Category Archives: IndustrialFood

Joel Salatin On The Essence Of Chicken

Joel Salatin goes beyond organic in his farming practices. I’ve read articles about him in the Mother Earth News. I’ve seen him appear in documentaries such as Food Inc. I recently viewed this recording of a talk he gave at TED. I found it inspiring. It shows that he is not only good at farming, he is also good at marketing his product.

Considerations

The cheapest eggs available may not be the healthiest. Do you really want to buy eggs from factory farms that stack chicken manure 8 feet tall (source)?

Seek out farm fresh eggs from a farmer’s market or road side stand. They may cost more per dozen but they are an excellent value for the money.

How I Lost Ten Pounds by Eliminating One Chemical From My Diet

Photo of cola

Cola Contains Large Amounts Of High Fructose Corn Syrup Photo Credit: carterse

I was using a dangerous chemical two times a day almost every day for years. My body was starting to show the effects. It seemed that I was regularly having to buy new pants with ever increasing waist bands to accommodate my expanding belly.

The chemical was and is being produced in large quantities in factories across the U.S. The purveyors make high profit margins selling the substance. The name of this chemical compound is high fructose corn syrup, or HFCS for short. I was ingesting it in the form of soda pop.

As I learned more about the dangers of high fructose corn syrup, I decided I had to break my habit. I gradually began to drink unsweetened beverages with my meals. I found it hard to quit cold turkey. Slowly but surely, I reduced my intake. After a few weeks, I no longer felt an urge to drink sweetened cola, but chose water or iced tea instead.

By eliminating these empty calories from my diet, I noticed a reversal in the trend line of my weight. I gradually lost ten pounds and my waist line stabilized. As I found out, there are other very good reasons to eliminate high fructose corn syrup from your diet.

These reasons have to do with the fact that despite marketing claims to the contrary, high fructose corn syrup is not like sugar. It is not natural. It occurs at a much lower concentration in natural foods such as fruits.

High Fructose Corn Syrup is Metabolized by the Liver

“The medical profession thinks fructose is better for diabetics than sugar,” says Dr. Field, “but every cell in the body can metabolize glucose. However, all fructose must be metabolized in the liver. The livers of the rats on the high fructose diet looked like the livers of alcoholics, plugged with fat and cirrhotic.” source

The marketer’s claims do not stand up to scrutiny. High fructose corn syrup is different. It attacks your liver.

To make matters worse, when combined with copper deficiency, the ingestion of high fructose corn syrup can lead to infertility.

High Fructose Corn Syrup: Made From Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)

There have not been sufficient long term studies to prove the safety of GMO crops. It is prudent to avoid GMO food and reduce the amount consumed where possible. Corn is one of the most widely genetically modified crops being grown today. When you ingest HFCS, you are also consuming GMOs.

Conclusion

High fructose corn syrup can lead to excessive weight gain, damage your liver, lead to infertility and introduce the risks of eating GMO food. It is best to avoid it by eliminating it from your diet. Incorporating liver into your diet can boost your copper levels thereby increasing your fertility.

Do you think high fructose corn syrup is the same as any other sugar? Or do you take steps to avoid it? Let me know what you think in the comments section.

How Large Corporations Are Damaging Our Food Supply

Picture of a freshly tilled farm filed in the spring.

Corporations are harming modern agriculture. Photo Credit: Evgeni Dinev

Imagine farming for your whole life. Each year planting a crop and saving seed to sow next year. Eventually developing a valuable local variety adapted to your local climate. Then one day a large multinational corporation sues you for infringing on their patent even though you have never used their products. To make matters worse the supreme court in your country finds in favor of the large corporation. This is exactly what happened to Percy Schmeiser.

Corporations Patent Life

How did this situation come about? The story is explained in the documentary film, The Corporation. Initially the U.S. patent office rejected attempts to patent life. Eventually corporations were granted the ability to patent living organisms paving the way for GMOs. The patents granted to Monsanto led to Schmeiser’s predicament.

You see, despite the corporation’s best efforts to control nature, ultimately nature takes its course. Many plants are open pollinated via the wind. Thus patented genes end up in a farmer’s field even though he has never used GMO seed.

Toxic Build Up

One of the most prevalent uses of GMO crops is to create herbicide resistance. This enables a farmer to broadcast spray a crop with an herbicide. The herbicide kills weeds and the herbicide resistant crop continues to grow. The spraying encourages the growth of herbicide resistant super weeds. The existence of these weeds leads to more spraying. Meanwhile the crop takes up the herbicide as it grows. If the crop is fed to livestock, the livestock accumulate the herbicide in their tissue. When the meat from these animals is consumed by people, they get a dose of chemical toxins included with their meal.

Terminator Gene

Picture of made scientist injecting a plant.

Mad scientists are creating frankenfood.

The Corporation also touches on the development of “terminator genes.” When a farmer contracts with a chemical company to use their GMO seeds he is forbidden to save his own seed. New seed must be purchased every year. Companies like Monsanto hire teams of investigators and lawyers to go after farmers suspected of saving their own seed.

Unfortunately, threatening their customers with lawsuits isn’t a good enough solution. Corporations have developed “terminator genes” that destroy the ability of the second generation of a crop to reproduce itself. This technological solution prevents farmers from saving seed. What could go wrong with such a scheme?

If terminator genes are released into the biosphere they could cross pollinate with existing crops leading to the eventual destruction of the crop.

Conclusion

It is best to avoid toxic foods by opting out of the industrial food supply. Don’t buy processed foods made with corn or high fructose corn syrup because they are tainted with GMO corn. Consider growing a portion of your own food. Shop at farmer’s markets where you can shake the hand of the person that grew the food.

Do you think GMOs are a problem? If you take action to avoid GMOs in the food you consume, please tell me about it in the comments section.