I've come to a few conclusions in regards to food safety. First, anything coming from a industrial /factory farm is most likely unsafe. Second, there is no accountability with GM foods and thus there is no real safety. (70% ish of foods in the US are GM foods) Third, I don't trust 75%-90% of seed producers. Forth, rural and local farms are some options to choose from. (I love famers markets) Fifth, NAIS is not for the local former; vote against it. Sixth, the easiest way to know more about food safety is to understand label laws and labeling in gerneral, eg. stay away from hydroginated/modified foods. And finally, food is no longer just food and we have to inform ourselves about it as long as the world works to make farming into a profiteering business model.
There is a plethora of information out there. This blog has been following, some of, my research online and feel free to use them for your information.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Most of What You Eat is Not Real Food
The Speigel Online conducted an interview with legendary chef Alice Waters about the "eat local" movement, which has become a force to be reckoned with in the United States in recent years.
Waters was one of the pioneers of that movement -- she transformed her state's cooking in the 1970s into world-renowned "California cuisine" with her Berkeley restaurant Chez Panisse. She promoted the use of in-season produce from local farms, and advocated planting vegetable gardens in schools.
More than three decades later, Waters is still promoting sustainable agriculture. She is now vice president of the international Slow Food movement, which promotes regionally grown goods and local culinary traditions.
In the interview, Waters expressed her opinion that most of the food currently being consumed is not real food. Real food, she argues, is grown by people who take care of the land, and who refrain from using herbicides and pesticides. Real food is food that's grown for taste, and it's grown in a way that pays people a good wage for their work rather than being grown at somebody else's expense.
To read the whole interview, and see what Waters has to say about seasonal food, the spread of the eat-local movement, and the food policies of President Obama, click the link below.
Sources:
 | Dr. Mercola's Comments: |
Do you ever wonder when the concept of “food” expanded from meat, vegetables, raw dairy products, fruit and other such natural items to include the highly processed, preserved, artificially flavored and often brightly colored concoctions that now exist in supermarkets?
Perhaps it began in the ‘50s with the advent of the TV dinner, or around the time McDonald’s began expanding their hamburger business. It’s anyone’s guess, really, but this quasi “food” really caught on.
Nowadays, 90 percent of foods Americans purchase every year are processed foods, and in 2006, 2,800 new candies, desserts, ice cream, and snacks were introduced to the marketplace, compared to just 230 new fruits or vegetable products.
Of course, food marketers do a masterful job at making it seem like fast foods and junk foods are the obvious choice, and they spend mega-billions every year to convince you and your kids to choose highly processed convenience foods over REAL foods.
But there are some rays of hope shining through.
Real Foods are Becoming More Popular
When you hear the term “what’s old is new,” it most often applies to fashion or slang terms … but it can also be applied to food. That is, increasing numbers of people are reverting BACK to the ways of our ancestors, and choosing to purchase food directly from local farmers, and cook it using slow, traditional methods.
For instance, after declining for more than a century, the number of U.S. small farms has increased 20 percent in the past six years. This is in large part a result of the growing demand for locally grown foods, which is slowly but surely shaping the business of food in the United States.
An interesting study, published in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics, recently hit this point home. After surveying nearly 500 people, they found food shoppers were willing to pay more for locally grown food, and those shopping at farmers’ markets were willing to spend the most for food grown close to home. The top reasons people gave for wanting locally grown food?
• Better food quality
• Better taste
• Freshness
• Better taste
• Freshness
How Can You Identify REAL Food?
There are major incentives to center your diet on real foods as opposed to “food products,” the primary one being it is essential for optimal health. Real foods also taste delicious, and when bought from sustainable sources help to protect the environment. So how can you tell the difference?
