Why be choosey when shopping??

I remember when I lived in Santiago Chile and going shopping at we refer to as the "Farmer's Market". There were at least bi-weekly markets in all neighbor hoods. There were very few grocery stores, people bought what they ate fresh, had very little garbage, supported local economy, and didn't need to have a giant refrigerator and massive storage for food.

We can only afford to do this now because of the artificially low energy prices that we currently enjoy, and by externalizing the environmental costs of such a wasteful food system. We do this also to the detriment of small farmers by subsidizing large scale, agribusiness-oriented agriculture with government handouts and artificially cheap energy.

I reflect on those experiences when I shop here in Missoula or go to the store. At Costco or other stores like Walmart you can see people leave with a massive bounty of food stuff and other goods. My attitude has shifted from being a box store addict to, well lets see...ill describe it!! (its hard)

Cheap energy and agricultural subsidies facilitate a type of agriculture that is destroying and polluting our soils and water, weakening our communities, and concentrating wealth and power into a few hands. It is also threatening the security of our food systems, as demonstrated by the continued e-Coli, GMO-contamination, and other health scares that are often seen nowadays on the news.

We joined a co-op, Trying to ween my better half off Walmart, we buy much less processed and packaged food. We dint buy too much from the co-op yet and I cant bring myself to brave the Local farmer's market scene...and it is a scene. over all it takes discipline and quite a bit more effort to eat healthy and shop responsibly.

Why do it? It is not just about eating organic, as a matter of fact I don't really focus on organic as much as locally grown. We have some excellent local farmers who don't jump through the USDA hoop of red tape, bureaucracy and fees and actually have higher standards. So I can buy stuff where I know the grower, know where it was grown. Also it wasn't shipped 1500 miles and harvested prematurely to adjust for shelf life at the super market.

Most produce in the US is picked 4 to 7 days before being placed on supermarket shelves, and is shipped for an average of 1500 miles before being sold. And this is when taking into account only US grown products! Those distances are substantially longer when we take into consideration produce imported from Mexico, Asia, Canada, South America, and other places.

What is becoming an even more significant reason is that the money we spend supports a local economy, a local family, a local school. It doesnt go to a corporate farmer or some other agri-giant that has found a way to manipulate the system and is only socially responsible and organic on the nifty packaging.

These large-scale, agribusiness-oriented food systems are bound to fail on the long term, sunk by their own unsustainability. But why wait until we're forced by circumstance to abandon our destructive patterns of consumption? We can start now by buying locally grown food whenever possible. By doing so you'll be helping preserve the environment, and you'll be strengthening your community by investing your food dollar close to home. Only 18 cents of every dollar, when buying at a large supermarket, go to the grower. 82 cents go to various unnecessary middlemen. Cut them out of the picture and buy your food directly from your local farmer.

Family farms are an important part of the American tradition of self-sufficiency, forming the bedrock for communities across the U.S.

Since 1935, the U.S. has lost 4.7 million farms. Fewer than one million Americans now claim farming as a primary occupation.

Go to local harvest for more great info

Top Five Ways to Avoid GMOs in Your Food
by Dr. Gregory Damato, Ph.D., citizen journalist
See all articles by this author
Email this author


(NaturalNews) Recent polls across the world have consistently shown that, if they had a choice, 90% of people would actively seek to avoid GMOs (genetically modified organisms) in their food. The large multinational corporations of the world have gone through extensive measures to ensure the citizens of most nations have no possible way of knowing whether the food they and their children are eating contain contaminants of GMOs. The labelling of GMOs on the packaging of any foods in the US for example, is illegal. For example, if a company like Kellogs decided to include a full disclosure label on their cereal box that stated, "contains genetically modified corn" they could be sued by the manufacturer and then face possible prison time.

This is a very important issue because the democratic process of many nations has been surreptitiously supplanted by the corporatocracy of the seed company juggernauts. America has one of the highest levels of GMOs in their food chain in the western world with up to 85% of its pre-packaged and processed foods coming from genetic engineering. The people have never asked for GMOs- but got them anyway. The people then asked that they be properly labeled so they could avoid them- they were ignored. Therefore, seeing how our health freedom and well-being is consistently under attack from large multi-national corporations only seeking to increase profits at the expense of our health, what are we to do?

