We can learn a great deal from other cultures

[Jim Naseum]

Jo, I agree that many more folks have become health conscious.  Unfortunately, their efforts to do better are being intentionally thwarted by companies like Monsanto which refuses to allow us to know what we are eating.  And, those who could stop them in their tracks are doing the exact opposite by allowing them to poison us to an even greater degree than ever before.  So, when you go to the market and pick up that nice whole wheat bread (insted of white bread), the chances are it's genetically modified and contains levels of glyphosate (Roundup) which have been shown to be extremely dangerous (check out some of the articles on the constantly increasing amounts of glyphosate being used on crops planted here).  Then you have agencies like the EPA, which is supposed to be protecting us, doing the opposite like approving the use of herbicides which are even more dangerous than the glyphosate:

http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/press-releases/3536/epa-approves-new-24-d-herbicide-blend-paving-way-for-controversial-ge-crops

And what about this promise (approx. 29 seconds into video)?     

Instead, we get the Monsanto Protection Act!!!

I have known some Viet Nam vets who are all too aware of what Agent Orange exposure caused.  Do you want that on the food that you eat?  It seems that the more other countries ban the use of that kind of poison, the more is being used here solely to protect the financial interests of the chemical producers.  And, as Jim pointed out, even eating freshly fallen snow is now considered too dangerous a practice to be allowed.  It almost seems like a losing battle to me.

Maynard

 

Good comments. 

 

My argument is simpler than that, however. It boils down to just a few principles.

 

The "establishment" by which I mean the ruling class and the owner class, will never, ever, ever have your interest in mind. If they did, they wouldn't be the ruling class and the owner class. So, one has to know that there will always be the Monsantos, and the protectors of Monsanto, and the cheerleaders of Monsanto. Once you accept this, it's no longer much of a problem. You can't trust the materialistic system in any way. And that system includes the corporations and the politicians who pimp for the corporations. By their very design, they are going to try to screw you. 

 

The best answer is to just reject factory food in favor of whole, fresh, natural food. If it has "ingredients" it is not to be trusted without significant scientific effort. Why bother? 

[Jim Naseum]

The "system" - all those wheels, levers, and machinery of commercialization and hype, and especially "politics," is very dangerous. It will hurt you if you step unwisely and get caught up in it. Stay far away from it as possible, and life dramatically improves. 

 

The frustration most people have is caused by them believing in, and then getting mixed up in, politics and nations and flags and songs and salutes and uniforms, and all that window dressing the establishment uses to turn you into canon fodder to advance their interest. Get off that train to nowhere, and happiness rises accordingly.

[Jim]

The "system" - all those wheels, levers, and machinery of commercialization and hype, and especially "politics," is very dangerous. It will hurt you if you step unwisely and get caught up in it. Stay far away from it as possible, and life dramatically improves. 

 

The frustration most people have is caused by them believing in, and then getting mixed up in, politics and nations and flags and songs and salutes and uniforms, and all that window dressing the establishment uses to turn you into canon fodder to advance their interest. Get off that train to nowhere, and happiness rises accordingly.

 

 

I am guilty of this.

[oldtimer]

Yet turn against it like any independent thinker and suffer the consequences.  It's what makes any revolution so difficult.

[tube fanatic]

 

 

The best answer is to just reject factory food in favor of whole, fresh, natural food.

 

Totally agree!  The question is where to obtain such food for an entire family at an affordable price.  I only eat beef once per week and buy a type imported from Australia with the claim that the cattle is free range/grass fed/never given any antibiotics or hormones from birth until slaughter.  Hopefully it's the truth as it's expensive!  But, I'll take the gamble rather than buy CAFO beef from here.  My eggs come from a local farmer whose chickens are free range.  Vegetables are another matter during the winter months.  I've read that broccoli grown here, for example, has a concoction of around 80 pesticides/herbicides on it, and that even copious washing won't remove it sufficiently.  So, on the one hand broccoli is good for you, but are the pesticides/herbicides negating the benefits?  On the occasions I've seen vegetables claiming to be 100% organic, the price is insane.  Maybe we should have an ongoing thread about where to buy 100% organic food at affordable prices!

Maynard    

[Jim]

When my triplets were younger, their mother and I used to have them plant cucumber, jalepeno, tomato, pumpkin, lettuce, zucchini, and afew other vegetables. But that stopped when my relationship with their mother deteriorated.

 

I would go by the house and we would plant them together,and they would take care of them and harvest them. I also showed them how to pick wild onions as well.

[Jim Naseum]

Yet turn against it like any independent thinker and suffer the consequences.  It's what makes any revolution so difficult.

 

Whereas, I think what makes revolutions too difficult is too much food.

[Jim Naseum]

 

 

 

The best answer is to just reject factory food in favor of whole, fresh, natural food.

