Here is the post: Dude, That Isn’t Wax On Your Apple!

You might not be up to reading the entire thing, it is long and contains numerous links, especially to FDA articles which can be a real nightmare to decipher.

But the upshot is this: If you don’t grow it yourself, and you can’t get face-to-face with the farmer who grew it, you don’t know what is being applied to “protect you.” It might or might not wash off in veggie wash and it might or might not prove to be safe and health-supporting.

The number one goal of Local Nourishment is to encourage you to grow what you can, to source your food as close to your front door as possible, and to personally acquaint yourself with your food producers for what you purchase. I challenge you to take a list of the names of the films listed in realityblogger’s outstanding post to the produce manager of the stores you frequent and try to find out what is applied to your food. It may be he or she has no idea and has to do some research for him or herself. Take the same list to your farmers market (and by that I mean enforced producers market) and ask your farmer. I’ll bet he knows what he applies to your food, and I’ll double down that he or she will be happy to discuss it with you!

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday and Fight Back Friday.

F_01 by Mouse, on Flickr

I was reading “F as in Fat” today, a report released last month by Trust for America’s Health. It says, among other things:

Since 1995, diabetes rates have doubled in eight states. Then, only four states had diabetes rates above 6 percent.  Now, 43 states have diabetes rates over 7 percent, and 32 have rates above 8 percent. Twenty years ago, 37 states had hypertension rates over 20 percent. Now, every state is over 20 percent, with nine over 30 percent.

Are we cooking significantly less than 1995? Are parents home less than in 1995? Has fast food had that much of a surge? Are video games that new? Is soda and junk food more available now than just 16 years ago? Have people started stuffing themselves suddenly…more so than then?

According to “The away-from-home market by outlet type” chart in this publication by the USDA, fast food meals away from home have leveled off since 1995, even dropping slightly. According to the CDC, “the proportion of students attending PE class daily declined significantly during 1991–1995 and did not change during 1995–2003″.

So, what’s different? Some have said that humans are evolving toward obesity. Hogwash, I say. The sudden change in our physical makeup wouldn’t change on an evolutionary scale over 16 years!

So…what’s changed? A myriad of changes in food policy have occurred since the birth of my daughter Kate. But I can point directly to two things that have changed, one that might affect our health, and one that would absolutely impact our weight:

Government Subsidies

Yes, that’s right. The same people who preach “Eat less! Exercise more! It’s all about personal responsibility and it’s easy!” are spending your tax dollars to subsidize foods that are ruinous to our health. For example, since 1995…

Sunflower Oil
> Commodity: Sunflowers
> Total Subsidies (1995-2010): $880 million
> % Change in Annual Subsidies (1995-2010): 540%
> Biggest Producers: Cargill, Dow AgroChemical

Peanut Butter
> Commodity: Peanuts
> Total Subsidies (1995-2010): $3.4 billion
> % Change in Annual Subsidies (1995-2010): +675%
> Biggest Producers: The J.M. Smucker Co., Unilever

Ground Beef
> Commodity: Livestock
> Total Subsidies (1995-2010): $3.6 billion
> % Change in Annual Subsidies (1995-2010): +258%
> Biggest Producers: Fairbank Farms, Cargill

Soybean Oil
> Commodity: Soybeans
> Total Subsidies (1995-2010): $24.3 billion
> % Change in Annual Subsidies (1995-2010): +1,047%
> Biggest Producers: Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland

Bread
> Commodity: Wheat
> Total Subsidies (1995-2010): $32.4 billion
> % Change in Annual Subsidies (1995-2010): +141%
> Biggest Producers: Entenmann’s, Pepperidge Farm, Sara Lee

Corn Syrup
> Commodity:
> Total Subsidies (1995-2010): $77.1 billion
> % Change in Annual Subsidies (1995-2010): +24%
> Biggest Producers: Archer Daniels Midland

Okay, I am surprised that there was only a 24% increase in corn syrup subsidies, but at $77.1 billion, that is almost more than the others combined!

Genetic Modification

Between 1997 and 2009, the total surface area of land cultivated with GMOs had increased by a factor of 80, from 17,000 km² (4.2 million acres) to 1,340,000 km² (331 million acres).