What we can do is simply try to avoid the GMO contaminants altogether and be extremely vigilant of how we spend our money and which companies we are choosing to support. Here are five simple and effective ways to decrease your contact with untested, toxic and dangerous GMOs.

1.) Buy Locally Produced Food

For now, GMOs are only used by large multinational corporations who buy direct from large farms. Produce from local mom and pop farmers have yet to become genetically modified. Purchasing locally grown food supports your local farmers and your health. Not to worry about GMO tomatoes and potatoes as they have all been pulled from the market.

2.) Buy Organically Grown Food

For now, the organic certification process is a relatively safe bet to ensure your food is free of GMOs, although this may not be the case in the future. Help support global sustainability by purchasing certified organically grown food.

3.) Avoid the Top Four GMO Crops of Soy, Corn, Canola and Cottonseed

This is a bit tricky as most blended oils in North America contain canola and cottonseed. Whenever you go out to dinner and receive anything fried, you are most likely consuming GMOs from the oil, not to mention transfat. A way around this would be to purchase 100% extra virgin olive oil, but be sure to avoid the term olive oil as most of it is blended with some GMO cottonseed or canola. Unless it specifically states "Non-GMO" or some derivation on the label, it most likely contains GMOs.

Likewise, any time you go you consume corn chips, tacos or soy milk, you are eating GMOs, again unless it specifically states Non-GMO or is organic.

4.) Avoid Artificial Additives and Sweeteners

Most of use are aware of the dangers behind the artificial sweetener and excitotoxin, aspartame (known as preservative E951), but may not be aware that it is created using genetic modification. Even the majority of vitamin C (asorbic Acid) and many B vitamins have been created via genetic modification. A Japanese company was forced to pull GMO L-Tryptophan off the market in 1989 after thousands of people became severely ill with many developing an extremely rare blood disorder called, Esinophilia-Myalgia Syndrome (EMS), although the FDA never publicly mentioned that GMO contamination was the true cause of the recall.

5.) Look For the Non-GMO Label

This includes all animals used for food because most are typically fed GMO feed. If it does not state Non-GMO on the label, then email the manufacturer and ask if they use GMO feed. It is best to attempt to contact all of the manufacturers of the foods you generally eat on a daily or even weekly basis and determine whether GMOs ingredients are utilized in the food. You have a fundamental right to know whether the foods you are consuming have been contaminated with GMOs. When in doubt always look for the Non-GMO label, and unfortunately assume that it has been genetically modified unless the opposite have been explicitly stated.

More.....

Health Care Battles..get your facts Early

Be prepared for a lot of scare stemming from insurance and Pharma industry when it come to any health care innovative reform. They are the biggest pigs at the trough with the most to lose. People need to rise up and support mandatory health care for every person. People en mass need to reject propaganda and fear tactics from BIG Business. Here are some recent articles you should get familiar with.

Health Industry Finds strategy to influence the Public

"Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) recently summed up the dilemma in an interview with Politico, saying, "The big thing for Republicans is to communicate that it is not acceptable for 40 million people in America not to have health insurance. But it's also unacceptable to turn our whole health care system over to the same people who ran Katrina and ran the Iraq war and [are] running the bailout.""

.................Alternet/source.............

Melamine and FDA protection(er Lack of)

There are three things you need to understand about this issue: First, after the melamine scandal broke in China and sickened tens of thousands of babies, the FDA assured the American people that U.S. infant formula products were 100% safe and contained no melamine.

They were wrong.

Secondly, when the FDA's own tests discovered melamine contamination in U.S. infant formula products, it actively sought to hide the test results from the public. It only disclosed the test results after being forced to do so by a FOIA petition filed by the Associated Press. (We gotta thank AP for doing this, by the way. Nice job on their part!)

Thirdly, once the melamine contamination results were made public, the FDA abruptly announced that 1ppm (or less) of melamine in infant formula was suddenly "safe." This decision was based on no science whatseover and was obviously a panicked defense of the U.S. infant formula manufacturers whose products are contaminated with melamine.

...........Natural News/a must read...........

