What Is Your Level Of Concern?

With all the recent reports on the state of the planet, I often wonder how concerned people are about all the unintended consequences to our brutal capitalist system, and our part in it as supporters through our consumeristic activities.

In my experience, the level of public concern ranges from totally concerned and feeling a sense of impending doom, to totally lacking concern due to a total lack of awareness of the enormity of our challenges.

There is one group I know of that is so concerned that the word is included in their name. That would be the Union of Concerned Scientists. 

Since 1969 they have been fulfilling their motto: "Science for a healthy planet, and a safer world." Their 200,000 strong membership consists of both private citizens and professional scientists, and they are one of the best hopes we have for turning this thing around.

What is this group of intelligent and aware people concerned about? Here is a partial list:

1. nuclear weapons/nuclear war
2. climate change
3. government interference in the scientific process
4. clean energy
5. toxic waste
6. nuclear energy
7. GMO foods
8. antibiotics in animal feed causing resistance in humans
9. consumerism

Yup, that is a partial list. There are so many things to be concerned about these days that it makes me wonder one thing.

When will the "Union of Concerned Scientists" be changing their name to the "Union of Very Concerned Scientists", or "Gravely Concerned", or "Seriously Concerned", or "Super-Duper Concerned"?

What, exactly, is their true level of concern in 2019, after a full 50 years of being simply concerned? Perhaps it is time for a name change to reflect the new reality in which things are changing faster and faster, and may require a new concern level.

If at their conception in 1969 they considered themselves to be "concerned", then surely by now they must be "Shitting Their Pants" concerned.

I know I am currently at "Majorly Concerned", and that is subject to an upgrade at any given moment, perhaps to "Wickedly Concerned", or "Unbelievably Concerned".

How concerned do you think the scientists should be?

Give 'Em The Finger

Over the weekend the brave citizens of Greece, in a bold David and Goliath move, gave the big bankers the finger. They stood up to the greedy giant and said, "No more bullying".

The referendum result was a rock fired from the sling of democracy, and it hit the bully right in the temple.

It is heartening to see little people stand up to power. The story is one well liked by people everywhere, because the story of abuse of the small by the large is tragically well known.

How wonderful that we can all be Davids slinging rocks toward strategic targets in order to fell the selfish and unjust that are not too-big-to-fall. We can all do our little bit, our actions will build and reach the tipping point, and then we will see them topple.

You may not think you have any rocks for your sling, but you have many. Every action and decision can be a rock cast at a plethora of giants. Take your pick.

When you buy organic you give the finger to GMOs.

When you repair something you give the finger to planned obsolescence and the throw away society.

When you cook your own food you give the finger to the fast/processed food industry.

When you wait and save money before buying something you give the finger to the usurers in the big banks and credit card companies.

When you educate yourself and speak out you give the finger to governments that only want ignorant, quiet and compliant consumers.

When you ride your bike instead of driving you give the finger to the fossil fuel industry.

The giants know the story of David and Goliath just as well as the little people... and it scares them. They know how it ends. That is why they want to restrict our freedom, our rights, our throwing hand.

But in the end, just like in the ancient story, the small and seemingly insignificant always win. Regardless of how much they try to stifle us, it never works.

Give them the finger. Use your sling. Bring them down with every little thing you do every day. It is happening, and like the news from Greece, there is more evidence every day that the Goliaths are trembling. They can see the inevitable outcome - they are starting to fall already.

Learn How To Cook

You can avoid a lot of things like preservatives, GMOs, additives,
and ill health by cooking your own wholesome food at home.

Learning how to cook is a basic survival skill as well as an endless source of delight. Good food feeds more than just the stomach and it nourishes more than just the body - it can comfort the heart as well.

Considering the importance of diet in promoting health and well being, one of the best things you can do for yourself is learn to cook. Making food at home using wholesome ingredients is a great way to take control of what is going into your body (or your temple, if you prefer).

One word of warning - it is a lot of work. I cook for two so when I think of my mom back in the day cooking for a family of seven it boggles my mind. Thanks mom, for keeping most of us alive.

While I only cook for two, it often feels like I am always either preparing for cooking, cooking, or cleaning up from cooking. It seems like it is all about eating, and I guess it is. Hunger is a great motivator.