We don’t know if genetically modified foods affect obesity. As Jeffrey Smith, author of Seeds of Deception says,

Might it play in role in our national epidemic of obesity or the rise in diabetes or lymphatic cancers? We have no way of knowing if there is a connection because no one has looked for one.

Sixteen years is a very long, and very short time. It’s a very long time for a person to make an association between what they put in their mouth today and ailments developed a decade and a half from now. It’s a very short time for such a major impact on our society’s health.

These are just two of my suspects. There are many entities “of interest” in this ongoing investigation. Who and what do you suspect?

This post is part of Fight Back Friday, hosted by Food Renegade.

Green Festival: GMO Freak Show by elizaIO, on Flickr

I must confess. When I first heard anti-GMO forces speaking out strongly, calling genetically modified food “experimenting on the human race,” I was put off. After all, there was no proof of harm, and the scientists say any unusual organisms would be broken down during the course of our digestion and would not persist in our bodies. And isn’t the promise of “feeding the world” worth it? Aren’t we being rich, spoiled elitists by denying a technology that could miraculously put an end to world hunger?

My own conversion wasn’t gradual. One read through of the works of Jeffrey M. Smith and I was thoroughly convinced that we were rushing headlong into territory we ought not tread.

But there is new evidence that makes me really angry. Really, really, seriously ticked off. And somewhat frightened for our children. A peer-reviewed study has found genetically modified materials in the bloodstream of pregnant women. (Note: Cry1Ab is the protein in Bacillus thuringiensis, the bacteria which gives GMO plants their pesticide resistance.)

Scientists from the University of Sherbrooke, Canada, have detected the insecticidal protein, Cry1Ab, circulating in the blood of pregnant as well as non-pregnant women.

They have also detected the toxin in fetal blood, implying it could pass on to the next generation. The research paper has been peer-reviewed and accepted for publication in the journal Reproductive Toxicology. The study covered 30 pregnant women and 39 women who had come for tubectomy at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke (CHUS) in Quebec.

None of them had worked or lived with a spouse working in contact with pesticides.

They were all consuming typical Canadian diet that included GM foods such as soybeans, corn and potatoes. Blood samples were taken before delivery for pregnant women and at tubal ligation for non-pregnant women. Umbilical cord blood sampling was done after birth.

Cry1Ab toxin was detected in 93 per cent and 80 per cent of maternal and fetal blood samples, respectively and in 69 per cent of tested blood samples from non-pregnant women. Earlier studies had found trace amounts of the Cry1Ab toxin in gastrointestinal contents of livestock fed on GM corn. This gave rise to fears that the toxins may not be effectively eliminated in humans and there may be a high risk of exposure through consumption of contaminated meat.

To all the “loonies” out there, I get it now. I apologize for rolling my eyes and thinking you all must be Luddites to want to stand in the way of progress. You were right all along.

The issue is not that we know for certain that turning a human into a breathing pesticide factory is dangerous to a person’s life or health. The issue is that we don’t know what the consequences will be. Cancer? Sterility? Immune dysfunction? The most truthful answer could be a non-committal shrug. We don’t know because testing isn’t allowed. Safety hasn’t been proven. And clearly, we are being lied to about the persistence of these organisms once we consume them.

If you avoid organic food (your only option for avoiding GMO at this time) because of its price tag; if you refuse to support organics because some have called it “elitist”; if you don’t have the time or motivation to seek out organically grown produce and organically fed meat, now is the time to revisit your decision. If you are a woman of any age, if you have young children, if you are a young man who might one day have children, please reconsider.

Because right now, your choice at the checkout is your only defense.

This post is part of Fight Back Friday hosted by Food Renegade.

I hope every person reading this post is able to get out to a Rally this weekend. It is time for GMOs to be labeled in the United States! It’s time for us to be notified if the foods we feed our families have been genetically manipulated! Here’s a link to more information.

The national Millions Against Monsanto campaign staff is gearing up for our October 2011 day of action, pledging to make it the biggest nationwide day of action on genetic engineering in US history. But, Millions Against Monsanto activists, led by a trio of hard-working, un-funded, volunteer organizers, Trish Wright, Erica Gray and April Reeves, decided they couldn’t wait. They’re staging a demonstration at the White House this month, March 26, 2011, and they’re urging activists around the country to “Rally for the Right to Know” locally. For more information, click here to e-mail the organizers.

