Harvesting Lies: Exposing the Dark Side of Food 

As a farmer myself, it bothers me that the most useless crops are the ones that make the most money. Crops for biofuels, potatoes for chips and massively processed products such as fries, sugar cane, sugar beets, corn. A massive amount of our shrinking fertile land is being used for things society should not be using. We have food shortages worldwide and Brazil is clearing rainforest to grow more sugar cane for biofuel. Northern countries like Canada and the USA grow a disturbing amount of corn just to be used for biofuel. And these crops not only use up land that would be better used for food, but they're also the most water and nutrient hungry. Potatoes are grown throughout my region, and destroy the soil here. It's killing me to see precious soil just go to waste to grow salt and vinegar chips, land that will probably be worthless and unproductive in less than 30 years. Mainly because many potato farmers leave their fields without any cover during the off-season, and all kinds of erosion occurs and then followed up by more intensive growing. I try not to think about these things too often though for my mental health's sake. Honestly though, we're kinda doomed. This planet can't sustain this amount of people for much longer, working in the agricultural industry, partaking in more and more conferences and presentations gives me less hope. Anything with the word "sustainable" is a lie. Water reserves for irrigation keep depleting. Farmers in the states keep digging their wells for their pivots deeper because their water tables keep dropping year after year. Here in Alberta, we're facing massive water shortages this upcoming summer with the warm winter we've had and SEVERE lack of snow to supply the rivers with. The best generation to be a farmer would've been the baby boomers - millennials, it's all downhill from here unless we see some monstrous advances in technology and people's food choices. Don't eat junk food. Avoid sugary foods and drinks. Basically what your health teacher said in elementary school.

MMMMMMMMM FOOD. I love giving over 50% of my paycheque to a simple grocery run.

I'm Alaska native and we live on salmon caught from the sea and we have a saying. Friends don't let friends eat farm fish.

3-4 chickens per household and you kill a $76.9 billion dollar industry

BUT HEY THATS JUST A THEORY A FOOD THEORY

Damn, thats the best anti-bug argument I have ever heard. Never thought of the value brought by converting grass and brush to edible foods through meat and dairy. I debate people about this all the time too so this will be a nice card in the deck to have, thanks.

The only food store I can get to is a Dollar General... I finally started a garden in my yard to have fresh veggies. I pretty much only get to eat eggs and canned fish for "meat".... I'm constantly craving a hamburger 🍔

One thing to bring up in regards to Livestock animals - a lot of the time when factory-farmed, these animals are actually fed human-grade grains.

I save seeds from last year so I can grow a plant with pumped well water and leaf mulch... Just so I can taste food that hasn't been taxed or modified. The Govmint hates me!

I think we need to teach kids about the food system in school. They need to understand where the food comes from, and why they need to have genuine gratitude for everything they have.

For the past 6 years my understanding of when food is bad has been this, would I eat this in the zombie apocalypse..

Bug farming is actually good for making food ... for chickens. I tried looking up using bugs to make protein for human consumption and it was not that great. But by doing that I found out useful bug farming systems that recycle organic waste and produce useful protein for chickens. And it can be set up on a small scale so it can be used even on a small subsistence farm.

Im surprised you didn't mention that Bayer, one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies bought out Monsanto. And guess who has a large stake in those companies? That's right, ole Billy Gates.

The cake is kinda like history

Tend the foods that grow in wild places. Know the land. It is a tax benefit in some places to "homestead". It actually requires natural habitat. I learned that and I could stop mowing parts of my yard and free the land. The hawks, the fox, the bunnies and deer. When nature is allowed to balance, all will come near. 😁

After a little searching: The lobster thing was a bit of a myth. I can find no record of it and found a few articles debunking the claims. One even claimed that there was a law passed in Maine to prevent feeding lobster to prisoners more than twice a week. But no law was sited and I couldn't find an official record of one. Almost every source claiming that came up in the last 25-35 years. You'd think earlier records would have been written if it was true. I do love shellfish but whether or not this is true wouldn't change that. I think this is just a myth that became so big that everyone just believes it now.

I agree on the insect/arachnid idea as not being an option for sustaining humans over the long term.