Autism and Vaccines"
Truth will always prevail...it can be manipulated and delayed by those motivated by greed and malice...but the souls of humanity will prevail. Age of autism provides great up to date info...here is some latest info....read it..
....

the list of scientists, doctors, public health officials and government leaders who now believe that a vaccine-autism connection is at the least possible, and should be researched further.

Earlier this week, Dr. Peter Fletcher, former Chief Scientific Officer at the UK Department of Health was added. Now, eight more prominent researchers have joined the group. (See list below – they are the last eight names added)."

...................Age of Autism/Kirby.........



Trickle Down Affect???
Big Pharma Conspiracy: Doctors Regularly Bribed
So when your local doc wants to put your kids on heavy drugs...he was most likely influenced un-wittingly by the top dogs at places like Harvard. So when you present a question or a concern, The docs will quip..."don't believe everything you read on the Internet!" because they perused their medical journal that was bought and paid for by big business...ask questions!

"....the Harvard researchers have also pushed for the aggressive treatment of the disease with antipsychotics, which are not licensed for such a use. The discovery that those same researchers concealed massive payments from the drug industry has cast further doubt on their motivations, and has led many to wonder if too many children are now being diagnosed and treated with potentially dangerous drugs...."

Watch this..

Coke and Childrens Brain function

This is a part of a video that explains brain chemistry and the assault we are under from drugs,foods and environmental factors. This is worth watching and looking into further...

In his first book, Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills (Health Press, 1994), Dr. Blaylock made the connection between food additives (in particular, monosodium glutamate and aspartame) and degenerative diseases of the nervous system — Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and ALS.

Citing new studies, Dr. Blaylock revisits the increasingly inescapable relationship between food chemistry and degenerative disorders.

Here is another snippit....


The issues and data that Dr. Blaylock references is not new, it is just under reported in the main stream media. Using the information here gives each of us tools to be proactive in dealing with our own health and that of our families.

Here is one more sample video that documents what happens when legitimate journalists try and report the facts. Corporate profits again and again take priority over moral and ethical behavior.

It is up to you....keep informing yourself and vote Bad corporations out of business with your money....buy from good local companies...don't buy from multinational companies that avoid paying taxes will sell you anything to make a buck.



Example; Coca Cola exploits slave labor, registers shell companies in off shore accounts to exploit tax loopholes, and subversively markets a product that can harm you and your family.

The University of Montana for example has an exclusive contract with Coke that is shrouded in secrecy...why?

GMO not so Common Sense

The battle against science, as some would have you believe rages on. True food group is active about Genetic modified animal and says this...

...." Genetically engineered animals may be heading to your local supermarket faster than you think. Though creating animals in a lab sounds like science fiction, it’s happening right now..."

There seems to be a frenzied push to get GMO foods into our lives, I didnt know the biotech companies cared about us and the starving 3rd world children so much...here is what they are saying....

"The development of golden rice was, it seemed, compelling and inspiring evidence that GM crops are the answer to malnutrition and hunger. Time quoted former U.S. President Jimmy Carter: “Responsible biotechnology is not the enemy, starvation is.”

One Monsanto ad tells the public: “Biotechnology is one of tomorrow’s tools in our hands today. Slowing its acceptance is a luxury our hungry world cannot afford.” On the Food Revolution site John adds

..."For countless centuries farmers have fed humanity by saving the seed from one years crop to plant the following year. But Monsanto, the company that claims its motives are to help feed the hungry, has developed what it calls a “Technology Protection System” that renders seeds sterile. Commonly known as “terminator technology,” and developed with taxpayer funding by the USDA and Delta & Pine Land Company (an affiliate of Monsanto), the process genetically alters seeds so that their offspring will be sterile for all time. If employed, this technology would ensure that farmers cannot save their own seeds, but would have to come back to Monsanto year after year to purchase new ones."

The entire premise that we can feed the hungry with GMO technology seems flawed when we pay farmers in the USA 1.8 billion dollars to not farm. Here in Montana we have 3.3 million acres enrolled in this government program 2nd highest of the almost 35 million acres nation wide.

There is some benefit from the conservation recovery program, environmentalists and hunters are pleased, and markets are stablized. The USDA site states

..."CRP protects millions of acres of American topsoil from erosion and is designed to safeguard the Nation's natural resources. By reducing water runoff and sedimentation, CRP protects groundwater and helps improve the condition of lakes, rivers, ponds, and streams. Acreage enrolled in the CRP is planted to resource-conserving vegetative covers, making the program a major contributor to increased wildlife populations in many parts of the country."

