Karina Jones is a real-life ranch wife in the Nebraska Sandhills and one of the most highly sought-after speakers in the cattle industry nationwide!
This Ain’t Normal Folks. Welcome to today’s edition of Ranch Raised.
I’m trying to develop a habit of listening to quality podcasts or audiobooks while I am by myself in the car or when I’m working in the kitchen, which I have been doing a lot of lately with the fall preservation rush being on.
I am currently in the middle of an audio book by Joel Salatin, titled, “This Ain’t Normal Folks.” I have really enjoyed the look in the rear view mirror about what normal American households did for decades to survive and how far removed we have become what used to be normal. Neighbors used to gather in the fall butcher a few hogs and maybe even a steer or two. There used to be exchanges between folks for different produce and services.
But, ultimately, most households held responsibility for feeding their own. Children tended to chickens. Gardens were essential. Families worked together. And even more than the human circle of life that provided sustenance, there was a symbiosis across the entire picture. Nothing was wasted. Kitchen scraps fed the chickens and pigs.
We somehow morphed into a society that is almost unrecognizable from our humble roots. No one cooks with lard. No one will eat a tomato with a blemish. Yet, we have more people today who are nutritionally deficient and more disease today than ever before. Folks, I agree, maybe THIS should not be our normal!
Karina ranches with her husband, Marty, and 4 children near Merriman, NE. She grew up in western NE, with roots also in southwest SD. The cattle industry and raising kids is her passion.
Watching the cattle industry go the path that it has gone, she could no longer sit quietly at home checking cows, fixing fence, and doing all the everyday tasks wondering when some else was going to make it all better. As she became more active and outspoken on industry issues, she was asked to join the R-CALF USA staff in September 2020 as the Checkoff Petition Campaign manager. That position transcended into her former role as full time Field Director for R-CALF USA.
Listen to Ranch Raised on a Your Ag Network hometown station or www.youragnetwork.com where she talks about her daily life on the Jones Ranch.
Cattle producers are her people. She will meet you at the county fair, at the sale barn, or anywhere the dusty trail leads.
karina@youragnetwork.com or visit facebook.com/ranchraisedwithkarinajones
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