One morning a few years back Roman Stocker was watching his cat, Cutta Cutta, drink, and began to wonder about the mechanism by which cats lap fluid into their mouths.
For Stocker, an associate professor in the Department of Civil and
Environmental Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
the thought was not an idle one. After investigating the mechanism via
high-speed videography, experimental simulation and research on other
feline species with visits to zoos and YouTube, Stocker and his colleagues have now produced a scientific description of cats' lapping mechanism. Their study was published online November 11 in the journal Science.
"There is an increase in interest in taking inspiration from nature to
look for solutions to physical problems," Stocker says. Watching Cutta
Cutta lap, he says, made him realize "there was probably an interesting
biomechanical problem there." A cat's curious method of lapping, which
involves bending the tip of its tongue downward toward its chin to pull
liquid into its mouth, had been explained in general terms but had not,
apparently, been investigated in scientific detail.
"It was certainly surprising" that the mechanism had not been more fully explored, says M.I.T. engineer and study co-author Pedro Reis.
The new work builds on that of another M.I.T. engineer, Harold
Edgerton, who pioneered stroboscopic (strobe light) photography in the
1930s. In a short film about Edgerton's work, Quicker 'N a Wink,
which won the Academy Award for best one-reel short of 1940, high-speed
videography shows a cat bending its tongue downward and pulling liquid
up and into its mouth. Edgerton "saw something interesting about cats'
lapping, but no one did any work since him," Reis says.
Having provided the inspiration, Cutta Cutta made a logical subject for
detailed observation. "The first thing we did was take high-speed movies
of my own cat," Stocker says. Movies of Cutta Cutta and other house
cats at an animal shelter showed that cats do not dip their tongue into
the liquid to scoop up water,
as dogs do in lapping. Rather, a cat touches its tongue, with tip bent
downward, against the surface of the liquid before drawing its tongue
rapidly back into its mouth. Liquid at the surface rises with the
retreating tongue, which pulls it up into a column of fluid. The cat
then traps that liquid in its mouth, swallowing only after several laps
have accumulated a significant volume of fluid in its mouth.
To uncover the physical principles at work, the researchers used a
robotic system with a round glass disk, mimicking the tip of the feline
tongue, that could be placed on a liquid surface and rapidly pulled
upward [see video below]. "You can't tell a cat, 'Please lap at
a different frequency,'" Reis says. "So we developed a mechanical,
robotic version of the cat's tongue." He notes that it was a challenge
just to mimic the tongue's quickness, which can rise at speeds nearing
one meter per second. "To do that experimentally is not so easy," Reis
says.
The feline films and the simulation revealed that fluid inertia is the
prime mover in forming the column of liquid that rises with the tongue
into the mouth. When the tongue leaves the liquid, adhesion pulls fluid
with it from the surface, and inertia causes more liquid to follow.
Gravity acts against the upward motion of the column, eventually
pinching it off at a certain height. To trap the most liquid in its
mouth, the researchers found, a cat should close its mouth around the
column just before gravity pinches it off—a strategy that house cats, at
least, seem to have internalized.
Numerically, each cat has an optimal drinking frequency—say, four laps
per second—and the researchers' analysis showed that larger feline
species, which tend to have larger tongues and drink from greater
heights above the surface of the liquid, should lap more slowly to
maximize their intake. Specifically, the group predicted that the
lapping frequency should scale with the cat's mass raised to the power
of –1/6.
To check that theory, the group filmed a lion, a tiger, a jaguar and an
ocelot at the Stone Zoo in Stoneham, Mass., and the Franklin Park Zoo in
Boston. Then they hit YouTube, where countless individuals have filmed bobcats drinking in backyards or larger cats
glimpsed on safari slaking their thirst. "We realized that was a source
of information that we could use in a very simple way," Stocker says.
With six additional data points gleaned from those videos, the actual
lapping of various felines agreed well with the predicted scaling.
Turning to YouTube for data, although not exactly common for
major-journal studies, was a natural leap for the researchers to make.
"You pose a question, and you have to answer it," Reis says. "Whatever
tools you can grab to come to an answer, you go for it."
Pure curiosity, such as that inspired in Stocker by watching his cat
lap, can drive some very fundamental research, Reis adds. "Now we're
worrying about black holes and particle colliders and nanotechnology,
but there is a lot of science all around," he says. "When you stop for a
second, you realize you don't understand everything around you." And in
this case, Reis is careful to point out, curiosity did not kill the
cat—no animals were harmed in the making of this study.