The bottom line I must sadly admit, is that Monsanto and other biotech companies care about 1 thing....and that is making money...and by controlling our food source we will be enslaved to them and their Patents. This is assuming all this Franken food is safe, either way you will pay and pay to eat

GMO food lessons for kids

I was listening to our sixth grader talk about his day at school and all the great things they learn. I mean that, they have some great teachers at our school here in Target Range. Well the subject of Genetically Modified (engineered) food came up and of course I was courious. They get this little news paper like thing called the World History Studies weekly published by American legacy publishing based in Utah.

The artcle started out like this..."Have you ever heard of genetically engineered food? Now, dont be ashamed if you say "no". I like how the subvesive connection is made between being ashamed and not knowing about GMO's. the article goes on to state that farmers like GMO products because they dont have to buy pesticides....and this we know is an outright lie or completely ignorant sloppy journalism. Monsanto alters the traits of foods so that they are resistant to pesticides, therefore they can sell MORE pesticides to the Farmer...and get the farmer to buy more seeds every year because they are patented.

The best one is when the author explains how this technology can be used to feed the starving people of the world. Someone needs to inform the author that we in the USA already pay farmers to NOT farm their land. Feeding the poor starving people in third world countries is just a PR talking point so that GMO's can gain emotional acceptance. The article does mention some worry about this technology in terms of creating "franken foods" but only explains them as pesticide resistant weeds.

The article reminds me of a pay for post artcle, an ad or PR piece that appears as a legit piece of journalism. I dont know why they would be citing a 3 year old study that focused on acceptance and knowledge of GMO's rather than facts on what GMO's are and the real dangers.

It seems that more and more schools are being used to influence kids, their beliefs but more in terms of how they will eventually spend their Money.

In Montana...On January 27,2003 the Montana State Senate unanimously passed a bill which says that the introduction of GM wheat and barley “must be carefully timed so that it occurs only when there is acceptance of these crops by Montana’s major customers.” Timing and acceptance are important...not safety,.Source

Do you wonder why they call it round-up ready...because they can dump tons of toxic chemicles on it....and finally we now get GMO sugar..."After seven years of keeping sugar from genetically modified sugar beets out of their food, Kellogg, Hershey’s and the Wyoming based American Crystal Sugarwill use sugar made from genetically modified (GM) beets.

The decision marks a turnaround for Crystal Sugar, the nation’s largest sugar producer,....source

We have a chance....

Mike Adams of Natural News says some great things and I like his Ideas...

...let's also remember that Big Pharma is all of a sudden funneling tens of millions of dollars into the pockets of Democrats, and there's one simple truth about Washington that transcends all political parties: Money buys influence.

And Big Pharma has more money than you can imagine (thanks, in part, to the Bush-sponsored Big Pharma ripoff of America over the last eight years).


Thirteen suggestions for positive change on health and health care

read the rest here

Halloween Candy danger...Montana...more!!

more from a very trusted site...please read!

(NaturalNews) This Halloween, children across the United States may be poisoned with toxic melamine, a potentially deadly chemical that causes severe kidney damage, liver damage and even death. This chemical is found in chocolates and candy products made in China, which is now embroiled in a global melamine scandal involving eggs, animal feed, candies, infant formula, milk products and much more.

read the rest here

Kidney Stone Epidemic

I got another batch of info on this Melamine thing. Before I go off I will say I recall an article predicting such things and other political attempts to demonize China....so I am cautious with this info....who do we trust?? The F.D.A. or the Chinese? Flip a coin my friend...wait!! is none of the above an option??

OK so what I have learnt is that this melamine thing came to light after a so called epidemic of kidney stones and other problems showed up in China......"the toxic chemical was added to watered-down baby formula to create the impression of high protein levels in the diluted products. Melamine can cause kidney problems—including kidney stones and kidney failure—when ingested and is also to blame for the illnesses of some 54,000 children in China." read source

SOOO...I googled kidney stone epidemic like any good researcher would and guess what I found..!!??!! in the new york times...

"To the great surprise of parents, kidney stones, once considered a disorder of middle age, are now showing up in children as young as 5 or 6."

