Texas Ranch Has a New Owner

[Ahab]

24 minutes ago, bluebell said:

Do you worry about mercury?  I was just reading an article about an actress who is a pescatarian but found out she’s suffering from mercury poisoning. 

My wife does.  I don't.  And I let my wife do the worrying in our family since she does it so well.  But anyway, my wife has approved of me eating tuna as long as I don't eat it  more than twice a week.  She used Google and supposedly Google said it was okay.

My favorite way to eat tuna is with pickle relish, the stuff my wife makes, and a nice dollop of mayonnaise, which my wife does not like, generally, although she still eats it sometimes.  I don't eat or like albacore tuna, preferring skipjack tuna, the darker kind, instead.

Here is a link about how much mercury is in tuna and how supposedly it is okay to eat in moderation.

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/306246#how-often-should-you-eat-canned-tuna

[Kenngo1969]

Personally, I'm a meatatarian! 😀

[strappinglad]

24 minutes ago, pogi said:

It is sometimes embarrassing to be associated with such nut cases. 

Just for you , pogi , here is an off topic quote that illustrates what we are dealing with. A former Minister of Education where I live said this, " Our goal is to have every student score above the average on these Government exams " 

[Ahab]

8 minutes ago, Kenngo1969 said:

Personally, I'm a meatatarian! 😀

My favorite pizza is the combination, with several kinds of meat and onions and mushroom and bell peppers.  My wife's favorite pizza is Hawaiian, which I think is the worst kind, and pepperoni, which I don't like very much.

So we usually get a half and half pizza or 2 pizzas when we order or make pizza.  As someone who is mostly a vegan though I am surprised that I don't usually eat more meat than I do.  I like it more as a treat than as a usual thing to eat.  Like candy.  I love it but eating it only on special occasions is just fine with me and I think I appreciate it more when I do eat it because I have it only some times instead of all of the time.

Edited February 13, 2020 by Ahab

[Ahab]

5 minutes ago, strappinglad said:

Just for you , pogi , here is an off topic quote that illustrates what we are dealing with. A former Minister of Education where I live said this, " Our goal is to have every student score above the average on these Government exams " 

People who think like that probably aren't very good at using and understanding definitions of words, either, I suspect.  I am often amazed by how often people don't make very good sense when they say something.

[JAHS]

1 hour ago, Ahab said:

My wife does.  I don't.  And I let my wife do the worrying in our family since she does it so well.  But anyway, my wife has approved of me eating tuna as long as I don't eat it  more than twice a week.  She used Google and supposedly Google said it was okay.

My favorite way to eat tuna is with pickle relish, the stuff my wife makes, and a nice dollop of mayonnaise, which my wife does not like, generally, although she still eats it sometimes.  I don't eat or like albacore tuna, preferring skipjack tuna, the darker kind, instead.

Here is a link about how much mercury is in tuna and how supposedly it is okay to eat in moderation.

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/306246#how-often-should-you-eat-canned-tuna

Try mixing tuna with whipped cream cheese instead of mayo. 

[Ahab]

1 hour ago, rockpond said:

Meh... still nothing compared to Deseret Ranch in Florida.   This Texas property is one-twentieth the size of Deseret.

And, to put it in context, $50m is probably less than one percent of the annual gain from the Church's EPA/PRI investment portfolio.

Likely a good purchase, no objection here, but relatively small.

Here is a list of some places to compare the size of the property to: https://www.bluebulbprojects.com/measureofthings/results.php?p=1&comp=area&unit=a&amt=15000&sort=pr

As big as San Marino in Italy.

 

[Ahab]

4 minutes ago, JAHS said:

Try mixing tuna with whipped cream cheese instead of mayo. 

Okay.  That sounds like it might be a taste I would like.  I don't keep whipped cream hanging around like I do mayo but I could buy it sometime to try it.

[rockpond]

7 minutes ago, Ahab said:

Here is a list of some places to compare the size of the property to: https://www.bluebulbprojects.com/measureofthings/results.php?p=1&comp=area&unit=a&amt=15000&sort=pr

As big as San Marino in Italy.

 

And here's the comparison for Deseret Ranch in Florida (290,000 acres):  https://www.bluebulbprojects.com/measureofthings/results.php?amt=290000&comp=area&unit=a&searchTerm=how+big+is+290000+acres

About as big as Los Angeles, CA.

[Ahab]

14 minutes ago, rockpond said:

And here's the comparison for Deseret Ranch in Florida (290,000 acres):  https://www.bluebulbprojects.com/measureofthings/results.php?amt=290000&comp=area&unit=a&searchTerm=how+big+is+290000+acres

About as big as Los Angeles, CA.

I'm still trying to relate this place to some other place I am more familiar with.  Another reference says this place is 3/5th the size of Disney World.  Disneyland near LA is only 85 acres.  

