Attitude Over Aptitude Will Change Food System

As consumers, we would like to believe that “somebody” is looking out for our welfare. As enlightened consumers, however, we know the goal of business is not the welfare of people but the welfare of their profits. Doctors make more money treating illnesses and businesses make more money convincing people to buy things they do not want or need at prices that exceed their worth. Often we feel defenseless in the face of power, however, we can make change happen through our personal choices.

A consumer, who buys directly from the hand of a producer, avoids being a statistic, a profit or loss figure on paper. Buying direct from a producer invokes trust. It honors the consumer and producer by creating a personal relationship connected by the product exchanged. That relationship is the “somebody” who is looking out for our well-being as a society. Old fashioned? Yes. The way it used to be? Yes. The way it could be? Yes.

What makes us feel unable to make change happen? We have been lead to believe that we do not have the education needed; we are too young or too old; our voice lacks the strength required; we are without power. None of this is true.  I suggest that attitude far outweighs aptitude.

This eleven-year-old boy represents the power of attitude. He is changing lives as his TED presentation has gone viral on the internet. Watch and listen to his simple but profound message. Birke Baehr, a young man before his time.

A Food Industry in Sheep’s Clothing Is Still A Wolf

The Corn Refiners Association has asked for high fructose corn syrup sweetener (HFCS) to be renamed, “corn sugar” for labeling purposes.  HFCS has been revealed as problematic in the weight and health of those who eat it in large quantities.  Unavoidable as that is in today's industrialized food supply.  The FDA can ease confusion about HFCS by requiring all corn sugars, including dextrose and maltodextrin, to be given the same name. People would then be able to understand the reality of the amount of “corn sugar” being stuffed down their throats.

Renaming products has worked but has left the public skeptical. After all, when sheep watch the wolf dress in sheep’s clothing often enough, there is little pretense left.

The 1938 the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act imposed rules requiring the word “imitation” to appear on products that were imitations of standard foods. For example, margarine is an imitation of butter and Velveeta is an imitation of cheese. Commonsense dictated, people should know what to expect from their milk, cheese, butter, beef, etc. The Act required an “imitation” label on imitation foods. It took the food industry until 1973 to get this rule tossed out. Congress did not write a new law; rather, the FDA simply repealed the Act.

For years, the FDA and the industrial food industry have herded the public down a path for industry profits while the nutritional content of our food has deteriorated and chemical additives increased. When we peek below the sheep’s skin and find corn syrup is making us obese, increasing medical costs, and refuse to buy it, the industry answer is to change the name, increase advertising and wait for the dust to settle.

Businesses practice salesmanship, persuading people to buy what they do not need, and do not want, for more than it is worth. In terms of food, that means that the public desires cheap food in large sizes. Slap a ‘sale’ tag on it and, nutritious or not, needed or not, it sells. The orthodoxy “newer and more is better”, which is born from propaganda authored by greed, entices mindless spending.  Spending, which many would have us believe grows our economy but which has, instead, grown the percentage of poor in America to over fourteen percent and almost eradicated the middle class. In terms of food, it has alarmingly increased the number of morbidly obese and under nourished Americans.

Name changing and smaller packages are but a few of the tactics used by the industrial food industry to increase profits and fool the public. However, between recalls and new food awareness campaigns, the industrial food industry is losing the public’s trust and that, by any name, should be the game changer.

Child Nutrition Act Expires - Sept 30, 2010

As a parent looks at their child’s small body, a blueprint of the future, it is natural to wonder, "What will this child become as an adult?" Everyone wants the best for their offspring but parents know that wanting and making sure that they get all the help they need takes more than just wishing on a star.

According to the “Healthy Americans Organization’s recently released report , adult and childhood obesity increased in 2009. One wonders, “How can this be? Especially, in a year when so much media attention has been focused on the issue. This is probably because the foundation of obesity is set when children are the most active and seem the most fit and learned habits are hard to break.

Diets that limit variety in foods are defended by the “my child is a fussy eater” excuse. Processed foods are substituted for real foods in home and school diets using the excuses of cost, convenience and so-called time saving. Unhealthy building blocks for future adults are created by limiting variety and not offering new real foods. They are created by supplying processed foods as replacements for real food. The result is an adult who, one day, will not fit into a single seat on an airplane or even a standard coffin when they prematurely expire from diet induced diseases. The Western Diet is the most pervasive pandemic to fear in our world today.
 