This could be something or this could be nothing, definitely something!! perhaps not connected with Melamine but with kids diet in general....experts say...

"University of Wisconsin. He and other experts mentioned not just salty chips and French fries, but also processed foods like sandwich meats; canned soups; packaged meals; and even sports drinks like Gatorade, which are so popular among schoolchildren they are now sold in child-friendly juice boxes."

The key phrase from the Times article is the lead line>..."To the great surprise of parents..."

This is no SURPRISE!! it is common sense.... Parents more and more tend to be lazy and use their naive trust in the system as an excuse. Wake up take the time...spend the energy...get back to wholesome foods for ourselves and our kids.

I know it is hard and yes I feel helpless sometimes...overwhelmed...outgunned, but I will leave you with one thought....and it is fitting with election season upon us.

VOTE WITH YOU DOLLAR.....every single dollar you spend is a vote for the kind of products and companies you get. do you vote with you money on large multinational companies ....or local family owned businesses.....do you look to buy locally produced foods or pre-packed mystery meat from Mexico and tomatoes from Malaysia? I am not saying ..don't buy foreign stuff...buy quality...be smart...if some USA company is making crap and trying to trick you into buying it...VOTE them out of business!!!!

start today.....

-----------------------------------------------------------
Total US news media blackout

Korea has removed the following products from its stores:
M&M milk chocolates, Snickers peanut fun size bars, Kit Kat bars from Nestle, and Ritz "sandwich cracker cheese and rice cookies"



read here for source on who broke the story and more

More of this please!!

The Farm to School program works with local farmers, ranchers and food service staff to feature Montana-grown food items in the school cafeterias when possible. Efforts include incorporating Montana items into the menu on an on-going basis, as well as in special meal events....read more

Montana Milk wars

It is funny what people or groups will do for a few $$$$, Like inner city drug dealer turf wars Montana found a technicality to rebuff Washington state milk sellers from selling their product in Montana.

---“They came in on Friday and took off about 50 gallons of milk from our shelves. They wrote on it ‘not for sale,' ” said Ole's owner Mark Ole Olson. “I had some angry customers. A lot of people are stopping because it is cheaper here than most places.”

Justin McKay, the owner of Gilly's Gas on Third Street in Missoula, said the issue has been confusing for retailers.

“It's the milk Gestapo. They came by here more than once,” he said. “I can't figure out why it is so much cheaper to get milk transported from Washington through a distributor and I can't get it at that price locally.”

The interesting part of this is they are doing it to protect the customer...from that baaad out of state milk!!!

---“Our goal is ensuring Montanans get the highest-quality, freshest product available,” said Steve Merritt, a spokesman for the Montana Department of Livestock.

That is a bunch of cowshit.....they are ripping off Montana families....eliminating competition, and fixing the price of milk while they are heavily subsidized by tax payer $$$$$. Doesnt sound like a free market way or american ...or ethical to me!!

read the whole story here

Killer Milk

The Milk pushers are a powerful group, they bribbed the Nixon administration for favors....Milk was wrongly placed in the food pyramid...Milk is pushed on children through the school lunch programs.....Milk has impressively branded itself as the ultimate health food and most Americans would not even question milk as a health food.

but should we??

absolutely!....WHY?? because it is our duty.

The problem got very serious when the milk industry and chemical behemouth Monsanto got together. Farmers were tricked into giving cows drugs that increased milk producyion by huge amounts....(increased profits$$$$)<----sound familiar....and guess what the FDA told us it was safe. other countries and experts say ....NO!

well you need to investigate for yourself...and ill stick to my simple point. milk has evolved into a substance that is completely uneccessary for humans....has toxic shit in it that can cause severe health problems, Is cancer one of them?? Early development of young girls? many many other problems...!!

here are some links (btw I am not a PETA moron, I hate that extreemist group)

---Like all public elementary, middle and high schools, Fox River Grove only eligible for National School Lunch Program reimbursements if it promotes consumption of dairy products, including by putting up life-sized celebrity milk endorsement posters. These posters are sent unsolicited to schools by the National Dairy Council.

