There has been an email circulating this year calling for a new American Christmas Tradition. I tend to support the ideals and principals contained in this email so I am reprinting it here for your enjoyment.

Today is Black Friday. Maybe if we all were to consider these gifting ideas, we wouldn’t have to risk pepper spray down at the Walmart this year!

Christmas 2011 — Birth of a New Tradition

As the holidays approach, the giant Asian factories are kicking into high gear to provide Americans with monstrous piles of cheaply produced goods — merchandise that has been produced at the expense of American labor.

This year will be different. This year Americans will give the gift of genuine concern for other Americans. There is no longer an excuse
that, at gift giving time, nothing can be found that is produced by American hands. Oh…. Yes there is! It is time to think outside the
box, people. Who says a gift needs to fit in a shirt box, wrapped in Chinese produced wrapping paper?

Everyone — yes EVERYONE gets their hair cut. How about gift certificates from your local American hair salon or barber?

Gym membership? It’s appropriate for all ages who are thinking about some health improvement.

Who wouldn’t appreciate getting their car detailed? Small, American owned detail shops and car washes would love to sell you a gift certificate or a book of gift certificates.

Are you one of those extravagant givers who think nothing of plunking down the Benjamins on a Chinese-made flat-screen TV? Perhaps that grateful gift receiver would like his driveway sealed, or lawn mowed for the summer, or driveway plowed all winter, or games at the local golf course.

There are a gazillion owner-run restaurants — all offering gift certificates. And, if your intended isn’t the fancy eatery sort, what about a half dozen breakfasts at the local breakfast joint.

Remember, folks this isn’t about big National chains — this is about supporting your home town Americans with their financial lives on the line to keep their doors open.

How many people couldn’t use an oil change for their car, truck or motorcycle, done at a shop run by the American working guy?

Thinking about a heartfelt gift for mom? Mom would LOVE the services of a local cleaning lady for a day.

My computer could use a tune-up, and I KNOW I can find some young guy who is struggling to get his repair business up and running.

OK, you were looking for something more personal. Local crafts people spin their own wool and knit them into scarves. They make jewelry, and pottery and beautiful wooden boxes.

Plan your holiday outings at local, owner operated restaurants and leave your server a nice tip.

And, how about going out to see a play or ballet at your hometown theatre. Musicians need love too, so find a venue showcasing local bands.

Honestly people, do you REALLY need to buy another ten thousand Chinese lights for the house? When you buy a five dollar string of light, about fifty cents stays in the community.

If you have those kinds of bucks to burn, leave the mailman, trash guy or babysitter a nice BIG tip.

You see, Christmas is no longer about draining American pockets so that China can build another glittering city. Christmas is now about caring about US (We the People), encouraging American small businesses to keep plugging away to follow their dreams. And, when we care about other Americans, we care about our communities, and the benefits come back to us in ways we could not imagine.

THIS is the new American Christmas tradition!!

Forward this to everyone on your mailing list — post it to discussion groups.
– throw up a post on Craig’s List in the Rants and Raves section in your city.
– send it to the editor of your local paper and radio stations, and TV news departments.

This is a revolution of caring about each other, and isn’t that what Christmas is about?

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For Android: (you can find these for iPhone, iPad & Android tablets as well. Some may not have the same name but you should find a similar app for each device if you search.)

Remember the Milk
Evernote
Dropbox
Google Maps
Weather Bug
Pocked Cow Card – DC305
World Newspapers
RealCalc
Smart Tools
Distance & Area Measure
UltraChron
Team Viewer
Google Translate
Alarm & Timer
Flashlight
Instant Heart Rate
Chase Mobile
CamScanner
Craigslist Notifier
Cleartune

For iPad:
Flipboard

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To read Don’s Obituary please click here.

Rosary
Thursday, Aug 25th.
6:30 PM
St. Brigid Catholic Church
200 East Florinda Street, Hanford, CA 93230-3726
Corner of Florinda & Douty
(559) 582-2533 ‎

Funeral
Friday, August 26th
11:30am
St. Brigid Catholic Church
200 East Florinda Street, Hanford, CA 93230-3726
Corner of Florinda & Douty
(559) 582-2533 ‎

Grave Site
Calvary Cemetery
10th Avenue Hanford, CA 93230

Celebration of Life Luncheon
Friday August 26th
2:00 PM
Fraternal Hall
1015 North 10th Avenue
Hanford, CA 93230

In lieu of flowers, friends may contribute in Don’s memory to:

The Hanford Sons of Italy
Scholarship Fund or Charities Fund
9550 Sixth Ave.
Hanford CA, 93230

Kit Carson School
9895 7th Avenue
Hanford, CA 93230-8802
(559) 582-2843

or a local charity of your choice.