RALLY FOR THE RIGHT TO KNOW PRESS RELEASE: Consumer Activists Unite to Demand Labeling of Genetically Modified Foods

PRESS RELEASE (with Rally locations): GMO Rallies Expand Across the US: Thousands Signed Up to Have Their Say

Rallies for the Right to Know – Saturday, March 26, 2011

(Latest news at Rally for the Right to Know)

• Queen Creek, AZ – 9:00am – 3:00pm, Health And Wellness Expo, Canyon State Academy 20061 E Rittenhouse Rd.
• Chico, CA – 11:00am – 3:00pm, Downtown “Park” between Broadway and Main Streets(where the fountains are)(3 blocks from FOOD CO-OP)
• Los Angeles, CA – 11:00am – 2:00pm, Los Angeles (Westwood) Federal Building, 11000 Wilshire Blvd.
• Red Bluff, CA – 11:00am – 3:00pm, the corner of Antelope and Main St.
• Colorado Springs, CO – 11:00am – 1:30pm, Acacia Park
• Washington, DC – 11:00am – 3:00pm, The White House Sidewalk, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
• Hollywood Beach, FL – 11:00am – 2:00pm, Johnson Street Theatre, Johnson Street/N. Ocean Drive/A1A
• Tampa Bay, FL – 11:00am – 3:00pm, Honda Grand Prix and area farmers market
• Atlanta, GA – 11:00am – 4:00pm, Around Centennial Olympic Park across from the CNN Bldg
• Maui, HI – 8:00am – 11:00am, in front of Long’s street-side on Ka’ahumanu Ave in Kahului, Maui
• Indianapolis, IN – 12:00pm – 3:00pm, 200 W. Washington Street #220
• Ann Arbor, MI – 12:00pm – 3:00pm, Southeast corner of Catherine Street and N. 4th Avenue – just south of the A2 Farmers Market and Kerrytown Shops
• Muskegon, MI - 11:00pm – 1:00pm, Sweetwater Local Foods Market
• St. Paul, MN – 12:00pm – 2:00pm, Minnesota State Capitol Building – South Mall, 75 Rev Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, 55155
• Kansas City, MO – 11:00am – 3:00pm, The Plaza
• New York, NY – 12:00pm – 1:00pm, CITY HALL steps New York City, Between Broadway and Park Row
• Albuquerque, NM – 12:00pm – 3:00pm, UNM
• Salem, OR – 12:00pm – 3:00pm, 900 Court St. NE
• Nashville, TN – 10:00am – 1:00pm, Nashville Farmers Market, 900 Rosa Parks Boulevard (8th Avenue North)
• Austin, TX – 12:00pm – 3:00pm, The Capitol
• Montpelier, VT – 11:00am – 3:00pm, Outside City Hall
• Seattle, WA – 12:00pm – 2:00pm, Victor Steinbrueck Park, 2001 Western Avenue (by Pike Place Market)
• Milwaukee, WI – 11:00am – 2:00pm, Water and Wisconsin

This post is part of Fight Back Friday, hosted by Food Renegade.

Possibly under pressure from the White House to appear more “friendly to big business,” and certainly as a result of the staggering amount of money contributed by Monsanto to the government, the USDA approved genetically modified alfalfa this week. The pact Vilsack made with Monsanto to allow genetically modified alfalfa allows for completely unrestricted planting. That means no boundaries, no testing, no safe zones.

Vilsack once considered planting restrictions to protect organic farms. Terms like peaceful co-existence have been used to describe how organic and GM should work together. It’s a philosophy that even Whole Foods bought into. But it’s a lie. Genetically modified plants aren’t peaceful and they don’t co-exist. They don’t stay in their own fields, but are carried on the wind and on the legs and wings of insects into other farmers’ fields, in the case of alfalfa, for five miles or more. Organic farmers’ fields. Farmers who will lose their organic certification and livelihood if contamination like this takes place.

“What’s the big deal? I don’t eat alfalfa anyway!”