Sunday, June 30, 2013
The Ant and the Chrysalis
An Ant nimbly running about in the sunshine in search of food came
across a Chrysalis that was very near its time of change. The
Chrysalis moved its tail, and thus attracted the attention of the Ant,
who then saw for the first time that it was alive. "Poor, pitiable
animal!" cried the Ant disdainfully. "What a sad fate is yours!
While I can run hither and thither, at my pleasure, and, if I wish,
ascend the tallest tree, you lie imprisoned here in your shell, with
power only to move a joint or two of your scaly tail." The Chrysalis
heard all this, but did not try to make any reply. A few days after,
when the Ant passed that way again, nothing but the shell remained.
Wondering what had become of its contents, he felt himself suddenly
shaded and fanned by the gorgeous wings of a beautiful Butterfly.
"Behold in me," said the Butterfly, "your much-pitied friend! Boast
now of your powers to run and climb as long as you can get me to
listen." So saying, the Butterfly rose in the air, and, borne along
and aloft on the summer breeze, was soon lost to the sight of the
Ant forever.
"Appearances are deceptive."
1. Write a short reflection on a time in which you found appearances to be deceptive.
Friday, June 28, 2013
Glowing Bacteria Control Squid Hosts
Being jolted awake every morning by an alarm clock is
plenty annoying, but at least that alarm doesn’t actually live in your
body.
The Hawaiian bobtail squid (Euprymna scolopes) has an internal alarm clock that’s run by a species of glowing bacteria known as Vibrio fischeri. This bacterium and the squid are symbiotic, which means the two species live together for mutual benefit. (See “Large, ‘Glamorous’ New Glowing Squid Species Found.”)
Now a recent study published in the journal mBio shows that V. fischeri are required for the squid’s daily circadian rhythm.
“There’s been a lot of work looking at how circadian rhythm in the host can affect symbiosis, but not many people have looked whether symbionts could affect the circadian rhythm in the host,” said study leader Elizabeth Heath-Heckman, a Ph.D. candidate in the lab of Margaret McFall-Ngai at the University of Wisconsin.
An organism’s sleep-wake cycle is perhaps the most dramatic example of a circadian rhythm. But these rhythms also regulate 98 to 99 percent of our body’s genes, and have strong effects on everything from eating and digestion to how the immune system works.
“An organism has different stresses at different times of the day, and pretty much every group of organisms out there, from bacteria up through us, has evolved the capability of keeping time,” said Heath-Heckman, who has been studying these squid and bacteria for over two decades. (Read how even vegetables have internal clocks.)
Protective Glow
Humans are diurnal, which means daylight triggers our brains to wake us up and get us out and about. For nocturnal animals like the bobtail squid, it’s the lack of light that prods it to emerge from its burrow and start to feed. (Also see “How a Rooster Knows to Crow at Dawn.”)
But the squid doesn’t emerge alone: It has a specialized light organ on its body that’s inhabited by the bioluminescent V. fischeri. In exchange for a home and a diet of sugars and amino acids provided by the squid, the bacterium helps protect E. scolopes from predators by illuminating it with a blue glow. This counter-illumination hides the squid’s silhouette by helping it blend in with its surroundings.
Blue light, Heath-Heckman explained, is a potent activator of the body clock genes that govern circadian rhythm. Since the Vibrio only glow at night, when the squid is active and feeding, she wondered whether the light might also help regulate the squid’s circadian rhythm.
Cycles of Expression
Heath-Heckman and colleagues started by identifying a set of genes known as cryptochromes in the squid. Cryptochromes help to “wind” the biological clock, she said.
“The clock can run without the cryptochromes, but what these proteins do in invertebrates is to allow sunlight to tell them what is going on,” Heath-Heckman said. These proteins keep the squid’s internal clocks in sync with the natural patterns of daylight.
In invertebrates like squid, these genes are switched on by blue light, like the kind produced by Vibrio. The cryptochrome proteins then activate the internal clock genes. In the head of the squid, which is not colonized by V. fischeri, the cryptochrome genes are activated by ambient light in the environment. (See more pictures of glowing animals.)
