Whole Foods to Require GMO Labeling

I thought this was newsworthy enough to pass it along to you guys. I have been aware of the dangers that GMO's pose to us for some time now and have written about it on more than a few occasions. In my research and in just becoming aware, I have started to notice the little NON GMO Project Verified icons showing up on more and more products.

And now Whole Foods will be requiring food companies to label all products sold in their stores that contain GMO's by 2018. Even though 5 years seems like quite a long time, it is still a great thing in my opinion if they can pull it off. While Whole Foods boasts that they are a healthy alternative to regular grocery stores, you still have to read labels if you are trying to eat clean. Their shelves are lined with heavily processed soy ingredients, artificial ingredients, and yes... GMO ingredients.

Unless corn, soy, canola, sugar & artificial sweeteners, papaya, cotton (and it's oils), meat, and dairy are organic, they are genetically engineered. Just between corn and soy and all of the food ingredients they make with those two items, a huge percentage of packaged foods are contaminated.

Here's a quick article summing it all up...

Whole Foods announces mandatory GMO labeling by 2018

Natural News (Original Source) 

In a huge victory for the alternative media and grassroots activism, Whole Foods announced on Friday that it would require GMO labels on all products by 2018. (Click here for the press release.) This announcement deals a significant blow to Monsanto, DuPont and all the GMO pushers who openly admit that they want consumers to remain ignorant about what they're eating. 

It's a brilliant move for Whole Foods, given that by 2018, anyone who wants to be certain whether they are avoiding GMOs will gladly choose to do all their shopping at Whole Foods. After all, if Albertson's (for example) doesn't require GMO labeling while Whole Foods does, in which store would you rather shop? Whole Foods! 

But the real story here is everything that led up to this. The turning point in all this was, in my opinion, the 2012 release of the Organic Spies video in which Whole Foods employees were caught on camera lying to customers about GMOs. 

Natural News broke this story and was instrumental in getting the video posted on our free speech protected video service TV.naturalnews.com, a public location which could not be easily banned by Whole Foods. YouTube, by comparison, routinely bans videos that blow the whistle on dishonest corporate behavior, but TV.naturalnews.com hosts whistleblowing videos and has so far resisted all attempts to have those videos banned or removed. (We even host most of the Jesse Ventura Conspiracy Theory series, including the "memory-holed" FEMA camp episode that has disappeared everywhere else.) 

This Organic Spies video proved to be hugely embarrassing to Whole Foods, causing an uproar across the 'net and causing many customers to start shopping elsewhere such as Green PolkaDot Box, which avoids carrying any products containing GMOs. 

Following the Organic Spies video, InfoWars reporters Aaron Dykes and Melissa Melton launched a breakthrough video investigation that exposed the "big Whole Foods lie" of claiming "Nothing artificial, ever" on the side of their stores while secretly selling unlabeled GMOs in their stores. We also documented the "Nothing artificial, ever" fraud here on Natural News. GMOs are, of course, "artificial." They are engineered by man, not created by nature. In this video, Whole Foods was caught in yet another blatant, embarrassing lie. 

The Prop 37 campaign was also in full swing during all this, and Whole Foods refused to contribute a single dollar to the California ballot measure. After being confronted and publicly shamed, a Whole Foods executive did quietly contribute $25,000, but only after being called out for failing to support the campaign. 

Alternative media holds Whole Foods' feet to the fire
Add all this up and you get the impression that Whole Foods was actively opposed to GMO labeling. And it was the alternative media that was holding Whole Foods' feet to the fire. While the mainstream media refused to even touch the issue (because mainstream media is nothing more than a dumbed-down, cartoon-level disinfo broadcast for morons and sheeple), the alternative media plowed full steam ahead. Natural News, InfoWars, Mercola, the Organic Consumers Association, the Institute for Responsible Technology and many other organizations kept hammering the issue, and tens of millions of grassroots activists made their voices heard in a resounding way. 

Through various back channels, Whole Foods got the message loud and clear that there was no way they were going to be able to stop this. The alternative media can't be easily bought off because the key people who run the alternative media aren't in it for money (unlike the mainstream media). 

If Whole Foods didn't get fully behind the mandatory labeling of GMOs, it was going to find itself in a runaway confidence crisis. After all, if health-conscious customers can't trust Whole Foods to be transparent with them about what's really in their foods, there's not much of a reason to shop at Whole Foods, is there? 

Whole Foods capitulates and decides to require labeling
Sometime between November 2012 and March 2013, Whole Foods executives made a decision to finally get behind GMO labeling. They announced that all the foods they carry would need to be labeled with GMO content by 2018. As StreetInsider.com reports:
Whole Foods Market announced... that, by 2018, all products in its U.S. and Canadian stores must be labeled to indicate whether they contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs). It is the first national grocery chain to set a deadline for full GMO transparency. 

On the surface, this was immediately heralded as a highly ethical leadership decision by the market leader in health food retailing, but behind the scenes an entirely different equation was being calculated. Whole Foods CEO John Mackey never makes a decision unless it's in his financial interest to do so, and as his history of false-identity Wild Oats blogging shows, he's not beyond engaging in wild deceptions in order to make more money for himself and his investors.
Ultimately, Mackey and the Whole Foods executives realized what I've been trying to tell them for months: That if they didn't get behind GMO labeling, they were going to lose everything. Promoting GMO labeling isn't simple a choice of ethics for Whole Foods, it's a matter of economic survival.

