The RAnts of RA

Have you noticed all the news articles taunting how organic food isn’t any more healthy for us than eating the pesticide laden, mass-produced vegetables that most of us consume?

They really don’t get it. (Don’t ask me who “they” is, I don’t have a clue. I suppose “they” is anyone who stands to benefit from poisoning families.) They think, it’s all about money – everyone knows it’s cheaper to eat genetically modified, pesticide ready food – we know it’s about health.

You can’t place a price on your health. Many of these chemicals we have come to depend on, build up in our bodies – many new health problems will crop up and trusting consumers have yet to experience the full measure of our actions.

Much of the harm that can be done, has already been done to my body, but about my son? What do I tell him when he asks why I didn’t work harder to protect him? He has his entire life ahead of him. We owe it to our children to feed them healthy food.

We have placed false hope in our government; They won’t protect us. Our government has sold us out. It is up to parents to use wisdom when choosing the foods we serve on our tables. I was overjoyed when my eldest son informed me they were putting in a garden this year. No pesticides were used and my grandkids will reap the benefits of fresh, healthy vegetables.

The bad economy has been good for many industrious people. It has motivated them to put in gardens, to start their own businesses, and tighten their budget. Individuals who aren’t quite so motivated or creative are struggling but that’s the way it’s always been.

Our own business showed some growing pains, we lost a few clients in the beginning but no more than in a normal year. Recently, we’ve seen online businesses expanding and getting more creative in their marketing. New businesses are cropping up at a faster pace than normal.

What I find really exciting is the positive effect all this could have on our lives. As more people begin Internet-based businesses, allowing them to work from their home office, we will begin to see fewer cars on the road, which means less emissions.

I don’t understand why the feds don’t encourage employers to hire home workers by offering tax credits. It seems like such a smart solution to our crowded roads and pollution choked cities. This would have the added benefit of allowing people to select where they live. In many cases, this would allow families to live closer to their extended family.

It is wonderful to see a determined citizenry stand up to the challeges we are facing today and not cave in under the pressures. As for buying organic: I may not always be able to afford to buy organic but I look at it this way, every dollar I spend on organic foods, is a vote for natural foods. It’s one less dollar the chemical companies get.

Buying organic may or may not provide any vitamin benefits but it sure makes you feel good about the choices you make. I kind of like the feeling, so I think I’ll keep “wasting” my money. Who knows, my son may thank me one day — or not.

Just who in the world does Governor Schwarzenegger think he is? What right does that man have to tell me what I can or cannot eat?

I grew up across the street from a dairy farm. Where every few days, I walked across the street with my large mouth 2-gallon jug to purchase fresh milk with the creme on top. Back then we called it “milk.” Today we can’t call it milk because everyone would mistake it for the new and improved inedible dead substitute excuse for milk they sell from every “authorized” retailer in the state.

Does Arnold really think he has the authority to mandate that we drink dead milk, not fit for animal consumption? The gut wrenching affects should be your first clue. Before the close of the legislative session our illustrious leader saw fit to Veto SB 201 a bill written in order to combat standards that were quietly passed in AB 1735 last session.

The way things are going in California; soon we’ll all be forced to live in large communes on small tracks of land allocated to the family unit, where we will grow large gardens, spend the summer canning and raise our own livestock.

CREMA  (California Real Milk Association) is leading the fight again this highly discriminator act that one could almost call arrogance. They issued the following statement:

Read the Governor’s veto statement

Read Senator Florez’ statement to the press

SB 201 Vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger

Our fight for raw milk in CA continues…

Despite our hundreds of calls and letters and overwhelming bipartisan support of the Legislature, our bill was vetoed by the Governor. Politics were at play as the Governor ignored testimony from UC Davis and other scientific experts that HACCP  plans and increased pathogen testing are a better way to regulate raw milk than coliform  limits. Instead, the Governor succumbed to pressure from the CDFA and other parties who would like to regulate raw milk out of business.

What’s next?

Senator Florez  will continue this fight when the new legislative session begins in January. California’s two raw milk dairies will press forward with their joint lawsuit against the CDFA’s  current standard while trying their best to continue operations under difficult conditions. (One dairy has already seen a significant increase in harassment by inspectors in the last week.) They ask for your continued patience and support if there are disruptions in supply.

As consumers, we can continue this fight to save our milk in CA by doing the following:

1. Consider making a donation to the Farm-To-Consumer-Legal Defense Fund. This arm of the Weston A. Price Foundation is providing legal representation to the two California dairies and is crucial to fighting the current standards in AB 1735 so we can still find the milk on store shelves. For more info and to donate click here.
2. Call your lawmakers and tell them how you feel. They listened and responded to us by passing SB 201 out of the Legislature with only four no votes. We need them to be just as responsive when we take this up again in January.
3. Call the Governor’s office and tell him how you feel. Tell him the CDFA is wrong and to read the testimony from the hearings or watch it on our video.
4. Continue telling your store managers how important raw milk is to you. We had strong vocal support from major raw milk retailers at our hearings and behind the scenes. If you are a Whole Foods customer, let them know you want them to keep fighting for us. Their political clout will continue to be critical going forward.
5. Write letters to editors, post on blogs, and tell your friends about the significant health benefits of raw milk. More enthusiastic consumers means more voices in our lawmakers ears.

