Food of the United States is a sheer and utter disgrace

It's a travesty that the FDA allows food companies to put hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils in our foods!!!!!!!!!!!! If it's in the ingredients, don't eat it!!!! That stuff is killing our citizens faster than tobacco!!!! Read your labels!!!! If you eat Easy Cheese on your crackers, stop immediately!!! Read your peanut butter labels!!! Read your margarine labels!!!!!!!! Hydrogenated oils = Early Death

 

Dude that stuff occurs natrually in meat they have to remove it not put it in.

 

I understand that much. But raising a few more cattle or a few more chickens would serve the same purpose. The only constant in the equation is the number of pounds of beef or chicken a person can eat.

 

Sorry no it wouldn't. You can only feed so many cattle in a given enclosure. Ditto chickens. And the iportant point here is to reduce the time it takes the farmer to get them to market which allows them to cycle more cattle through a given enclosure in less time there by lowering beef prices while ensuring the rancher enough money to stay in business.

 

Citation needed.

The myth that carrots are eaten to counteract blindness was propaganda used by the British government during WWII to get people to grow their own vegetables in times of shortages. Carrots, potatoes and cabbages were used because they are easy to grow. But yes I'll admit beta-carotene is one way to combat night blindness.

Getting back to Asians and blindness, one of the best substances which is good for your eyesight is Omega 3 which is mainly found in fish. Asians, especially Japanese and Koreans are big fish eaters. Also in Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and even Vietnam where the biggest source of animal protein comes from fish.

 

http://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/vad/en/


http://www.goldenrice.org/

 

No time to properly respond. On my out to get some Chinese American food, with lots of vegetables, minerals, and non FDA regulated animal protein. MMM MMM good.

Tomorrow, I am going to go and get baby back barbeque ribs, corn on the cob, baked potato, barbeque beans, and large Southern Ice tea. MMM MMMMM good.

I may die of heartburn, heart attack, or get hit by crazy vegetarian driving a Hyundai, but at least I will have eaten what I wanted to, rather than be told what to eat by a bunch of blah blah idiots on PF.

 

No mention in your links about not eating carrots is the major cause of blindness in Asia.

A little hint, carrots are grown and eaten (along with other vegetables, especially leafy vegetables) throughout Asia.

Getting back to the rice issue, the problem in poorer Asian nations is people eat too much rice. It's their major staple and rice alone (especially processed rice) has very little nutritional value except a good sourse of carbohydrates.

I'm going to use Laos as an example because it's one of he poorest nations in Asia and I've seen things first hand. In the poorer communities rice consumption is about 75% of the diet. Most people eat "sticky rice" ( a highly glutinous species)which is of a different variety to the steamed rice you are aware of. It is also just a tad more nutritious than normal steamed rice variety,, just a tad because it contains some natural oils and some unrefined sugars. But still not nutritious enough, it is only a "filler". Those who are uneducated about nutrition still believe if you are satisfied you are eating well. Rural Lao also grow and consume a lot of vegetables, mainly leafy variety along with their rice.

Where the rural Lao diet is lacking is in animal proteins and fats. Having many rivers in the country with an abundance of fish, fish is high in their diet, but the problem with fishing is it's very labour intensive and a hit and miss form of gathering food. The Lao cast nets to fish. If a man spends too much time fishing, it takes him away from farming.

What the government and health NGOs have been doing is promoting the consumption of certain insects, which are very high in protein, iron, B group vitamins and Omega 3 oils. BTW,, insects have always been a traditional food sourse but people somehow are moving away from this food sourse. Insects are easy to gather as opposed to fishing. Women and children are the food gatherers in rural Laos.

Just to mention,, I don't mind eating insects. I've eaten roast silkworms on occasions. What I really like is what the Lao call "jii ngai", a species of cricket done in garlic, chilli and lime leaves. A wonderful snack with a cold beer.

 

Now that's funny.

 

I so totally agree!

After spending almost three months in Europe (just came back yesterday) I had the displeasure (and the shock!) of doing some grocery shopping in my local supermarket. What I found depressed me to no end. . .and I can afford to buy the best food, unlike so many family with 2 or 3 children!

One KILO (2.2 lbs) of tomatoes in Belgium (Carrefour): 99c (in Euro, so around $1.30)
One POUND of tomatoes in South Carolina (Publix): $1.99 or 3 times more!

