunities And Forecast To 2033

The poultry feed market is expected to increase from US$ 216.5 billion in 2023 to US$ 365.6 billion by 2033.

Increased Use of Online Food Delivery Channels is Contributing to the Growth of the Poultry Business

Farmers feed poultry birds such as ducks, turkeys, chickens, geese, and other domestic birds with poultry feed. Modern feed is created by carefully selecting and combining ingredients to provide a high nutritional diet that maintains the health of poultry birds while also boosting the quality of end products such as meat and eggs. The primary ingredients required by poultry birds for development, reproduction, maintenance, and health include minerals, vitamins, carbohydrates, proteins, and water.

Protein is a vital source of energy for chicken birds, particularly when carbohydrate and fat intake is low. The lack of anti-nutritional substances such as phytic acid, as well as the effect of unrestricted feed intake on the digestive tract of poultry birds, are driving up demand for poultry feed.

The rise in the global population is a critical factor that is likely to fuel the growth of the global poultry feed market. Furthermore, due to their low cost and a movement in customer taste towards white meat rather than red meat, consumption of poultry-based products has expanded dramatically around the world.

Improved awareness of protein intake in daily diet is an important factor in growing global per capita meat consumption. Additionally, rapid economic growth in the Asia Pacific and the Middle East and Africa countries has increased meat production and consumption in these regions, propelling market growth.

The fundamental driver of the poultry feed industry is an increase in demand for poultry meat products. Additional factors driving market growth include increasing industrial livestock production and growing demand for organic feed.

Population and income have a considerable impact on poultry product demand. Packaged poultry feed is expected to evolve more quickly than traditional chicken feed, offering new opportunities for industry participants.

Feed product quality and cost have emerged as two of the most important elements in this market, and suppliers are playing an essential role in the poultry feed business. To keep prices under control, chicken feed businesses are anticipated to increase their involvement in raw material production, which is expected to change market buying processes.

Information Source: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/poultry-feed-market

Key Points from the Poultry Feed Market

The requirement for nutritional feed to avoid poultry diseases, as well as farmers’ embrace of poultry farming as a source of income, is likely to drive the poultry feed market during the forecast period.

The poultry feed market is expected to capture a CAGR of 5.4% during the forecast period 2023 to 2033.

Asia Pacific dominated the poultry feed market.

Key Developments in the Poultry Feed Market

In March 2019, DuPont de Nemours and Company introduced the chicken feed supplement SYNCRA to improve nutrient digestibility in poultry production.

In September 2018, DSM N.V. and Novozymes released BALANCIUS, a feed enzyme that improves feed efficiency and digestibility in broilers while simultaneously increasing long-term product yield.

In October 2019, Cargill developed a feeding intelligence platform that provides farmers with materials on the most recent intelligent animal production techniques, intending to assist farmers in navigating and improving their operations across all species, including poultry animals.

In May 2018, Farmers introduced APOLLO, a new broiler feed brand, to broiler producers in the United Kingdom and Northwest Europe. The new feed line was designed to help modern broiler birds grow and stay healthy.

Poultry Feed Market by Key Segment

By Livestock:

Layers

Broilers

Turkeys

By Nature:

Conventional

Organic

By Feed Type:

Corn

Wheat

Barley

By Form:

Granules

Pellets

Powder

By Regional:

North America

Europe

Asia Pacific

Central & South America

The Middle East & Africa