Real food almost always has the following characteristics:
• Grown
• Variable quality
• Spoils fast
• Requires preparation
• Vibrant colors, rich textures
• Authentically flavorful
• Strong connection to land and culture
• Variable quality
• Spoils fast
• Requires preparation
• Vibrant colors, rich textures
• Authentically flavorful
• Strong connection to land and culture
“Food products,” meanwhile, tend to have these traits:
• Produced, manufactured
• Neat, convenient
• Always the same
• Keeps forever
• Instant results
• Dull, bland
• Artificially flavorful
• No connection to land or culture
• Neat, convenient
• Always the same
• Keeps forever
• Instant results
• Dull, bland
• Artificially flavorful
• No connection to land or culture
If you want to take things a step further, and I suggest you do, here is what you need to look for (whether you’re at the grocery store or farmers’ market) to find not just any food, but high-quality food:
1. Grown without pesticides and chemical fertilizers (organic foods fit this description, but so do some non-organic foods)
2. Not genetically modified
3. Contains no added growth hormones, antibiotics, or other drugs
4. Does not contain artificial anything, nor any preservatives
5. Fresh (if you have to choose between wilted organic produce or fresh conventional produce, the latter may be the better option)
6. Did not come from a factory farm
7. Grown with the laws of nature in mind (meaning animals are fed their native diets, not a mix of grains and animal byproducts, and have free-range access to the outdoors)
8. Grown in a sustainable way (using minimal amounts of water, protecting the soil from burnout, and turning animal wastes into natural fertilizers instead of environmental pollutants)
2. Not genetically modified
3. Contains no added growth hormones, antibiotics, or other drugs
4. Does not contain artificial anything, nor any preservatives
5. Fresh (if you have to choose between wilted organic produce or fresh conventional produce, the latter may be the better option)
6. Did not come from a factory farm
7. Grown with the laws of nature in mind (meaning animals are fed their native diets, not a mix of grains and animal byproducts, and have free-range access to the outdoors)
8. Grown in a sustainable way (using minimal amounts of water, protecting the soil from burnout, and turning animal wastes into natural fertilizers instead of environmental pollutants)
Foods that meet these standards will almost always be a wise choice.
Looking for Real Food Sources Near You?
As you discover the alternative food networks in your area -- things like farmers’ markets, food coops, and community-supported agriculture -- you’ll begin to feel a connection to your community that you likely never felt before. And sources of sustainable food are becoming surprisingly easy to find these days.
To find sustainable agriculture movements in your area, from farmer’s markets to food coops and more, please see this comprehensive list.
If that doesn’t turn up anything, you can often find real food sources by:
• Asking workers in your local health food store
• Searching online for local farms in your area
• Searching online for local farms in your area
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
GENETICALLY MODIFIED CROPS FEED BIOTECH GIANTS, NOT THE POOR
From the page:
Contacts: Bill Freese, Center for Food Safety, 202-547-9359 (North America); Nnimmo Bassey, Friends of the Earth Nigeria, +234 80 37 27 43 95 (Africa); Helen Holder, Friends of the Earth Europe Brussels: +32 474 857 638 (Europe)
Biotech Companies Exploit Food Crisis by Raising GM Seed and Pesticide Prices, Record Profits Projected
Biotech Propaganda Distracts Attention from Real Solutions for Small Farmers
Washington D.C., February 11, 2009 - A new report released today by the Center for Food Safety and Friends of the Earth International warned that genetically modified (GM) crops are benefiting biotech food giants instead of the worldís hungry population, which is projected to increase to 1.2 billion by the year 2025 due to the global food crisis.
The report explains how biotech firms like Monsanto are exploiting the dramatic rise in world grain prices that are responsible for the global food crisis by sharply increasing the prices of GM seeds and chemicals they sell to farmers, even as hundreds of millions go hungry.
The findings of the report support a comprehensive United Nationsí assessment of world agriculture ñ the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) - which in 2008 concluded that GM crops have little potential to alleviate poverty and hunger in the world. IAASTD experts recommended instead low-cost, low-input agroecological farming methods.
"GM crops are all about feeding the biotech giants, not the worldís poor," said Nnimmo Bassey, executive director of Friends of the Earth Nigeria and chair of Friends of the Earth International.
