Derek Ragland

November 15, 2008

 

 

Bison its what’s for Dinner!

 

GENERAL

 

    Trying to ward off excess fat?  Why waste time dieting, and watching what you eat, when you can just eat healthier.  Why bother cutting down meat consumption, when there is bison for diner. 

 

American buffalo were abundant in the mid 1800's,  reportedly around 40 million. 

 

By the 20th century this number had fallen dramatically to about 1,000 in both the U.S and Canada, making them an endangered species. 

 

With the help of conservationists and Native Americans,  private and public the herds have now reached over 500,000. 

 

SPECIFIC EXAMPLE

 

* Two of these conservationists are Jim and Jan Politis ... 

 

 

People like Jim and Jan Politis, raise buffalo helping keep them around.   

 

They built Brush Creek farm was built and organized in 1992 by Jim and Jan Politis. 

 

 

Two of these conservations are Jim and Jan Politis, a Riner couple who built Brush Creek farm in 1992. 

 

 

Located in Riner, Virginia off of Route 8, the farm has over 50 buffalo grazing on 100 acres. 

 

They also have a

 restaurant that mostly serves local residents, who all believe Brush Creeks pricy menu is fit to fulfill most   people's

appetites. 

 

The farm itself is actually located several miles away from the store off of a dirt road.  Tours are given upon requests.  Starting with only 10 cows and one bull in 1993, now the Politis have  It wasn't until 1995, when they opened a store to begin selling their meat.  To accommodate everyone Brush Creek also raise organic chickens for those who would rather have chicken.  In 2007 Jim and Jan sold their store to Connie Hale to focus more on their farm, which they work themselves. 

 

Connie Hale runs Brush Creek Buffalo store and still continue to serve buffalo as her primary meat.  Today the farm distributes meat for several local stores in the area including Mrs. Hale's.  Though steaks are mostly sold from the farm, they also distribute jerky, ground buffalo, and sausage as well.

 

\Brush Creek farm strives to provide the best meat possible by raising organic buffalos.  Supporters of the National Bison Association they believe in natural life, not giving any drugs or hormones to their buffalo.  Similar to beef the meat is more sweeter, tender and more juicy.  You can order a buffalo burger with anything you would put on a regular hamburger.  There is no distinct wild after taste.  The American Buffalo is quite nutritional and healthy to eat.  When cooking buffalo meat, it produces less fat than beef. 

 

Dr. M. Marchello a professor at the University of North Dakota recent research proves buffalo meat to be less in calories, fat, and cholesterol than beef, pork, chicken or salmon.  Per 100 grams per serving buffalo meat has only 2.42 grams of fat, compared to beef, which has 8.09 grams of fat.  Without mentioning the fact that it is buffalo meat you might actually think its beef.

 

The store appears to look like a log cabin from the front, inviting customers in to its homely atmosphere on the inside.  Bar stools line the counter for people to see their meals being prepared.  Small dining tables each with four seats provide most of the seating.  On the menu it includes subs, salads, BBQ, quesadillas, tenders, soup and desserts.  A well-rounded list, fit for any appetite, 0. given the choice of either chicken or buffalo.  Waiting to eat is often faster than the drive through at McDonalds.  Buffalo meat is lean and takes half the time to cook as beef, so if you’re hungry Brush Creek restaurant may not be a bad idea.  To accommodate their guest while they eat, a radio plays country music to make people feel more welcome and at home.  Though buffalo meat is not widely distributed within U.S markets, we should think twice when you come to realize that in America most people are overweight.

 

 

 

 

MTR 

 

Derek Ragland

October 28, 2008

 

 

Power to the People

 

    Mountaintop removal has continuously been a dominant factor for power within the U.S.  The process of a removal site consists of explosives used to blow off the top of the mountains to get to thin layers of coal seams deep within the earth surface.  What good is the mountain after all this?  Even though fifty percent of our electricity today comes from coal fire power plants, you have to ask yourself why go through all the trouble to have fifty to sixty years of excess power the country never needed in the first place.  The area of South West Virginia alone has enough power from coal to power the whole nation.  The removal sites release carbon initiatives, which is one of the leading causes of global warming.  Ten percent of our countries methane is from coal mining, which is way stronger than carbon dioxide.  More expensive then wind and solar power, the process of cleaning the coal is what makes it so expensive.

    Due to violations made by coal companies breaking the Clay Mortar Act, already about $2.4 billion in law suits have been issued by the EPA dealing with coal slurry.  The state agency is supposed to handle removal sites but government agency had to take them over.  When people do have something to say, the multi-billion dollar industry just extends their power recently threatening to fire over 600 people in the state of West Virginia.  With advancements in modern technology machines are taking over peoples jobs on mountaintop removal sites.  People are actually losing their jobs.  Doing away with coal companies altogether wouldn’t get the support from retired miners who still benefit from coal companies by getting retirement funds.  Also, heavily supported coal companies go hand in hand with the government.  Funding money to politician’s mountain top removal is supported by both Republicans as well as Democrats.

    One of the major issues with mountain top removal is coal slurry.  Slurry is a thick fluid that builds up from washing coal.  Dams are built on removal sites to hold the mass of slurry produced from washing the coal.  Instead of building dams, slurry injections are another way to dispose the slurry.  During slurry injections slurry is injected into the ground, mostly abandoned coal mines then caped off to prevent oxygen from getting in and carbon dioxide from getting out.  Slurry dams and injections are safe if accidents never happened.  Due to accidents people suffer from leaks from coal slurry.  Slurry not only destroys drinking water and private wells of innocent civilians, but also drinking water for plants and animals in the destruction of creeks and rivers. 

    When looking into areas around removal sites evidence of fowl drinking water was seen. Infected water supplies have manganese which is a black oily substance that actually stains the insides of toilets.  Mineral sheens also leave stains in less than a year’s time.  Hydrogen sulfide releases a rotten egg smell turns water in toilets into a gunk exists also.  Running water from faucets was in some cases brownish color.  Run offs from slurry seeps into creeks and rivers underground turning them into slim, and sludge destroying all natural life within them.  Since the Kentucky slurry spill of 2000 and Buffalo creek sludge spill of 1972 we should be more aware these things can happen, simply because they already have. Coal slurry is not the only problems faced by removal sites, during heavy rains flooding near the bottom of the mountains occur often.  They’re not covered by the news usually because it’s happening to poor areas of our society. 

    In areas such as West Virginia people feel safe about the issue, due to the fact the industry has been around for so many years.  Most of the residents in South West Virginia feel it’s their tradition to have Mountaintop removal sites.  For generations and generations their families had been working the mines, the industry itself fed many families for years in West Virginia.  It would feel irregular for them to neglect the coal industries all together.  Also stubborn to actual facts West Virginians simply "don’t like to be told what to do" as Matt Noerpal a West Virginia native pointed out.  A great solution to mountaintop removal would be reusable energy.  With extensive research the Carbon capture and sequestration process will not be available for up to ten years from now.  People need to be educated on the subject to understand how important the issue really is to our society.  Terrorizing the beauty and luxury of nearby neighborhoods destroying the environment of West Virginians for power which they actually receive only one tenth of is a bit unfair.