(Original Source)

As much as I applaud Whole Foods for stepping up, I am generally disgusted with the food industry. Being that I am a commercial producer of food now, I would not be able to live with myself if I knew my company sold food products containing the garbage that most foods are made of. I'm just glad that I can say I'm not poisoning people with Raw Generation juices. I'm actually creating a real food product that has no artificial anything. There are so few companies that can say that today, but here's to hoping Whole Food's decision is the momentum we need to create the tipping point.

The GMO Experiment

If you've been reading me for a while, you might have read my rants on how aweful GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms) are. Well this video documents what's wrong with our food (the fact that GMO's are in everything!!) very well. I won't write much because the video is pretty detailed about the negative effects and what you can do about getting them out of your diet.

If you like the video, please help them out by voting them as the "Top Transformational Video of 2012". Vote here by Feb 3rd (Sunday)!

McRib is back...YUCK!

There are so many things wrong with this sandwich I don't even know where to start. McDonald's only saving grace is that it doesn't offer the sandwich all the time. Thank you McDonald's for not allowing us to purchase another disastrous option most of the time. 

Let me preface this by saying that I do eat meat... however, I am picky about where it comes from. And the McRib shouldn't even be allowed to be called meat.

Richard Mandigo, the professor from the University of Nebraska, who developed the "restructured meat product" that the McRib is actually made of, described it as:

Restructured meat products are commonly manufactured by using lower-valued meat trimmings reduced in size by comminution (flaking, chunking, grinding, chopping or slicing). The comminuted meat mixture is mixed with salt and water to extract salt-soluble proteins. These extracted proteins are critical to produce a "glue" which binds muscle pieces together. These muscle pieces may then be reformed to produce a "meat log" of specific form or shape. The log is then cut into steaks or chops which, when cooked, are similar in appearance and texture to their intact muscle counterparts. ... Such products as tripe, heart, and scalded stomachs are high in protein, completely edible, wholesome, and nutritious, and most are already used in sausage without objection. (Original Source)

Yummmmm. Restructured meat products are going to the top of my ABSOLUTELY DO NOT F**KING EAT LIST.

According to the current box labeling, the sandwich consists of just five basic components - a pork patty and BBQ sauce with pickle slices, onions and a sesame bun.
But, as Time magazine points out, a closer examination of McDonald's own list of ingredients reveals that the sandwich contains a total of 70 ingredients, including azodicarbonamide, a flour-bleaching component that is often used to produce foamed plastics (think gym mats and the soles of shoes). In fact, "the compound is banned in Europe and Australia as a food additive," says Time. Other ingredients include ammonium sulfate and polysorbate 80. (Original Source)

Why does anything need 70 ingredients? PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE... do not eat this! If you want something covered in BBQ sauce at least get something in it's original form like a chicken wing or real ribs... not something that was conjured up in a laboratory and made of chemicals in a factory. These should come with a warning label like cigarettes do. This will cause: cancer, heart disease, chronic inflammation, digestive issues, arthritis, obesity, diabetes, and on and on and on...

YUCK!

Prop 37: My Humble Opinions

On November 6, 2012, California voters will decide whether to require labeling of food products containing ingredients derived from genetically modified organisms (Prop 37). It is all I have been hearing about lately, and while I am completely against genetically modified foods, I am also completely against the government forcing companies to do anything about it. 

Here's why...

1. When the government gets involved in business it imposes tremendous costs on industry X, Y, or Z. This is often "in the best interest of the public", but it actually hurts everyone because it takes the responsibility and necessity of being informed away from the people. It tells people "don't worry the government will take care of you." 

2. The more regulations, the higher the cost. I'm sure that Prop 37 doesn't just effect companies that are producing foods including GMO's. There will for sure be collateral damage. Food will inadvertently become more expensive and the food available will not be any more valuable for the extra cost. 

3. The food industry is in bed with the government. I'm afraid that this monster is too big to tame overnight. There are a handful of corporations that own and control majority of the major food brands. They lobby in Washington, donate to politicians who will help them, have huge budgets. This is not to say that I don't believe that a few people can create a huge change (revolution if you must)... given the right circumstances a one person can change everything. But getting the government involved is not going to get GMO's out of our food. 

So what do you do? 

In light of the fact that most of the items at any given grocery store (including Whole Foods) contain genetically modified ingredients, you stop buying them. Companies are run off of profits. If the company loses profits it changes it's product(s) or it goes out of business. As much as it is important for everyone to not be eating genetically modified foods, it is more important for YOU to stop eating. And YOU don't need the government to tell you what is or is not genetically modified.

I'll tell you in a nutshell:

• any product containing corn that is NOT organic
• any product containing soy that is NOT organic
• any product containing canola oil that is NOT organic
• any product w/ high fructose corn syrup in it
• any product w/ hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils in it
• any meat that was not humanely raised
• any dairy that comes from animals not humanely raised
• any fish that was not wild caught

Why the animals? Because they are fed corn and soy, and whatever they eat, we eat. 

The more fresh fruits and vegetables you buy, the less processed junk you will buy. It's that simple. But just because it's simple doesn't mean it's easy. 