1. The SMALLEST Disney theme park in the world is Disney California Adventure - 55 acres (not counting the Cars Land expansion);
2. Hong Kong Disneyland - approximately 60 acres (55 not counting the new Toy Story PlayLand);
3. Walt Disney Studios Paris - 62 acres;
4. Disneyland Park (California) - 85 acres;
5. Tokyo DisneySea - 122 acres;
6. Tokyo Disneyland - 126 acres, and Disneyland Paris - 126 acres;
7. Magic Kingdom - 142 acres;
8. Disney’s Hollywood Studios - 154 acres;
9. Epcot - 300 acres;
10. The BIGGEST Disney theme park in the world is Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park- 500 acres

http://www.orlandoparksnews.com/2012/02/fun-fact-comparing-size-of-disneys.html

Edited February 13, 2020 by Ahab

[Robert F. Smith]

8 hours ago, JAHS said:

....................................

Well we know where the beef is now. I assume they use it to fill the Bishop's storehouses and send out for humanitarian aid. Most likely they also sell it in the marketplace.

The beef is used exclusively for welfare and humanitarian aid, such as for food orders in Bishops' Storehouses.  We have a meat packing plant here in Utah County in Spanish Fork, which includes a killing floor where professional butchers work.  We get requests for volunteers to work the production line, and both Elders Quorums and Relief Society members come to help.  The Church has large ranches in Florida, Texas, Hawaii, and who knows where else.  They hire expert ranchers and provide nice homes for them and their families while they are out punching cows.  I used to work with a rancher at the Provo Temple.  Then the Church sent him and his family to another ranch far away.

[Tacenda]

2 hours ago, strappinglad said:

In case you have missed it, it is quite cold in much of the Northern States and Canada and Scandinavia  and Russia and...

Red meat fuels the inner fires . I had a prof from India who taught us Canucks  and he was always cold. We suggested he eat beef . He continued to shiver. He was a vegetarian . 

I live near a very large Church owned ranch. They farm crops everywhere the soil allows and raise cattle where it doesn't. Where they raise cattle the land has soil just a few inches deep under which is several feet of gravel left by the ice age glaciers. Only tough prairie grasses can grow there.

It is true that we eat way more meat than we need to and anyone who has seen the industrial work of raising beef or pork or chicken etc. usually gets put off quickly. Most ,however, never think about where the beef for their Big Mac comes from , or just how the chicken McNuggets are made. We would not be able to supply large cities  of 200,000 plus without such industrial level processes so pick your poison. Cut the worlds population in half and all will be well … for a few years anyway. 

My favorite " quote " from an animal rights activist is " There is no need to raise cows for milk  when everyone can just go to the store and get it " 

I'm bad, or they put something addicting in their cheeseburgers, but I love Mcdonald's burgers. 

Also, about the activist quote, a friend who had a pumpkin farm said something eye opening to me...she said she wanted her kids to know where their meat came from and made sure to tell and show them where, and made sure they knew the animals sacrificed their lives for them and didn't just come out of freezer or store somewhere. After that I made sure to repeat the sentiment to any young child if the subject came to remembrance. 

 

 

 

[rockpond]

10 minutes ago, Robert F. Smith said:

The beef is used exclusively for welfare and humanitarian aid, such as for food orders in Bishops' Storehouses. 

All the beef from all of the church owned ranches is used exclusively for welfare and humanitarian aid?

Do you have a reference for that?

[Ahab]

20 minutes ago, Robert F. Smith said:

The beef is used exclusively for welfare and humanitarian aid, such as for food orders in Bishops' Storehouses.  We have a meat packing plant here in Utah County in Spanish Fork, which includes a killing floor where professional butchers work.  We get requests for volunteers to work the production line, and both Elders Quorums and Relief Society members come to help.  The Church has large ranches in Florida, Texas, Hawaii, and who knows where else.  They hire expert ranchers and provide nice homes for them and their families while they are out punching cows.  I used to work with a rancher at the Provo Temple.  Then the Church sent him and his family to another ranch far away.

Do they turn it all into hamburger and roasts and chunks for stew?  I've never seen Ribeye on the food order menu.  Some good quality meat but a Ribeye option sure would be nice.

[JAHS]

28 minutes ago, Robert F. Smith said:

The beef is used exclusively for welfare and humanitarian aid, such as for food orders in Bishops' Storehouses.  We have a meat packing plant here in Utah County in Spanish Fork, which includes a killing floor where professional butchers work.  We get requests for volunteers to work the production line, and both Elders Quorums and Relief Society members come to help.  The Church has large ranches in Florida, Texas, Hawaii, and who knows where else.  They hire expert ranchers and provide nice homes for them and their families while they are out punching cows.  I used to work with a rancher at the Provo Temple.  Then the Church sent him and his family to another ranch far away.

