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POPSMap of Every McDonalds’s in the Country I just finished reading ‘Don’t Eat This Book’ by Morgan Spurlock (the guy who did Supersize Me http://freedocumentaries.org/film.php?id=98 ) . I will NEVER eat fast food again. It is truly scary what food processors do to our food and what they do to it again to make it palatable. Of course, McDonalds tries to down play Spurlock’s ‘prank’ by criticizing that he ate 5,000 calories per day and did not exercise. The problem with that logic is that there are people who do the same thing. According to Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food nation, his research indicates that in 2001 there were about 30,000 McDonalds and says they open about 2,000 a year. So that means there are probably more like 47,000 McDonalds today.in the U.S.
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POPSDeceptive Techniques of Food Labels, What You Read is NOT What You Get!
The FDA website shares some tips on how to understand and use the Nutrition Facts Label http://www.fda.gov/Food/LabelingNutrition/ConsumerInformation/ucm078889.htm Have you ever really looked at what is considered a ‘serving size’? I laughed when I first started seeing this on packages. I had been eating more than one serving size pretty much my whole life, and still do. I think most of us do. The problem I have with eating right is knowing whether or not I’m getting the right amount of nutrients necessary for optimum health and a strong immune system. Most doctors will tell you that you can obtain all the vitamins, minerals and nutrients you need from a normal healthy diet. It would be good if this was the case but because of the degradation of the food supply it has become almost impossible to achieve a diet for optimal health and the prevention of degenerative disease. I guess this is why the nutritional supplement market is so wide open.
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POPSChallenging Authority for Good Speading the truth about our over-consumptive consumer culture and our modern food system can benefit us all tremendously. The more aware we become the healthier we will become. It’s a domino effect, we eat healthier, we stay away from health-related problems, we pay out less for health care, we live longer. I mean, where’s the downside? The blog lists some great learning sources: books, videos, and online sites that encourages we take part in global issues ranging from climate change to organic foods to clean water. We need to get this next generation interested and take advantage of their fresh ideas and youthful energy to keep it going. BTW, I've read all the books listed on the blog, except one and I just reserved that one at my library. They are very well written, informative and entertaining. Go get your self educated, trust me it won't hurt.
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POPSFood Is Power and the Powerful Are Poisoning Us I don’t think anyone disagrees that a single corporation can be more efficient than several smaller companies. However, when it comes to food production, bigger is not better. I am not a big fan of mega-corporations, I think they lose touch with consumers and this leads to them doing whatever they think is most financially beneficial to themselves without regard to their customers desires. It’s the old ‘too big to fail’ mentality. This loss of connection, along with us losing (giving up) our knowledge of how to grow our own food, is contributing to our poor diets and as a result our poor health. ‘Big Food’ produces more convenience foods, typically cheap and fatty, because it is cheaper for them to produce and because we buy it. In order for us to loosen the grip that ‘Big Food’ has on us and to regain our sense of self-sustainability, we are going to need a major shift in our commitment to our health and re-learning how to grow our own food is how this is going to happen.
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POPSFast Food Industry’s 7 Most Heinous Concoctions The American fast food industry, in its attempt to survive at the expense of our health, has come up with some creative gastronomical mashups that not only play on our weakness for artery-hardening, sugar-saturated, taste-bud tantalizers but also keeps the U.S. health care system fat with wasted spending. The best way to ‘reform’ this country’s health care system is to stop feeding it with our extremely unhealthy diets and sedentary lifestyles that leads to heart disease, cancer, stroke, COPD, diabetes, etc. We like the convenience of fast food, but we can force fast food chains to come up with healthier fare by educating ourselves on what a healthy diet actually consists of, and what it doesn’t. Trust me, a healthy diet is not offered at fast food restaurants. Education and a desire to live a longer healthier life is key.
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POPSPepsiCo Chooses to Continue Using GE Ingredients Despite Evidence of Harm The list of evil corporations grows longer. What else would you label a corporation that continues to use ingredients proven to cause toxicity in the kidney and liver? They sure as hell cannot be considered beneficial or benevolent. US law does not require GE foods be tested for toxicity so PepsiCo will continue to use the material without conscience. To quote Pepsi's response to the proposal: "We believe that genetically-modified products can play a role in generating positive economic, social and environmental contributions to societies around the world; particularly in times of food shortages." PepsiCo’s belief system (making money no matter what) doesn’t fit in with lab test results therefore disregard the tests. Incredibly, Monsanto had this to say: "Monsanto should not have to vouchsafe the safety of biotech food. Our interest is in selling as much of it as possible. Assuring its safety is the FDA's job." That’s my definition of an evil corporation.
