Enviro Mentality

That organic food in your freezer or refrigerator is probably owned by Kraft, Cargill, Kellogg, Pepsi, Hershey, M&M, Coca Cola and others.  Click here fora link to research done by Phil Howard, Assistant Professor at Michigan University.

It’s obvious that ‘big food’ wants to cash in on the recent rise in demand for organics.  Private labels go from Wal-Mart, Costco, Sam’s Club, Kroger, Target and down to more ‘organic’ companies like Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s.

Ah, but things get dicey when the so-called ‘organics’ get caught with their pants down like Aurora Dairy did in 2007.  Co-mingling non-organic milk with organic, stepping outside the organic standards for feed and bedding,  moving cows from organic facilities to non-organic and continuing to claim milk was organic, and failure to process milk according to the National Organic Program (NOP), and along with a host of other violations. These ‘greenwashed’ products often contain pesticides, antibiotics, growth hormones from cross contamination.

Wal-Mart too, has been involved in investigations which allege ‘greenwashing‘ of its products.

What IS Organic?  Watch this short video and see if you are making a difference with your purchases.

Organic certification is under attack.Go to these sites to read more about….

Beauty and Cosmetics: http://www.organicconsumers.org/bodycare/index.cfm

Food: http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/oca/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=4756

To HELP PRESERVE ORGANICS, visit the Organic Consumer’s page and use their links to fight back FOR ORGANICS!

Because I feel very strongly about supporting local food endeavors and educating people on environmental issues, I recently  made an announcement of an upcoming showing of “Fresh, The Movie” and “Food, Inc.”

In my e-mail I stated: “Please keep this in the back of your minds to come to because these are two VERY IMPORTANT films that anyone concerned about our food supply really needs to see.”

I received an reply from a editor in the Charlottesville area:

“I question the validity of your statement that either or both of these films are important for everyone to see.”

Excuse me????

If you are truly concerned about our food system I would think that you’d want people to see these films.

If you feel that the public has been purposely kept in the dark by the FDA, USDA,  the food industry, large corporations like Wal-Mart, chemical giants such as Monsanto, fast food companies and large agribusiness concerns, how can you ‘question the validity’ of my attempt to educate consumers?

Current health statistics cite rising rates of cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, food allergies, birth defects and a host of diseases from our modern diet. Consumption of food laced with pesticides, additives, hormones, antibiotics, artificial colorings and flavorings are making people sick.  Society’s dependence on cheap processed foods, proffered by our ‘friends’ in the food industry and fast food chains, have led to a frightening rate of obesity, illness & premature death.  With this in mind, can you honestly say that either or both of these films are NOT important?

Pending legislation threatens the very existence of small farms and farmer’s markets across this country.  Passage, without amendments, will sound a death knell for small farmers and severely damage organic food concerns. If you support our farmers and local food initiatives, then I would hope you would be for the dissemination of this information.

If  you are committed to preserving the right of citizens to get their food directly from small farmers, instead of corporate giants who put profits ahead of the health of their customers, why then do you not support this venue?

Are you at all concerned about Monsanto and their tactics of bullying, spying on and putting small farmers out of business through litigation?

Do you question Monsanto’s worldwide monopoly for Round-Up Ready crops?  What about the environmental effect of farmer’s increasing use of  pesticides on  all GMOs?  Are you unfazed about the environmental impact of pesticides on the health of this planet & ALL of its inhabitants?

“Fresh” captured many accolades in 2009.  Among them were official selections from:  Environmental Film Festival, Sustainable Living Film Festival, Newport Beach Film Festival, Maine International Film Festival and the Kerry Film Festival.  It was reviewed far and wide, garnering praise for insightful views into the food world.

“Food, Inc” also was applauded in many circles last year.  In addition to the Gotham Award, it also was on the list for Academy Award for Best Documentary, the 25th Anniversary Spirit Award, and is on the list for an Oscar Award.

Everyone that I’ve talked to who has seen either (or both) agrees that these two films are important.

Methinks, dear scribe, that you are outnumbered!