According to the article  Church-Affiliated Ranch Balances Agriculture and Conservation in Central Florida  
"Deseret Cattle and Citrus is one of the Church’s investment farms, which operate as taxable commercial ventures. Unlike the Church’s welfare farms, which provide food and commodities for bishops’ storehouses to help the poor and needy, investment farms and ranches support the Church’s mission and principles by serving as a rainy-day fund. "

So most are welfare farms but it looks like the big one Deseret Cattle and Citrus (and perhaps a few others) is more of a commercial investment. 

Edited February 13, 2020 by JAHS

[Robert F. Smith]

4 hours ago, JAHS said:

Interesting bit of trivia on D&C 89. The original 1835 edition of the Book of Commandments, leaves out a very important comma in verse 13, causing it to read:
"And it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine."

With the comma gone after the word "used" it now reads that eating of meats should not be restricted to times of winter or famine. No one knows for sure who put the comma in there for subsequent editions , only that it was inserted by an editor (possibly James E. Talmadge in 1921)who was preparing the text for a new printing. Researchers are unaware of any direction from Church authorities to make the change. Regardless of this, the previous verse does say we should eat meat "sparingly".

In the presence of negation, the "only" there means "except."  Oxford English Dictionary, 7:128.

[Robert F. Smith]

19 minutes ago, JAHS said:

According to the article  Church-Affiliated Ranch Balances Agriculture and Conservation in Central Florida  
"Deseret Cattle and Citrus is one of the Church’s investment farms, which operate as taxable commercial ventures. Unlike the Church’s welfare farms, which provide food and commodities for bishops’ storehouses to help the poor and needy, investment farms and ranches support the Church’s mission and principles by serving as a rainy-day fund. "

So most are welfare farms but it looks like the big one Deseret Cattle and Citrus (and perhaps a few others) is more of a commercial investment. 

Thanks for the info.  I wonder what label the beef and citrus juices are sold under.

[JAHS]

2 minutes ago, Robert F. Smith said:

In the presence of negation, the "only" there means "except."  Oxford English Dictionary, 7:128.

Without the comma it's not clear that is what was meant,  but what you say makes sense and perhaps why the comma was inserted to avoid confusion.

[Robert F. Smith]

22 minutes ago, Ahab said:

Do they turn it all into hamburger and roasts and chunks for stew?  I've never seen Ribeye on the food order menu.  Some good quality meat but a Ribeye option sure would be nice...........

Maybe they don't want welfare recipients eating better than most members.  😎

[Robert F. Smith]

1 minute ago, JAHS said:

Without the comma it's not clear that is what was meant,  but what you say makes sense and perhaps why the comma was inserted to avoid confusion.

Reminds me that Chester on "Gunsmoke" used to call himself "the onliest one."

[Robert F. Smith]

41 minutes ago, rockpond said:

All the beef from all of the church owned ranches is used exclusively for welfare and humanitarian aid?

Do you have a reference for that?

I stand corrected by JAHS.  See his reply.

[Robert F. Smith]

3 hours ago, Ahab said:

.............................., my wife has approved of me eating tuna as long as I don't eat it  more than twice a week.  She used Google and supposedly Google said it was okay.

.................................................

Here is a link about how much mercury is in tuna and how supposedly it is okay to eat in moderation.

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/306246#how-often-should-you-eat-canned-tuna

Your wife is correct.  The larger the fish the more mercury -- higher on the predator chain.

[rockpond]

3 minutes ago, Robert F. Smith said:

I stand corrected by JAHS.  See his reply.

Got it.  Makes sense that you were thinking of the church owned welfare farms.  I remember working/volunteering on those as a kid.

[Ahab]

1 hour ago, Robert F. Smith said:

Maybe they don't want welfare recipients eating better than most members.  😎

... because then maybe most members would want to be on welfare?  Maybe.  But I don't think so.  Nah, there must be some other reason.

[Tacenda]

3 hours ago, Robert F. Smith said:

The beef is used exclusively for welfare and humanitarian aid, such as for food orders in Bishops' Storehouses.  We have a meat packing plant here in Utah County in Spanish Fork, which includes a killing floor where professional butchers work.  We get requests for volunteers to work the production line, and both Elders Quorums and Relief Society members come to help.  The Church has large ranches in Florida, Texas, Hawaii, and who knows where else.  They hire expert ranchers and provide nice homes for them and their families while they are out punching cows.  I used to work with a rancher at the Provo Temple.  Then the Church sent him and his family to another ranch far away.

What about the church's restaurants they own, I would think they'd use their beef for those. Have you been CFR'd yet? Because I bet it's part of their 'for profit' end but would love to be proven wrong.

Edited February 14, 2020 by Tacenda