“Food Safety” Bill, Or Monsanto’s Attempt To Take Over The World

This is one of those scary, underhanded bills that almost passed me by until a friend recently mentioned it. It’s called HR 875, labeled a “food safety” bill, and may give Monsanto the power to put small, organic farms out of business:

Some “highlights” of the bill:

–The definitions in Section 3: “(14) Food production facility – means any farm, ranch orchard, vineyard, aquaculture facility, or confined animal-feeding operation
–Section 201: (c)(6) implement appropriate surveillance procedures
–Section 207: (3) Plan (E) Integration of the inspection and compliance programs in food processing establishments…{any farm}
–Section 301: (c)(2)(A) a comparison of the safety of commercial processing with the health hazards associated with food that is
harvested for recreational or subsistence purposes and prepared noncommercially {ie: home garden}
–Section 204 (b) (1) states “…the Administrator shall publish in
the Federal Register a list of the contaminants in foods…” and
“the Administrator shall indicate whether the risk posed by a contaminant is generalized or specific to particular foods or
ingredients.”
(This is also a direct threat to organic farming because anything could be listed as a ‘contaminant’ under this proposed bill).

Greg Conko of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (not 100% sure how I feel about this website) states that:

“There are lots of provisions that would disproportionately harm small farms and farmers. And there are lots of overly-broad definitions that might conceivably be interpreted as covering one’s home kitchen or backyard garden as a food production facility subject to regulation under the bills (although it’s unlikely that’s the intent of the sponsors, or that such facilities would ever actually be regulated). There are many intrusions into our freedom in these proposals, so it’s worth opposing them for that reason.”

Wanna help fight Monsanto and keep small farmers in business? You can quickly hit up members of Congress here.

Sources: UPDATE: HR 875, Seed Banking, Michael Taylor & Monsanto, Break the Matrix.
Quantum Nutrition Center, “Scary Government Actions” e-mail, April 6, 2009.

Fears About Food: The “Good” And “Bad” Of Food Labeling

The New York Times recently had an article about the rise in kids who are concerned about the nutritional value of the foods they eat, mostly due to their parent’s influence. Along with a focus on only eating organic foods, these children are worried about such grown up concerns as too much sodium, too many calories, and not getting enough vitamins.

Some experts are concerned the promotion of this type of behavior in a nine-year-old may lead them to eventually develop an eating disorder. Others think it is high time that kids are actually taught nutrition, considering all of the nutritionally-bankrupt foods that are on the shelves and in restaurants.

It certainly isn’t an easy time in history when it comes to health, nutrition, and food. Sure, cutting down on sugar can mean a huge boost to a person’s health, while becoming obsessed with having no sugar can take over one’s life. And if you consider the energetics of food, labeling foods as “good” or “bad” makes them become those things, even if our body may have processed them differently without the label.

There is no easy answer, unless simply listening to your body is considered easy. Wait, that is, right? Well, yes and no – it certainly takes time to develop a connection to our bodies when there hasn’t been on previously. But in the end, you gotta tune out what other people say, and tune in to what your body has to say.

Sources: What’s Eating Our Kids? Fears About “Bad” Foods, New York Times.

POV: Multivitamin Fiasco

ConsumerLab.com recently tested a plethora of multivitamins and found some interesting results. I wish I could publish here the full list of multivitamins tested and their results, but unfortunately you have to have a paid account in order to access this information.

Some of the brands were contaminated with lead, which is certainly a scary thing. Other brands had up to 50% less of a particular vitamin or mineral than promised on its label. Others had more of a particular nutrient than labeled, sometimes up to 200% more than the upper limit recommended by the Institute of Medicine.

Photo: furryscaly

These results are enough to show that it is time for supplements to be regulated. This is being screamed loudly left and right these days, but the question is, from whom? Unfortunately, those who most want supplements regulated are, you guessed it, those who are bound to make the most amount of money from regulation–the pharmaceutical industry. They will certainly benefit from the FDA classifying supplements as drugs, which is where things are headed.

Also, there is a little-known “World-Food Code” (Codex Alimentarius) that has been making its way up the ladder since its creation in 1962, which essentially classifies nutritional and herbal supplements as toxins, and therefore establishes the need for regulation, in every country that is part of the United Nations.

Considering both the FDA and the pharmaceutical industry have done little to properly test drugs over the years, pushing them onto the market before long term effects can be evaluated, I’m not sure that I trust what their process would be with supplements, both the literal and figurative cost. Dr. William Campbell Douglass posted an article at Healthier Talk about the five most dangerous drugs that were recalled after causing some serious damage:

1. Vioxx – Significantly increased the risk of cardiovascular “events” such as heart attacks and strokes.
2. Bextra – Caused an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.
3. Cylert – Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) drug pulled after FDA discovered 13 cases of liver failure.
4. Baycol – Users suffered from a much higher rate of rhabdomyolysis, a debilitating muscle ailment that can be fatal.
5. Palladone – This slow-release narcotic painkiller was found to cause side effects like depression and even coma when mixed with alcohol.

Another problem is that the current recommended daily allowances (RDA) and even the upper limits on some nutrients are grotesquely low. MDs with a bent toward natural medicine, such as Joseph Mercola and famed Naturopath Michael Murray often recommend higher amounts of certain vitamins and minerals depending on a person’s current health issues.

Now, if they put together a team of alternative practitioners and doctors who believe in and understand supplementation, it would be a different story.

It is important for us to be able to know what is in our supplements, where the raw materials come from, and the expertise of those creating the products. But don’t put fat cats who are making billions off of drugs in charge of deeming the quality of supplements.

Sources: The 5 Most Dangerous Recalled Drugs, Healthier Talk.
A Vitamin A Day May Do More Harm Than Good, MSN News.