Sounds cool. But I live in a studio apartment with no land whatsoever. How do I raise my own meat and grow my own crops? Besides having to work at least 40 hours a week? If I were independently wealthy, then I would do it.

I work in Gardening and conservation in the UK, Scotland specifically. I have always advocated to friends, family and clients that growing ones own food as much as possible but i have been demoralised somewhat since covid. To sustain ones self effectively the size and scale of ones allotments can make someone eligible for inquiry by their council to "Ensure they are not being used commercially" and even if they are found not to be growing for profit they will be put under constant scrutiny and interference. We've had regulation put on our ability to take clippings or harvesting seeds/bulbs for propagation in the name of environmentalism which if you know anything about anything you know this is pants on head stupid. This means having to buy seeds and bulbs from large companies usually based out of the country requiring transport, further undermining the notion that this is for the environment. luckily this is hard to enforce and your local bob probably isnt in the know so most people, as of now, can still harvest form the wild without receiving fines. There was also restrictions put on the sale of seeds and bulbs by venders during covid. Most big stores were not affected because they could eat the additional costs but i know people personally who's overheads went through the roof just selling seeds and bulbs at the time. what is even more infuriating was that right as lockdowns ended, and the demand diminished, so to did this prohibition on selling goods for propagation/cultivation. What became clear to me, though i am with out a doubt bias, is that though self sufficiency is a great way to help our environment and wallets but it means that people are less reliant on the food production side of the economy and it seems that hurdles are being put in the way of individuals to make home growing on a necessary scale a massive pain in the arse, if not impossible unless people are discrete or willing to circumvent the law.

The lobster being prisoner food is a bit less obvious than you gave. It used to be prisoner food because lobster spoils extremely fast so it would have been disgusting past a day after it was caught. They also often canned to transport anywhere and a saying back then referred to it being black in the can. Once we started transporting live it got a lot more accessible inland.

Those vitamins in dairy are added to the dairy by supplementing their feed.

I live in southern Ontario. My family used to have a coup with a couple of ducks, never killed em because the eggs alone would provide a great breakfast 3 times a week. The city municipality found out after a dude cutting public grass peaked over our fence. Let's just say I haven't tasted duck eggs in a long ass time.

"Everytime you drive a car, you're being worse than a cow" - Armoured skeptic

Something I find to be absolutely crazy is that there is people in this world that don't know where the food comes from that's at the grocery store to them, it just has it like magic. People don't know about farming and the hard work that goes into that.

Hey, can you do a video on Marshall Mcluhun’s theory “The Medium is the Message”. The guy somehow predicted exactly what would happen to the world today…in 1962.

Would you consider raising bees for honey livestock?

Thank you. This is the stuff that should be in the news

Did you know, if you eat food, some day you will die? Don't let big grocery fool you!

If it weren't for food banks, local hunters, and my grandfathers cattle, my siblings and I would have gone hungry more often than not. Even though stores are forced to throw away anything that has either "expired" or isn't "up to code". Bruised fruit is a great example, the amount of wasted food when people in their local community are going without is ridiculous.

Great video overall. As one who has stopped eating beef, I just wanted to clarify that that decision also has consequences for water usage in a world that is going to have more droughts moving forward. It's not _just_ about carbon and methane emissions.

If ppl could SEE the HORRORS factory farmed animals endure before they are slaughtered, no one would eat meat again

Bringing the truth, thanks man. You're lining up some of civilization's most serious issues in a very clear presentation. And yes, most importantly, if we don't actively do something different, it's not going to simply fix itself.

Greg for president 2024!!! Who cares if hes Canadian he is the ONLY person with a platform talking about the real issues with any amount of insight or nuanced perspective. You got my vote for sure.

I would also suggest looking into mycotoxins. Specifically, Aflatoxin B1. More specifically, Aspergillus Flavus. Enjoy the rabbit hole.

These videos have been awesome. Keep up the good work

I’m glad you’re here Gregory

When that meteor hits us in 2029 all the millionaires will be left with nothing after their electronic money disappears, and only those who learned to hunt and grow food will survive, in minecraft

The "Transportation" section of that graph you pulled up probably has more to do with massive shipping barges and airplanes than it has to do with privately owned transport vehicles.

It's so refreshing to listen to a smart person every once in a while. This is a very insightful video.