"GM seeds and the pesticides used with them are much too expensive for Africaís small farmers. Those who promote this technology in developing countries are completely out of touch with reality," he added.
"U.S. farmers are facing dramatic increases in the price of GM seeds and the chemicals used with them," said Bill Freese, science policy analyst at the US-based Center for Food Safety and co-author of the report. "Farmers in any developing country that welcomes Monsanto and other biotech companies can expect the same fate - sharply rising seed and pesticide costs, and a radical decline in the availability of conventional seeds," he added.
GM seeds cost from two to over four times as much as conventional, non-GM seeds, and the price disparity is increasing. From 80% to over 90% of the soybean, corn and cotton seeds planted in the U.S. are GM varieties. Thanks to GM trait fee increases, average U.S. seed prices for these crops have risen by over 50% in just the past two to three years.
Exploitation of the food crisis has been extremely profitable for Monsanto, by far the dominant player in GM seeds. Goldman Sachs recently projected that Monsanto's net income (after taxes) would triple from $984 million to $2.96 billion from 2007 to 2010.
The exorbitant cost of GM seeds is not the only problem. The vast majority of GM crops are not grown by or destined for the world's poor, but instead are soybeans and corn used to feed animals, generate biofuels, or produce highly processed food products consumed mostly in rich countries.
The report documents that nearly 90% of the global area planted GM crops in 2008 was found in just 6 countries with highly industrialized, export-oriented agricultural sectors in North and South America, with the U.S., Argentina and Brazil responsible for 80% of GM crops. The United States alone produced 50% of the world's GM crops in 2008.
Despite more than a decade of hype, the biotechnology industry has not introduced a single GM crop with increased yield, enhanced nutrition, drought-tolerance or salt-tolerance. In fact, the biotechnology industry's own figures show that 85% of all GM crop acreage worldwide in 2008 was planted with herbicide-tolerant crops. Herbicide-tolerant GM crops - chiefly Monsanto's Roundup Ready varieties used with Monsanto's Roundup herbicide - have increased overall use of chemical weed killers. Roundup prices in the U.S. have more than doubled in the past two years.
Meanwhile, biotech propaganda has obscured the huge potential of low-cost agroecological and organic techniques to increase food production and alleviate hunger in developing countries. The report mentions several such projects, such as push-pull maize farming, practiced by 10,000 farmers in east Africa. The enormously successful push-pull system controls weed and insect pests without chemicals, increases maize production, and raises the income of smallholder farmers.
The report Who benefits from GM crops 20092 is available online at: http://www.foei.org/en/publications/pdfs/gmcrops2009full.pdf
An executive summary is online at: http://www.foei.org/en/publications/pdfs/gmcrops2009exec.pdf
The Center for Food Safety is national, non-profit, membership organization founded in 1997 to protect human health and the environment by curbing the use of harmful food production technologies and by promoting organic and other forms of sustainable agriculture. On the web at: http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org
Friends of the Earth International is the world's largest grassroots environmental network, with 77 national member groups, some 5,000 local activist groups on every continent, and over 2 million members and supporters around the world. www.foei.org
Privacy Statement • Site Map • Contact Us
The Center for Food Safety
660 Pennsylvania Ave, SE, #302
Washington DC 20003
P: (202)547-9359, F: (202)547-9429
office@centerforfoodsafety.org
Contacts: Bill Freese, Center for Food Safety, 202-547-9359 (North America); Nnimmo Bassey, Friends of the Earth Nigeria, +234 80 37 27 43 95 (Africa); Helen Holder, Friends of the Earth Europe Brussels: +32 474 857 638 (Europe)
Biotech Companies Exploit Food Crisis by Raising GM Seed and Pesticide Prices, Record Profits Projected
Biotech Propaganda Distracts Attention from Real Solutions for Small Farmers
Washington D.C., February 11, 2009 - A new report released today by the Center for Food Safety and Friends of the Earth International warned that genetically modified (GM) crops are benefiting biotech food giants instead of the worldís hungry population, which is projected to increase to 1.2 billion by the year 2025 due to the global food crisis.