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POPSFamily Farmers: No NAIS in our name National Animal Identification System (NAIS) is designed to protect the health of livestock and the economic well-being of those industries by quickly and effectively tracing an animal disease to its source. So sayeth the federal government. NAIS poses the greatest threat to local and sustainable agriculture since the Nixon administration. NAIS was originally designed to give huge corporations help with export markets. It will not stop animal disease or improve food safety. So sayeth those who oppose another layer of bureaucracy that severely cripples the livelihood of independent farmers and ranchers. NAIS is not legislation but a program designed by USDA bureaucrats with the help of businessmen and manufacturers of ID tags and will only enrich the corporations that already control most of our food supply. So sayeth everyone who knows how government really works.
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POPSYankees’ Postgame Wrap-Up in the Name of Charity This story is really about how individuals are doing something to help the needy. You cannot and should not expect the government to do it. They are more concerned with making money for their corporate brethren. Syd Mandelbaum started an organization, Rock and Wrap It Up, in 1990 by persuading rock bands to send their prepared, but unserved, backstage and concessions food to local charities and has succeeding in doing so after the performances of 160 bands. Since 2002, his group has added 31 sports teams — including the Yankees, the Mets, the Jets, the Giants, the Nets, the Knicks, the Rangers, and the Devils — and their concessionaires. Carl Thomas, a volunteer warehouse worker recovering from his own hard times, sums it up this way: “When I do this, it keeps rewarding me. It comes back to me at different times, tenfold.” “They who give have all things; they who withhold have nothing” - - Hindu proverb.
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POPSSeeing Through Industrial Food’s 'Personal Responsibility' Smoke Screen Many processed foods available today are filled with empty calories that contribute to our weight, and therefore health, problems. We have drifted away from actually cooking home meals using the same whole foods that food processors use but without all the additives, preservatives and processing that degrades the nutrition we all need. In the name of convenience were are literally starving our bodies of what is really needed and we are propping up pro food to continue on this destructive path. Let’s get reacquainted with in-home food preparation, even if its only one day a week, and tell pro food to start taking some responsibility in its part to help keep us healthy.
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POPSOverconsumption? Ecological Debt? We are literally eating ourselves out of house and home. World Wildlife Fund presented this write up to show how the world’s current consumption habit is leading towards ecological collapse. Can this trend be changed? Yes. We can all do our part by living within our means. It's not about depriving ourselves but practicing responsible consumption. Steps to take to reduce our impact: http://www.panda.org/about_our_earth/all_publications/living_planet_report/reduce_your_debt/
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POPSPolar Bears are not dying out, say scientists in book on popular 'scare stories' Interesting list of scare stories. The most contentious stories concern global warming, CO2 levels and artic animals dying out as a result. Some others are: ‘The Gulf Stream is not under threat’, I never heard about this one. ‘Organic food is no better for you’, claims that since plant nutrients comes from the air there really is no such thing as ‘organic food. ‘We do not know what causes heart disease’, cholesterol levels are not a factor in heart disease. Many of these ‘debunked’ stories require more research and this clip does not provide any links. So have fun with it.
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POPSStudy Finds Cheeseburgers More Nutritious Than Baby Food This is not a plug for eating more meat. Eating meat already causes way too many environmental and human health problems. No, this is wakeup call to those of you who are paying exorbitant prices for unhealthy processed junk food disguised as ‘healthy’ baby food. You can very easily make it yourself at home. You would be taking a huge positive step for your baby’s health and your bank account. Plus you would have peace of mind concerning what you are actually feeding your child. Heinz wasn’t the only company that came under scrutiny. Several other companies, such as Baby Balance, were found to make products high in saturated fats and sugars worse than junk food. There’s a link in the clip that gives a good argument for ‘baby-led solids’ a simple, practical, logical and natural method of beginning solid foods whereby your baby simply eats real food, by himself/herself, from the beginning.
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POPSCAFOs Are Killing Us (NAIS Sucks) Bravo! Ms Blasko hit them where they cannot ignore her. But they probably will anyway because someone is going to make money from the NAIS. She speaks for millions when she lists the seven ‘inconvenient truths’. What the USDA and Ag Dept are doing in unconscionable. I don’t know how many of you understand the dire situation our food system has been put in, but Ms Blasko’s remarks will gone a long way to informing you. Please read, for a better understanding of how to protect your health and the health of your loved ones. Ms Blasko says: ‘I am deeply troubled by what I’ve learned about NAIS. Not only is it expensive, intrusive, discriminatory, and deliberately hostile to small farmers; it is downright unconstitutional. Go back to the drawing board. Stand up to big-ag and industrial food processors’.
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POPSGreen (1/8th) Acres sprout in the city The return of treating our modest homesteads as sources of food is a great thing to contemplate. Food security is one of the most important issues today, for our health and for our peace of mind (as long as you choose not use pesticides). We need to celebrate our agrarian ancestry and learn the amazing amount of food that can be produced on a 1/8 acre plot. Every year I grow tomatoes, peppers, peas, green beans, carrots, cucumbers, radish, lettuce, squash, pumpkin, cherries, plums, peaches, pears, apples, and many herbs on my standard lot, all in the backyard. This year I’m building new beds to be used next year to add grapes and I’m going to extend my garden to the front yard. The health benefits, both physical as well as mental, cannot be overstated. A lot of excess goes to the local food bank and pride in doing that cannot be bought. Also, everybody, visit your local farmers market and eat locally.