Cryptochrome gene expression in the bacteria-colonized light organ, however, is very different. There, Heath-Heckman and colleagues found, the bacteria-made light switched on the genes. What’s more, the cryptochrome genes of young, lab-raised squid that weren’t colonized by the bacteria didn’t cycle at all—meaning they need the bacteria to work.
The cryptochrome genes were only able to cycle when the squid were exposed to the wavelength of light produced by the bacteria and certain bacterial proteins.
Illuminating Chronobiology
Understanding something as complicated as the circadian rhythm has long perplexed researchers, but in recent years, the study of circadian rhythm—known formally as chronobiology—has really taken off.
Heath-Heckman said that bacteria may dictate circadian rhythms in other animals—including us.
“We have an extremely large and important consortium of bacteria in our guts. The immune cells and the cells that line our intestines both turn genes on and off in a circadian manner. Maybe the bacteria are saying something to these cells and entraining their circadian rhythm the same way that we see in squid,” Heath-Heckman concluded. (Also see “Night Owls Stay Alert Longer Than Early Birds.“)
So the next time your alarm rings and you blindly fumble for a way to make that awful racket stop, just think of the Hawaiian bobtail and be glad that you have a snooze button.
Posted by Carrie Arnold in Weird & Wild on June 25, 2013
The Hawaiian bobtail squid (Euprymna scolopes) has an internal alarm clock that’s run by a species of glowing bacteria known as Vibrio fischeri. This bacterium and the squid are symbiotic, which means the two species live together for mutual benefit. (See “Large, ‘Glamorous’ New Glowing Squid Species Found.”)
A Hawaiian bobtail squid. Photograph courtesy Chris Frazee, McFall-Ngai Lab/University of Wisconsin
“There’s been a lot of work looking at how circadian rhythm in the host can affect symbiosis, but not many people have looked whether symbionts could affect the circadian rhythm in the host,” said study leader Elizabeth Heath-Heckman, a Ph.D. candidate in the lab of Margaret McFall-Ngai at the University of Wisconsin.
An organism’s sleep-wake cycle is perhaps the most dramatic example of a circadian rhythm. But these rhythms also regulate 98 to 99 percent of our body’s genes, and have strong effects on everything from eating and digestion to how the immune system works.
“An organism has different stresses at different times of the day, and pretty much every group of organisms out there, from bacteria up through us, has evolved the capability of keeping time,” said Heath-Heckman, who has been studying these squid and bacteria for over two decades. (Read how even vegetables have internal clocks.)
Protective Glow
Humans are diurnal, which means daylight triggers our brains to wake us up and get us out and about. For nocturnal animals like the bobtail squid, it’s the lack of light that prods it to emerge from its burrow and start to feed. (Also see “How a Rooster Knows to Crow at Dawn.”)
But the squid doesn’t emerge alone: It has a specialized light organ on its body that’s inhabited by the bioluminescent V. fischeri. In exchange for a home and a diet of sugars and amino acids provided by the squid, the bacterium helps protect E. scolopes from predators by illuminating it with a blue glow. This counter-illumination hides the squid’s silhouette by helping it blend in with its surroundings.
Blue light, Heath-Heckman explained, is a potent activator of the body clock genes that govern circadian rhythm. Since the Vibrio only glow at night, when the squid is active and feeding, she wondered whether the light might also help regulate the squid’s circadian rhythm.
Cycles of Expression
Heath-Heckman and colleagues started by identifying a set of genes known as cryptochromes in the squid. Cryptochromes help to “wind” the biological clock, she said.
“The clock can run without the cryptochromes, but what these proteins do in invertebrates is to allow sunlight to tell them what is going on,” Heath-Heckman said. These proteins keep the squid’s internal clocks in sync with the natural patterns of daylight.
In invertebrates like squid, these genes are switched on by blue light, like the kind produced by Vibrio. The cryptochrome proteins then activate the internal clock genes. In the head of the squid, which is not colonized by V. fischeri, the cryptochrome genes are activated by ambient light in the environment. (See more pictures of glowing animals.)
Cryptochrome gene expression in the bacteria-colonized light organ, however, is very different. There, Heath-Heckman and colleagues found, the bacteria-made light switched on the genes. What’s more, the cryptochrome genes of young, lab-raised squid that weren’t colonized by the bacteria didn’t cycle at all—meaning they need the bacteria to work.
