The more we read, the scarier it gets. And yet the yummy, enticing commercials and food packaging makes it so easy to pick up something ready made, convenient and easy to fix. It saves time, effort and, in some cases, money. But why aren't they telling us the damage it can do to our bodies? The only basic answer I have is profit. As long as the populace is ignorant of the facts, they can be duped into anything, right? I would like to say the answer to that question is: Wrong! But, I really can't at this point. The Economic Collapse Blog has an article out titled Big Corporations Have An OVERWHELMING Amount Of Power Over Our Food Supply that is a real eye opener. It's a good one to start with here.
It appears to me that there are groups of people that are waking up to many things in our day and time. Food production practices and restrictions, the rape of our economy by the PTB (powers that be), the dwindling freedoms we once took for granted, and the labeling of those that don't march lock step to the beat of the government drum as terrorist, such as Veterans (with a capital V), Christians, conservatives and good old independent 'we don't need anything from the government' folks.
So, in light of that short rant, I want to share some more articles with you that continue to highlight the poison we are expected to consume as part of our daily bread. I can't say I hope you enjoy the read, but I do hope it provides you with information that you can use to make wise decisions for you and the ones you love.
I'll start off with an article from NaturalSociety titled: Why You Should Stop Counting Calories and Start Counting Chemicals. There is a piece of this article I have included. It is just amazing. The following is a quoted excerpt.
- "But here’s the kicker. Even if you eat an organic salad once in a
blue moon, and don’t regularly and actively detox your body from all
these environmental poisons, your body can’t absorb the nutrients from good foods. The scientific proof of this fact is overwhelming:
- High fructose corn syrup consumption leads to an impairment of digestion and absorption of nutrients, leading to obesity.
- Malabsorption of nutrients and
important trace minerals happens when our guts are wracked with gluten,
GMOs, glyphosate, pesticides, and other chemicals. Additionally,
nutrients are likely not being absorbed in your stomach or GI tract due to flora imbalance."
A good friend sent me this article. She and I compare notes and talk about ways to improve our health and the food we prepare for our families. It is great to have others you can turn to who are trying to live the same healthy life style. It's always nice to know you aren't the only one when most people find you to be a bit strange. This article is from Natural News and once again highlights the detrimental effects of the preservatives found in so many foods that we purchase from the store.
We have written about fluoride before, and here is another article warning of this destructive poison.
This next article actually surprised me. I have long known that breakfast cereals, among many other things, are fortified with vitamins and minerals. I figured this was necessary since most food is grown in dead soil and solely supported by chemical nutrients. I had no idea that we were being overdosed with the types of synthetic additives used for this 'fortification' of our diets. The most scary thing here is the population that consumes the vast majority of breakfast cereal: children.
And speaking of children, here is another article outlining the importance of knowing what is in the food you feed them, especially babies.
The next article includes some of the previously mentioned chemicals, but provides information about the effects they have on our brains. Just one more piece of evidence showing the destructive properties of some of these additives to our food.
Some of the good news is the fight against the forced usage of GMO crops. There are some folks that do not want to grow food that makes people sick. The bad news is how hard Monsanto is willing to fight to keep people under their thumb and in their pocketbook.
And here's the kicker. Cloned meat. I don't know about you, but the thought of eating cloned meat makes me sick just thinking about it. In my humble opinion, God created the beasts of the field, as well as mankind, to reproduce in a certain fashion, not in a petri dish. It is very scary to think that man considers his skills and knowledge anywhere near what creation wrought for us in the first place, that he could somehow improve upon what is already here. I know, I know. Seeds have been manipulated and reconstructed for years and years. Well, look where that has gotten us. The food is killing us. I can't see where cloning will come anywhere close to improving the predicament we are already in.
Read. Learn. Study. Ponder. Discuss. Ponder. And learn some more. It is the only way we will be able to make intelligent, informed decisions about our health and well-being. It takes effort and hard work to produce those things we need to live. It takes time and dedication. It takes commitment. It takes love. It takes sacrifice. And it is worth it.
Until next time - Fern
We have a question for everyone. What is wrong with the food? We did a post a few days ago about what eating out does to us, and we were surprised at the responses we have had. I guess we just didn't think that there would be many people with the same problem. So, we would like to get a conversation going. The more information we all have, the more informed our decisions can be.
Let me share a little background. When we moved here from Alaska, one of the first things we got set up were our appliances which included two freezers. We located a local butcher and made arrangements to get a beef. The local ag teacher provided a hog. In the meantime, until the meat was processed, we stocked up on some chicken, pork chops, ground beef and round steak from Wal-Mart. While in Alaska, we had purchased a side of beef and ate moose, caribou and salmon from the local wildlife menu. The meat we bought at Wal-Mart surprised us. This was in 2008. The texture of the meat, especially the pork chops didn't really resemble what we would consider meat. It was almost like it was processed in some way and stuck back on the bone. It was almost scary to eat it.