It took me being completely grossed out by certain foods to cut them out of my diet- cold cuts, conventional meat, conventional dairy, factory farmed meat, most processed/packaged "foods" that are sold in the grocery store. It's hard to get over  what you are used to, but it gets easier the more you know about the reality of our food industry.

What will it take you to start changing the things you put in your mouth?

I'M SHOCKED! GMO's found to be deadly over entire lifespan

I have thought for a while that GMO crops are going to be found harmful to our health. Looks like they have. I hate to say I told you so, but ...

This video is short, but if you are looking for more evidence there is tons of it out there. Just look around for a few minutes. This is pretty serious stuff, and I hate to see the "unexplained" rates of cancer skyrocket in the years to come. 

The best thing you can do is get rid of and stay away from the big GMO crops: 

• corn (found in almost everything)
• soybeans (found in almost everything)
• canola (vegetable oils)
• sugar beets (refined white sugar & molasses)
• conventional meat (fed GMO corn and soy)
• farm raised fish (fed GMO corn and soy)

CHECK FOOD LABELS! Unless it is labeled "certified organic", "GMO free", or in the case of meat "humanely raised" those ingredients are more likely than not genetically modified. If I hadn't done this already I would start today: slowly stop buying food products with these toxic ingredients and start buying real food that will help you counteract the effects likely already underway from the 15 + years of eating GMO foods. 

The more I learn, the more clear it is that real food does not make people sick. Food like ingredients and food "products" make people sick. Heavily processed foods make people sick. Sugary foods make people sick. Fake foods make people sick. Every now and again is fine, but all day everyday people eat junk food and it adds up. People are paying the price down the road for fast, cheap food.

Who's going through their cabinets tonight?

Some more good news about GMO crops

(Source)

I read a lot of information every day and most of it isn't newsworthy. But when I read something that makes my blood boil, I feel the need to pass it on to all of you so we can all make better food choices. Dr. Mercola puts out a lot of information about a range of topics related to diet and disease prevention. Some of you who have been reading my blog may be familiar with him. I received his latest article via email this morning. I'll just let the article speak for itself.

Decade-Long Feeding Study Reveals Significant Health Hazards of Genetically Engineered Foods

By Dr. Mercola (Original Source)

Scientists in Norway have released results from experimental feeding studies carried out over a 10-year period, and the verdict is in: If you want to avoid obesity, then avoid eating genetically engineered (GE) corn, corn-based products, and animals that are fed a diet of GE grain.

As reported by Cornucopia.org1, the project also looked at the effects on organ changes, and researchers found significant changes that affected weight gain, eating behaviors, and immune function.

How Genetically Engineered Corn and Soy Can Wreak Havoc on Your Health

According to the featured article2:

“The results show a positive link between GE corn and obesity. Animals fed a GE corn diet got fatter quicker and retained the weight compared to animals fed a non-GE grain diet. The studies were performed on rats, mice, pigs and salmon, achieving the same results.

... Researchers found distinct changes to the intestines of animals fed GMOs compared to those fed non-GMOs. This confirms other studies done by US researchers. Significant changes occurred in the digestive systems of the test animals’ major organs including the liver, kidneys, pancreas, genitals and more.”

Their findings (which were published July 11, 2012 in Norway by Forskning.no, an online news source devoted to Norwegian and international research3) showed that animals fed genetically engineered Bt corn ate more, got fatter, and were less able to digest proteins due to alterations in the micro-structure of their intestines.

They also suffered immune system alterations. The impaired ability to digest proteins may be of particular concern as this can have far-reaching implications for your health. If your body cannot digest proteins, your body will be less able to produce amino acids, which are necessary building blocks for proper cell growth and function.

As noted by Cornucopia.org:

“This not only may relate to a rise in obesity, but to increases in many modern diseases. These diseases include diabetes, digestive disorders, inflammatory bowel disease, colitis, autism spectrum disorders (ASD) (ADD), autoimmune diseases, sexual dysfunction, sterility, asthma, COPD and many more.

...[Lead author] Professor Krogdahl explains: “It has often been claimed that the new genes in genetically modified foods can’t do any damage because all genes are broken down beyond recognition in the gut. Our results show the contrary; that genes can be taken up across the intestinal wall, is transferred to the blood and is left in the blood, muscle and liver in large chunks so that they can be easily recognized... The biological impact of this gene transfer is unknown.”

Bt Toxin Found in Blood of Women and Fetuses

This is not the first time scientists have revealed significant biological impacts and related health problems as a result of eating a diet of genetically engineered foods. More often than not, unless the research is tainted by industry ties, studies into the effects of genetically engineered foods demonstrate that it is anything but safe. This isn’t so surprising when you consider that simple logic will tell you it’s probably not wise to consume a plant designed to produce its own pesticide, for example.

So-called “Bt corn” is equipped with a gene from the soil bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), which produces Bt-toxin—a pesticide that breaks open the stomach of certain insects and kills them. This pesticide-producing corn entered the food supply in the late 1990's, and over the past decade, the horror stories have started piling up.

Monsanto and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) swore that the toxin would only affect insects munching on the crop. The Bt-toxin, they claimed, would be completely destroyed in the human digestive system and would not have any impact on animals and humans. The biotech companies have doggedly insisted that Bt-toxin doesn't bind or interact with the intestinal walls of mammals, and therefore humans.