Alfalfa is the 4th largest field crop in the U.S. 23 million acres of alfalfa are currently in production, primarily as a forage crop for dairy production. This is a huge chunk of farmland we are handing over, lock, stock and barrel to Monsanto.

“Oh, but genetically modified crops will reduce the need for herbicide!”

Not true, but even if it were, 93% of alfalfa hay in current production is grown without any herbicide at all. Applying herbicide to these crops simply because we can increases the toxic load in the soil and runoff in the waterways and provides more farmland for superweeds to grow.

Tom Philpott at Grist puts a pretty fine point on it:

Do we really want to subject organic growers and dairies to possible contamination and loss of their livelihoods, plus risk unleashing superweeds on another 20 million acres?

Evidently, for Vilsack, the answer is yes.

In my darker moments, I could see this new “business-friendly” (read “Monsanto-purchased”) model steamrolling organics and sustainable farms in quick succession:

• Opening up more farmland to new genetically modified crops will open up the door to removing current restrictions in place on genetically modified corn and soy.
• Genetically modified sugar beets will be able to breeze right through that open door. This happened 2/4/11.
• One of the few herbicides still effective against superweeds, 2, 4-D, will have to be used in greater and greater quantities. This little gem is positively linked to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, endocrine disruption, reproductive and developmental effects, as well as water contamination and toxicity to aquatic organisms.
• Then, of course, the next generation of foods: genetically modified salmon and pork are ready for your dinner table. Sensing a USDA primed for biotech, they are could slide right in.

What can you do? Sign any or all of these petitions requesting a moratorium on the planting of genetically modified alfalfa. Also, go read this fantastic post by Civil Eats with four things you can do right now to help save the organic movement.

My polling place by tychay, on Flickr

I took the suggestion of the Organic Consumers Association and sent this single question poll to the candidates for my state. Here are the five email responses I received back (Please note these are direct quotes. Spelling, grammar and punctuation have not been corrected or changed):

From Carl Two Feathers Whitaker, Independent candidate for Governor

“we filled out your questionarre Ms. Peggy, Good hearing from ya. We do believe there needs to be labeling on these products”

From Stephen W. Collings, Independent (Libertarian) Candidate for Congress

Peggy,

Thanks very much for your e-mail.  It’s very important that voters have all the information necessary to make an informed decision, and your participation in this way helps make that happen.  I have responded to this survey saying that, yes, I would be in favor of mandatory labeling of GM foods.  I am also in favor of thorough studies of the health effects of such foods, none having been performed to date.  If an independent study conclusively determines that GM foods have no adverse health effects, I would reconsider (though by no means automatically abandon) my position on mandatory labeling.

I hope I have adequately addressed your concerns.  If not, or if you have any other questions, please feel free to contact me here at any time.

-Stephen Collings

From June Griffin, Independent candidate for Governor

Dear Inquirer:  No one likes form letters, myself included, but since we
have to work for a living and are getting several of these
above-referenced inquiries, I will break my rule and answer your
question.

If I am elected Governor of Tennessee by an Act of God and His
Providence, I will stay within the bounds of the Constitution. Nowhere is
there permission granted to deal in what people eat or don’t eat,
insurance fears notwithstanding.

If you have other questions, my phone number is (423) xxx-xxxx and I will
get back with you as soon is possible.

Thank you for asking.

June Griffin
For God and Country

From Howard Switzer, Green party candidate for Governor

We hippies have been advocating organic whole foods for 40 years!
No to GMO …or corporate food in general.

Howard

From Jackie Miller, Independent party candidate for Congress

Thank you for the opportunity to answer this important question. I apologize for not getting back to you sooner. I went on the web site & answered your question, so it is on the record. ABSOLUTELY I support mandatory labeling of GMOs. I personally want my food just the GOD made it!

Please feel free to call me anytime regarding this or any issue.

Most Sincerely,
Jackie Miller

The results

In all, only 10 of the 72 running candidates have completed the survey: Mo Kiah, Greg Goodwin, James Gray, Jackie Miller, Stephen Collings, Howard Switzer, Gerald York, Donald McFolin and Basil Marceauxr all support a consumer’s right to the labelling of genetically modified foods. When asked, “Do you support mandatory labeling of Genetically Engineered foods and food ingredients?” only Bayron Binkley voted no. Interestingly, he changed his vote mid-month.