Whole Food Plant Based is the only way to go Just the facts ma’am 🌱

Love ya skeptik. Another great vid

The main problem with homesteading is initially acquiring and maintaining the basics, which cost more investment than most of us have. My family tried it right BEFORE cov and now we're stuck somewhere with no work and no way to move back. It is still cheaper to drive 2 hrs to buy groceries than to raise livestock*, but it isn't worth it to drive that far for a minimum wage job (wages=gas money, hope you don't have bills!). You also can't homegrow internet or gas. *We're on a small well. Crops & livestock require a TON of water. Livestock need to be fed and so do we... Elk are a MENACE. They eat your crops & destroy irrigation. Sure, let me just install a 10+ foot fence to keep them out... Not only is that incredibly expensive, we literally could not get anyone to come all the way out here to install basic chain link. I can't build one myself, because the cost for supplies and delivery would be insane. Should I start felling trees to make my own planks? Before or after I drive into one so I don't have to go be abused at my garbage job? (trick question, job went away during cov, I'm unemployed now. orz)

I hope they can invent anti-parasitic medicine for crickets soon 🙏

Mealworms can eat polystyrene bruh. Let's eat them good good mealworm sushi

Did i miss something? I hadn't noticed bugs replacing cows in the meat isle. Saw a documentary called Fresh where a farmer would graze his cattle on one section of his property, and when the grass was gone he moved them to the next section and put his chickens where the cows had been. The chickens eat the maggots in the cow patties and in doing so peck and scratch the dung back into the ground, where it fertilizes the next generation of grass. By the time the cows work their way back to the first spot, the grass is back. So it's a self sustaining cycle. Use a hydroponic system with tilapia in the reservoir for your garden, and the fish fertilize the plants and in a big enough system will breed so you've always got fresh fish and lush vegetables.

Another great video, Greg! Glad someone is pointing this out

I got my van....got my spot down by the river. A crossbow and some chickens, I'm set

We love you. ❤

From the dumpy potato to the succulent french fry, nothing satisfies hunger quite like food

lookin like you need a bison burger yourself

My dads a hunter and im a chef, got two freezers full of meat and fish. Perk of living in a small village.

Bugs can't convert non edible stuff into food? Bees. Checkmate.

Just the idea of a engineered food crop is scary

I was terrified, yet so curious. Glad I clicked on this.

Rice beans lentils oats veggies(esp frozen) fruit...its all super cheap .60 to a dollar a day. Reconnect by not eating so much meat. Not everyone can hunt. They would all die.

This argument fits even better on growing edible mushrooms, you can literally use wet paper and a little bit of minerals in between 😅 and yes it will contain toxins in itself but not in the "fruity" spore bearing part most of the time, so those that are safe to eat can also be grown on printed paper containing all kind of carcinogenic trace elements 😅

Klause Schwab been real quiet since this dropped.

I love my chickens. Every year I raise my own meat birds so I know they do not suffer.

15:00 not to forget that cutting carbon dioxide emissions will literally kill off plant life

I have chickens. 😊 They can convert fat into protein. Awesome little dinos.

Happy New Year man. I love your work.

Man keep the videos upm its always nice to see your videos on the dash :)

This is why our generation is playing with homesteading.

Thank God we was raised two houses down from my grandma and she kept a garden with about 15 50' rows and were spent allot of time out there. Then we grew up hunting us Louisiana boys and girls gonna make it I hope

Our food supply is poisoned.

counterpoint on the bugs, since grocery stores throw out tones of edible food all the time, why not let bugs eat it, and then eat the bugs? (because God forbid we give the food to HUMANS who need food)

damn all those bug points you made for why bugs are not good livestock was really good and now I will research more. Really good points there

Food will be a right when everyone of all nations partake in free enterprise.

I wish I knew some local farmers willing to sell me meat, milk, eggs, and cheese

Seems like people outside of cities need cars way more than city dwellers.

You're doing us a service, this message needs to be shared

Also humans lack specific enzymes to breakdown corn, our biggest issue is corn syrup

Ok so cars are unneeded. When my grandma needs something from the store if she supposed to walk 10 miles and back?

I never realised how burning fossil fuels is worse than livestock, great insight!

