In Vreni Gurd’s article the other day, Another Reason Not to Drink Bottled Water, she touched on the issue of where those plastic water bottles end up. It may be much worse than you imagined.
Ever heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? Yeah, I didn’t just make that up, it’s real. A giant (and I do mean giant) garbage dump floating in the North Pacific Ocean, made mostly of plastic. And it’s not going anywhere fast. Because plastic doesn’t break down and decompose. Continue reading
A couple of years ago I went on a bit of a rampage about bottled water (click “Water” in Categories to see a list). I knew it was more than a little ridiculous to pay for something you could get for free out of the tap, but the more I learned the more than ridiculous I realized whole affair has become. Continue reading
Here’s another informative article on a very important issue, by Vreni at Wellness Tips…
Are you not as healthy as you might be due to the politics of food? That statement may seem ridiculous, but it might be quite true for many if you are unable to access food you consider to be healthy. And for the American readers here, your food options are about to shrink even further due to politics.
More and more people are rejecting factory farms, conventional mono-crop farming methods and GMO food and are instead seeking to contract directly with farmers that grow the organic produce and raise the pastured meat, poultry, dairy and eggs that they want .
Big Food sees this trend as a threat to their monopoly, and Governments see it as a threat to food safety.
Food is huge business. Everyone needs to eat, and the huge food companies want you to eat their food, so they are doing all the can to stop the growing interest in farm fresh, local food.
Big Food has big pockets and they are influencing governments to pass regulations that will help them thrive.
Provincial and State governments are prosecuting farmers that form food coops and herd shares in order to supply real food to people that want it, under the guise of not having a retail license, and then making it impossible for the farmers to get the license they require. (People want raw milk which the farmer provides, but the farmer is not able to get a license for raw milk for example).
Farmers that are trying to preserve biodiversity are being prosecuted for such things as keeping “feral pigs”, even though this different breed of pig are not actually wild, but are on a farm.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency slaughtered all of Montana Jones’ very rare heritage sheep despite lab tests showing her animals did not have scrapie. Autopsies afterwards also verified that her sheep were healthy.
(In an effort to save her sheep against an unjust fate, some other farmers “sheep-napped” them which delayed the slaughter for several months, and currently the suspected sheep-napper farmers are in court for that. I know – hard to believe it is true!)
Over 97% of the population wants GMO food to be labeled, and for years Governments have done nothing about that fact, largely because of the overlap between directors of companies like Monsanto and the US Federal Government. Only now are things beginning to change at the State level.
Big Food is putting millions and millions of dollars into the campaign to defeat Proposition 522 in Washington State, that would require food that contains genetically modified ingredients to be labelled. Big Food won in California by a very narrow margin, defeating that State’s effort to label GMO food.
The Big Food campaign suggests that labelling will increase the cost of food, but these same companies supply GMO labelled and GMO-free food to 64 other countries in the world so it would not be that hard for them.
If GMO food is so safe, why are those companies so afraid of letting consumers know what is in the food? Are you okay with being experimented on without your knowledge or consent?
Why is the GMO issue not being discussed regularly by the mainstream media? Why is it that only after the advent of social media that the issue of GMO food-labeling is suddenly on the radar?
Because the companies that supply GMO food have huge budgets, and they are very willing to sue any media outlet that says anything negative.Companies like Monsanto can’t do much about social media however, so it is up to us to spread the word …
Governments are stopping people from growing food in their front yards. They are requiring permits for kids that set up lemonade stands. They are stopping people from having potluck community events.
Food Coops are being raided at gun-point by SWAT teams. It is way over the top! Rawesome Food Coop in California a few years ago is a good example. Federal agents in full army combat gear were pointing their guns at people in tank tops and flip flops running the till. They confiscated the raw milk in the fridge, and jailed the owners. And this despite the fact that raw milk is legal in California, and can be purchased in grocery stores.
Now in the US, FDA is implementing the Food Safety Modernization Act, which will probably result in many of the country’s safest farms being put out of business.
For example, in an effort to control salmonella, the new regulations will make it next to impossible for small farmers to have outdoor flocks of chickens, which research shows is far safer than indoor caged chickens. 
Funny they are trying to do this in the middle of a chicken salmonella outbreak from Foster Farms, a huge factory farm that has sickened 278 people in 18 States!
The new regulations unfortunately do nothing to address the real problem with respect to food-borne illness – sick animals living in the filth of factory farms. Check out this W5 video exposing the horrific conditions and abuse of factory farms.
Because the animals are held in such crowded, filthy conditions, antibiotics are part of the feed in the futile attempt to keep the animals healthy. The rise of antibiotic resistance that is affecting our hospitals is the direct result. Some believe we are now entering a world where antibiotics will no longer work, and people will once again regularly die of infections.