During Warwak's hearing, former Cornell University professor of nutritional biochemistry T. Colin Campbell testified that schools are harming their students by pushing dairy.source

---National School Lunch Program means
the program under which general cashfor-
food assistance and special cash assistance
are made available to schools.....This part announces the policies and
prescribes the general regulations with
respect to the Special Milk Program
for Children,....(the government subsidizes the Milk industry)


---Years later, as a high school freshman, I worked as an aide to the teacher who administered the free lunch program, helping her with the paperwork. She often noted that the school did nothing to verify eligibility; the only deterrents to massive fraud were honesty and shame.more here

---The government supports the NSLP through purchases of commodity food items, which schools depend upon heavily, typically comprising 20 percent of the foods they serve. And many of these foods are the unhealthy meats and cheeses gained from the USDA's industry bailout system.source


---"CALCIUM SUMMIT COALITION"

It is clear from these documents that the so-called calcium summit is,
in reality, a carefully planned media blitz, planned and run by the
largest public relations firm in the world, BSMG Worldwide. I've
previously written about BSMG:

http://www.notmilk.com/deb/052399.html

The most troubling part of the dairy industry marketing team, is that it
includes police, media, USDA, public buildings, public money, and
government subsidies.Read this

Holloween Candy danger...Montana

I should have named this blog ...Fear Factor! I am not a candy fan ...and you should be on alert. WHY?? remember the tainted milk powder from China well there is good reason to believe that tons of this tainted/poisonous product found its way into candy that is being sold now...here in the USA.

here is some concerning info...

---HARTFORD, Conn. -- The Department of Consumer Protection warned consumers Wednesday not to eat "White Rabbit Creamy Candy," imported from China and distributed by Queensway Foods Company Inc. of Burlingame, Calif.

The candy was found on several Connecticut store shelves the week of Sept. 29 by agency food safety inspectors and removed, agency Commissioner Jerry Farrell Jr. said. Tests by the Connecticut Agriculture Experiment Station Laboratory have determined that the product contains melamine.....source

---The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has issued a voluntary recall notice for the Sherwood Brands Pirate’s Gold Milk Chocolate Coins. The candy, manufactured in China, is the latest product thought to contain the melamine-contaminated milk powder. The product is primarily distributed through Costco stores in Canada as well as some bulk and discount retailers there....more from source

---

---UTAH,A popular Chinese-made candy suspected of being contaminated with an industrial chemical remained on shelves of some Asian food stores in Salt Lake County on Thursday even though state agents have ordered the product pulled.
Complicating their efforts was the fact that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not included Utah on a list of states where the recalled candy,more

---FDA says.."On September 12, 2008, in light of reports from China of infant formula contaminated with melamine, the FDA issued a Health Information Advisory to proactively reassure the American public that there is no known threat of contamination in infant formula manufactured by companies that have met the requirements to sell such products in the United States." YET they then say...
The FDA is advising consumers not to consume the following products because of possible melamine contamination:

Koala’s March Crème filled Cookies
YILI Brand Sour Milk Drink
YILI Brand Pure Milk Drink
Blue Cat Flavored Drinks
White Rabbit Candies
Mr. Brown Mandehling Blend Instant Coffee (3-in-1)
Mr. Brown Arabica Instant Coffee (3-in-1)
Mr. Brown Blue Mountain Blend Instant Coffee (3-in-1)
Mr. Brown Caramel Macchiato Instant Coffee (3-in-1)
Mr. Brown French Vanilla Instant Coffee (3-in-1)
Mr. Brown Mandheling Blend instant Coffee (2-in-1)
Mr. Brown Milk Tea (3-in-1)
Infant formula manufactured in China ....more from FDA here


---info is endless

one more.........

Earlier this month, Chinese officials discovered melamine in powered infant formula made it that country. That contamination is blamed for the recent deaths of four infants in China and the illnesses of 53,000 other children in that country.

Chinese officials learned some dairy plants may have intentionally added melamine to milk products to make them appear to have higher protein levels.

The melamine contamination has since spread from infant formula to dozens of other food products sold around the world, including candy, coffee, and pretzels.

Melamine is a chemical used to make plastic and fertilizers. It is blamed for the illnesses and deaths of thousands of dogs and cats in the United States last year. more here

And I always reccomend checking out TvNewsLIES.org Jesse and his crew do a fantastic job over there.....if you like straight talk!