The report explains how biotech firms like Monsanto are exploiting the dramatic rise in world grain prices that are responsible for the global food crisis by sharply increasing the prices of GM seeds and chemicals they sell to farmers, even as hundreds of millions go hungry.
The findings of the report support a comprehensive United Nationsí assessment of world agriculture ñ the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) - which in 2008 concluded that GM crops have little potential to alleviate poverty and hunger in the world. IAASTD experts recommended instead low-cost, low-input agroecological farming methods.
"GM crops are all about feeding the biotech giants, not the worldís poor," said Nnimmo Bassey, executive director of Friends of the Earth Nigeria and chair of Friends of the Earth International.
"GM seeds and the pesticides used with them are much too expensive for Africaís small farmers. Those who promote this technology in developing countries are completely out of touch with reality," he added.
"U.S. farmers are facing dramatic increases in the price of GM seeds and the chemicals used with them," said Bill Freese, science policy analyst at the US-based Center for Food Safety and co-author of the report. "Farmers in any developing country that welcomes Monsanto and other biotech companies can expect the same fate - sharply rising seed and pesticide costs, and a radical decline in the availability of conventional seeds," he added.
GM seeds cost from two to over four times as much as conventional, non-GM seeds, and the price disparity is increasing. From 80% to over 90% of the soybean, corn and cotton seeds planted in the U.S. are GM varieties. Thanks to GM trait fee increases, average U.S. seed prices for these crops have risen by over 50% in just the past two to three years.
Exploitation of the food crisis has been extremely profitable for Monsanto, by far the dominant player in GM seeds. Goldman Sachs recently projected that Monsanto's net income (after taxes) would triple from $984 million to $2.96 billion from 2007 to 2010.
The exorbitant cost of GM seeds is not the only problem. The vast majority of GM crops are not grown by or destined for the world's poor, but instead are soybeans and corn used to feed animals, generate biofuels, or produce highly processed food products consumed mostly in rich countries.
The report documents that nearly 90% of the global area planted GM crops in 2008 was found in just 6 countries with highly industrialized, export-oriented agricultural sectors in North and South America, with the U.S., Argentina and Brazil responsible for 80% of GM crops. The United States alone produced 50% of the world's GM crops in 2008.
Despite more than a decade of hype, the biotechnology industry has not introduced a single GM crop with increased yield, enhanced nutrition, drought-tolerance or salt-tolerance. In fact, the biotechnology industry's own figures show that 85% of all GM crop acreage worldwide in 2008 was planted with herbicide-tolerant crops. Herbicide-tolerant GM crops - chiefly Monsanto's Roundup Ready varieties used with Monsanto's Roundup herbicide - have increased overall use of chemical weed killers. Roundup prices in the U.S. have more than doubled in the past two years.
Meanwhile, biotech propaganda has obscured the huge potential of low-cost agroecological and organic techniques to increase food production and alleviate hunger in developing countries. The report mentions several such projects, such as push-pull maize farming, practiced by 10,000 farmers in east Africa. The enormously successful push-pull system controls weed and insect pests without chemicals, increases maize production, and raises the income of smallholder farmers.
The report Who benefits from GM crops 20092 is available online at: http://www.foei.org/en/publications/pdfs/gmcrops2009full.pdf
An executive summary is online at: http://www.foei.org/en/publications/pdfs/gmcrops2009exec.pdf
The Center for Food Safety is national, non-profit, membership organization founded in 1997 to protect human health and the environment by curbing the use of harmful food production technologies and by promoting organic and other forms of sustainable agriculture. On the web at: http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org
Friends of the Earth International is the world's largest grassroots environmental network, with 77 national member groups, some 5,000 local activist groups on every continent, and over 2 million members and supporters around the world. www.foei.org
Privacy Statement • Site Map • Contact Us
The Center for Food Safety
660 Pennsylvania Ave, SE, #302
Washington DC 20003
P: (202)547-9359, F: (202)547-9429
office@centerforfoodsafety.org
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