The featured research proves all such claims false.

Prior findings have already shown that Bt corn is anything but innocuous to the human system. Just last year, doctors at Sherbrooke University Hospital in Quebec found Bt-toxin in the blood4 of:

93 percent of pregnant women tested

80 percent of umbilical blood in their babies, and

67 percent of non-pregnant women

Bt-toxin breaks open the stomach of insects. Could it similarly be damaging the integrity of your digestive tract? If Bt-toxins can damage the intestinal walls of newborns and young children, the passage of undigested foods and toxins into the blood from the digestive tract could be devastating to their future health. Scientists speculate that it may lead to autoimmune diseases and food allergies. Furthermore, since the blood-brain barrier is not developed in newborns, toxins may enter the brain causing serious cognitive problems. Some healthcare practitioners and scientists are convinced that this one mechanism for autism.

If Bt genes are colonizing the bacteria living in the digestive tract of North Americans, we might expect to see an increase in gastrointestinal problems, autoimmune diseases, food allergies, and childhood learning disorders since the advent of Bt crops in 1996, and that’s exactly what’s being reported. For example, between 1997 and 2002 the number of hospitalizations related to allergic reactions to food increased by a whopping 265 percent. One out of 17 children now has some form of food allergy and allergy rates are rising.

Genetically Engineered Foods Trigger Adverse Immune System Responses

There’s plenty of evidence showing that the Bt-toxin produced in genetically modified Bt crops like corn and cotton plants is toxic to humans and mammals andtriggers immune system responses. For example, in government-sponsored research in Italy5, mice fed Monsanto's Bt corn showed a wide range of immune responses, such as:

Elevated IgE and IgG antibodies, which are typically associated with allergies and infections

An increase in cytokines, which are associated with allergic and inflammatory responses. The specific cytokines (interleukins) that were found to be elevated are also higher in humans who suffer from a wide range of disorders, from arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease, to MS and cancer

Elevated T cells (gamma delta), which are increased in people with asthma, and in children with food allergies, juvenile arthritis, and connective tissue diseases.

Rats fed another of Monsanto's Bt corn varieties called MON 863, also experienced an activation of their immune systems, showing higher numbers of basophils, lymphocytes, and white blood cells6. These can indicate possible allergies, infections, toxins, and various disease states including cancer. There were also signs of liver and kidney toxicity.

Find the rest of the article here.

When are scientists/Monsanto/governments going to stop playing with people's health? If there is one thing you do for yourself today, get rid of all the products in your pantry that have corn ingredients and soy ingredients in them. The only way these two are not GMO are if they are labeled organic. This is seriously dangerous stuff (in my humble opinion) that needs to be avoided at all costs. It will be an adjustment for sure since most processed foods have corn and soy ingredients in them. Actually, it's mind boggling when you start to really look at labels to see what is really in the food you are eating. But if you have allergies, food allergies, are on the autistic spectrum, are pregnant or trying to become pregnant it is imperative that you eliminate this toxic science experiment from your diet. For everyone else it's still a good idea.

No more GMO's!

Stop Monsanto

I'm back! The last week was such an amazing week off. I totally needed a mental break from all of this stuff. But I'm ready to start writing again and I even cooked quite a bit (will tell you about that later)!

So I have something important to share that I hope you will all take a few minutes out of your day and contribute. A fellow raw food / healthy food advocate, Blythe Metz of Blythe Raw Live is working with producer Brad Wyman and actress Mariel Hemingway on producing a feature film #stopmonsanto. 

"We’re fed up with Monsanto and how they’re treating farmers and consumers, so we decided to make a movie about it. Our hope is for the movie to educate viewers and open their eyes to the problems Monsanto is creating and what the company stands for. While the movie will raise awareness about Monsanto, the story contains plenty of twists and lots of humor. Once the film is finished we plan on taking it to festivals, conferences and eventually streaming it online in order to inform as many people as possible about Monsanto."

If you don't know anything about Monsanto then listen up. The Monsanto Company is a multinational agricultural biotechnology corporation. It is the world's leading producer of the herbicide glyphosate, marketed in the Roundup brand, and in other brands. Monsanto is also the second largest producer of genetically engineered (GE) seed; it provides the technology in 49% of the genetically engineered seeds used in the US market (I personally think that number is grossly underestimated).


Monsanto's development and marketing of genetically engineered seed and bovine growth hormone (used to make animals grow faster than nature would intend so they have a faster turnaround and therefore more meat- F-ed up if you ask me), as well as its aggressive litigation, political lobbying practices, seed commercialization practices and "strong-arming" of the seed industry have made the company controversial around the world. 


Many of Monsanto's seed products are specifically genetically modified to make them resistant to Monsanto produced agricultural chemicals, such as "Round Up" herbicide. In a study published in the International Journal of Biological Sciences, researchers applied a different statistical analysis on raw data obtained from Monsanto and concluded that these GM corn (maize) varieties induced a state of hepatorenal toxicity (chemical driven liver damage!). They suggested that the presence of the new pesticides associated with the inserted genes were responsible, although the possibility that this could be due to a mutation during the transformation process was not excluded. (It doesn't matter if it is from a mutation or the chemical itself...it is known to cause liver damage!!!!)


WTF?