Recently published information, by the The Telethon Institute of Child Health Studies notes that the Raine Study indicates a link between diet and ADHD. For over a decade information has been reported about the link between the Western Diet and heart disease, diabetes and other such ailments, but habits are hard to change.

The Child Nutrition Act expires September 30, 2010 and includes the mechanism of dictating the American school lunch program, which the majority of our children rely upon. Jamie Oliver has been working on programs and legislation that refocuses Americans on the health of their children. The school lunch program is one in which all Americans should be involved. While there are many ways to bring the deficit down, sacrificing a child’s health is not the way to do it.

As always, we have to remind our legislators that, while there is much on their plates and although they may disagree on just about everything, we will not let them ignore our children and their health. It is time to tell our legislators to ask for the House and Senate to bring forward for debate, then support and pass substantial Child Nutrition legislation.

What is the cost of the Gulf Oil Spill?

As we continue to witness the Gulf disaster unfold, and it begins to dawn on us that this is something we may not be able to fix, it might be a good idea to realize that it is but a stone on the dark side of the scale that has been tipping toward the declining health and bounty of our oceans. The following is a link to a lecture, presented by TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) whose mission is to share “Ideas worth spreading.” I believe that knowledge is the best way to find hope in what, at first blush, may appear to be a hopeless situation. View TED Lecture.

It is heart wrenching to watch the oil soaked pelicans and their babies struggling for life and it makes us feel good to see them flying free after being cleaned and relocated. Please do not be lulled by the show. Cry for the microbial life of the ocean that has been in decline for years; picture the bodies of dolphins and fish that have perished under the surface because dispersants were used to hide the oil from the cameras; and when the price of the holiday party shrimp (foreign) impacts the Christmas appetizer table, stop and have more than a passing thought, maybe a moment of prayer, for the Gulf residents and their way of live that died with their shrimp.

It will not be easy to asses the cost of the oil spill until people fully recognize the value of what has been lost, either in the priceless, human and non-human, Gulf region life, or the vast interconnected ecosystems.

Gone Means No Do Over

This was a comment posted on a website, as part of a week of chatter, regarding the possibility that BP/Halliburton/Transocean and the government may never be able to stop and/or clean up the Gulf oil spill. This anonymous person, known only as gristswat, said it all.

“Hmmmm....well this is interesting. Normally, mindless consumers funnel their money to some big corporation so they can rape the Earth of its (finite) natural resources on their behalf. Then, KABOOM!.... and suddenly the consumers want the money funneled the opposite way, to try and clean up a violated environment. Here are three enormous problems with this formula: 1) It is generally based on the assumption that the Earth's natural resources are infinite, and they are not. 2) It assumes that with enough money we can fix anything, and that is also not true, and 3) Too many people on this planet flat out do not understand, or care about, what it means to lose something INTANGEABLE: there are things/conditions which, once gone, are fone forever and can not be replaced.

Newsflash!...Breaking Story!....This Just In!......World War III has begun! It is not going to be waged with nuclear weapons, like everyone thought. Also, the combatants are a surprise: They are Mother Nature and Father Time in one corner, and Stupid Humans on the other side. The weapons: Ma & Pa have control of the life support systems. Humans have money. Strategy for Ma &Pa; give the Stupid Humans plenty of rope, then just sit back and watch and wait while they hang themselves.
This is a profound turning point in our very existence. We are faced with two extremely difficult options: Either we adapt to living SUBSTAINABLY, or we are going EXTINCT.”

This person’s message will be lost on those who believe dispersants applied to the oil on the ocean’s surface actually make it disappear; those who do not see pesticides on cheap food but trust somebody has made sure it is safe to eat; and those unable to relate the overwhelming amount of plastic in our lives, to the oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico.

While under the surface, World War III, as this person so eloquently describes, is fully engaged, as we close our eyes, hearts and minds, and pass the true cost of our folly on to future generations.