As a child of the 50’s, I ate my share of frozen TV dinners. With the advent of the microwave and improved packaging technology, one can live their life without ever having to cook from scratch.

An article posted by Rachael Ray extols the benefits of the new frozen foods. Reading the ingredients, I noticed a ‘Seafood Multi-Pak’.  Hmmmm… knowing that many seafood varieties are imported from China, I’d pass on this one.  China’s dubious record for food purity is well documented.  Inspections of food from China at U.S. ports have turned up a scary list.  Do YOU trust imported Chinese food?  I don’t!

Pork from Hormel?  I’d skip that, too.  If you’ve seen either “Fresh” or “Food, Inc” or done any reading about the food industry at all you’d know that this ‘food’ isn’t really food.  The animals are fed hormones and antibiotics, which YOU are eating when you consume this food. They’re fed GMO corn, which has been sprayed with pesticides.

Knowing what I know about food, I would hardly say that these items are “New and Improved.” Read the ingredient listing on any frozen food and see how many words you can pronounce.  Some of the contents in food you probably don’t want to know… but should.

A recent study in the International Journal of Biological Sciences, has linked organ damage in mammals (rats) to consumption of Monsanto’s GMO corn, NK603, MON 810 & MON 863.  Closely monitoring each animal within set parameters for 90 days,  effects were noticed in the kidney, liver, heart, adrenal glands, spleen and haematopoietic system (formation of blood).  The study goes on to say that there is a potential toxicity relating to the pesticides specific to each species of corn.  It was noted by the scientists in the IJBS:

“Effects were mostly concentrated in kidney and liver function, the two major diet detoxification organs, but in detail differed with each GM type. In addition, some effects on heart, adrenal, spleen and blood cells were also frequently noted. As there normally exists sex differences in liver and kidney metabolism, the highly statistically significant disturbances in the function of these organs, seen between male and female rats, cannot be dismissed as biologically insignificant as has been proposed by others. We therefore conclude that our data strongly suggests that these GM maize varieties induce a state of hepatorenal toxicity….These substances have never before been an integral part of the human or animal diet and therefore their health consequences for those who consume them, especially over long time periods are currently unknown.”

In another GMO report, Greenpeace reiterated that Monsanto’s methods were not intrusive enough to detect inconsistancies in the parameters used in its testing.  In other words, the whole testing process is flawed.

Monsanto obviously complicates the test data by testing with unrelated groups, therefore there can be no clear conclusion.

GMOs have been linked to bee colony collapse and butterfly deaths.  Why wouldn’t this be so?  After all, the plants on which the bees and butterflies feed will kill them.  Between GMO crops and the use of pesticides on them, it is a death knell for pollinators.

GMO corn is in all of our food, be it from the U.S. or imported in food from China or other nations.

Forbes has even bought into the lie that Monsanto is ‘The Company of The Year”.  Read on and get sick!

We need to push for more organic food.  Consumers have a voice against GMO products.

Toxins make pain.  It’s a well documented fact that the more junk you’re carrying around in your system, the more you’ll be in pain.

Again I use myself as a case study.  Years ago worked at Lowe’s in the garden center and inside seasonal department.  I was around the pesticide area constantly.  I swept floors, handled the bags for customers, restocked the shelves. (never without gloves)  I started experiencing pain all through my body.  Sometimes at night it would wake me out of a dead sleep;  I’d wake up screaming as if I were being stabbed!

After I left Lowe’s, my constant pain stopped.  I was being poisoned by pesticides!

Being more conscious of what I eat, I find that when my diet gets ‘junky’ with processed foods slipping in, and dehydration,  I start to experience more pain.  Toxins are building up.  My movement is restricted, I hurt more all over and I find myself reaching for the bottle of aspirin.

A good detox bath with either Epsom salts or Dr. Singha’s Mustard Bath takes the edge off that.  It helps the cells release and rebuild. Damaged cells allow more toxins in.

