DUmmies get fat & blame others

[RobJohnson]

marmar  (1000+ posts)        Sat Jun-27-09 01:28 PM
Original message
Factory food: The cheap, mass-produced food we eat is killing our environment, our economy — and us 
 from the Boston Phoenix:



Factory food
Why the cheap, mass-produced food we eat is killing our environment, our economy — and us

By MIKE MILIARD | June 25, 2009 |


Since Squanto taught the Pilgrims to plant maize, no food has been more emblematic of the evolution of American eating habits than corn. That's been true from the sepia-tinged golden age of the Midwestern breadbasket to the present day, where those yellow kernels are lab-engineered and recombinated into a dizzying array of futuristic foodstuffs.

In Mark Kurlansky's new anthology, The Food of a Younger Land (Riverhead) — which compiles reportage and recipes from "America Eats," an unfinished venture of the Depression-era WPA Federal Writers' Project — we visit Pop Corn Days in North Loup, Nebraska. There, fairgoers munched from "bushels of popped fluffiness" while watching the procession of the Pop Corn Queen, "heralded by buglers with green capes over their uniforms . . . regal in her robes of lustrous gold satin." We also learn how, across the Midwest, corn was "cultivated for uses in 'johnny-cake,' corn mush, 'big hominy,' ash-cake, corn whisky, corn pone, or the small loaves called 'corn dodgers.' "

Nowadays, though, as we're shown in Robert Kenner's new documentary Food, Inc., we consume corn via high-fructose corn syrup, maltodextrin, di-glycerides, xanthan gum, ascorbic acid, calcium stearate, citrus cloud emulsion, saccharin, sucrose, sorbital, ethyl acetate, ethyl lactate, cellulose, xylital, alpha tocopherol, gluten, polydextrose, inositol, and Fibersol-2. Gives the term "corn-fed" a whole new meaning, eh?

"The way we eat has changed more in the last 50 years than the previous 10,000," notes Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma, at the outset of Food, Inc. And not for the better.

The food we eat today is making us fat. It's making us sick. And the vast, government-subsidized system of agribusiness and mechanized corporate food production is inefficient and unsustainable, slowly ruining our environment, our economy, and our culture. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://thephoenix.com/Boston/News/85578-Factory-food /

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5939359

lindisfarne (1000+ posts)     Sat Jun-27-09 01:33 PM
Response to Original message
1. Just got back from my farmers market where everything is local and much is produced organically and/
 or sustainably. Munching on peas right now.

 

kestrel91316  (1000+ posts)        Sat Jun-27-09 01:38 PM
Response to Reply #1
3. Waiting for the DUers who are gonna attack you as a rich elitist
 and how dare you suggest that poor people spend what little money they have on expensive produce in 3....2....1....

NYC_SKP  (1000+ posts)        Sat Jun-27-09 01:47 PM
Response to Reply #3
5. True, that. And to them I say, "walk the talk", "find a way"...
 I've read people's comments defending their buying from Walmart because they can't live without them low everyday prices.

Bullshit.

 

lindisfarne (1000+ posts)     Sat Jun-27-09 01:57 PM
Response to Reply #3
6. Farmers Markets are very affordable where I live. Plus I'm supporting people in my community & the 
 Edited on Sat Jun-27-09 02:05 PM by lindisfarne
money stays in the community. I know YOU know that - this is for others.

Processed foods like breakfast cereals are VERY expensive per pound - compare bulk organic oatmeal to cheerios on sale - on a per pound basis, organic bulk oatmeal wins always.

Americans spend a much lower percentage of their income on their food than they did even 30 years ago. So most can afford to make better food choices (esp. when they cut out junk food) if they reduce their consumerism.

Organic is very often as cheap or just slightly more expensive when bought in season = even in stores, but esp. at a farmers market. But, avoid organics from China (Trader Joe's doesn't carry products from China so you're safe there).