If the farms that provide the healthy food are out of business, US citizens will have no option but to eat the unhealthy stuff.
Big Agribusiness and Big Food are using the Government “food safety” regulations to control our food. There is a double standard when it comes to food safety – one for the factory farms, and another for the smaller farms trying to produce nutrient-dense food.
So, the question begs. Is this okay with you? Do you care enough about your health and wellbeing to do something to protect your health by protecting your food supply? Are you willing to help small farmers survive by going out of your way to seek their food out?
Do you shop at farmer’s markets or participate in community-supported -agriculture programs? Do you refuse to buy conventionally-raised food from big agribusiness sold at your grocery store? Are you choosing to spend your money on food now or on medicine that may or may not work later? Is buying cheap food worth the consequence?
What we choose to purchase will have a huge impact on our environment, food supply and the health that our kids and grandkids will inherit. Please choose wisely.
Copyright 2013 Vreni Gurd
Reprinted with permission
Wellness Tips
Yet another informative and thoroughly researched article from Vreni at Wellness Tips…
My farmer was found guilty of contempt of court this week for producing and delivering an illegal “hazardous substance” to me. The substance in question? Elicit drugs? Assault rifles? Anthrax or other deadly agent? No. The hazardous substance they are spending our tax dollars on preventing me from obtaining is raw milk. If my farmer continues to care for and milk my cows for me and give me the milk from my cows, he will be sent to jail.
To me this seems like Orwellian joke. Who is the victim in this milk crime? Is this a crime that deserves a jail sentence? On the one hand Big Brother is trying to protect me from my milk, and on the other, Big Brother refuses to tell me which foods in the grocery store are genetically modified.
I can buy ground beef, take it home and eat it raw but raw milk, which also comes from cows, is so dangerous it can’t be transported across town and given to me.
So, what is the science with respect to raw milk? Is the government’s position warranted? Independent researcher Nadine Ijaz MSc recently presented “Raw Milk: Myths and Evidence” at the BC Center for Disease Control, examining the recent research on raw milk. Please watch her excellent presentation. What follows is a summary of the points Ms. Ijaz makes in her presentation, and I suggest that you watch the presentation to hear about each of these points in more detail.
Myth 1: No evidence that raw milk is more digestible for people with lactose intolerance
A surprise to raw milk enthusiasts, but this is a myth. There is no lactase in fresh milk.
Myth 2: Enzymes and beneficial bacteria make raw milk more digestible
There are many enzymes and bacteria strains in milk, but at the present time there is no evidence to describe their role in human digestion. There is some evidence that the non-harmful lactic-acid bacterium may aid in keeping the bad bugs at bay.
Myth 3: Raw milk is known to prevent osteoporosis, cancer, arthritis, diabetes
Currently there is very little evidence to examine these questions, and the existing evidence does not substantiate the claims. Those of us that are raw milk enthusiasts need to be careful that we do not spread unsubstantiated claims, as that reduces our credibility.
Myth 4: Raw milk is a high-risk food
To determine if a food is risky, we need to know the risk per serving, as well as the rates of sickness, hospitalizations and deaths, along with how risky the food is for immunologically susceptible people.
Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment (QMRA) is the gold standard for determining pathogenic risk. QMRA studies characterize the risk of a particular food as low, moderate or high.
Recent QMRA studies for raw milk show that there is a LOW risk for illness / severe health outcome for E-Coli, Listeria, Staphylococcus and Campylobacter. We do not yet have a QMRA for salmonella.
To confirm accuracy of QMRAs, outbreak data is used. There has not been a single case of Listeria sickness from raw milk in the last 40 years. There has not been a single death from raw milk since 1998.
One to 6% of foodborne illnesses are attributed to all dairy, raw and pasteurized combined. An extremely small percentage of illnesses and hospitalizations from food-borne illnesses are attributed to raw milk. The rate of hospitalization from raw milk was significantly lower than that from all other foods.
Green leafy vegetables are the most frequent cause of foodborne illness representing 20 percent of all cases between 1998 and 2010. Yet the government has not named green leafy vegetables a hazardous substance.
Myth 5: Raw milk has no unique health benefits
There is strong evidence that the consumption of raw milk has a protective effect on the development of asthma and allergies. Ten studies suggest this.
The most recent study corroborating this evidence is the Gabriella study on 8000 school-aged children in Europe. Both blood samples and milk samples were taken, and study showed that there is an independent protective effect of raw farm milk on the development of asthma, allergy and hay fever by about half. That is HUGE! There is a suggestion that some of the whey proteins that are sensitive to heat and would be destroyed in pasteurization might be involved.