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Picture Stolen from LA Times

I have been trying since May 6, 2011 to get this letter published in one of the LA newspapers but was unsuccessful. Since today LA unified voted against chocolate milk in school lunches, I figured I can post it to my blog.

Here it is. Let me know what you think about the issue.
———

Dear Editor,

This is an open letter to Jamie Oliver and John Deasy, Superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and anyone else who thinks about things like chocolate milk in our schools. I’m a fourth generation California dairy farmer, a father, and a local school board member. I happen to agree with Jamie Oliver that there is too much sugar in chocolate milk. But I appeal to Jamie and the LAUSD to not throw out the proverbial “baby with the bath water.” Now’s the time to use your clout and the national spotlight to help move dairy processors toward producing low-sugar flavored milk so that kids can still have access to all of the great nutritional benefits of milk.

I have no doubt that Jamie is a reasonable man who sincerely wants to help America in its fight against childhood obesity. I applaud him for his efforts. There are many causes behind this epidemic and I’m willing to consider all of them, including chocolate milk.  However, it’s simplistic to demonize one food and ban it completely, especially a food that delivers so much nutrition. The good news is that when it comes to flavored milk there is a middle ground, and I hope Jamie is listening.

We face a conundrum here. In our land of plenty we have children who don’t get the recommended nutrients of importance for healthy growth. One of these nutrients is vitamin D, as reported in the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Vitamin D is an essential nutrient because it promotes calcium absorption that leads to healthy bones. Milk is the number one source of calcium, magnesium, potassium and phosphorus in children’s diets.1 Chocolate milk represents, potentially, the last hope for parents trying to provide nutritious foods to their family without facing epic battles. Flavored milk contains the same nine essential nutrients as white milk – calcium, potassium, phosphorus, protein, vitamins A, D and B12, riboflavin and niacin.

In schools, low-fat chocolate milk is the most popular milk choice and kids drink less milk – and get fewer nutrients – when it’s taken away. Also, while dropping chocolate milk from the menus of children who have healthy diets may be fine, for many children this one serving of chocolate milk at school is the most nutritious food they consume all day. It’s sad, but true.

The dairy industry has been working to develop a “smarter” chocolate milk. We’ve done this because leading health and nutrition organizations such as the American Dietetic Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Academy of Pediatrics recognize the valuable role of flavored milk in the diets of American children.

The “smarter” chocolate milk I refer to is sweetened with stevia, a 100% natural zero calorie sweetener. I’ve tasted a version of this chocolate milk and it’s great.  Each serving has 71% less added sugar, 50 fewer calories, 13 grams fewer carbohydrates and 10 grams fewer total sugars than traditional chocolate milk while providing the same amount of calcium, vitamin D and protein.

There’s a precedent for the success of such a program. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, by switching chocolate milk in New York schools from whole milk to low-fat milk, 5,960 fewer calories and 619 fewer grams of fat were served to children in 2009 versus 2004. In addition, milk sales actually increased, showing that the students found the change acceptable.

Dairy farmers understand the problem with traditional chocolate milk and we’ve been trying for years to encourage processors to produce lower sugar chocolate milk. Now that solutions are available, it’s time to move.

Let’s get serious about working together to help our children. I implore Jamie Oliver and John Deasy to sit down with me to talk about this exciting new option in chocolate milk.  I believe we have a solution where everyone can be happy.

Thanks for your consideration,

Dino Giacomazzi
Giacomazzi Dairy
www.dinogiacomazzi.com
@dairydino

1. Murphy M, Douglass J, Latulippe M, Barr S, Johnson R, Frye C.
Beverages as a source of energy and nutrients in diets of children and
adolescents. The FASEB Journal 2005; A434,275.4.

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The current buildings on our farm were built in 1937, the same year the Golden Gate Bridge was completed, yet the equipment inside has been modernized. Over the past year I have been honored with awards by the University of California and the US EPA for work and research in developing sustainable ways to grow feed for cows that require less input in the field. We now use only three tractor passes for two annual crops versus the 14 passes it used to take. This reduces both diesel usage and emissions. We import much less synthetic fertilizer because we use cow manure, which is just as important as the milk our cows produce. We also recycle the water used on our farm an average of four times and have to meet the highest air quality standards in the country.