President Obama knows that agribusiness cannot be trusted with the regulatory powers of government. On the campaign trail in 2007, he promised: We'll tell ConAgra that it's not the Department of Agribusiness. It's the Department of Agriculture. We're going to put the people's interests ahead of the special interests. 


But, starting with his choice for USDA Secretary, the pro-biotech former governor of Iowa, Tom Vilsack, President Obama has let Monsanto, Dupont and the other pesticide and genetic engineering companies know they'll have plenty of friends and supporters within his administration. 

President Obama has taken his team of food and farming leaders directly from the biotech companies and their lobbying, research, and philanthropic arms:

Michael Taylor: former Monsanto Vice President, is now the FDA Deputy Commissioner for Foods.

Roger Beachy: former director of the Monsanto-funded Danforth Plant Science Center, is now the director of the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Islam Siddigui: Vice President of theMonsanto and Dupont-fundedpesticide-promoting lobbying group, CropLife, is now the Agriculture Negotiator for the US Trade Representative.

Rajiv Shah: former agricultural-development director for the pro-biotech Gates Foundation (a frequent Monsanto partner), served as Obama's USDA Under Secretary for Research Education and Economics and Chief Scientist and is now head of USAID.

Elena Kagan: who, as President Obama's Solicitor General, took Monsanto's side against organic farmers in the Roundup Ready alfalfa case, is now on the Supreme Court.

Ramona Romero: corporate counsel to DuPont, has been nominated by President Obama to serve as General Counsel for the USDA.

(source)

DOUBLE WTF?

I think this movie is a great idea and have offered my services in which ever way I can help. So, I thought I would shout out to all of you loyal readers and ask for your support as well. If eating real-food-that-isn't-loaded with-chemicals/pesticides-and-is-known-to-cause-liver-damage-and-is-controlled-by-giant-corporations-that-are-in-bed-with-big-government is something you are interested in please take a minute and visit their fundraising website, Stop Monsanto. Even if you could just give a dollar it would be much appreciated and you would be contributing to something that is going to make an impact in all of our lives. 


I wouldn't be asking for support if I didn't fully stand behind what Brad, Blythe, Mariel and their team are doing. I think the more aware we all are of what happens to our food the better off we will be in the long run. I am excited to help them out and just donated $10 to support their movie. Every dollar counts!


We would love to thank anyone who is generous enough to donate to this project so drop a comment below if you donate- even if it is $1- every little bit helps! Thanks in advance xoxo!

Just SOY No

I wrote recently on why I do not eat soy, and why I would never recommend that people eat it regularly. This video from Dr. Mercola sums up the dangers of eating soy very concisely.


         The Dark Side of Soy by Dr. Mercola

The vast majority of soy at your local market is not a health food. The exception is fermented soy, which I’ll explain more about later and even worse GMO soy that is contaminated with large pesticide residues as the reason it is GMO is so they can spray the potent toxic herbicide Roundup on them to improve crop production by killing the weeds.

Unlike the Asian culture, where people eat small amounts of whole non-GMO soybean products, western food processors separate the soybean into two golden commodities—protein and oil. And there is nothing natural or safe about these products.

Dr. Kaayla Daniel, author of The Whole Soy Story, points out thousands of studies linking soy to malnutrition, digestive distress, immune-system breakdown, thyroid dysfunction, cognitive decline, reproductive disorders and infertility—even cancer and heart disease.

Here is just a sampling of the health effects that have been linked to soy consumption:

• Breast cancer
• Brain damage
• Infant abnormalities
• Thyroid disorders
• Kidney stones
• Immune system impairment
• Severe, potentially fatal food allergies
• Impaired fertility
• Danger during pregnancy and nursing

As I have mentioned before...SOY IS IN EVERYTHING!!! Read labels, figure out if you are okay with the supposed pros & cons. I know I'm not, and my view on food is that it's virtue shouldn't be questionable. There is no controversy with eating kale or carrots.

What are your opinions about soy? Beneficial or detrimental?

Twinkies vs. Carrots

While I do not agree with Michael Pollan that carrots should be subsidized...I do agree that there is a major problem with our food industry. I believe that the government should stay out of business...and food is a business too.

It's very simple. If you want whole foods, shop the perimeter of the grocery store. Whole foods will be along the walls of the grocery store.

Do you get "sucked in" to the goodies in the middle of the supermarket?

WATCH OUT: "All Natural" Claims

"If they have to put the word 'natural' on a box to convince you, it probably isn't."                          -Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation

The natural food label on processed food has no standard definition and really no meaning at all. The term is only regulated on meat and poultry, for which an item labeled natural may not contain any artificial flavors, colors or chemical preservatives. But in the processed food arena, a "natural" product can be virtually anything -- genetically modified, full of pesticides, made with corn syrup, additives, preservatives and artificial ingredients.

So if you've ever wondered how heavily processed foods like 7-Up, Cheetos, and potato chips can claim to be "natural," that's how.

The main point is that as it stands, in the United States a food can be labeled 100% natural even if it contains GM ingredients. 

The problem with GM ingredients infiltrating the food supply are two-fold. First are the manufacturers like ConAgra, who intentionally use GM corn, GM soy and other GM ingredients but "greenwash" their labels to keep it quiet. Then there is the problem of GM contamination, which is becoming progressively more difficult to control.