Have you sent the poll to your candidates? Have you received any responses? Where does your state stand on this important issue?

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday, hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop.

In her blog, “A Month Without Monsanto” April discovers a day at a time all the ways Monsanto profits from us. I’m still only about two weeks into her posts, and already I’m disgusted, amused, curious and angry. She eats much closer to a vegetarian diet than I would choose for myself, but lists her food choices, clothing, personal items, and has a dandy resource list for those interested in her research. Why don’t you skip over there and see how she’s doing?

By the way, about my headline. I’d dearly LOVE to go a month (or a year, or a lifetime) without adding one cent to the bottom line of the company in question. But the more I read April’s research, the more I study my own foodshed, the more I doubt my ability to actually pull it off. Honestly.

Kate learns exactly what is IN those cookies

I picked up an iPhone app to help me figure out some of the ingredients on food labels. It’s called “Don’t Eat That” and is $1.99 in the iTunes Store. It has made Gizmodo‘s This Week’s Best iPhone Apps list, a list I like to browse for helpful apps. You’ll find it in the iTunes Store in the Healthcare and Fitness section. The app is currently running version 1.3 and updates are frequent, but there is lots of room for expansion and improvement here.

You’ll have to forgive my total lameness at being unable to post screenshots—some of me is in 2010, but some of me lags several decades behind. There are good screenshots at the iTunes Store.

What I love:

• The alphabetical listing is very thorough and the information contained in the descriptions is unbiased but extensive.
• You can choose to view ingredients by their names as listed on labels, or in lists of ingredients that may aggravate allergies and asthma, are particularly harmful to children, are banned somewhere in the world and where the ban is in effect, and ingredients that are known carcinogens.
• Foods containing Genetically Modified Organisms can also be searched in their own section.

What I’d change:

• I’d love to have a section where I can add my own notes to each item for our own food reactions and issues. Rose, for example, is allergic to almonds and I would love to be able to tap once to flag each ingredient listed that contains almond extractives.
• I’d also like ingredients to come up when the bar code on the product is scanned. Then, each ingredient should be “clickable” for reference without having to scroll down the list.

How I use it:

• There are an awful lot of ingredients that are floating around in my brain with sticky notes attached: “This is also known as MSG”, “Do I really want this in my body?”, “Wait, is this something that’ll make a migraine flare up?” and sometimes it’s hard to keep it all straight. This little app takes the sticky notes out of my brain (freeing up those brain cells for much more important information, such as how to spell Kyrgyzstan) and putting them into what I often refer to as my “offsite brain.”
• When the kids are tempted by some treat that this friend or that aunt eats all the time (“and they haven’t grown three heads yet, Mom…”) we will sit down with the ingredient label and this app. Once they decipher that this ingredient comes from petroleum and that ingredient is another name for a substance that kills their brain cells, they rarely ask for that food again. “Okay, how about an apple, then?”
• And, of course, as a purely educational tool in the supermarket, I’ll sit a child down to research ingredients for things we just don’t want in the house at all. Overhearing our discussion, a woman once stopped mid-stride in the store aisle and asked me if I knew much about GMOs. I was thrilled to have information at my fingertips about the food on the shelves.

What a marvelous time we live in! Yes, food labels are a nightmare to decipher, but then along comes just the right tool to crack that lock. No more eating unspellable seventeen-syllabled-foodlike-substances for us!

As is true of all my posts, I do not accept compensation for my reviews. No one has approached me and requested this review, and I did not receive a “reviewer copy” of the program.

This post is part of Prevention, Not Prescriptions and Real Food Wednesday.

Intelligent Design by jurvetson, on Flickr

If you are fascinated with the science and tech behind nanotechnology, or if you want to know what it is, how it works, what consumer products (nearing 10,000 some estimates say) contain it and why you should care, there is a new site that has all these answers and more.