Because of efforts like these, California dairy has been paving the way in sustainability practices and I’m proud that California milk is one of the most sustainable food products you can buy. In fact, due to innovation and efficiencies, the overall “carbon footprint” of a glass of milk has shrunk by 63 percent over the past 65 years.

I was fortunate enough that my family took care of the land and sustained it for more than 100 years so I could return to the dairy. I have a responsibility to do the same for my son and future generations. I hope you’ll support me and other local dairy producers by celebrating Earth Day – today and every day – with a tall cold glass of Real California milk.

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Click here to watch: To skip forward to the segment featuring the dairy click the #2 at the bottom of the video screen.

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If you would like to help California’s local food producers, please print this guide and take it with you to the ballot box.

One of the most important things someone in the ag industry does is vote. Even though we make up only 2-3% of the voting population our voices are heard through our trade groups such as the California Farm Bureau. These organizations spend a lot of time & money figuring out which propositions and candidates will benefit agriculture. The following guide is based on endorsements by the California Farm Bureau, the Kings County Farm Bureau, and my own research.

I am not able to provide recommendations for every district race. The best thing you can do is meet both candidates for each office and ask them questions about important issues to agriculture like estate tax, water, AB32, & high speed rail.

Don’t let them fool you with distraction issues however. One thing to note about politics is this, because of gerrymandering of districts the two parties have become much more polarized than they used to be. Candidates are becoming more extreme, no longer vying for the approval of the majority in the center, they push constantly to move the country far to one side. Regardless of the issue or candidate the current state of American politics is a battle between those who support liberty and those who support social justice. On one side you have the idea that people are generally capable of taking care of themselves and given the tools & opportunity will succeed. The other side believes people are generally incapable of taking care of themselves and that a few superior individuals know what’s best for everyone else.

The question you have to ask yourself is where do you fit in this equation. Are you capable of taking care of yourself or do you need someone to take care of you? Use the answer to guide your voting decisions.

PROPOSITIONS

(The comments below are my own, not approved by any group.)

Proposition 19 – Legalization of Marijuana
NO
This should be obvious unless you are too stoned to figure it out. All the cops and the pot growers and the medicinal marijuana crowd oppose it. I am none of the above but will support their decision.

Proposition 20 – Redistricting for Congressional Districts
YES
Takes the job of redrawing congressional districts out of the hands of the Legislature and gives it to the Citizens Redistricting Commission. This is going to help bring competitiveness back to politics. We already passed this initiative but since the politicians put Prop 27 on the ballot to protect their jobs, prop 20 was added to counter it. Vote YES on 20 and NO on 27. Don’t let the politicians win.

Proposition 21 – Vehicle License Fee for State Parks
NO
Places an $18 annual surcharge on vehicles licensed with the Department of Motor Vehicles in order to fund state parks and wildlife programs; in return, all California vehicles subject to the surcharge would receive free admission, parking and day use at all state parks. This is a B.S. initiative. There is no language in the bill that requires the money to go to parks. It goes to the general fund and we know what happens to money once it is in the general fund. It would be better to increase fees at the parks for people who actually use them than to charge everyone in the state and give them free access. This is a snow job. This is just a tax.

Proposition 22 – Local Government Funds
YES
Prevents state government from borrowing or taking funds from transportation, redevelopment or local government projects or services. YES, YES, YES!! Local governments are all broke and the state is ripping them off to pay for crap, crap, crap. Help your city, county, and special districts safe from the state of California bank robbers.

Proposition 23 – Suspension of AB 32
YES
Suspends the state law requiring reduced greenhouse gas emissions until California’s unemployment rate drops to 5.5 percent or lower for a full year. AB32 is the most economically destructive bill ever passed in California. Ask Apple & HP why they are building facilities in almost every state but California. If you own a business, AB32 will put you out of business. If you have a job, AB32 will put your boss out of business, which will put you out of a job. You could go to work for the state if you like IOU’s and furlough days!!

Proposition 24 – Repeal of Business Tax Credits
NO
Rescinds current tax laws relating to business tax credits and income averaging for income tax purposes, and enacts other tax law changes that will increase taxes for farms, ranches and other businesses. This law break the backs of most farmers in CA, and then your food will come from China & Mexico.

Proposition 25 – Majority Budget Vote
NO
This bill gives Sacramento the ability to pass the budget with a 51% vote rather than 2/3rd. Since the legislature is mostly democrats, this means California will become a one-party-rule system just like China, Cuba, Syria, and Vietnam. This is not a good thing. We have a two party system for a reason, balance.