I can totally understand why someone with a regular work schedule, and/or children, would be tempted to eat out or use convenience foods.

But convenience foods are not so convenient when they make you sick.

While a growling tummy will be temporarily satisfied with fast, convenience, packaged and processed foods, continued use of such products can lead to unwanted complications like metabolic syndrome.

Research has shown that eating a Western diet heavy on refined grains, processed and red meat, fried food, eggs, and soda, and less fish, fruit, vegetables, and whole grains, increases the risk of developing metabolic syndrome and other illnesses.

Learning to cook with whole foods can protect you from harmful ingredients in manufactured foods.

Over the years Linda and I have learned to cook many of our favourite dishes that we previously thought we could only get in restaurants or prepared foods.

Kitchen Gadget-itis

Cooking new dishes is a fun and creative activity that is immensely satisfying. We find that we prefer our cooking and baking than the more expensive stuff in restaurants and grocery stores because we can make it just the way we like it.

And don't get sucked in by the marketers - a lot of food can be prepared with a minimal amount of supplies and utensils. Beware of "kitchen gadget-itis" which is unnecessary, expensive and creates counter clutter.

Learning to cook is a life skill that will save you money, feed your stomach, nourish your body, and comfort your heart.

Good appetite!



"Learn how to cook! That's the way to save money. You don't save it buying hamburger helpers, and prepared foods; you save it by buying fresh foods in season or in large supply, when they are cheapest and usually best, and you prepare them from scratch at home. Why pay for someone else's work, when if you know how to do it, you can save all that money for yourself?" 

- Julia Child

Becoming GMO Free

A recent New York Times poll found that 93% of Americans favor labeling of GMO foods.

"Three-quarters of Americans expressed concern about genetically modified organisms in their food, with most of them worried about the effects on people’s health." 

- New York Times

Good food is medicine. Frankenfoods are poison, and should be labeled as such.

The pushers of GMO's are unleashing science fiction monstrosities that threaten to overthrow the farm and village alike. It is time to get out the torches and pitch forks, gather publicly and make our demand -

"We want food! REAL food!"

And we want fake food to carry warning labels.

Most villagers agree that food producers should tell us if there are genetically modified products in what they are trying to sell us. But the mad scientists don't want to reveal the monster they are creating and unleashing upon a reluctant world.


Corporations to Avoid

The following are some of the larger corporations that are actively fighting against GMO labelling. They don't really want you to know the truth about what you are eating when you consume their products.

It is estimated that 75-80% of processed food in Canada contains GMOs.




Abbott Nutrition

BASF

Bayer Corporation

Campbell Soup Company

Cargill, Inc.

ConAgra Foods, Inc.

Del Monte Foods Company

E. I. Du Pont

General Mills, Inc.

H. J. Heinz Company

Kellogg Company

Kraft Foods Inc.

Mars, Inc.

Monsanto Company

Nestlé

Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc.

PepsiCo Inc.

Sara Lee Corporation

The Coca-Cola Company

The Dow Chemical Company

The Hershey Company

The J.M. Smucker Company

Unilever PLC

Wrigley Company


See the full list here.

Becoming GMO Free

Eat as much organic as you can. Certified organic products do not contain GMOs.

Support organic foods from small producers vs. organic brands owned by major food corporations who oppose GMO labelling.

Look for producers that openly oppose GMOs in their package labels and websites.

Buying organic foods from local farms and markets means a healthier environment and community.

Grow your own food as much as possible.

Stay away from fast food, packaged and processed foods - many contain GMO ingredients, although they are not listed on labels or in information.

Cook your own dishes using whole food ingredients.

Everyone that eats deserves to know what they are putting in their system. Demand improved food labelling so informed decision making is possible.

Food should be medicine, not poison.

Truth In Food Labelling Monday

While current food labels give some information, they could provide a LOT more.
See below for a proposed alternate label that has big food producers shaking in their loafers.

If you are the type that cares about what goes into your temple, and you take the time to check, you probably find current labelling standards to be lacking. Questions remain unanswered.

A lot of people that like to eat real food are pushing hard for accurate food labelling, especially since GMO 'foods' are increasingly being snuck into products without diners knowledge. 

