Foodsafety

I hadn't been all that concerned with
what I was eating until the past few
years. I guess it all started gradually
while I was expecting my first child and
the doctor advised me to not drink any
diet drinks and to avoid all artificial
sweeteners completely.   She said that
no one really knows for sure what they
will do to an unborn child. That really
made me sit up and think for the first
time ever. What, exactly, was hiding in
our food? Fortunately, I have been
blessed with family and friends who were
already reading some pretty disturbing
reports about this very thing, and they
were more than happy to scare me
through education.   We were already
raising a large garden, and I was
canning what seemed like tons of beans,
beets, and tomatoes every summer, so I
felt thrifty, but was now beginning to
see it as a way to avoid dangerous food
substances also. I was now, more than a
bit uncomfortable going to the grocery.
After all, if hot dogs contained all that
dangerous junk, what did everything
else have in it that I didn't know about?
It wasn't too long till I was informed that
margarine is practically plastic, and
those 'pretend' tomatoes we have to
endure all winter from the grocery are
ripened with gases that no one would
want to munch on the residue from, in
addition to the chemical fertilizers and
sprays that were used on them.    I
started to read labels and really
wondered why I couldn't even pronounce
the ingredients in many of the things I
was feeding anyone who wandered into
the kitchen.   By the time my oldest was
in kindergarten, I was really leery to buy
much of anything. I started a wonderful
garden that spring but had to pause
long enough to add another mouth to
the table and the garden was overtaken
with more weeds than I could conquer
that year while I was getting adjusted
to a new baby. I decided to just ignore
all the food additives and plan for the
next year's garden.

Well, to make a long story short, 11
years later, and several major changes to
my life, I think I am finally going to be
back on track enough to attempt to
GRADUALLY head in the direction
of knowing exactly what we are eating.
Yes, I am totally addicted to a certain
brand of pop and I do realize that it's
sweetened with high fructose corn syrup
which is absolutely, beyond words,
horrible. Not only does the corn syrup
have a direct link to our country's
population's increased weight gains,
but diabetes has been on a quick rise
ever since someone decided that corn
syrup was preferable to sugar in our
goodies.   Add to that the fact that the
majority of our corn is made from
genetically engineered corn...well, you
probably get the picture. I am waging
an all out effort to break this addiction
I have to my weakness, but it is a very
difficult battle. If I were one who drank
something stronger that pop...it would
not be good!

Another very frightening thing that I
have only touched on briefly is the
genetically modified corn...which we are
assured is perfectly safe for humans to
ingest. There are some very good
books concerning just how safe this
most recent experiment of 'tampering
with nature' actually is. You probably
have already guessed that I just don't
buy the idea that it's something good. If
you haven't already started looking at
labels, try finding something to eat for a
week that doesn't have any GM
ingredients in it. Good luck. I really
hate this for the corn farmers because
it's really not their fault. I have heard
some terribly sad stories of farmers who
attempted to NOT raise the
genetically modified corn and suffered
tremendously in the end.

Maybe corn is not the only thing we
should avoid like the plague. I have
recently discovered, much to my
amazement, that much our beef that will
soon grace our grocery store meat
section, will now come from cloned
animals. It may not ALL be from cloned
animals, but, according to what I have
heard, they do not have to label it as
such, so we won't really have any idea if
it is or isn't when we stab it with our
forks. Down the hatch folks! We'll deal
with any adverse effects later, but for
now, enjoy! Anyone really wonder why
we have so much Autism, Cancer, and
Alzheimers now? It does make me
consider what we have been eating for
the past few years as a possible cause
in the increased incidence of such
diseases.

If all that I have briefly touched on so
far doesn't make you want to join a food
strike or something similar, let's consider
all those, so called, healthy chickens we
are advised to eat for our health. If
anyone could actually get inside a
commercial poultry house and see the
horrible conditions those birds have to
endure, they would possibly be
sickened to the point of becoming a
vegetarian. I don't think I will attempt to
enlighten anyone more that that, but
there are books that do go into much
more detail on this subject. It's worth
reading some articles and books for
your own family's health.

Okay, let's say you think becoming a
vegetarian would be the safest route.
Remember the fruit and vegetables
contaminated with killer bacteria? Even
our veggies are not safe these days, so
you might as well ask for that steak for
supper and dig in.

Do I think that everyone should grow
their own food? No. I realize that many,
many people just don't have a lifestyle
that makes it possible to consider such
a thing, but they don't have to endure
what is being shoved at us by the
gigantic food industry. What I do
advocate, is supporting our farmers who
are providing locally grown, often
organic produce at farmers' markets
across the country. There are also
many CSAs (Community Supported
Agriculture) where farmers supply
baskets of fresh garden produce, and
some also have orchard fruits and
berries, every week throughout the
growing season to families and
individuals who have subscribed to their
services. This is a win-win plan because
it helps the farmer and the consumer
both. Getting produce that is local is a
fantastic plan, and one that benefits
everyone...except the big food
conglomerates who have nearly taken
over the human food chain with their
experiments in tampering with nature
through our food. I have provided some
great links that I have found very
informative on these subjects, and some
books that you might want to check out.