If you've followed the debate about genetically engineered crops for some time, you may remember that the USDA initially proposed that the organic rules should allow GM foods to be labeled organic. Fortunately, the public outcry stopped this atrocious proposal. In fact, it was the second largest citizen response up until that time for any proposed regulation. After several hearings around the United States, the final organic rule did not allow for GM ingredients. (Original Source)

Since the U.S. government prevents the labeling of GM foods, it's imperative to educate yourself on what they are, and to help spread awareness. First and foremost, avoid most processed foods, unless it's labeled USDA 100% Organic.  You can also avoid GM foods that are not found in processed foods, if you know what to look for. There are currently eight genetically modified food crops on the market:

• Soy
• Corn
• Cottonseed Oil
• Canola Oil
• Sugar from sugar beets
• Hawaiian  Papaya
• Zucchini- some varieties
• Crookneck squash

Independent third-party testing revealed that many trusted "natural" brands contain genetically modified (GM) corn and soybeans—including brands enrolled in the Non-GMO Project like:

• Kashi
• Mother's
• Nutritious Living
• General Mills Kix
• Go Lean
• Bumpers
• Hi-Lo

We don't know how genetically modified foods will effect us in the long run, however, if you just consider who controls most of the genetically modified seeds and pesticides (Monsanto- just take a look at the results from Google searching their name) you could make the inference that they do not care about the results (despite the image they portray on their website). Monsanto has a monopoly which is aided by our government (USDA). I have said it before...I am not anti-big-business. I am anti-big-business-in-bed-with-government. This causes disastrous results. 

Cut out as many processed foods as you can, and if you have to buy processed foods buy organic. But don't forget that when you buy organic you still have to check labels!


Does this freak you out at all? or do you think we have nothing to worry about?

This "Health" Food's SOYld Reputation

By the way...if you haven't noticed I'm becoming obsessed
with Natalie Dee's comics

Yesterday I wrote about why I eat canned salmon instead of canned tuna- it is because I have not found a brand that doesn't have soy in it. I know that I have mentioned before that I read a book about the dangers of soy and immediately after embarked on a personal mission to cut all soy out of my diet. Let me explain to you why I was compelled to cut out this so-called health food.

Everyone is in a soy-frenzy and it has become the new "healthy" choice. It seems like a great option for vegetarians and vegans. How would they get their protein anyway? That's what I used to think.

Well the book I read was The Whole Soy Story by Kaayla T. Daniel, PhD, CCN. It is a thick book, almost 400 pages with another 40 pages of end notes. This is not a light read. I was getting the "Why the hell are you reading that?" looks from EVERYONE! So here it goes...I am going to try to condense 400 pages into a few paragraphs...

• A brief history of soy in the east...The soybean is one of the five sacred grains along with rice, millet, barley, and wheat. However, the soybean is a legume not a grain, and it was originally not used for food like the other sacred grains. Farmers originally grew soybeans as "green manure"- as a cover crop plowed under to enrich the soil between plantings of food crops. Soybeans are very good at capturing nitrogen from the air and delivering it to the plants roots in the soil. Soy went from fertilizer to fermented food about 2500 years ago. Until then the Chinese considered soybeans inedible- they were only found edible after the discovery of of processing methods that could largely deactivate an anti-nutrient found in soybeans known as the trypsin inhibitor. Trypsin inhibitors are chemicals that reduce the availability of trypsin, an enzyme essential to nutrition of many animals, including humans.

• The process of fermentation uses bacteria, fungi, and other beneficial microorganisms to help breakdown complex proteins, starches, and fats into highly digestible amino acids, simple sugars, and fatty acids. The ancient Chinese originally used this process to preserve fish, shellfish, game, and meat. Then came chiang (the original form of miso), soy sauce, natto, tempeh, but not until after the 4th century AD. As some of you may know, there are records of the Chinese culture that go back 5000+ years. The ancient Chinese did not eat soy. The fermented products we know now like miso and tofu did not come about until a few hundred years ago. 

• Since the 1950's the market for processed foods has seen explosive growth- most of them containing soybean oil. The industry found itself saddled with leftover sludge (yum) from soybean oil manufacture which it could either dump or promote. Which do you think it did? "The quickest way to gain product acceptability in the less affluent society," said a soy-industry spokesperson back in 1975, "...is to have the product consumed on its own merit in a more affluent society." Enter: imitation meat, milk, cream, cheese, yogurt, ice cream, candy bars (I think she means protein bars), smoothies, breads, infant formulas, chocolate, and meat extenders to name a few. 

• For years, the soy protein left over from oil extraction went exclusively to animals, poultry, and, more recently, fish farms. Today the industry aggressively markets soy protein as a people feed as well. Soy is now an ingredient in nearly every food sold at supermarkets and health food stores. The industry also makes a profit off of other waste products, most notably soy lecithin (an emulsifier that replaced eggs), protease inhibitors (digestive distressers sold as cancer preventatives), and isoflavones (plant estrogens promoted as "safe" hormone therapy, cholesterol reducers, and cancer cures). 

• Soy is now genetically modified which is monopolized by Monsanto. If you haven't ever read anything on GMOs please read my post.