 

Totally agree!  The question is where to obtain such food for an entire family at an affordable price.  I only eat beef once per week and buy a type imported from Australia with the claim that the cattle is free range/grass fed/never given any antibiotics or hormones from birth until slaughter.  Hopefully it's the truth as it's expensive!  But, I'll take the gamble rather than buy CAFO beef from here.  My eggs come from a local farmer whose chickens are free range.  Vegetables are another matter during the winter months.  I've read that broccoli grown here, for example, has a concoction of around 80 pesticides/herbicides on it, and that even copious washing won't remove it sufficiently.  So, on the one hand broccoli is good for you, but are the pesticides/herbicides negating the benefits?  On the occasions I've seen vegetables claiming to be 100% organic, the price is insane.  Maybe we should have an ongoing thread about where to buy 100% organic food at affordable prices!

Maynard    

 

 

You got it!

 

We also simply "eat less." Then the more expensive items don't seem so bad. We eat beef about 1 every two weeks. We buy one 8oz fillet and share it. That's plenty.My wife knows a place that sells grass fed beef. 

[Jim Naseum]

Yet turn against it like any independent thinker and suffer the consequences.  It's what makes any revolution so difficult.

 

My second thought is that at my age I don't care about revolution. If I were 20, or even 25, I'd man the barracades. 

[Jim]

We buy one 8oz fillet and share it.

 

LOL, I wish I could do that. We've also cut back on beef, but when we do,it's usually Skirt steak, or Ribeye. I usually wind up getting 4 2lbers.

 

When I do Ribeye, I eat a good 2 lber myself,sometimes more. My 11 year old does a 1 lber, one of my daughters can put away a 2 lber and my other son a good 1-1.5 lber. My other daughter doesn't eat meat. and these are bone out Ribeye. I've actually done a 4lber in the past,many many moons ago.

[Rivervalleymgb]

As an example: What do most people think of when someone talks about a dairy farm? Cows grazing in the pasture. A peaceful, serene pastoral stetting. I took my wife with me on a business trip to New Mexico recently. We got off of I-40 so I could show her the panhandle and eastern NM. I pointed out a dairy CAFO and explained that this is the norm. Cows with a very small place to move around in. No grass, just mud and manure. I also pointed out feedlots where cattle are feed HFCS and filler for close to six weeks to add fat. The feed mixture will kill a cow if left on that diet for more than six weeks. It literally burns up the stomachs of cows. 

I wish I had room to raise a steer every year. I have quit hunting, but I may have to return to it just to get non-CAFO meat.

[Jeff Matthews]

My wife knows a place that sells grass fed beef. 

 

What's the grass grown with? 

[Jim Naseum]

I pointed out a dairy CAFO and explained that this is the norm.

 

http://www.cafothebook.org/

 

This is a level of industrial insanity that it kept well off the radar of the public. 

[Jeff Matthews]

 

I pointed out a dairy CAFO and explained that this is the norm.

 

http://www.cafothebook.org/

 

This is a level of industrial insanity that it kept well off the radar of the public. 

 

 

Frankly, it is amazing there are operations dealing in that kind of volume and yet, the incidence of food-related illness is quite low.  I'd much rather eat meat from our local markets than I would meat which hung on a hook from some sidewalk vendor in the open air for a couple of days.

[Jim Naseum]

the incidence of food-related illness is quite low.

 

 

You're kidding, right?

[Jeff Matthews]

 

the incidence of food-related illness is quite low.

 

 

You're kidding, right?

 

 

No.

[Jim Naseum]

We know that diabetes and heart disease are "food related illnesses," right?

 

I doubt if it will be long before we discover cancers caused by the chemicals introduced into the meat system.

[Jeff Matthews]

We know that diabetes and heart disease are "food related illnesses," right?

 

I doubt if it will be long before we discover cancers caused by the chemicals introduced into the meat system.

 

In response to the link about slaughterhouses and feedlots, I was talking about illness from food-borne contaminants.

[Jim Naseum]

We know that diabetes and heart disease are "food related illnesses," right?

I doubt if it will be long before we discover cancers caused by the chemicals introduced into the meat system.

In response to the link about slaughterhouses and feedlots, I was talking about illness from food-borne contaminants.

OIC, you mean things like botulism? Right. Not as much as I would expect.

Sent from my SM-T330NU using Tapatalk

[oscarsear]

We know that diabetes and heart disease are "food related illnesses," right?

 

I doubt if it will be long before we discover cancers caused by the chemicals introduced into the meat system.

Do not lump all of diabetes as 'food related'.  Type 2 diabetes can have association with diet and can be controlled by diet.  Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder not etiologically associated with diet and there is gestational diabetes unrelated to both.  It'd be more accurate to suggest that certain disease states are more related to lifestyles than to just diets.  Thus a change in only dietary intake will not have the greatest impact.  Genetics certainly plays a huge role as well.