Follow these rules:

• Go on a healthy, all natural (uncooked) food diet for a few days or a week.
• Eat enough fiber.  Elimination of toxins through waste is very important.
• Hydrate - Drink water, green teas, fresh juices - NO soda, fizzy water, juices with sugar or caffeine.
• Go for massages to help drain your lymph system and remove toxins and acids
• Take a detox bath using mustard bath and/or Epsom salts.
• Do what you can to eliminate stress:  learn meditation, go for walks outside; whatever calms you.

You can help your body heal, relieve pain and regenerate.

Organics from China probably aren’t.  As reported on the Organic Consumer site:

“One company that had an excellent opportunity to meet consumer expectations by supporting the growth of organic acreage in North America was Dean Foods, makers of the industry’s leading soy milk, Silk.  Instead, after buying the Silk brand, Dean Foods quit purchasing most of their soybeans from American family farmers and switched their primary sourcing to China.  This cost-cutting move helped them build their commanding soy milk market share using soybeans of questionable organic certification from China.

“White Wave (the operating division of Dean Foods that markets Silk and Horizon organic milk) had the opportunity to push organic and sustainable agriculture to incredible heights of production by working with North American farmers and traders to get more land in organic production, but what they did was pit cheap foreign soybeans against the U.S. organic farmer, taking away any attraction for conventional farmers to make the move into sustainable agriculture,” said Merle Kramer, a marketer for the Midwestern Organic Farmers Cooperative.

And now Dean, the $11 billion agribusiness behemoth and the nation’s largest dairy concern, has quietly abandoned organic soybeans in most of the Silk product line, switching to even cheaper conventional soybeans without changing UPC codes for retailers or lowering pricing to consumers.”

Furthermore, many small independent organic food producers are being bought by large corporations who are switching to imported products to boost profitability. This is how American companies are selling out to the Chinese in favor of cheap food with lower and potentially dangerous standards.

The Cornucopia Institute has issued a scorecard report that everyone who eats organics should read.

Hexane, a chemical which is a toxic petrochemical, is used to extract the oils and protein from soy products.

A recent article in  Pesticide Action Newtork’s North America issue reports that a common structural fumigant, VIKANE  (sulfuryl flouride) is 4,800 times more potent than carbon dioxide!   Additionally,   Dow recently has begun marketing VIKANE (sulfuryl fluoride) as a post-harvest fumigant for dry fruits, nuts, and grains under the trade name ProFume.

Health effects of this commonly used chemical range from blood and kidney toxicant, neurotoxin, and respiratory toxicant.  Also, the July 2008 ferry accident in the Philippines where it was found that 20,000 pounds of Vikane had been aboard was spilled into the ocean.

Originally developed by Dow Chemical in the 60’s, it is used as a fumigant insecticide primarily in the Southeast for termites. However, it provides no protection from future infestations.  It is also used in children’s lice preparations and for treatment of bed bugs, rodents, powder post beetles.  It is widely used as a structural fumigant insecticide to control drywood termites.

Sulfuryl fluoride is currently marketed by three manufacturers: Vikane (Dow)  has been commercially available since the early 1960s, with Zythor (marketed by competitor EnSystex II of North Carolina) Most recently Drexel Chemical Company has registered Master Fume for the structural market.

During application, the building is enclosed in a tight tent and filled with the gas for a period of time, usually at least 16-18 hours, sometimes as long as 72 hours. The building must then be ventilated, generally for at least 6 hours, before occupants can return. Sulfuryl fluoride is colorless, odorless, and leaves no residue. During the fumigation process, a warning agent called Chloropicrin (similar to tear gas, but more toxic) is first released into the building to ensure that no occupants remain.

A report issued by MIT says that Vikane will “become a greenhouse gas of some importance of the quantity of its use grows as people expect.”

There’s a lot of people asking that question these days, thanks to the growing interest in pesticide-free food and mounting concern about its dangers. According to the evidence, a normal meal contains a mix of pesticides and their resulting breakdown products.

The Pesticide Action Network is at the forefront of educating the public to raise awareness on chemical exposure. Their new  database on pesticide residues lists such contaminants as carcinogenic, endocrine (hormone disrupting) neurotoxic, or those toxic to reproduction or development.