We Californians have made huge strides in leading the nationwide effort to assure raw milk safety and consumer choice! Let’s be proud of our progress as we press forward in this campaign for nature’s most perfect food!

137 N. Larchmont Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90004

If you haven’t discovered the benefits of drinking raw, natural milk, your family is really missing out. A google search will provide plenty of information both fact and fiction but don’t let that prevent you from exploring your options. Our family was amazed at what we discoved and we are reaping the health benefits from making the switch.

While I admit we aren’t big milk drinkers, we do like a little on our cereal occasionally and you can’t beat milk for dunking oreo cookies. Despite recent campaigns telling consumers otherwise, milk is not necessary to a healthy body but if you are going to drink it, it should be the real deal.

~Annette
Got Milk? REAL Milk?

You are what you eat!

Going to the grocery store in recent days has become an extreme act of faith and it’s this author’s opinion that this is just the beginning of things to come. Companies like Monsanto are intent on corrupting our food supply.

To be honest I wasn’t overly concerned with the Spinach recall; I don’t care for it. In fact, I can’t even stand the smell of it, so it’s never served in my home. Ok, I’ll fess up, I don’t eat tomatoes either, however, this issue hits closer to home because ketchup is made from tomatoes and so are many other products we use regularly.

A search turned up some interesting videos about the growing of corn; a huge controversy regarding seeds and growing conflict over who controls the food we buy. Our family has been following the raw milk issue in California very closely. As someone who grew up drinking farm-fresh, pure straight-from-the-cow milk, I’m a firm believer in the tremendous health benefits of drinking natural milk.

I still can’t get the hang of calling milk "raw." I’ve always thought of milk as real and natural. We don’t say I’m going to the store to buy raw eggs or raw onions. The stuff in the store is processed; it’s processed food, just like that nasty Macaroni and Cheese you buy in a box from Kraft Foods. We know it’s bad for us, but our kids just love it. I hated buying Blue’s Clues Macaroni and Cheese – that stuff just looked nasty – but my son claimed he loved the strange looking stuff. Processed milk has had all the benefits of milk killed – it’s dead!

I would be the last person anyone would call an environmentalist. We all know they are extremist, left-leaning whack-jobs that have too much time on their hands and not enough to do. But I no longer live on a farm and unless I want to try growing a pot garden (vegetables in pots, not marijuana), I must shop for my foods at the grocery store. I was shocked to learn that the US is one of only four or five countries that do not require the labeling of genetically modified foods. What?

I am outraged. I am frightened and discouraged. Our children are going to be left with a world that is not only sick from the effects of pollution, but of the long-lasting results of intentional tampering with their natural food supply.

We moved up to the mountains around 6-years ago – you know the place everyone goes to dump their garbage? How could someone disrespect these lovely mountains? The situation is kept at bay by a group of wonderful volunteers, who meet each month to pick up roadside trash.

I’ve turned over a new leaf and become what I think of as a naturalist. (Reminder to self – look up Naturalist.) We’ve never given as much thought as to what we purchase as we do today. After discovering that E. coli and other types of infectious agents, including bacteria are used to introduce spliced genes into GMO foods; corn, soy and tomatoes are the main items. It has been estimated that as much as 80% of the corn we consume and 70-75% of all processed food has been genetically-modified. This is huge.

It’s in our tacos, our corn chips, corn on the cob; it’s fed to cows and chickens. It’s also in everything that has "High Fructose Corn Syrup". No testing has been done; the FDA claims they have no responsibility to warn us, since after all, "it’s just food". This is one huge experiment that will cause untold harm to the public at large.

Today we read labels – closely. We’ve learned to avoid "high-fructose corn syrup." If you aren’t aware of the history of high-fructose corn syrup, check it out. I was appalled by what I had learned. We are buying our fruits, vegetables and meat as close to nature as possible. It requires a great deal of rethinking our buying habits, since these days "natural = $$$$" and lots of it.

We ate our first sloppy joes made with 100% organic ground beef last night. They tasted wonderful! I figure it cost me about $2.00 more to serve the organic meat, than I would normally spend on beef that had consumed the genetically-modified corn. Health-wise, I’m not certain of the health benefits of eating ground up meat and fat scraps but I felt great knowing my son had one less meal of Franken-corn. The way I see it, if we don’t buy it, there won’t be a market for more of it.

I’m reading everything I can about our food supply and the technology being used to create it. I’ve posted some helpful articles at: Food and Nutrition in the News

Multi-Media Resources

• The Future of Food
• Genetically Modified Food: Panacea or Poison
• Bad Seed: The Truth About Our Food
• King Corn
• In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto
• Second Nature: A Gardener’s Education
• Seeds of Deception: Exposing Industry and Government Lies About the Safety of the Genetically Engineered Foods
• Genetically Engineered Food: A Self-Defense Guide for Consumers
• Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods
• The Gmo Trilogy And Seeds of Deception Set
• The Hundred-Year Lie: How to Protect Yourself from the Chemicals That Are Destroying Your Health