Same with apples, oranges, and every other fruit. . .And please note that ALL the vegetables and fruit in the European supermarket were fresher and more plentiful!
Same with bread, which is obviously less processed in Europe and much healthier.

And my favorite. . .(cheese). . .also up to 3X more expensive! Obviously, we are not talking about highly processed cheese like Kraft cheddar, but raw cheeses, those with flavor and nutritional value far beyond the fat containt!
For example, a chunk of brie (Coeur de Lion brand, in both Publix and Carrefour) that sold for $3.25 in Belgium sold today at Publix in South Carolina for $8.49!

I want to go back!!!!

 

You seem to be confusing fresh food with organic.

organic means complete natural with no additives or chemicals. Most of the vegetables, meat, and fruit sold in stores are loaded with all sorts of things.

It get actual organic food, you have to pay more. For example, a bunch of normal bananas cost around 50o cents. organic bananas cost around 80.

 

Cattle are prone to infections and one could lose a whole herd if not protected against it. Lean beef is not preferred generally and, until the public demands it, those who make their living raising cattle will stick to protecting their herd, and making the animals as healthy as possible. Typically these cattle are corn or barley fed before slaughter to promote 'marbling' (fat content) in the muscle fiber. Better taste, not too tough, juicier etc. Those are the facts that beef producers deal with every day. Job #1 is raising HEALTHY animals.

MOST Americans eat beef in fact Americans consume almost a quarter of the beef produced in the world. People are fatter because the food is more plentiful and nutritious. It has nothing whatsoever to do with alleged 'bad' hormones. It has more to do with easy availability (fast foods that are mostly fried) and folks with different digestive systems. Our food is in fact, so good and so nutritious that we are suffering from too much of a good thing. The current health craze is IMO an almost subconscious collective movement as folks realize they have been simply eating too much and moving less. It ain't the FOOD.

 

I agree, yet there is plenty of good food to be had. For those near a Whole Foods (expensive) or Trader Joes (reasonable) there are excellent choices at supermarket prices. If you live anywhere near agriculture, CSA programs enable you to buy fresh and organic. Most cities now have farmer's markets. One can avoid the Big Agra/Corporate Food Industrial Machines and their poison filled process craps and eat well at a decent price.

 

Not really. Many are rent-seekers, buying government approval for their swill and foisting stuff upon you that is labelled "healthy" when it's more like poison to the body. They seek to bury small producers with bureaucratic paperwork and control the USDA which publishes food pyramids that should be exactly the opposite of what they are.

It's not expensive if you do it right. There are many good blogs these days on eating healthy on a budget.

 

Good thing we have the angelic, omniscient FDA to keep us safe from all the poison the wicked corporations make available to us at the grocery store.

 

I agree, here is where you can do something about it:

https://fdn.actionkit.com/donate/its_time_label_GMOs/?akid=634.417730.qLC6bc&rd=1&t=7

 

Other than a stupid American tourist, there is really nothing more annoying than a patronizing foreigner. I've been around the world. There's plenty of unhealthy to go around. The US is at the mercy of corporatism, I'll grant you that, but the rest of the world follows along and will be where we are now, soon enough. Go protect your own backyard.

 

I can buy a burger on the 'dollar' menu fully cooked, ready to eat in less than 5 minutes at a drive-thru. Why would I want to go and buy raw meat, buns, condiments and cook it? Fast food is GREAT! I used to smoke, it was great, I loved it until I could no longer afford it...so I QUIT. 30 years ago or so now. Unfortunately government intervention has caused smokers to be singled out and if one smokes these days they can get disqualified for certain jobs and insurance policies. THAT freedom is long gone. Pretty soon fast food will be banned as well.

Yes and financial irresponsibility is exacerbated by government entitlement programs that have been expanded to include the able-bodied as our government officials keep their stranglehold on the economy.

 

It would really depend on whether you prefer real meat over fake sh!t.