Proposition 26 – Vote Requirement for Fees
YES
Increases the legislative vote requirement from a simple majority to two-thirds for fees, levies and charges; also requires voters to approve local fees or charges. All fees are taxes. Politicians and regulators like to masquerade taxes as fees but if you have to give money to the government it is a tax. Plain & simple. Vote No on 25 to keep the budget at 2/3rd vote and vote YES on 26 to make all tax increases require a 2/3rd vote.

Proposition 27 – Elimination of Citizens Redistricting Commission
NO
Takes the job of drawing district boundaries for the state Assembly, state Senate and Board of Equalization away from an independent commission and places it back in the hands of the Legislature.
I talked about this under prop 20. This is the politicians taking away the public’s ability to create fair and sensible district boundaries and puts it back in their hands.

CANDIDATES

State Offices
Governor – Meg Whitman
Lieutenant Governor – Abel Maldonado
Attorney General – Steve Cooley
Insurance Commissioner – Mike Villines
12th State Assembly District – Fiona Ma
17th State Assembly District – Cathleen Galgiani
28th State Assembly District – Robert Bernosky
30th State Assembly District – David Valadao

4th State Senate District – Doug LaMalfa
12th State Senate District – Anthony Cannella
14th State Senate District – Tom Berryhill
16th State Senate District – Michael Rubio

Federal Offices
U.S. Senate – Carly Fiorina
3rd Congressional District – Dan Lungren
20th Congressional District – Andy Vidak

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“Producers Voice” written for and printed in Agribusiness Dairyman Magazine, July 2010

Not exactly what Mark Twain had in mind when penning the famous quote but it pretty much sums up the dairy industry today.

The dairy industry is a unique critter. We are a group of fiercely independent, conservative capitalists doing everything we can to wrangle ourselves into socialist systems. Milk marketing orders and cooperatives are examples of such systems that developed out of need.

We aren’t very consistent in our politics. We generally display a, “get the government out of my back pocket, but they damn well better make a deposit in my front pocket” attitude. I am actually ok with these forms of schizophrenia. The problem I have is the hypocrisy of the fighting within the industry.

It appears to me that the dairy industry is at war. We are at war with radical environmentalists who want to regulate cow farts and let sardines rule the earth. At war with vegan terrorists who torture animals on video to portray us as Hitler with a milk mustache. At war with Marxist journalists who portray modern agriculture as the source of all societal ills, creating a dilemma for us omnivores. At war with unions, regulators, politicians, inspectors, monopolistic processors, oligarchic retailers, weather reporters, food burning cars, market manipulators, protein concentrators, hippies, lions, tigers, bears, and Al Gore! Oh my!

Why the heck are we constantly at war with each other? Why is it every time we show up to a battle with an outside group we come fighting with each other? We do this with processors over make allowances and environmentalists over air regulations. They show up organized, with a plan, and a message. We show up prepared to lose. I don’t blame policymakers for making the easy choice.

With all this adversity it seems like this would be a good time to come together. Let’s cease to be Western, Midwestern or Northeastern dairymen, lets not align ourselves as dairymen from ABC or XYZ co-op, let’s erase the lines between the dairymen of the red trade group and the blue one. Let’s just be Dairymen!
Ok, great, we are all just dairymen, now what? How about we talk about Milk Market Management.

In 2009 we didn’t have a supply problem we had a demand problem. Yes the price discovery system is flawed and the markets are manipulated, but that doesn’t change the fact that the economies of the world collapsed. They are still collapsing. It wasn’t just us. Like the post-911 years 2002-2003, the world melted down and we melted with it.

We need a unified dairy industry taking a holistic approach to reform doing it from a position of thoughtful reflection as opposed to panicked reaction. And we need to do it now.

The first step is to stop talking about supply management and start talking about milk market management, a comprehensive plan to reform all sectors of the industry. Reform must take place on the supply side and the demand side. Supply management is just one spoke in the wheel that will drive our industry into a brighter future.

The demand side must include a coordinated effort by every dairy marketing organization across the country to produce two simultaneous campaigns. One positioning dairy products as the healthy, natural choice over sodas and junk food. The other, a public relations campaign demonstrating that dairy families share the same values as the people voting on milk with their check book and at the ballot box. I honestly believe people have forgotten that milk is better for them than Coke. It’s time for that to change.