Even the most organic farmer or followers of a totally organic lifestyle cannot escape these toxins entirely. With air and water currents and weather patterns, all carrying residue, even certified organic produce cannot be totally pesticide free.  This list, however, helps one discern the lowest levels.

The most alarming factor is that one group, organophosphates, pollutes the food supply in terrifying proportions. Neurotoxins, they are responsible for farm worker poisonings. Endosulfan, which is marketed under a few varieties, leads the list as most highly present on commercially grown tomatoes. Like DDT, it is long lasting in the environment. As an endocrine disruptor, even in low levels during pregnancy, is has been linked to birth defects, autism and male reproductive damage.  Higher levels which are most common among farm workers include nausea, headache, seizures, vomiting and even death.

Currently, there are no regulations in place that requires toxicity testing of any of these compounds before they are sold for public use.  Under the Toxic Substance Control Act of 1976, only 5 out of the 80,000 synthetic chemicals have been banned.  Once a compound is released for use, it is extremely difficult to get it taken off the market. Lindane, for example, is a chemical found in children’s lice shampoos, is currently banned in over 50 countries, yet the United States still permits its use. Atrazine, a chemical in popular lawn chemicals such as Weed-B-Gone, is one of the most prevalent substances found in water and soil, animal, aquatic life and humans. It is banned in Europe.

It is time for chemical reform. We can no longer be blind or placated by false promises and lies from Dow, Monsanto, Bayer and others.  These substances affect us NOW.  With alarming instances of birth defects, cancer and environmental impact, there is not a minute to waste.

If you’re into eating local food, you have to see this trailer for the movie “FRESH”. If you’re NOT into local food - watch it anyway!

Joel Salatin, of PolyFace Farm is featured in this film, as is another inspiration for the growing local food movement, Will Allen of Growing Power. Russ Kremer a hog farmer in Missouri, nearly died from an antibiotic resistant staph infection after being gored by one of his animals.  These men, along with hundreds of other across this nation are in the forefront of the sustainable agriculture movement and local food.

Food production in this nation has long been a sort of secret society.  We all blindly accepted that the groceries we bought at our local store were good for us.  Ads on TV and radio promised its goodness and purity.  Chemicals were our friends, weren’t they?  Why, good old Monsanto and others promised us they were safe, there was no danger to our children or pets, and yes - we could even spray the stuff on our vegetable gardens and eat the veggies right away!  Now, however, the spotlight is ON them, their dirty little secrets are being found out.

The public is getting smarter and starting to realize that corporate America isn’t and hasn’t been acting in their best interests.  That’s why farmer’s markets have become so popular.  People get to know where their food comes from.  They get to meet the farmer (or his/her representative) each week.  Their food has a ‘face’ so to speak.  A connection has been made.

Get informed about what you eat!  All is NOT what it seems!

Produce on grocery store shelves may look good, but there’s a dirty secret behind it.  Most of it has been grown using chemical fertilizers.  The earth in which it has grown has been treated with herbicides, fungicides and pesticides, too.  It has also been genetically engineered to resist treatment with weed killers like “Round-Up” .  What you’re getting in the store is loaded with potential toxins.  This food has traveled an average of 1500 miles to get to your plate and has probably - without your knowledge - been irradiated:  treated with low levels of radiation to kill off bugs and prolong storage.

The food at your local farmer’s market is a lot different.  Raised in soils amended without chemicals, the food is healthier from the get go.  Studies have shown that the nutritional value of food has actually declined in the last 50 years due to poor soil management.  Farms have for the most part abandoned the age-old practice of crop rotation, thus stressing out the soil and depleting nutrients.

If your buy meat from your local farmer’s market, most vendors do not treat their animals with steroids or antibiotics.  Do you really want to eat steroids (growth hormones) or expose your kids to more antibiotics?

Check out this link for farmer’s markets near you: LocalHarvest.org

Another plus is that your money is staying in the community.  You are also helping your local farmer stay in business, rather than sell his/her land to a mega farm or to a developer.  We DON’T need more shopping malls!

You can further reduce your toxin load by taking a regular detox bath. This assists your body in fighting off illness and enhances the removal of toxins.  Be clean - inside and out!