The cryptochrome genes were only able to cycle when the squid were exposed to the wavelength of light produced by the bacteria and certain bacterial proteins.
Illuminating Chronobiology
Understanding something as complicated as the circadian rhythm has long perplexed researchers, but in recent years, the study of circadian rhythm—known formally as chronobiology—has really taken off.
Heath-Heckman said that bacteria may dictate circadian rhythms in other animals—including us.
“We have an extremely large and important consortium of bacteria in our guts. The immune cells and the cells that line our intestines both turn genes on and off in a circadian manner. Maybe the bacteria are saying something to these cells and entraining their circadian rhythm the same way that we see in squid,” Heath-Heckman concluded. (Also see “Night Owls Stay Alert Longer Than Early Birds.“)
So the next time your alarm rings and you blindly fumble for a way to make that awful racket stop, just think of the Hawaiian bobtail and be glad that you have a snooze button.
Posted by Carrie Arnold in Weird & Wild on June 25, 2013
Cardboard bicycle can change the world, says Israeli inventor
(Reuters) - A bicycle made almost entirely of cardboard has the potential to change transportation habits from the world's most congested cities to the poorest reaches of Africa, its Israeli inventor says.
Izhar Gafni, 50, is an expert in designing automated mass-production lines. He is an amateur cycling enthusiast who for years toyed with an idea of making a bicycle from cardboard.
He told Reuters during a recent demonstration that after much trial and error, his latest prototype has now proven itself and mass production will begin in a few months.
"I was always fascinated by applying unconventional technologies to materials and I did this on several occasions. But this was the culmination of a few things that came together. I worked for four years to cancel out the corrugated cardboard's weak structural points," Gafni said.
"Making a cardboard box is easy and it can be very strong and durable, but to make a bicycle was extremely difficult and I had to find the right way to fold the cardboard in several different directions. It took a year and a half, with lots of testing and failure until I got it right," he said.
Cardboard, made of wood pulp, was invented in the 19th century as sturdy packaging for carrying other more valuable objects, it has rarely been considered as raw material for things usually made of much stronger materials, such as metal.
Once the shape has been formed and cut, the cardboard is treated with a secret concoction made of organic materials to give it its waterproof and fireproof qualities. In the final stage, it is coated with lacquer paint for appearance.
In testing the durability of the treated cardboard, Gafni said he immersed a cross-section in a water tank for several months and it retained all its hardened characteristics.
Once ready for production, the bicycle will include no metal parts, even the brake mechanism and the wheel and pedal bearings will be made of recycled substances, although Gafni said he could not yet reveal those details due to pending patent issues.
"I'm repeatedly surprised at just how strong this material is, it is amazing. Once we are ready to go to production, the bike will have no metal parts at all," Gafni said.
Gafni's workshop, a ramshackle garden shed, is typically the sort of place where legendary inventions are born. It is crammed with tools and bicycle parts and cardboard is strewn everywhere.
One of his first models was a push bike he made as a toy for his young daughter which she is still using months later.
Gafni owns several top-of-the-range bicycles which he said are worth thousands of dollars each, but when his own creation reaches mass production, it should cost no more than about $20 to buy. The cost of materials used are estimated at $9 per unit.
"When we started, a year and a half or two years ago, people laughed at us, but now we are getting at least a dozen e-mails every day asking where they can buy such a bicycle, so this really makes me hopeful that we will succeed," he said.
A ride of the prototype was quite stiff, but generally no different to other ordinary basic bikes.
"GAME CHANGER"
Check Out Gafni's Video!
Nimrod Elmish, Gafni's business partner, said cardboard and other recycled materials could bring a major change in current production norms because grants and rebates would only be given for local production and there would be no financial benefits by making bicycles in cheap labor markets.
"This is a real game-changer. It changes ... the way products are manufactured and shipped, it causes factories to be built everywhere instead of moving production to cheaper labor markets, everything that we have known in the production world can change," he said.
Elmish said the cardboard bikes would be made on largely automated production lines and would be supplemented by a workforce comprising pensioners and the disabled.
He said that apart from the social benefits this would provide for all concerned, it would also garner government grants for the manufacturers.
Elmish said the business model they had created meant that rebates for using "green" materials would entirely cancel out production costs and this could allow for bicycles to be given away for free in poor countries.
