First post! Taking the plunge ...

This is a "Blurb" I've used for a talk I've started giving to agricultural audiences. It seemed like a good thing to use for a "test-drive".

Grass Based Health: Turning the Food Pyramid Upside Down

Conventional wisdom, when it comes to human nutrition, tells us that we should be eating a low-fat diet, with restricted consumption of red meat. This advice became the official recommendation of the United States government in the late 1970’s. Peter Ballerstedt will introduce evidence that the fat-is-bad hypothesis was wrong, and the impact the growing awareness of this can have on animal agriculture in Oregon.

Peter has an extensive background in forage production, utilization, and forage-based livestock production systems. He was the forage extension specialist at Oregon State University from 1986 until 1992. His recent personal experiences led him to study human diet and health. What he’s learned doesn’t agree with advice we’ve been given for the past 30 years or more. This new understanding, combined with his forage background, has given him an interest in local, sustainable food production systems. His knowledge, enthusiasm, and speaking style will provide an entertaining and informative presentation.

And here's a .wmv file that I made by combining an audio recording of the talk I gave to the Central Oregon Hay Growers Association with some of the slides I used (I couldn't capture all of the animations from the PowerPoint slide deck ...)