Is your chicken being pumped?

No matter your race, background or economics status, no one likes to have their food messed with. When I tell you they're injecting your chicken with a processed food ingredient cocktail solution including ingredients like xantham gum, you may revolt at the thought.

This solution is indicated with “containing up to X% solution.” or “enhanced with X% solution” that’s found on the pack of rotisserie chicken sitting out under the heater at your local grocery store. 

This is concentrated animal feeding operation chicken, or what I like to call “CAFO chicken”. 

CAFO chicken is grown abnormally quick and the birds get virtually no exercise, both of these factors lead to poor muscle development. This results in dryer chicken because the underdeveloped muscles of the bird don’t hold much water.

So, CAFO manufacturers set up chickens on an industrial machine and pump this solution into the fibers of chicken to make up for the dryness. The “X% solution” is disclosed on packaged chicken, like hot-and-ready rotisserie or whole birds for sale at the grocery, but don’t get it twisted, this CAFO chicken has infiltrated every nook and cranny of our modern food system--- fast food, fine dining or otherwise.

The worst part about this water solution? This injected solution is sold at the weight of the meat. So, a decent portion of what we purchase at the register isn’t actually meat, but watery processed food sludge.

Doesn’t that boil your blood? Aren’t you angry? Sure. You may be, but so what?

“The problem is too big”

No one says it aloud, but we all think it: The problem of our perverted food system is too involved and tangled in America, we’ll never solve it. 

Someone commented on a recent livestream I did on No Lab Coat Required: 

And there it is: this pre-conceived disbelief in actual change embedded into our subconscious.

Now, I will not write as if the problem of our food system is not a big one, but I will spend the rest of this newsletter inspiring a different kind of thinking and level of faith in you.

Homelessness, juvenile crime, sex trafficking, cancer, disabled vets, the list of things to care about and want to see change in this world are endless. I once heard a friend of mine say: “We have many problems in America, I can’t care about them all, I just pick one.”

What differentiates the issue of our food system with the rest of other common non profit problems is that we all eat. Everyone deserves the right to whole, nutrient-dense, real food. And the people growing this food should prosper.

Eaters face food insecurity. Those in food deserts have the greatest MDM numbers of all. MDM stands for Meal Deficit Metric, a data tool created by Mari Gallagher; it’s used to count how many meals a given household will go without.

Regenerative farmers are being suppressed and edged out of the market by Big Ag’s capture of grocery, 3rd party labels, USDA organic loopholing, and greenwashing. As these powers get bigger, more land is centralized and regenerative farmers lose out on more and more opportunity.

This is hard, long-suffering work. But there are very few problems worth solving that are not hard and long-suffering.

Of course, I, like most people wrestle with doubt that anything can ever change.

Worrying thoughts creep in my head like:

If I let doubt get too much steam, It’ll yield a mindset of hopelessness, which lends itself to inaction. This inaction drives a self-fulfilling prophecy: success was never an option. In other words, if the problem looks too big, we don’t believe we can actually solve it and so we don’t even attempt it. 

What’s your thinking behind giving to a non-profit? Anytime I’ve ever given to one, my mind thinks:

But deep down inside, I know there will be no lasting effect from my gift, or even worse, from the core programs of the non-profit. Please read me clearly! I am not disapproving non-profit programs or trying to discourage giving in any way. I’m looking to address that subconscious thought that whatever we give to will not successfully solve a problem in the long run.

I’m challenging us to upgrade our belief.

Do you want to know my wild vision that I’m afraid to say aloud?

Here it is: Build a locally-ran food system that eliminates food insecurity in Chicago. Then replicate that system in many different communities in need nationwide.

My life is merely a vapor, one day I’m here, the next day I’m gone. I’ll be damned if Feed The Land doesn’t create lasting change.

So, I want to challenge your faith in our solution.

1.Do you believe you can actually change a food system?

2.Do you believe that partnering with us can be significant enough to permanently change access?

3.Do you believe we can build a system that bridges local farmers to eaters in need?

4. Do you believe in Feed The Land?

If you believe, I want to encourage your part in giving to reflect your level of belief. Consider giving a monthly gift @ FeedTheLand.org. Give $8/month or any amount that matches your level of belief.

Nonprofits suffer from the highs and lows from “spur-of-the-moment” giving. How much money we’ll have in any given month is unpredictable when the biggest slice of the pie is one-time giving, thus running the risk of not being able to create impact due to low funds or simply hamster-wheeling– focusing our bandwidth on fundraising month after month instead of making impact. We find this is not the most sustainable way.

Monthly giving allows us to sustain our work with a predictable floor. It gives us a realistic view of how much money we have month-to-month, which means we can budget more effectively, ensuring we don’t over-promise and under deliver.

To create lasting impact, we need continued support and that is where you come in! We’re extremely appreciative of those of you who’ve already committed to recurring giving!