 

That fast food is made of low grade meat (unless it's In'N'Out which is somewhat better, and fresh) often mixed with what is affectionately known as "pink slime." It's sort of meat. It's then fried in a heavily processed oil which will promote inflammation that leads to heart disease (it's not the fat, as the government claims). It's put on a bun and you get a bit of nutrients from the hothouse lettuce and tomato grown in chemically fertilized soil with little of the minerals and vitamins one would find in a tomato grown even 20 years ago. The bun is made from bleached flour from which all the nutrients have been drained (and resold to you in vitamins). It probably contains a healthy amount of high fructose corn syrup to give it a nice sweet flavor, and uses sawdust as filler.

Or, you can go to the grocery store, get some grass fed ground beef for about $5/pound, get some lettuce grown locally along with tomatoes grown locally. Wrap your burger in the lettuce, throw on some real cheese, and have a protein style burger that your heart and your colon will thank you for.

I have no desire to see fast food outlawed. I agree with you: I loved smoking, and I don't think that smoking would be a huge problem given an otherwise healthy lifestyle and given cigarettes that aren't as loaded with crap as the burger you are consuming for $1.

Dependency and ready consumers for your state capitalist masters.

 

Yes more food at low prices is a bad thing Anyway the problem here isn't the food in the market used to cook, it's the fast foods people buy that are filled with garbage. Buying some chicken/pork/beef out of the deli with some vegetables/fruit/spices/grains isn't going to kill you; it's eating fast food 24/7 that will.

 

Plus, eating fast food = supporting multi-national (or in some cases just national) big business chains, while fresh food from small, local businesses puts that money directly into your local economy.

Plus, the small and local businesses are the honest ones.

 

Yes, I have heard this argument before.

The problem with the "never proven unsafe" argument is that *it was never proven safe* and the difficulty of the "prove it unsafe" proof results in idiots treating the inability to prove it unsafe as an acceptance for the danger.

When you are evaluating playground equipment for your child, would you apply the "It's not proven unsafe" metric or the "It has a certain safety" metric?

Now why would you accept liquid chicken nugget chemicals because theyir not proven unsafe, without bothering to MEASURE the safety. FOR YOUR CHILD.

My friend. The FDA does not operate on food safety, but the inability to prove food unsafe. YES, FDA officials have written books and spoke about the depravity and year-on-year corporate exploitation of the US system. DON'T TAKE MY WORD FOR IT. DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH.

 

I hope you don't drink milk. The cows are so sick and shot up with antibiotics (some can barely stand), because of Monsanto fat cats shooting them up to "produce more milk". Walmart will be selling GMO corn soon and you don't even get to know which is which. Slave labor, unethical business practices...and they sell that crap food that consists of powdered chemicals, mercury laden soda, those yummy triphosphate dogs! Yum! You're eatin' chemicals known to cause cancer....with little to no actual food content. High profit margin though!!! Read the ingredients next time...on anything. Trisolfixane diphosphate, mercriculim oxides, hexalethalpolysulfides with color added, mechanically separated drugged up chicken. MMMMMM! Slave labor employees, slave labor made products, and lots and lots of profit for the fat cats. Americans should be so proud of their corporate mafia.

 

You know I really don't post very often or in threads that discuss such topics. However I do peruse them quite a bit and notice that YOU specifically seem to pop into every thread where genetically engineered foods or companies such as Monsanto are mentioned. I know for at least the last several years anyways. Do you work for ADM or Monsanto? Just curious because you seem to furiously defend genetically modified crops and was just curious why you are so passionate about doing weird science on foods in the name of profit but I digress.

Also....over the last 10 years I have lost 4 aunts and uncles to cancer, father in law just diagnosed and operated on, next door neighbor has cancer and is dying, guy across the street died of cancer a couple years ago and the list of otherwise friends I know who have died or currently have cancer goes on and on. I am not saying it is FOR SURE the foods causing it. I honestly don't know. Could be a variety of things but I do know over the last 20 years it seems as though the number of people dying from cancer or diagnosed with cancer increasing on a massive scale.

I do have a suspicion it is the chemicals, pesticides and other genetically modified foods and beverages we are consuming that play a major role. Of course there are other known causes like smoking, radiation exposure, etc...

I guess what I am asking are there studies that show specifically that many of these chemicals, pesticides or genetically modified foods cause cancer? Direct correlation? Long term studies?

I thought I read or heard about a study conducted over the coarse of a rats lifetime that just concluded within the last few days that showed major tumor and cancer growth, organ failure and early death where rats where fed nothing but genetically modified foods. Was there such a study done recently or did I misunderstand?