Producers would reap financial rewards from advertisements such as from multinational companies who would pay for their logo to be part of the frame, he explained.
"Because you get a lot of government grants, it brings down the production costs to zero, so the bicycles can be given away for free. We are copying a business model from the high-tech world where software is distributed free because it includes embedded advertising," Elmish explained.
"It could be sold for around $20, because (retailers) have to make a profit ... and we think they should not cost any more than that. We will make our money from advertising," he added.
Elmish said initial production was set to begin in Israel in months on three bicycle models and a wheelchair and they will be available to purchase within a year.
"In six months we will have completed planning the first production lines for an urban bike which will be assisted by an electric motor, a youth bike which will be a 2/3 size model for children in Africa, a balance bike for youngsters learning to ride, and a wheelchair that a non-profit organization wants to build with our technology for Africa," he said.
CHEAP AND LIGHT
The bicycles are not only very cheap to make, they are very light and do not need to be adjusted or repaired, the solid tires that are made of reconstituted rubber from old car tires will never get a puncture, Elmish said.
"These bikes need no maintenance and no adjustment, a car timing belt is used instead of a chain, and the tires do not need inflating and can last for 10 years," he said.
A full-size cardboard bicycle will weigh around 9 kg (about 20 lbs) compared to an average metal bicycle, which weight around 14 kg.
The urban bicycle, similar to London's "Boris bikes" and others worldwide, will have a mounting for a personal electric motor. Commuters would buy one and use it for their journey and then take it home or to work where it could be recharged.
He said that as bicycles would be so cheap, it hardly mattered how long they lasted.
"So you buy one, use it for a year and then you can buy another one, and if it breaks, you can take it back to the factory and recycle it," he said.
Gafni predicted that in the future, cardboard might even be used in cars and even aircraft "but that is still a way down the road."
"We are just at the beginning and from here my vision is to see cardboard replacing metals ... and countries that right now don't have the money, will be able to benefit from so many uses for this material," he said.
By Ori Lewis and Lianne Gross
Critical Thinking:
1. Analyze the passage and come up with advertising points for the cardboard bicycle. What are some of the benefits of using/buying the cardboard bike versus regular bikes? How is this a revolutionary invention? Who made it, what could you use it for, etc.? How can this invention change the world?
After Drifting For Hours On Arctic Ice Floe, 20 Tourists Are Safe
A group of tourists got a bit more adventure in the Canadian
Arctic than they wanted Tuesday, after they realized the ice floe on
which they were camping had split off and begun drifting into open
water. The 20 tourists and their guides Wednesday afternoon.
The tourists were part of a week-long expedition hosted by Arctic Kingdom, a company that offers "Arctic safari" trips to guests who camp on Baffin Island and other areas to see animals such as polar bears, bowhead whales, and narwhals in their natural habitats.
But Tuesday morning, the guides woke up to realize their group was camping on top of an ice floe that had become disconnected from the shore in Admiralty Inlet, off the coast of Arctic Bay, Nunavut. They used GPS technology to confirm that their camp was drifting away, then called for help with radio satellite phones.
Graham Dickson of Arctic Kingdom says the company's guides are trained to stay far from the edge of the ice when they establish their campsites. He says strong tides from this weekend's Supermoon and strong winds caused an unexpectedly large chunk of ice to break off the mainland sometime between Monday night and Tuesday morning.
When the ice, which was reportedly , broke off, it took the entire camp with it.
Dickson says the Arctic Kindgom camp atop the ice floe included dining rooms, cooks, and 300-square-foot tents. "Our people had all the comforts of home in their safari camp," he said.
Many of the guests on the expedition were comfortable, happy, and easygoing throughout the rescue, Dickson says, noting that many of them were experienced world travelers.
Yvonne Niego of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police says that it is fairly common for people to get stranded on ice floes moving away from land in this area.
"Annually we receive this sort of call for help, but it is usually just one to two people who get stranded," Niego says. "This is the first one over several years that is this large.... it's a bit extraordinary."
And with limited ability to land aircraft and helicopters, rescue efforts in this region are difficult, Niego says. The tourists received a survival kit delivery from the Royal Canadian Air Force Tuesday, which included large rafts in case the ice floe split.
Later, the tourists were able to get back on land, after their floe drifted toward the shore again. There, they waited in a small cabin with supplies and food, until a military helicopter picked them up.
by Ginny Fahs
The tourists were part of a week-long expedition hosted by Arctic Kingdom, a company that offers "Arctic safari" trips to guests who camp on Baffin Island and other areas to see animals such as polar bears, bowhead whales, and narwhals in their natural habitats.
But Tuesday morning, the guides woke up to realize their group was camping on top of an ice floe that had become disconnected from the shore in Admiralty Inlet, off the coast of Arctic Bay, Nunavut. They used GPS technology to confirm that their camp was drifting away, then called for help with radio satellite phones.
Graham Dickson of Arctic Kingdom says the company's guides are trained to stay far from the edge of the ice when they establish their campsites. He says strong tides from this weekend's Supermoon and strong winds caused an unexpectedly large chunk of ice to break off the mainland sometime between Monday night and Tuesday morning.
When the ice, which was reportedly , broke off, it took the entire camp with it.
Dickson says the Arctic Kindgom camp atop the ice floe included dining rooms, cooks, and 300-square-foot tents. "Our people had all the comforts of home in their safari camp," he said.
Many of the guests on the expedition were comfortable, happy, and easygoing throughout the rescue, Dickson says, noting that many of them were experienced world travelers.
Yvonne Niego of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police says that it is fairly common for people to get stranded on ice floes moving away from land in this area.
"Annually we receive this sort of call for help, but it is usually just one to two people who get stranded," Niego says. "This is the first one over several years that is this large.... it's a bit extraordinary."
And with limited ability to land aircraft and helicopters, rescue efforts in this region are difficult, Niego says. The tourists received a survival kit delivery from the Royal Canadian Air Force Tuesday, which included large rafts in case the ice floe split.
Later, the tourists were able to get back on land, after their floe drifted toward the shore again. There, they waited in a small cabin with supplies and food, until a military helicopter picked them up.
by Ginny Fahs
Avocado-Fed Pork? Why Animal Feed Is Going Gourmet
Peanuts, flax, sprouts and avocados: It's not the menu at a health
food deli, but the menu inside some barns. What's more, many farmers
experimenting with these gourmet feeds are growing the ingredients
themselves.
Take Russ Kremer, the Missouri pig farmer whose operation served as the inspiration for the trend. Kremer hasn't bought commercial animal feed in 30 years. Instead, he grazes his hogs in a pasture, and grows (or buys from neighbors) grains and legumes to supplement their nutrition.
Kremer and some of the other farmers developing specialty feed say they are willing to shoulder the extra cost and time to produce it because they're turned off by conventional feed mixes. The conventional mixes are what most of the hogs in the U.S. consume, and can include commodity corn and soybeans, blood protein, animal waste and rendered fats, according to Kremer.
Kremer also runs a co-op where farmers can pool resources to mill their own feed. "We opt for grains like barley and oats as often as possible, because most corn and soy is now [genetically modified]," he says.
The scarcity of non-GMO corn and soybeans is what led hog farmers Kelley and Mark Escobedo of to experiment with peanuts.
Using their own 1950s-era mill, the farmers combine peanuts, peanut hay, and oats to boost the animals' protein intake and overall health — especially important because they raise their animals without antibiotics. The resulting meat has a delicate, nutty flavor that has helped them attract a loyal customer base willing to pay a higher price for the meat. "I've never had anyone come back and say it's not worth it," says Escobedo.
She and other farmers even take custom feed requests. Case in point: One restaurant shaped a special meal around a single hog that the Escobedos fed avocados (along with the peanut-based feed) for the last 6 weeks of its life.
"The meat was soft and delicious," Escobedo recalls. "It was the most delightful dinner I've ever eaten." (Pot-fed pigs are getting similarly rave reviews in Washington state, as .)
Farmers are supplementing animal feed with other ingredients found in gourmet kitchens, too. To boost his animals' immunity, Kremer uses . To add omega-3 fatty acids, many cattlemen are adding the to feed. And Nigel Walker of California's Eatwell Farm not only grows his own wheat to feed his egg=-laying hens, he also for added nutrition.
Even as farmers learn to market meat from animals raised on special diets, only a small percent of consumers are willing to pay extra for it. A pastured chicken fed with homegrown grains, for instance, can cost as much as $20 to 25, compared with $10 for a conventional chicken in the grocery store.