In America during world war II they told everybody to plant a victory garden which was basically a little vegetable garden so they could help supply food and there was more than enough food. Also, people were encouraged to keep chickens and have a cow if they had enough property. If you simply were allowed to grow a garden and have chickens, there would be no hunger, but you're not even allowed to grow a garden in a lot of places in America on your own land

"Every time you drive a car, you're being worse than a cow" is not a sentence I thought I'd ever hear in my life, but here we are

Best thing you can do for your kids; is teach them how to hunt, & grow their own food, self sufficiency. Food is life; must be prioritized. But with distractions of technology, they’ve got us right where they want us.

Dude starts unfolding

12:55 you heard him boys, we gotta free our seeds!

Thank you for mentioning bison! The bison beards have been replaced by cattle

I love that some words from the anagrams of your name are eulogy and reforge lol

13 years now and I haven't missed a video yet

The important message to take away from all this IMO, is get govt out of the food industry because, for one, they have no idea what they're doing, and two, they created an environment to allow it to be monopolized by their friends and donors. I feel like this is accurate of almost all major industries tho.

I think the reason we can't shoot bison ( estimated 40k wild bison) as freely as deer (estimated 40 million) is because we can't trust people to not hunt them to extinction again. With 331.9 million Americans and 15.2 million registered hunters (granted not all would get a bison card because those 15.2 million hunters are split into bird, deer, elk, and fur hunters,etc) a smaller bison population is far more sensitive to poaching and hunting than deer because of how long bison take to grown compared to deer. Then you have to account for the logistics of transporting and storing an entire buffalo's worth of meat, hide and bone. A team of two can reasonably dress a deer down on their own (you could split the weight of a 120 pound deer's meat and usable material between two people to throw over their shoulder back to their car or truck) , a buffalo probably would take either multiple people all working together like a nascar team to dress down a bison in the field or you'd have to throw the entire thing on a truck and do it at home.

Most "food" in the stores is best described as 'food-like stuffs'. As a small time family grower we can attest to the loss of connection with food and it's origins within just this last generation let alone the past 30 years🥴

i vill not eat ze bugs

8:55 what a waste those crops should've gone somewhere to feed people

Damn,on fire tonite. Always great to see a new vid,and you have really been killing it. I say these things and people look at me like im nuts. I fish,have berries,apples,tomato,etc in the yard. The sad thing is most just cant afford,or have the time for such things. Even if possible.

This is why I grow like 75% of my own. Garden addict here.

The reason being fed Crustaceans was considered cruel and unusual punishment is because they decompose very quickly after death. Refrigeration made it so crab and lobster was safe to eat for longer, making it available to the rest of the public, instead of being relegated to the dregs of society.

I’m a subscriber and my notifications for this channel is on but I still had to look for your channel to find this video and the latest ones. Very informative though

Boson can be toxified just like cattle. The main reason cattle is prefered is that bison are very hard to milk, and bison are much heavier/larger than most domesticated cattle, making them more dangerous to have around a family farm.

A fucking bag of lettuce is $7. LETTUCE!!! Meanwhile I can get 12 Poptarts for $3, or 2 family size boxes of cereal for $5, 2 tubs of ice cream for $6, 2 massive bags of candy for $7, or 2 huge bags of pizza rolls for $10. Those things are almost always bogo, but veggies, salads, and other healthy foods are never on sale, aside from celery and carrots, they're always expensive as fuck.

When you go talking about cars I’m sorry but only a city person would say that cars are not needed etc, I’ve never had a car with payments yet I’ve had a few cars since I’ve gotten my license. The trick is not to buy new and to drive it until the life of the vehicle is over.

and THIS is why fridays are great

I´m a simple man, I see the green shirt man and click inmediatly.

RE: Public transit sucking; suburban development turns bad public transit into a vicious cycle as well. It all feeds into the need for fundamental change in how urban planning is handled, especially in North America. This is something that urban planning content creators like Alan Fisher talk about ad nauseum in their videos because there's been a 70+ year glut of shitty urban planning that we legally can't do too much to fix very quickly

Great video. Hope to see a follow-up with deep dives into the various issues you mentioned.

What do you grow in your garden?

Make food a human right. Let's see how many people will keep working after that😂