• This is so typical of the US FDA..."While the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a heart healthy claim for soy protein, the agency also lists soy in its "Poisonous Plant Database." A search of the word "soy" in the database reveals 256 references, including studies that warn about goiter, growth problems, amino acid deficiencies, mineral malabsorption, endocrine disruption and carcinogenesis.

• All soybeans contain anti-nutritional factors (which is the opposite of what you want to eat) and toxins. Mother nature put them there to block seeds from sprouting prematurely and to harm insects and other predators (humans) that would otherwise eat too many of them. Unfortunately, they can harm us as well unless the soy beans are properly processed to neutralize them- i.e. fermentation. 

• Soy's other "healthy" effects on the human body:
• can lower testosterone levels in men
• can cause allergic reactions...soy is one of the top 8 allergens
• goitoestrogens damage the thyroid
• lectins cause red blood cells to clump together and may cause immune system reactions
• oligosaccharides are the pesky sugars that cause bloating and flatulence (farts)
• oxalates prevent proper absorption of calcium and have been linked to kidney stones and painful disease known as vulvodynia 

• phytates impare absorbson of minerals such as zinc, iron, and calcium
• isoflavones are phytoestrogens (plant estrogens) that act like hormones and affect the reproductive and nervous systems
• protease inhibitors, most notably trypsin inhibitors interfere with the digestive enzymes protease and trypsin. This can lead to gastric distress, poor protein digestion and an overworked pancreas
• saponins bind with bile. They may lower cholesterol and may damage the intestinal lining

Fermented soybean products enjoy high honor throughout Asia as digestive aids, potent medicines, powerful energizers, stamina builders and longevity elixers. Treasured as more valuable than gold, the molds and cultures used to make miso, shoyu, natto, tempeh and other fermented soybean products are often heavily ensured and safeguarded in vaults. Those, along with soy sauce, are the only acceptable ways to eat soy. Soy protein is notoriously hard to digest unless enzymes and microorganisms go to work on it first. These tiny workers not only predigest the soybeans, but deactivate the powerful protease inhibitors that inhibit our digestive enzymes and overwork the pancreas. 

A WARNING ABOUT SOY SAUCE: The soy sauce-like products most commonly sold in American supermarkets and used in Chinese restaurants are commonly made in 2 days or less. This process is not the traditional fermentation and uses hydrocholoric acid to break down the soybeans, followed by sodium carbonate to neutralize the brown liquid. Sugars, caramel coloring and other flavorings are added before further refinement, pasteurization and bottling. A true soy sauce should say "naturally brewed, fermented for over a year", and should also only have a few ingredients- soy, water, salt and possibly wheat.

Long soy story short, all of the soy products that appear in our foods are not natural. They are heavily, heavily processed. The soy products show up in most processed food as: soy protein isolate, soy protein concentrate, soy flour, soy oil, hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated soy oil, textured vegetable protein,  textured soy protein, soy lecithin, hydrolyzed vegetable protein (PS..that's MSG).

Here's a fun fact about soy protein isolate. Before 1958 it was only used as an industrial product to bind and seal paper product. Think about that next time you open up a fresh ream of computer paper. That glue that is holding the packaging on there is quite likely the same stuff that is in your protein shake. 

I know this was a long one with a lot of information, but hopefully you are taking something away with you (that you are never going to buy anything with soy in it ever again!). I would not have spent weeks reading this book, hours and hours scouring my grocery store for products without soy in them, and probably hundreds of dollars of donated food (from my pantry) if I did not believe 100% that the soy that we are being told is healthy for us is actually poisonous to our bodies. 

There....I've said my piece.

I should have been born French

I recently watched the movie Julie & Julia (I know it is a few years old) and was instantly enthralled by Julia Child. Honestly I could have done without the Julie character and her story (although that was a great accomplishment to have her blog turned into a major motion picture). They should have just done the movie about Julia Child. Anywho. Julia Child had spend years and in France "mastering the art of French cooking" which coincidentally is the name of her two volume masterpiece. I have not read it yet, but I am going to buy it and start working through it. She also has another book Julia's Kitchen Wisdom: Essential Techniques and Recipes from a Lifetime of Cooking which I think might be right up my alley. 


The real reason I am writing about this is because it occurred to me that she lived to be 92, and, from what I saw and know of her recipes, ate a high fat diet full of pastries and duck, beef and butter (among other things). This was back in the 1950's until the time she died in 2004. I do know that she used real, fresh, quality ingredients, and lots of love. She LOVED to cook and figure out the best ways to prepare any dish. A woman after my own heart. 

This raises the question... do the ingredient matter as much as the quality?


Let's take butter for instance. It is quite possibly my favorite fat and I will put it on anything that I can. According to SELF Magazine's Nutrition Data Website it is 99% fat and 1% protein. It is very inflammatory probably because it is a saturated fat from an animal source (I assume that they are rating this as bad as they are because it is high saturated fat and everyone is under the impression that saturated fats are bad- WRONG - unnatural fats are bad). It has upwards of 20% RDA of Vitamins A, D, E, & K as well as being a complete protein (a complete protein is a source of protein that contains an adequate proportion of all nine of the essential amino acids necessary for the dietary needs of humans or other animals).

So in butter's case, it is the saturated fat and cholesterol vs. all 9 essential amino "fatty" acids and 4 vitamins. Now obviously you can find these vitamins elsewhere in a wide variety of vegetables. The essential fatty acids are another story.