We used to think that each vitamin or mineral works in isolation, and as long as they are in the diet, all will be well. Many studies suggest that there are not large differences in nutrients between pasteurized and raw milk. Now we know that vitamins do not work in isolation – vitamin D works with magnesium and calcium for example.
Perhaps it is this synergistic action of the nutrients that might explain why even small nutrient changes can make big differences in how the milk works in our bodies. Vitamin A gets concentrated after pasteurization, whereas vitamins C, B and E are decreased. Perhaps the minor alteration in these ratios have major affects on how they work in our bodies.
The recent Pasture Cohort Study of 2012, showed that pregnant mothers that drank raw milk had newborns with improved immunity and decreased cow-milk allergy. Infants drinking raw cow milk before the age of one had better immune gene expression. Risk/benefit analysis seems to pertain specifically to some of the most susceptible groups.
Myth 6: Industrial milk processing is harmless to health
There are 4 processes of industrial milk production that milk drinkers may object to – pasteurization, homogenization, vitamin D fortification, and grain/sillage/soy feeding practices.
Some people are choosing raw milk in order to opt of the industrial process. This is the primary reason I personally prefer raw. Due to the precautionary principle it is reasonable to do so.
Pasteurization or heat treatment has already been discussed.
Homogenization is the process of putting the milk through a fine screen at high pressures to break up the fat globules so the fat won’t rise to the top. This is done to improve shelf life primarily. “Homogenization results in the most profound difference to the structure of the milk, and may result in altered health properties” Michalazki Janual 2006: 424. It affects the fat globule membrane and the organization of the proteins.
It has been hypothesized that homogenization might be the reason that raw milk is protective for asthma and allergy.
Vitamin D3 fortification: A recent 2012 reviewsuggests that vitamin D from the sun is quite different from synthetic vitamin D. There is another study that suggest that kids that are taking vitamin-D fortified milk have lower serum ferritin (iron) status. Individuals may use the precautionary principle and opt out of industrial milk for this reason.
Contemporary feeding practices: Consumers are looking for grass-fed milk that have a more beneficial fatty-acid profile with higher omega 3 and CLA content.
Current evidence does not support:
The current evidence does however, support choice.
“It is scientifically reasonable for people, including pregnant women and parents of young children to choose hygienically produced raw milk over industrially produced milk, whether or not they heat it themselves afterwards. It is not scientifically justifiable to prohibit people, including pregnant women or parents of young children from choosing to seek out an important food which may effectively prevent allergy and asthma.” Nadine Ijaz.
So what is the role of public health enforcement?
We need to focus on minimizing risk to reasonable levels. No other food has a zero hazard tolerance threshold. It is important to realize that pasteurization is no guarantee that the milk will be risk-free.
The evidence no longer supports raw milk being designated as a health hazard. Instead governments should consider regulation, mitigation and education in light of the existing evidence.
I sincerely hope that Nadine’s presentation gets viewed and shared. If you know any health reporters that can take on this story, please let them know.
The war on raw milk and on farmers that are trying to feed a community that wants the food they provide, needs to end. Year after year we hear of farmers being prosecuted and forced out of business for providing food to those that want it. Most recently, Wisconsin is threatening to jail farmer Hershberger despite being acquitted of 3 of 4 charges related to his raw-milk coop.
We as individuals should have the right to determine what we want to eat, whether that involves raw milk, or avoiding GMO food. We need help making this a national conversation. If you can help, please do!
Copyright 2013 Nadine Ijaz MSc, Vreni Gurd
Reprinted with permission
Wellness Tips
Right on the heels of reading the article Our Toxic Body Burden, a friend posted a link to the online documentary Genetic Roulette, which discusses the well documented (but not well publicized) effects that genetically modified foods are having on our digestive systems and health.
Vreni Gurd’s Wellness Tips article talks about the many sources of chemicals we may be unwittingly ingesting. Some you’ll be aware of, but some may surprise you, such as cleansers and moisturizers. “If you put it on your skin you are drinking it.”
The documentary carries the theme further, exposing the chemical nature of the majority of processed foods and the marked increase in a wide variety of diseases linked to the digestive system and inflammation. As the digestive system is our first line of defense for our immune system, it makes sense that problems in our gut are going to lead to problems elsewhere. The scary thing is, once GMO enzymes and bacteria are introduced to your system, they can replicate and continue wreaking havoc.
More than ever our bodies are subjected to a myriad of chemicals in all forms and it takes some focused effort to reduce the effects. One of the key elements is keeping your liver healthy so it can do its best to detoxify your body from our environment. When I was diagnosed with skin cancer it became a priority to me to support my liver in cleansing my body. I believe our bodies are made to heal themselves and can do quite a good job if we support them by taking care of what we put in into the delicately balanced ecosystem of our bodies.
Please take the time to become more informed and make more informed decisions for your health and the health of your families.