I was so very excited when @TomPhilpott sent a tweet around:

Small isn’t always beautiful: Everyone should check out Andrew Schnieder’s blockbuster series on nanotech http://www.aolnews.com/category/nanotech/

I rushed right over, but it took me hours to read it all. Schnieder has done just an excellent job laying it all out for us average Joes. I didn’t see where he addressed the scariest issue yet as far as I’m concerned: that nanotech particles cross both the blood/brain barrier, depositing nanotech in your delicate brain and the placental barrier, which can carry these particles to an unborn baby!

So, if you or someone you know wants more information about nanotechnology, at last there is a place to send them for reliable information.

This post is part of Fight Back Fridays, hosted by Food Renegade.

I respectfully take exception to your BreakPoint editorial of March 16, 2010, “Genetically Modified Famine: Ideology and the Poor.” The Institute for Food and Development Policy says that world hunger is not a food production problem, but is a food justice problem. In 2008, enough food was grown globally to feed over 11 billion people—a staggering 4,000 calories per day, roughly twice what a human requires for sustenance.

As Christians, caring for our neighbors is the second great commandment, but seeing to the resources we have been given falls within our purview as stewards as well, and genetically engineered life is proving not to be a good use of our stewardship responsibilities.

Genetically modified crops once appeared to offer great promise, but as the Union of Concerned Scientists explains in its March 2009 study, genetic engineering has failed to significantly increase U.S. crop yields despite twenty years of research and thirteen years of commercialization.

The great increase in genetically modified crops grown for human sustenance and animal feed owes more to the governmental subsidies paid for these crops than to their overall effectiveness as a food source.

That the seeds and the corresponding herbicide and pesticide which permits their growth may only be purchased the same company is telling, as is the agreement farmers must sign to purchase the seed. This contract includes the following onerous provisions:

o   Farmers signing this agreement have agreed to waive all of their rights under the Federal Privacy Act.

o   Farmers cannot save any seed or provide any seed to others.

o   Farmers must allow the manufacturer access to their fields to inspect crops and to determine the farmer’s compliance with the contract.

o   There is no time limit to this contract—the company is authorized to examine the farmer’s documents, fields, and crops even after the farmer has stopped using the company’s seed.

o   The company will not honor any warrantees if the farmer does not also use the company’s approved chemicals with the company’s GM seeds.

This agreement does nothing to protect farmers or encourage food growth in developing countries; it protects only the profits of the manufacturer.

Perhaps more alarming is that genetically modified organisms are patented life forms according to the U.S. Supreme Court decision Diamond v. Chakrabarty. The company creating the genetically modified seed “owns” the plants created with that seed. This burgeoning monopoly is increasing food scarcity and prices—the price of genetically engineered seed has increased 10% over last year, which will not benefit developing countries in their quest to feed their populations—all while decreasing the safety and security of our food. Indeed, the FDA has put the fox in charge of the henhouse, issuing only a voluntary guidance recommendation on the testing of bioengineered plants by the companies that produce them. In fact, in order to purchase GMO seeds, farmers must agree that no independent testing of the seeds will take place.

Meanwhile, the prospective health dangers of consuming GMOs have been documented since 1989. Herbicide-resistant superweeds are becoming more and more common. The total pesticide and herbicide load on land growing genetically modified crops is far greater than on conventional land and is increasing.

And now that genetically modified and patented plant life has been approved by our government, the next step is to genetically modify and patent animal life, which has already occurred in the case of Canada’s Enviropig. The next logical step down this slippery slope is the genetic engineering and patenting of human life.

Anti-GMO ideology is not exclusive to the political left. Shenandoah Valley farmer and man of faith Joel Salatin is among those leading the fight against GMOs. Salatin’s website says that he is “in the redemption business: healing the land, healing the food, healing the economy, and healing the culture.” This self-styled Christian Libertarian Capitalist Environmentalist Lunatic Farmer is just one of many who believe that what God has created in His wisdom should not be dissected and reassembled for our own selfish reasons; that the food He created for our bodies is profoundly superior to that which we can create in a lab; that His method of food production honors Him and the earth He created far more than the patenting of life for profit. We believe the words of Isaiah 55:10–11 to be instructive:

“As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

The plant that does not yield seed for the sower but for the seed company returns to the farmer empty. Our growing dependence on GMOs asks the farmer to mortgage his future for the profits of a few.

This post is part of Real Food Wednesdays, hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop.