A Freedom Bird Blows In

Thanksgiving is upon us and being a clique American I will be eating a turkey.  However I will not be eating a butterball or the like because I don't agree with their methods.  I refuse to give my money to support giant turkey factories.    The people running these "farms" are concerned with one thing...money....cash is their God.  These turkeys have no life force, they were not raised in a turkeyish fashion.  I barely consider them turkeys.  They are also laden with antibiotics.  Antibiotics in food is a complex issue, but one of the main drawbacks it that the overuse and transfer of the antibiotics assist in the establishment of bacteria that is resistant to the antibiotics.  This renders the antibiotics useless and promotes superbugs.

Wild turkeys are great creatures; Benjamin Franklin wanted the wild turkey to be the national symbol over the bald eagle on the account that the eagles are kleptoparasites and turkeys are strutters.  Perhaps Ben liked that the males are polygamous or that they are bold enough to defend their territory.

Now, a bird that lived a more natural life on a small family owned farm sounds like it would be much more tasty and bursting with beneficial life force.  Last year I roasted a fresh turkey from Raleigh's Poultry Farm in Kings Park, NY.  This was without any doubt the most flavorful and satisfying turkey I have ever had...and I have had some amazing fried turkey in the past.  The fresh hen from Raleigh's was never frozen and was allowed to live and breath in a much better environment than the cavernous turkey factory warehouses.  I will be getting another local bird this year.

Ambrosia and your Shnoz

Late summer and fall are prime time for allergies for many people. About 30% of Americans experience hay fever, aka allergic rhinitis. Allergic rhinitis is a medical term that describes nasal inflammation that is typically caused by pollen from the plants of the Ambrosia genus. This is the ragweed family, a taxa of monoecious shrubs or herbs that are particularly abundant in the Northeast portion of the USA. The plants are Wind pollinated, which scientist call anemophilous. A single plant contains billions of grain of pollen, which can travel several hundred miles in the Wind. When the pollen is ingested, via the nose or mouth, the immune system mounts an attack on the allergen as if it was a potent threat. The body reacts to the pollen's protein by creating antibodies and histamine. The histamine is synthesized in mast cells which are concentrated in the nasal cavity and other areas that are prone to infiltration by pathogens. Histomine functions to open selective permeability in membrane for white blood cells. The histomine is also the cause for the allergy symptoms..sneezing, coughing, red eyes, runny nose....all the good stuff.

The two main culprits for of the pollen are common ragweed and great ragweed.

common ragweed inflorescence

great ragweed inflorescence