The cost to farmers, in terms of both dollars and time, also remains significant. Kremer says he can afford homegrown feed because he saves money on veterinary care since he doesn't use antibiotics. His pigs also have a higher survival rate than average (just 1 percent mortality compared to nearly 5 percent industry-wide). But his operation is also much smaller than average, so the risks are different from a large hog operation.
Jack Lazor, author of the forthcoming book , and owner of Butterworks Farm in Vermont, says homegrown animal feed has fundamentally transformed his farm. Lazor supplements his dairy cows' diets with homegrown grains and feeds his laying hens kelp and soybeans he grows and roasts himself, using a developed by Polyface Farm's Joel Salatin. The birds gain more weight, and the eggs are yellower, but more important to Lazor is the sense of being in complete control of what he calls the "craft of farming."
"When you're feeding an animal you can tweak it one way or the other based on the herd or the season," he says. "Plus, it just adds more meaning to your life."
by Twilight Greenaway
1. Summarize this article; identify the thesis statement and supporting evidence.
Take Russ Kremer, the Missouri pig farmer whose operation served as the inspiration for the trend. Kremer hasn't bought commercial animal feed in 30 years. Instead, he grazes his hogs in a pasture, and grows (or buys from neighbors) grains and legumes to supplement their nutrition.
Kremer and some of the other farmers developing specialty feed say they are willing to shoulder the extra cost and time to produce it because they're turned off by conventional feed mixes. The conventional mixes are what most of the hogs in the U.S. consume, and can include commodity corn and soybeans, blood protein, animal waste and rendered fats, according to Kremer.
Kremer also runs a co-op where farmers can pool resources to mill their own feed. "We opt for grains like barley and oats as often as possible, because most corn and soy is now [genetically modified]," he says.
The scarcity of non-GMO corn and soybeans is what led hog farmers Kelley and Mark Escobedo of to experiment with peanuts.
Using their own 1950s-era mill, the farmers combine peanuts, peanut hay, and oats to boost the animals' protein intake and overall health — especially important because they raise their animals without antibiotics. The resulting meat has a delicate, nutty flavor that has helped them attract a loyal customer base willing to pay a higher price for the meat. "I've never had anyone come back and say it's not worth it," says Escobedo.
She and other farmers even take custom feed requests. Case in point: One restaurant shaped a special meal around a single hog that the Escobedos fed avocados (along with the peanut-based feed) for the last 6 weeks of its life.
"The meat was soft and delicious," Escobedo recalls. "It was the most delightful dinner I've ever eaten." (Pot-fed pigs are getting similarly rave reviews in Washington state, as .)
Farmers are supplementing animal feed with other ingredients found in gourmet kitchens, too. To boost his animals' immunity, Kremer uses . To add omega-3 fatty acids, many cattlemen are adding the to feed. And Nigel Walker of California's Eatwell Farm not only grows his own wheat to feed his egg=-laying hens, he also for added nutrition.
Even as farmers learn to market meat from animals raised on special diets, only a small percent of consumers are willing to pay extra for it. A pastured chicken fed with homegrown grains, for instance, can cost as much as $20 to 25, compared with $10 for a conventional chicken in the grocery store.
The cost to farmers, in terms of both dollars and time, also remains significant. Kremer says he can afford homegrown feed because he saves money on veterinary care since he doesn't use antibiotics. His pigs also have a higher survival rate than average (just 1 percent mortality compared to nearly 5 percent industry-wide). But his operation is also much smaller than average, so the risks are different from a large hog operation.
Jack Lazor, author of the forthcoming book , and owner of Butterworks Farm in Vermont, says homegrown animal feed has fundamentally transformed his farm. Lazor supplements his dairy cows' diets with homegrown grains and feeds his laying hens kelp and soybeans he grows and roasts himself, using a developed by Polyface Farm's Joel Salatin. The birds gain more weight, and the eggs are yellower, but more important to Lazor is the sense of being in complete control of what he calls the "craft of farming."
"When you're feeding an animal you can tweak it one way or the other based on the herd or the season," he says. "Plus, it just adds more meaning to your life."
by Twilight Greenaway
1. Summarize this article; identify the thesis statement and supporting evidence.
Yamamoto's Elaborate Salt Labyrinths
http://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/2011/02/15/133678617/yamamotos-elaborate-salt-labyrinths
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)