Food Part III: Nutritional Compromise

by Kellene

In the last two segments in this series on Food, I’ve attempted to address our vulnerable reliance on our world’s food supply. When there is a shortage, we pay for it dearly. When a great deal of products are reliant upon one particular crop, we give away much of our freedom as well.  When the core of our habits for feeding and enjoying are based on a particular product, we are also subjected to the price demands which come with such dependence.  I’m sure that many of you remember how difficult it was to adjust our monthly budgets to meet the drastic increase in fuel prices.  Not long after that shock, over 70% of all credit card holders had their minimum payments on their credit cards increase substantially.  Thus far I’ve addressed the availability and the cost of our foods due to our system at present and how our preparedness efforts can counteract such unpleasant realities.  Today, I believe I’m addressing an even more important aspect of food though—it’s compromised nutrition.

Is the nutritional content in our foods what it used to be?

I think we’d all like to believe that if we have a clump of broccoli on our plates, that it’s good for us.  We’d also like to assume that if we have a fresh piece of tuna seared to perfection, that it too is beneficial to our body, right?  Unfortunately, in the name of control, technological advances, bigger crop yields, and down right greed, the nutritional content of our food is not all it’s cracked up to be in our minds.

I don’t know if many of my readers will remember this, but there was a time in which the FDA actually said that one cigarette a day was good for you. In fact, they even went so far as to have two DOCTORS make this statement for all of the media to see.  (See “The World Without Cancer” by G. Edward Griffin) Eventually they lowered their tone a bit and simply claimed that cigarettes were not harmful. Regardless of how their tone changed, keep in mind that all along the way, the USDA and the FDA stood by their approval of the use of cigarettes. After all, it was an ideal money maker for all involved.

Unfortunately, it’s true what they say about history repeating itself. Sure there are different characters, altered acts, and varied dollar amounts, but it all boils down to the same plot. Group A (the instigators) has a product that they want to promote in order to save more money, make more money, and produce more product. Group B (the backers) approves the idea. Group C (the cautious) rebel against the idea due to valid concerns. Then Group A and B  hire the sharp legal minds of Group D to keep Group C out of the picture so that they everyone in Group A, B, and D can make money by selling their wares to Group E. (That’s E, for Everyone else.)  Ok. So what realistic A,B, & D showdowns do we have going on right now?

(First of all, here’s a disclaimer.  I do not write this article as an attack on farmers.  It is my opinion that farmers as a whole are the recipients of this corporate shakedown. I do wish, however, that farmers of courage and intelligence could stand united and put a stop to all of this, much like the courageous David against Goliath…)

Food Additives

Ammonia is now added to your poultry and beef in order to help kill the e-coli virus. Wait. How do they get e-coli?  Well, they are raised knee-deep in their own feces, in darkened facilities (to promote docility).  Instead of being raised on the fruits of God’s green earth and sunshine, they are raised on massive amounts of nutritionally deficit fillers in order to substantially increase their yield. Specifically when it comes to chickens, this method enables the industry to grow a chicken twice as big in half of the time! The average chicken farmer spends roughly 20% of their budget on the anti-bacterial ingredients that they feed their chickens! Yup. Kind of freakish, if you ask me. I’ll spare you the details of the consequences of such a Frankensteinian method.  Unfortunately, the filler feed and “housing” conditions cause severe health problems for the flocks and herds which then resorts to the industry regularly injecting their herds with antibiotics.  Did you know that the average person eats 200 pounds of meat per year?!  That’s an awful lot of hormones and antibiotics that we’re putting into our bodies!

During the documentary, “Food Inc.” one of the chicken farmers was interviewed while cleaning his chickens out in an open field. He claims that the USDA attempted to put a halt to his method of cleaning his chickens “out in the open like that” because it was “unsanitary.”  Unsanitary, huh? Yet hormones, antibiotics, ammonia, and feces are perfectly acceptable, eh?  In addition, the farmer states that the way he won his case in this matter was to have his chickens tested by an independent laboratory. Comparing his whole chicken to a standard industrialized chicken from the grocery store, the test concluded that his chicken had only 133 CFU whereas the industrialized chicken had a whomping 3,600 CFU—and THAT was after several chlorine baths! (CFU denotes the count of colonies of microscopic bacteria—“colony forming unit”)

Poultry Farms

So, question for ya. Do you think that ammonia kills nutrients as well? Ok. That’s your protein source.  Let’s look at your produce.As you know, the bacteria salmonella has been found in tomatoes, peppers, spinach, and lettuce as of late. Why? Well, here’s one reason.  In part, it’s because salmonella is readily found in animal related food products.  When it comes to animal related foods, 4 companies control over 80% of the processing market.  Currently only a small handful of companies actually handle the majority of ALL of our food system. So, if only one company decides to cut corners and not treat the foods being imported from Thailand, India, China, or Egypt and you’ve got a salmonella outbreak in your dog food, Black Angus beef, peanut butter, Little Debbie Snack Cakes, and your table black pepper.  Supposedly, the only CHEAP way to take care of salmonella or other like bacteria is through an irradiation process.  Yes, it’s a form of radiation, much like that used to kill cancer cells. As you know radiation kills ALL of the good and the bad bacteria.  (Not only does irradiation compromise the nutritional content of your foods, but it’s also used on pharmaceutical products. As such, it’s blamed for compromising the effectiveness of many pharmaceutical supplies.)  Yup, Folks. We’ve got nutritional compromise at its best.   On top of that you have pesticides, depleted nutritional content of the soil, and the mandatory use of genetically modified seeds (Note: Monsanto currently OWNS over 90% of all of the soybean seeds used in our crops and actively seeks to SUE/punish the last holdouts for “patent infringement” – in many instances crippling the hold-out heroes by depleting their entire financial worth in the process—(Do an internet search on “Monsanto vs. farmers”)  Here’s another awful truth.  Unless you are a highly vigilant consumer, you eat genetically modified food everyday.  Over 70-75% of all processed foods on our shelves have GMO content. (For those of you who aren’t aware of the consequences of GMO foods, check out this medical study)

Where is our food coming from?

Salmonella

Ok. So should we stop buying our produce from manufacturers, and pay the much higher prices for cleaner food? Ouch. Thanks to hyper-inflation, deep recession, fuel increase, I don’t think that my budget can handle much of that. So what about growing my own produce?  Well, that’s great, although there is a fly in that ointment as well. Monsanto has already obtained some legal standing to make it a criminal act to save your seeds so that you can reuse them for chemical and genetic-free food—instead of constantly buying hybrid seeds—this coming from the primary provider of hybrid seeds in the world! Yes. The plot thickens.  As you can see, our daily nutrition intake is unwittingly being determined in the board rooms, not at our dinner tables or even the doctor’s offices.

Unfortunately, addressing it all is making this article WAY too long for one day. So tune in tomorrow for the rest of this piece.  Sorry to leave you hanging in an agitated state.  Allow me to tell you that I do have some sound solutions for you that play a roll in your food preparedness efforts and they are easily done.  It’s a matter of being aware.

Till then…

Food Part I: Dressed to Kill

Food Part II: Some Kernels of Truth

Food Part III: Nutritional Compromise

Food Part IV Nutrition Insurance