Demand management needs to include other reforms such as eliminating programs that stifle innovation in the industry. If the CCC quit buying powder, I have a feeling we would figure out a better use for it. We always do.

On the supply side we need reform of our price discovery system. We need a supply management plan that will efficiently send signals to the market to cut supply but not hinder domestic growth and international expansion. We need a safety net that is flexible, changes with market conditions, is equitable to all dairy farmers, and is not a burden on the taxpayer. We need to reform trade policy and definitions of dairy products so that “fair” trade wins out over “free” trade. We need to change our relationship with the processor and shift some of the responsibility for marketing and profit making to them.

There are many more issues to discuss and a lot of details need to be worked out. Honestly, I don’t have the solution to any of these problems, but I know enough to understand only a comprehensive plan will be sustainable. I cannot support a single tiered approach. The last 18 months have been hell, and the future is still uncertain. But one thing is for sure, if we don’t put our differences aside and lock ourselves in a room until we emerge together with a total solution, we won’t be here next year to fight about it. In my opinion, NMPF’s Foundation for the Future plan is a good start. Now let’s all go to work.

(Side Note:I did not write this article as an endorsement of the NMPF Foundation for the Future plan. I am merely suggesting this should be the basis of our conversations and foundation for total industry reform. If you find that you have an interest in this plan and are willing to start discussing it, take a moment to voice your opinion at this poll: http://poll.fm/1vhac. It would be nice to see where people really stand on this issue. FYI, the poll has been active for many months before the NMPF’s plan came into existence.)

DG

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Droid Light by Motorola - Free – (search android market) This is probably the most useful app in my tool box. This app simply turns on the super bright LED light on the back of the Motorola Droid so you can use it as a flashlight. It is surprisingly bright. If you don’t have a Motorola Droid you can download many other “flashlight” apps that turn all the screen pixels white. I’ve used this type of light since I got the Droid, but they pale in comparison to the LED flashlight.

Current Commodities – Free – (search android market) Current Commodities gives you prices and charts for some key commodity markets. It is not a full featured app by any means, it uses data provided by Yahoo! finance and Bloomberg which is fairly limited. But for a quick look at what the Corn market is doing, it works fine. For more indepth market information I use Futuresource.com. Future Source allows you to customize pages with charts & news. I use this on my home & office computers and use the droid web browser to check it from the phone. I have a shortcut on my phone desktop to get to the site with minimum effort.

Direct Dial Shortcuts – Free – (built in to Android) This is not an app, but it is important to productivity and worth mentioning here. One major benefit of Android over iPhone is the ability to create shortcuts and widgets on the desktop. Another is making folders. I make probably 100 phone calls a day on the dairy. I am constantly in communication with my employees, feed salesmen, parts stores, repair services, etc. I find it time consuming to always search for a contact and scrolling the list is even worse since I have 3000+ phone numbers in there. So here is a set by step guide to the most important sanitiy saving feature of Android.

1. Create a folder on your desktop by tapping your finger on a blank space and holding it there until the menu appears. Select Folders.
2. Click New Folder
3. Open the folder then click and hold on the word “folder” until the “rename folder” option appears. Rename something like “employees” or “Emergency #’s” etc. I have 3 folders, Family, Employee’s, and Dairy. Dairy contains all the numbers for frequently called vendors like feed salesmen & dairy supply companies.
4. In another blank space on the screen click and hold until the menu appears again. This time select “Shortcuts”
5. Now select Direct Dial if you want to select a phone number or Select Direct Message if you want a shortcut to send someone a text message. You can also select Contact which will allow you to select all the info from a single contact. For this example I am using Direct Dial
6. Once you have selected “direct dial” scroll the list until you find the number for the person you want to dial. Example, your spouse’s cell number.
7. After you select the number you want, an icon will appear on the desktop. Click and hold the icon until you feel the screen vibrate a little, then drag the icon into the folder you made in previous steps.
8. Repeat these steps until you have all the number you need.

Another way of getting address shortcuts to your desktop is by “Staring” contacts in your address book then place the “Starred Contacts” folder on your desktop. I have it both ways. People I want to have all their info available to me I “Star”. People whom I call regularly and use the same number, I use a direct dial link.

There you have it. Three more tools to help with on-farm productivity courtesy of google and the many people willing to volunteer their programming skills. I would like to suggest that if you find an app that is useful to you and they offer a paid version as well as a free version, use the paid version. This will ensure the continued advancement of the apps and guarantee you more productivity in the future.

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