Earth Day - 40th Anniversary

Today is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. In those forty years, environmentalists have pressed for change. There are now more organically grown vegetables available and resurgence in farmer’s markets around the nation. Many farmers realize that they can make more money and keep their farms by rejecting pesticide/herbicide farming. Farmers are beginning to understand that factory farming sterilizes the soil and contaminates the water, causing municipalities to commit billions of tax dollars to provide clean drinking water. Often the process is ineffective, as is the case for Atrazine. Studies are revealing that the despoiled water also negatively affects the farmer’s own livestock. Change, however, comes slowly.


There is a surge of restaurants serving small plates and a Chef, Jamie Oliver, who has begun a “Food Revolution,” using the media to bring America’s unhealthy school lunch system, directed by the USDA, to the front of the public’s consciousness. American food portions have increased three fold and the use of processed foods, high in corn syrup and chemicals, has quadrupled. Obesity, food induced illnesses and allergies have spread, threatening the American segment of the world’s population. Change will come, however slowly.

There is hope, however. Europe and Asia are withstanding the pressure from America’s monolithic agri-businesses intent to export of their destructive farming methodologies and genetically modified foods. Government’s leaders are beginning to question why Americans suffers so much food contamination and it is getting harder for the producers to hide their tainted production processes. Slowly, the American eater is awakening. Slowly, change is coming.

Gluttonous use of fossil fuels has been identified as a possible human cause for ‘unusual’ warming trends on the planet, which are adversely affecting species from insects to whales, globally. Yet, there are some, fearing their wealth will be diminished if action is taken to stop the trend, who rail against the science. These same individuals, it should be noted, support action against countries that demonstrate a less than one percent chance of having nuclear weapon capabilities. They protect themselves against a less than five percent statistical chance their house will burn. They insure themselves for the less than twenty percent chance they may get sick. The question is what if the global warming skeptics are wrong and the scientists are right? If there were even a less than one percent statistical chance that humans might not survive the damage done by global warming, why would we not choose to take action? After all, currently, there is no other spaceship but Earth in this galaxy. There is no option to be transported to Pandora for safe refuge. If nothing is done, change could come too late.

While we celebrate this fortieth anniversary of Earth Day, America’s leadership is flirting with micro-sized solutions. Some are meandering toward thinking about, while others are researching, America’s contribution to the global problem. While Earth Day participants have learned to celebrate baby steps, over these forty years, baby steps may not be enough this time.

Our choices, action or lack of action, will be our gift or curse for future generations. Earth Day calls us to commit to the three R’s, “Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.” For some it will mean they purchase locally grown vegetables, grass feed beef, or buffalo burgers instead of factory farm provided ‘value meals.’ For other, they will eat smaller portions or try to save 4 gallons of water a day by turning the water off while brushing their teeth. Many will pressure their legislators to take legislative action. Small changes, made by a multitude of people, will accelerate the change needed to insure Earth and her future inhabitants. Happy Earth Day!

No Bee - No Food - No Honey

“Hmmm” Winnie-the-Pooh would say, “I love honey.” At our house, a steamy piece of cornbread is naked without honey. Pooh was regularly reminded that his honey came from busy bees. We humans, however, rarely think about bees or how much of our food depends on their hard labors.

It is but for the bees, busily foraging for nectar and transferring pollen from flower to flower, that we enjoy more than one third of all the foods we eat. Without their labors there would be no blueberries, cherries, tomatoes, apples, oranges, peppers, squash, watermelon, strawberries and the list goes on and on.

Though small, they have finely tuned brains allowing them to communicate to their hives, detailed directions to fields of sweet nectar they have found, a communication feat many humans find challenging. With this information, worker bees fly far away from home, returning to share their nectar with their hives and subsequently, with all of us who enjoy honey. So finely tuned are their small bodies that, just like humans, environmental poisons can devastate their immune systems causing them to forget where home is. They leave their homes but never return, a phenomena never seen before.

Between 2005 and 2006, the media’s hot story was about a “honeybee die-off.” Although there had been a notable decline for several years preceding that, that period of time seemed to be a waterloo for the bees. There were suspicions as to the cause, but it has been the worldwide community of beekeepers themselves, who have been able to determine the culprit. This catastrophic collapse of bee colonies, occurring in dozens of countries, simultaneously, was found to have one common denominator, a surge in the use of neo-nicotinyl pesticides, particularly their systemic use in seed treatments. An example would be the genetically modified corn seed. Modified, with a pesticide used to kill the corn rootworm, the pesticide is residual in the corn’s flower, pollen, dew, and water run off. It is also used in formulations for field spraying. Thus, bee contact is inevitable.