When we first arrived here, if we ate out, we would go to a Western Sizzlin' (similar to a Golden Corral or other buffet restaurant) because there was a buffet with salad and other vegetables. But before long we realized that every time we ate there, we felt bad. It didn't seem to matter if we varied the content of our meals, we just felt bad, so we quit going there as well.
With Frank's recent stay in the hospital, we have had more than our fair share of food prepared by others. Now that we are home we are trying to detoxify our systems of all of the chemicals we have ingested, as well as all of the medications and anesthesia that Frank has been exposed to. We are eating many fresh things from the garden, as well as our own meat, milk and eggs. The kefir is not perking along as usual since it didn't get regular daily
attention while we were gone, but it will be back up to speed in a few days. We are having dandelion root tea daily to help cleanse the liver and keep the digestive tracts in good working condition. We hope to have our systems back to 'normal' in a few more days. One day while in the hospital, we had a very interesting conversation with Frank's surgeon. He indicated that most doctors and nutritionists
really know nothing about food and nutrition. This doctor was aware of the benefit of goat's milk over cows milk, the negative side effects of pasteurization, and he even knew the difference between A1 and A2 milk. It was a very interesting conversation.
We have written before about GMO food, MSG additives in foods and trying to avoid chemicals. Our sense of 'illness' after eating out, or eating processed foods has brought this to our attention more than ever. What is wrong with the food? Is there some kind of intentional scheme going on to affect the health of the population? Is this an intentional act our government is forcing upon food producers? Or is it just simply a matter of profit at any cost? If the food producers have any kind of business relationship with the medical industry, they have the perfect racket going. Produce food that makes people sick, send them to the medical folks for more treatment, and it is a financial win in both directions. Why is it the government appears to be attacking family farms when people are just trying to raise their own food? Are they going to regulate nutritional dependence upon the government? It appears to be one of their goals. A few years back Frank came to the conclusion that our government is going to release some type of toxin into the environment. This toxin itself will not be harmful to the individual, but when it interacts with other chemicals, then there will be a reaction which could cause an instant depopulation process. All the while, it would just look like a simple virus. Most medical people that I know do not get flu shots, but our government gives them away free. You can even get them at a drive through and not have to get out of your vehicle.
Our question for you is: What are your experiences?
What is it about the food supply that is making people feel bad or sick?
What has happened or is happening that is increasing health problems in
the general population? When people that eat processed foods 24/7, and go to someone's house and eat fresh grown food, does it make them feel sick? Is it a matter of what you're used to? What are we missing here? We are trying to wrap our heads around this one, and haven't come to a viable answer yet. Just food for thought. Let us know what you think.
Until next time - Fern
It makes us really sick, well kinda sick. You know, when you feel real yucky and just want to sit on the couch and say, "Uugghh. I don't feel good." Over the past five or six years we have noticed a growing trend in our stomachs, or maybe a growing trend in the prepared food supply. There are very few places we will eat out anymore. Not that many establishments don't serve good tasting food, it's just that there is something about the food that doesn't set well with our digestive systems. Something to ponder.
We noticed it first with fast food burger places, which we really like, we always have. Over time, it got to where we just couldn't stop there anymore without feeling bad for the rest of the day. That narrowed down the places we eat quite a bit. We have never been the kind that go to expensive restaurants just to say we did, and we seldom ate out anyway. We would rather eat at home or just grab something to tide us over until we get home. Every so often we would get something to eat just because we didn't feel like cooking, but not often. Some of this routine came from living in remote, bush Alaska where there were no places to eat at all. You fed yourself or didn't eat. Even if there were days we didn't feel like cooking, too bad. Fix it yourself or don't eat. That's when we discovered Banquet fried chicken. We could still have it flown in from the store 25 miles away. It was already frozen so it didn't matter that it was 30 degrees below zero outside. Otherwise we would just cook extra whatever - pizza, lasagna, green bean casserole - and freeze the extras in meal size portions.
What we have discovered, or our theory on it anyway, is that the additives like MSG on top of the GMO quality of most prepared foods, just don't set well with us anymore. We think one of the reasons for this is that we have very consciously tried to eliminate these items from our own food preparations. I guess we have been successful to the point that when we do consume some of these products, it upsets our
systems. That is a good thing and a bag thing. Good that we have been able to eliminate so many things from our diets, bad that when we do need to eat somewhere else, it makes us sick. All the more reason to eat at home.