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POPSDumpster Diving Granted it isn't for everybody, and you can't plan your meals doing this, but there is a lot of good salable food thrown out every day. I’ve known a handful of people of who have done this. Before you pass judgment on them, please keep in mind that the truly disgusting part of this is the amount of good food that is just thrown away.
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POPSFood Not Bombs Continues to Ignite Controversy What is wrong with feeding the hungry? This is a very noble cause these people are supporting. Why does our government force them to get permits for this? Food that would otherwise be thrown away is being eaten. The chapter in New Mexico has attracted unwanted attention from law enforcement and the Environmental Health Division in their activities. The Connecticut group was recently ticketed for ignoring a cease and desist order issued by local police for serving food form an unlicensed kitchen. The Arizona group has been told by city hall that they will need a permit to continue their activities. In Florida the group secured a legal victory when a judge ruled that handing out food in a public space was an activity protected by the First Amendment Go to the clip to find more info on each group.
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POPSSurvey: Airport Wi-Fi more important than food With the outrages prices they charge for food at the airport this is a no brainer. Besides, you can skip a meal, but a lot of people need to stay connected. While we are on this issue, wi-fi should be available free to the public, everywhere.
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POPSGlobal Grocer: Imports, Rarity, and the Case for Origin Labeling Seasonal impulses could help save small farms and the planet – but only if they’re supported by adequate origin labeling, so shoppers can distinguish between good, local, seasonal food and over-traveled, chemically ripened, unseasonable food. Instead of having your favorite fruit or vegetable everyday of the year, lacking its special tenderness or sweetness because it was forced to grow with chemicals and picked too early so it can withstand the rigors of a long travel time, wouldn’t you rather have it at its peak freshness and flavor a few times a year because it was grown locally and in season? Any locavore will tell you that embracing this rarity, far from being an altruistic sacrifice, is actually a deliciously hedonistic adventure. Americans can’t reclaim rarity as a cultural value until we are able make educated decisions about not just what to buy, but where to buy it from – and consequently, when.
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POPSAnother win for the Coalition of Immokalee Workers Immokalee workers are finally going to get what the rest of us have had for years -- wage guarantees, healthcare and better working conditions, a process for workers to pursue complaints without fear of retribution. With Bon Apetit rejecting dismal conditions and slave labor for the workers who pick the food it buys, other large food-service providers like Sodexo and Aramark need to jump on board.
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POPSThe Fishery That Is Too Big to Fail Alaska Pollock is the tender white fish used in most frozen fish sticks, McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish sandwiches, and the imitation crab meat found in California rolls. But the pollock – the world’s largest food fishery – is on the verge of collapse. That’s exactly what happened to the Atlantic cod, the pollock’s close relative, and the previous holder of the title “world’s biggest food fishery.” For years, the Atlantic fish industry refused to heed the warning signs that cod was in serious trouble, and tighter regulation was needed. When policy makers did finally act, in 1992, it was too late – and the fishery crashed to less than one percent of its former level. Humans continually weaken every link in the food chain until the whole thing collapses. If we would replenish everything we eat the problem would not be so bad. But we don't.
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POPSWhat Are They Really Afraid Of? Oppressive new rules are being imposed on small-scale producers in the name of food security. The Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 contains language would make home food preservation illegal and requires farmers who sell direct to consumers via farmers markets, market gardens, or other community supported agriculture (CSA) endeavors to get permission from a Government inspector The bill also requires consumers who buy from local producers to fill out a form with their name, social security number, and list how they plan to store the produce and when and how they will consume it. If the Government is so set on protecting what they admit is a vulnerable food supply, why are they allowing unrestricted, undocumented flow of illegals across our southern border knowing they will find employment in the agriculture industry? And, why is the Government focused on small family farms? Why would family farmers be of any concern to the Government?
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POPSNation’s Food System Nearly Broke This is a pretty dire picture being painted here. It seems Americans have been getting off cheap with low food prices, but that’s about to change. None of us want to see family farms go out of business, they simply cannot survive on subsistence earnings any longer. If you have a space to grow your own food, I suggest you start learning how to make it very productive and learn to can the excess. "Any time a country neglects its family farm base and allows it to become financially bankrupt, the entire economy of that country will soon collapse. It may take generations to rebuild the farm economy and that of the country." Concerned citizens can call the White House, 202-456-1111, or your members of Congress, 202-224-3121, to urge them to support policies that enable farmers to earn a fair market price
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