Buying sustainably grown, local, &/or organic is a high priority for me. Not everything, but a good deal (and especially to avoid conventional produce in the "dirty dozen" list). Humanely raised (and slaughtered) animals is important - see cornucopia.org for their report on which "organic" dairies treat their cows in a way that is consistent with the spirit and letter of the organics law (avoid Horizon - better to buy rBST-free conventional milk than Horizon). See http://www.certifiedhumane.org / for which products are from animals humanely raised and slaughtered. Meat: CUT BACK - that's the best thing for you and the animals. Buy local if you can - but make sure you quiz the producer on their methods; visit the farm; ask about where they slaughter the animals. Buy some organic - if you eat less, the increase in price isn't bad.

Anyone who considers this elitist: how much money do you spend eating processed foods? eating out? drinking wine/beer? buying non-alcoholic drinks of any sort? buying non-food junk you really don't need? going to movies? renting movies (I get mine at the library).

I have a small garden but I'm still learning - and the folks at the farmers market give me good tips and have more variety. Plus, I chat with lots of people in the community - for me, the farmers market is a social event.

 

kestrel91316  (1000+ posts)        Sat Jun-27-09 02:52 PM
Response to Reply #6
9. I've at times said everything you are saying. There is a vocal minority
 here who will shriek about how the poor "DON'T HAVE TIME TO COOK FROM SCRATCH !!!!!" and therefore "HAVE TO BUY PROCESSED AND CONVENIENCE FOODS!!!!!!"

And I just sigh, because they truly don't GET it.

 

[Carl]

Cry me another river DUmbasses.

[Tantal]

kestrel91316  (1000+ posts)        Sat Jun-27-09 02:52 PM
Response to Reply #6
9. I've at times said everything you are saying. There is a vocal minority
 here who will shriek about how the poor "DON'T HAVE TIME TO COOK FROM SCRATCH !!!!!" and therefore "HAVE TO BUY PROCESSED AND CONVENIENCE FOODS!!!!!!"

And I just sigh, because they truly don't GET it.

Actually, some of the poor are just too lazy to cook from scratch. They stay home all day watching Springer, then, come suppertime, throw a Totinos pizza into the microwave.

[franksolich]

Cry me another river DUmbasses.

On the other hand, the primitives whine about the high price of groceries, even though Americans spend a lower percentage of their income on food, than do people in other countries.

One can have cheap, but lousy, food, or good, but expensive, food.

One can have one thing or the other, but not both things.

As for the small farmer for whom the primitives constantly yearn, well, one supposes it is possible, to "go back" to the small family farm.....provided our system of taxation goes back to what it was, when the small family farm flourished and prospered.

I don't think the primitives are too keen on the notion of smaller government, fewer taxes, but that's what has to happen, to bring back the small family farm.

Again, the primitives are wishing for two things, when they can have only one thing.

The small family farm at the "cost" of smaller government and fewer taxes, or big paternal government that takes care of the primitives, at the "cost" of extincting small family farms (and other sorts of local enterprises).

The primitives can have one thing or the other, but not both things.

[miskie]

I dont see what the problem is -- Once Obama takes full control of everything, most small food producers will go under because it will be too expensive to stay in business. Expect the likes of Walmart and other grocery giants to deliver more mass produced foods than ever before.

[franksolich]

I dont see what the problem is -- Once Obama takes full control of everything, most small food producers will go under because it will be too expensive to stay in business. Expect the likes of Walmart and other grocery giants to deliver more mass produced foods than ever before.

Exactly.

[RobJohnson]

Actually, some of the poor are just too lazy to cook from scratch. They stay home all day watching Springer, then, come suppertime, throw a Totinos pizza into the microwave.

Most "poor" have more food in the house then I do, thanks to food stamps.

[jukin]

DUmmies get/don't get (fill in the blank) & blame others.

[RobJohnson]

DUmmies get/don't get (fill in the blank) & blame others.

They just don't have time to eat healthy!