From left to right: Winter squash pie with frozen Cushaw from last summer; fresh ground wheat bread; wild cherries picked yesterday, kefir in the making; eggs for the dog; mozzarella thawing out; and a lunch of fresh picked squash, onions, carrots and potatoes. Now that the garden is producing pretty well, we tend to have meals like this. For breakfast we had scrambled eggs, a glass of goat milk with peaches and pears we canned last summer.
We've gotten to the point where we seldom go to a grocery store, and that's really nice. We have plenty to eat here in season, and plenty canned on the shelf for out of season. I guess it just surprises me at the difference homegrown food can make in your overall health and well-being. We long dreamed of being able to produce our own food, and are now finally able to reap the benefits of that dream. One of the unexpected side effects of dreams come true, is finding out that the food we used to eat all of the time, now makes us sick. Interesting. Very interesting.
Until next time - Fern
What was it the wizard told Dorothy and her friends, once they finally made it to the Emerald City to get his advice, in the movie The Wizard of Oz? Something like, "Don't look behind the curtain! Don't pay any attention to the man behind the curtain!" Well, folks,the more I research and learn
for myself the composition of the things that surround us, that have been developed and marketed in the commercial arena, the more skeptical I get about the true motivation of the corporate entities in our country. I prefer my own path instead of dancing mindlessly down the yellow brick road, to the land of poison poppies that dull the senses and leave one neurologically impaired, to the point that one will take and do anything regardless of the cost to them, their families, or mankind.
I have written about GMO products before. Why have so many countries around the world banned all GMO seed production and growth from their borders? Is it because they understand and care about the dire consequences of feeding their people and livestock these products? Why are countries refusing shipments of grain exported from our country because of the GMO content of the shipment? Could it possibly be so it won't contaminate their crops and poison their people?
Sometimes Frank suffers with migraines, as do many other people. We were reading about MSG (monosodium glutamate) the other day and didn't know how many other 'names' it goes by. Here is a partial list of these other names according to truthinlabeling.org. Check the link to see the rest of the list, it is much longer than this one.
- Glutamic acid, Glutamate
- Monosodium glutamate
- Monopotassium glutamate
- Calcium glutamate
- Monoammonium glutamate
- Magnesium glutamate
- Natrium glutamate
- Anything “hydrolyzed”
- Any “hydrolyzed protein”
- Calcium caseinate, Sodium caseinate
- Gelatin
- Soy sauce
- Soy sauce extract
Some of the common side effects of MSG are: headaches, nausea, dizziness, rapid or irregular heartbeat, flushing or excessive sweating, skin rash, numbness, intense thirst, lethargy or sleepiness, ringing ears and tingling in the mouth. Not all people suffer from the same side effects, but just reading about it makes me want to try to eliminate as much as possible from our diet.
Another item in our culture that has become very popular, to the point of ridicule if you don't use it, is hand sanitizer. Yes, hand sanitizer. Does it make you 'safe' from all of those unwanted germs, or does it lower your body's ability to protect itself by killing off the natural protection your skin provides? Here are a few excerpts from an article at The Health Site.
"In a study published in the Science Daily, carried
out by the Northwestern Research Center found that a child’s immunity
is seriously affected by the
use of hand sanitizers." And, "Some hand sanitizers don’t have alcohol
content and use triclosan instead. Triclosan is an anti bacterial and
anti fungal agent and is commonly used in a variety of soaps and
cleaning agents. But, did you know that it is an active ingredient in
pesticides? Another thing to consider is the fact that the compound has
been widely touted as an agent that causes the formation of super bugs
or antibiotic resistant bacteria. Triclosan, as a component, is capable
of quickly being absorbed into the skin and entering the blood stream,
once there, it is known to cause various side effects like cancer,
allergies, hormonal and neurological ill effects and muscle weakness. More importantly, it is known to cause infertility." This is just two of the possible side effects listed on this site. If you use hand sanitizer or antibacterial anything, please look into how it may affect you and yours. What you find may be very surprising. Adequate use of soap and water will generally take care of any cleaning or disinfecting your hands may need.
Fresh air, we all love it, right? So, if the air is not fresh and sweet smelling, Madison Avenue will provide us with a way to freshen it up. From things you plug into the wall, to machines that 'freshen' the room at timed intervals, to the option of spraying away at your hearts content, we have been provided with every 'good' scent known to man right at our finger tips. According to Health Scams Exposed, "It may surprise you to know that the air fresheners you use don’t
actually make the odor in your home go away. Your home smells good when
you use them because they actually change the way your nose perceives
odors. A chemical called p-dichlorobenzene deadens the nerve cells in
your nose by coating your nostrils in a type of film." The article goes on to say, "The Centers for Disease Control classifies p-dichlorobenzene as a possible occupational carcinogen.