Two things:

• The complete proteins are called "essential" fatty or amino acids because our body cannot make them. We need to get them from other sources, and our bodies will not function properly if we are deficient.   
• The word "fatty" means they come from FAT. Therefore, you will be deficient if you eat a low fat diet. That means, if you only eat egg whites, boneless skinless chicken breast, no butter, and no meat you are running the risk of becoming deficient in one or several of the 9.

Yes you can find some of the 9 amino acids from other sources (legumes, grains, and vegetables) but they tend to be limited in the number of amino acids. Some are notably low, such as corn protein. Hmmmm, didn't I just find out that corn in the United States is genetically modified and shows up in a lot of the processed foods Americans buy? 

These are the foods naturally containing all 9 amino acids:  amaranth, buckwheat, hempseed, meat, poultry, soybeans, quinoa, seafood, and spirulina.


How many of those can you say you eat on a regular basis? Personally, I can say 1 regularly (seafood) and 5 occasionally. The three that I have never used in my cooking so far are amaranth, buckwheat, and hempseed. 


It is easy to get all of the essential amino acids if you eat a wide variety of unprocessed foods, but how many of you can say that?


So with all that technical stuff aside, let's get back to quality. After everything that I have read on the science of fats, dairy, the dairy industry, sugar, the sugar industry, soy, the soy industry, etc, it is my humble conclusion that the quality of the fats, sugars, and proteins are more important than the amount of saturated fat in something or the amount of carbs in something else. 

Instead of counting calories and grams of fat, try focusing on these few things that will make a tremendous improvement in your life:

1. Buy organic egg and dairy products. If you are lucky enough to live in a state or country that allows the sale of raw dairy take advantage. The packaging must say "without antibiotics and growth hormones" and would be a HUGE plus if it says "comes from grass fed/pasture raised animals". Cage Free is does not mean that the chickens live on a farm. They are given slightly better living conditions than normal (which isn't saying much). If you want to know how "conventional" animals are raised look up some videos on YouTube...a lot of it is worse than your wildest imaginations.
2. Buy meat from "humanely raised" animals. Grass fed is good too, but the regulations for raising grass fed animals go against what is natural for those animal. Animals eat other things than grass in nature. Organic means nothing unless it also says humanely raised or grass fed.
3. Don't buy processed soy UNLESS it is soy sauce, tofu, tempeh, or miso. Check all ingredients though because manufacturers sneak in bad ingredients to cut costs. 
4. Cut out as much refined sugar as you possibly can. Fruit sugar is different. We are meant to eat fruit. It has fiber in it which slows down the absorption into our blood stream. Fruit is also bursting with vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants, and cancer-fighting nutrients. 
5. NO TRANS-FATS. Partially hydrogenated and hydrogenated oils make up this category. They wreak havoc on your bodies in many different ways. 

Long story short...EAT LIKE JULIA DID...REAL, HIGH QUALITY FOODS COOKED WITH LOVE.

She was funny too!

GMO's (Genetically Modified Organisms)

Link to artwork

I have been hearing about GMO foods more and more recently and thought it would be prudent to do a little research. What I have found is pretty disturbing. It all leads back to one company, Monsanto, and their monopoly on the agriculture business. I am not anti-big business. I am anti-big-businesses-that-are-in-bed-with-big-government.

Now how do scientists make genetically "superior" plants? Bacteria. Sounds like it could be a public health concern right? Yeah, I thought so too.

FYI...it's not just corn and soy that is being genetically modified.

You may be aware that many corn and soy crops in the United States are GM, but it may surprise you to learn that a significant portion of U.S. milk is actually genetically engineered, again thanks to Monsanto. This milk, and the ice cream, cheese, and myriad of other dairy products made from it, contains genetically engineered bovine growth hormone, or rBGH.

U.S. milk producers treat their dairy cattle with rBGH because it boosts milk production. But this artificial growth hormone also increases udder infections in cows, leading to pus in the milk along with excessive use of antibiotics in the cows, which is triggering the creation of antibiotic-resistant superbugs and leaving residues of antibiotics in your dairy. Worse still, milk treated with rBGH also contains higher levels of insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1), a hormone linked to breast, prostate and colon cancers in humans. (original source)

Numerous studies have shown that GM corn causes significant changes to blood cells, kidneys, and the liver. It has also been blamed for potentially life-threatening allergies that have occurred in some people.  Even if this sweetener had any health benefits (and it doesn't), the risks of consuming a substance made from genetically modified corn would not be worth the rewards. Why then, would you want to take the risks when there are absolutely no health rewards? (original source)

The simplest way to avoid GM foods is to buy whole, certified organic foods. By definition, foods that are certified organic must never intentionally use GM organisms, produced without artificial pesticides and fertilizers and from an animal reared without the routine use of antibiotics, growth promoters or other drugs. Additionally, grass-fed beef will not have been fed GM corn feed.

You can also look for foods that are "non-GMO verified" by the Non-GMO Project. 


I do not buy all organic fruits and vegetables, but I do buy strictly organic dairy, I have stopped buying heavily processed foods, stopped buying anything with soy in it, and buy my meat and eggs from a local farm. You do not have to go 100% organic to get most of the benefits of eating a non-GMO diet.