Polls have shown that 90% of Americans want to know if their foods contain GMOs, but producers are stalling in this push for transparency.

And whether foods contain genetically modified organisms isn't the only thing they aren't telling us.

Is the product nutritious? How real, or natural, is it? What impact does the food's production have on social and environmental conditions? 

What is needed is a simple, read-at-a-glance food label that gives all this information so shoppers can make informed food decisions.

Below is one such label being proposed by people who think that you can't have too much information when it comes to making food choices that are better for your health, the health of your neighbours and the health of the environment.

GMO's: One More Reason Not To Eat Crap

Be informed - avoid GMO's.

It used to be that processed foods were foods that had been treated badly to improve their convenience factor. As if that weren't enough, now we can add Frankenfoods to the list of mistreatments wreaked upon things formerly known as real food.

The corporations that participate in this nutritional monster mash don't want you to know where they are hiding their food gremlins. In recent years they have been actively fighting any move toward GMO labelling.

If their products are as safe as they say they are, what is the problem? Monsanto wouldn't need to be legally absolved of future responsibility for health problems if the company weren't already aware such issues existed.

And if they truly don't know the consequences of what they are unleashing, they should take their products off the shelves until they do.

Thankfully the lovers of real food, the defenders of nature, and clear thinking skeptical types, are fighting back. The Frankenfood zombie must be slain, they say, before everything is irreversibly tainted.

50 countries, including Denmark, Norway, France, Germany and Italy have banned or restricted GMO's. Unfortunately, Canada and the US are GMO boosters and don't even require labelling. Again, what are they trying to hide?

Genetically engineered freaky foods are surreptitiously slipped into everything from Arrowroot Teething Biscuits to Zesta Saltines crackers, and everything in-between.

And just because you aren't a teething baby or you don't like crackers doesn't mean you are safe. Up to 80% of processed foods contain some GMO ingredients.

Find out more products that have GMO ingredients in the package, but not on the label, by following this link:

Foods with genetically engineered ingredients.

Although it is an incredibly long list, it can only be considered partial since new Frankenfoods are developed every year. Yuck!

How can we avoid ingesting scary cancer causing foods that are more comfortable in the laboratory than in the kitchen, or our stomachs? The following tips will help you steer clear, although remaining vigilant is recommended.

How To Avoid Frankenfoods

1. Grow your own food as much as you can. Choose heirloom varieties.
2. Eat an organic, whole food diet.
3. Eat vegetarian - avoid the newly developed Frankenfish (AquaBounty GMO salmon), as well as meat reared on GMO feed.
4. Don't eat prepared, processed or snack foods. Watch for those that contain soy, corn, or canola oil, all of which are commonly genetically modified.
5. Make your own food. When you make it yourself, you know for sure what is in it.

Playing Around With GMO

Mr. GMO Potato Head

The world is full of all sorts of growing dangers that we can’t experience directly. When we encounter these ideas, we can use our imaginations and prior experiences, and enhance our thinking with a bit of play.

Making connections allows us to think abstract thoughts that are based on what we already know. For example, we can’t directly experience the world of genes, the enormous complexity of nature, or the future results of today's biological manipulations.

These ideas are shadow realities, several times removed from our limited senses. However, by engaging in play, we can experience and relate to abstract concepts. This aids in our understanding of an idea, and leads to further thinking and problem solving.

Thinking, although not encouraged in today's world, is a critical skill that we normally use throughout our lives—whether we are learning about sustainable food production, lowering our carbon footprint, or imagining a peaceful, equitable world with a government of the people.

For example, playing with Mr. Genetically Modified Potato Head allows us to explore the fun possibilities of corporate meddling in food production. Included are different mutated body parts, including several that are ambiguous enough so that you can use your imagination to decide what they really are, and where they go. Use your creativity, like a modern Dr. Frankenstein.

Mr. GMO P.H. comes complete with cancer simulation protocol, including stick-on skin lesions, abscesses, and scabs. Note: Cancer Treatment Ward sold separately, c/w Mrs. GMO Potato Head dressed in black and mourning.

Warning: Any similarity to actual genetically modified products is purely coincidental, really. Trust us.

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”  - Albert Einstein