Neonicotinoids were in use, in smaller dosages, for several years prior to 2005. Beekeepers, puzzled by the affects they saw in their bees, were yet unaware of the pesticide connection. However, in 2005 the manufacturer drastically increased the amount applied and beehives collapsed in record numbers. This got everyone’s attention, even the media. Since industry in the U.S. can give EPA things environmentalists and small businesses cannot, such as contributions and high paying jobs, the message did not get through to them. Some European Union member countries, however, have taken action to ban use of these pesticides and have seen recovery begin in their honeybee colonies. Italy reportedly banned several uses of neonicotinoids with highly successful results.

While it is widely thought that the EPA is hard at work in Washington, protecting the public from potential poisons and their affects on food supplies, this is not the case. Licenses to sell potentially lethal chemicals are approved through a simple process. A manufacturer tells the EPA their product is safe and good for agri-business. They show the EPA tests, which they have performed and which prove their claim of safety and efficacy, after which they collect their licenses. While it might be advantageous for justice to be blind, it is an obvious disadvantage for the EPA to be purposefully blind. It is a disadvantage for bees, the bee industry; those who eat the many foods bees help produce, and lovers of honey. That includes Pooh, who would sigh and say “Oh, my” and go back to his honey pot which would, on the next page, be magically full.

The alfalfa, which cows turn into milk and meat, requires bee participation. We cannot assume foods we enjoy will magically appear on our tables like a full Winnie-the-Pooh honey pot. In fact, if nothing is done they could all disappear. How, then, will our grand children describe that sweet juiciness of a watermelon on a hot summer’s day to our great-great grandchildren?

In the real world, we have to take action and tell the EPA that we are watching, concerned, and expect them to take the necessary actions to protect the honeybee industry and our right to clean, healthy, real food.

Learn more about the plight of the honeybee, a letter sent to the EPA on January 28, 2010, and the availability of the documentary film “Nicotine Bees” at www.nicotinebees.com

Water – The Simply Complicated Life Source

Why think about water? We play in it. We bathe in it. We float on it and fish for food that lives in it. It makes up approximately 70% of our body’s volume and covers over 70% of earth’s surface. We use it in our religious rituals and recognize it as the lifeblood of all that lives on earth.

When tranquil, it mesmerizes and soothes us. When it falls from the skies, it can be welcomed, or threatening. In either instance, it affects our wellbeing. In unexpected volumes, it can kill us. Its absence will also kill us. While some creatures have access only to contaminated water that sickens them, others thoughtlessly waste it. History tells us that wars have been waged over access to it.

Although protected by landowner laws, water cannot be owned in its entirety, just as one cannot own sunlight or air. Today, industrialized farming methods use excessive amounts of water, depleting and contaminating supplies. There are financially powerful entities that seek to own all of the world’s water and limit access to it. Profiteers withdraw it from local aquifers, far below earth’s surface, depleting available supplies. They bottle and sell it for profit, nationally and internationally, often selling it back to the very inhabitants of the area from where they have taken it. They use it as a tool to gather power and wealth. Powerful international forces finance construction of dams, displacing millions of people, to gather greater power and control of water sources. Worldwide, water, its purity and availability, is a focus for concern. It is easy for people to take it for granitite, oblivious that this life sustaining resource is at risk.

Why should we think about water? The answer is our lives depend upon it.
See the documentary film titled “FLOW – For the Love of Water”, available on DVD via the internet or view excerpts, in this six segment YouTube Presentation.

Afterwards, you may be inspired to sign a petition to add a 31st article to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, establishing access to clean water as a fundamental human right. Also, at this site, are links to the world wide organizations of citizens and corporations working against the privatization of water and to assure the community of man access to water for generations to come.

Other resources:
“Blue Gold: World Water Wars”, by Malcolm McDowell
“The Holy Order of Water: Healing the Earth’s Waters & Ourselves”, by William E Marks
“Song for the Blue Ocean”, by Carl Safina, Marine Biologist.