It has also been reported to cause asthma, allergy attacks, eye
irritation, liver disease, kidney malfunction, gastrointestinal
problems, and skin rash." This site goes to include information about some of the chemicals included in air fresheners. Air fresheners may include the ingredients:
phthalates, a powerful endocrine disruptor; parabens, which are found in deodorant as well, are known carcinogens among other things; formaldehyde, which affects your respiratory tract and has been classified as a carcinogen for over 20 years; petrochemicals, which are also in pesticides, cause breathing problems, headaches and neurological dysfunction among other problems; and benzene, a flammable, sweet-smelling chemical that is a carcinogen, is linked to leukemia, and can affect the composition of your blood cells.
Frank has never been able to walk down the soap aisle at the store, through the tire store or by someone that has on way too much cheap perfume without getting an instant headache. It seems to him that the type
of people that wear cheap perfume think that the more they wear, the better it works. They wear so much you can taste it. Yuck! Obviously it has some kind of deadening agent in it as well, because it deadens the senses of the men around them, according to Frank. So what chemical scents are included in soaps, shampoos, laundry detergent or a wide variety of cleaners? Obviously there are many other chemicals that are released into the air and absorbed into our bodies. What affect they have on us is individualized depending upon our sensitivities, but the fact that they affect us all is undeniable.
And what about the clothes we buy? When you buy clothes at the store or order them online, have you ever noticed that chemical smell when you open the package or pick them up? According to Fibre2Fashion "Formaldehyde is commonly used in
garments as an embalming fluid
to give a 'permanent press' look. Excessive
content of this chemical in our clothes can cause irritation in eyes, skin,
nose, and result in respiratory problems, and diseases like cancer. It can also
result in headaches, skin rashes, nausea, and chronic fatigue. Just by simply
touching those products, or breathing the formaldehyde they release into the
air, can cause intense symptoms." So when it comes to formaldehyde, we eat it, breathe it, dress in it, all of which can and does cause serious health issues. Then after it kills us, they preserve us with it until they can get us in the ground. Amazing, huh? We always make sure to wash any new item of clothing, or anything made of cloth, before we use it just to try to eliminate as many of these added chemicals as possible.
How many other chemical agents are out there that include a deadening agent to get us to ingest it, breathe it, drink it or absorb it? I had no idea that the mechanism of delivery for scents was to numb the olfactory nerves so that the 'foul' odors are no longer detectable. That's amazing. Why have so many things been allowed to be 'innocently' sold to the public when there are documented ill affects to health? What is the planned outcome for putting all of the poisonous chemicals in food, water, air, clothes, houses, etc., etc.? Each one of these chemicals are individually tested and deemed 'safe' at so many part per million. But what about the combination of all of them together? Our government seems to think they are safe. Right? Would they lie to us? No, not our government, not Big Brother.
Frank and I have talked about this many times. I truly believe at the onset, the ability to produce some chemical agents was for the benefit of mankind. Men, yes, men, are designed as problem solvers. As the industrial age came into full force, men wanted to design and create things that would make life easier for their families. The first wives to receive a washing machine from their husbands were very happy women indeed. So the creation of some chemicals provided a way to preserve food a little longer, made a plastic wrap that would keep the flies off of food and kept the moisture in, and just made life a little easier. When did things change from benefiting mankind to anything for a buck? When did profits and pleasing the stockholders take precedence over caring for the workers and customers? When did cold, calculating greed win?
Some people think there are just too many people on our planet and these things have to happen just to provide for the ever growing demand for basic necessities and comforts. Some people think that if these harmful substances had not been implemented to begin with, the balance in
population vs. production would have taken care of itself. You know, supply and demand. When there are not enough rabbits to feed the coyotes the population density of the coyotes decline. But if artificial means are utilized to create an over abundance of rabbits, the coyote population will increase as well. What happens when the artificial means start impacting the health of the rabbits to the point where it produces an inferior specimen or causes lethal heath issues? In turn, how does
that impact the population of the coyote? Is this a sustainable system? No. Are we caught right in the middle of all of it? Yes, very sadly we are. So, now what? Frank and I both agree there is absolutely no way we can avoid all chemicals. Everything we eat, wear, breathe, drink, read and look at has been impacted by chemicals one way or another. What can we do? Research, learn and modify the way we do things as much as possible. Has much damage already been done to our bodies? Yes. Is it reversible? I don't know. Maybe some of it is. But I do know that God has given me this task to perform. Why, I do not know. I only know that I am supposed to learn as much as I can. Now. Not later. The choice is mine and I choose to live the best way I know how. What about you?
Until next time - Fern
