Rady Ananda - ‘No Food Rights’ Judge quits to work for Monsanto law firm

As courts and bureaucrats continue to assert that citizens have no fundamental right to produce and consume the foods of their choice, we find Monsanto lurking nearby.  The Wisconsin judge who recently ruled that we have no right to own a cow or drink its milk resigned to join one of Monsanto’s law firms.

Former judge Patrick J. Fiedler now works for Axley Brynelson, LLP, which defended Monsanto against a patent infringement case filed by Australian firm, Genetic Technologies, Ltd. (GTL) in early 2010.

GTL had sued several biotechnology firms, a medical lab and a crime lab that had used its patented methods for analyzing DNA sequences. Though a federal case, the district court which heard the matter sits in Dane County, Wisconsin, where Fiedler coincidentally served as a state judge.

In that case, the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) “upheld Genetic Technologies Ltd.’s patent for noncoding DNA technologies, giving more firepower to the Australian company’s patent infringement suit against Monsanto Inc., Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc. and a slew of rival laboratories,” reports Law360.

Read More:

http://foodfreedom.wordpress.com/2011/10/11/%E2%80%98no-food-rights%E2%80%99-judge-quits-to-work-for-monsanto-law-firm/

Food Herbicide Residues Set to Rise As Much As 150 Times

*Proposed new level already breached 100 times over

Monsanto has applied to increase the EU’s permitted Maximum Residue Level (MRL) for its best-selling herbicide glyphosate in lentils. Proposals before the EU would mean increasing the current legal residue level by 100-150 times. [1] The chemical is widely used on GM crops and elsewhere for weed control and to dry crops prior to harvest.

The current EU MRL for glyphosate in lentils is 0.1 mg/kg. The proposal aims to raise this level to 10 mg/kg, or even 15mg/kg. [1] Rather than being based exclusively on safety grounds, the proposed new MRL appears to be partly based on levels already likely to be found in lentils as a result of the weedkiller being used close to harvest.

The proposed new level was recently breached by a shipment of Canadian lentils for human consumption. The Czech Republic withdrew the cargo from the market when it discovered glyphosate residues exceeding both EU and Canadian MRLs (tested at 10.5 mg/kg [2], more than 100 times the EU MRL; the current Canadian MRL for lentils is 4 mg/kg [3]).

Read More:

http://www.gmfreeze.org/news-releases/180/

Anthony Gucciardi - Lawsuit Slams “All Natural” Snack Makers for Containing Harmful GMO Ingredients

Does the term ‘all natural’ really mean anything when it comes to food labeling? Increasingly, the evidence says absolutely not. A new lawsuit launched from New York highlights the real lack of meaning behind the ‘all natural’ marketing stunt, stating that Frito-Lay’s popular ‘all natural’ snack foods like Tostitos and SunChips are actually made with genetically modified ingredients.

Chris Sakes leads the suit against the mega snack corporation, filing a class-action lawsuit that sheds light on the ‘all natural’ labeling scam. Shake said that Frito-Lay products are not natural at all, as they contain corn oils and genetically modified plants. What is this phony ‘all natural’ claims worth? About 10 cents more than competing brands that do not claim to be all natural, which contain virtually the same ingredients. The lawsuit reported that independent testing actually confirmed the presence of corn and vegetables oils as well as GMOs within the popular snack brands.

In response, a Frito-Lay spokesman stated that the ‘all natural’ statement on its packaging “complies with all regulatory requirements.”

Of course genetically modified ingredients are quite far from natural. The suit states:

Read More:

http://naturalsociety.com/lawsuit-slams-all-natural-snack-makers-for-containing-harmful-gmo-ingredients/

Martha Rosenberg - The Scary Danger of Meat (Even For Those Who Don't Eat It)

So far, 2012 is bringing bad news for people who don't want "free antibiotics" in their food.

Antibiotics are routinely given to livestock on factory farms to make them gain weight with less feed and keep them from getting sick in confinement conditions. But the daily dosing, at the same time it lowers feed needs, lowers drug effectiveness and produces antibiotic resistant bacteria or super bugs that can be deadly to people.

This month, researchers found 230 out of 395 pork cuts bought in US stores were contaminated with a super bug called MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus). Worse--there were "no statistically significant differences" between "conventionally raised swine and swine raised without antibiotics," reported the researchers.

Read More:

http://www.alternet.org/story/153908/the_scary_danger_of_meat_%28even_for_those_who_don%27t_eat_it%29

James Gallagher - Processed meat 'linked to pancreatic cancer'

A link between eating processed meat, such as bacon or sausages, and pancreatic cancer has been suggested by researchers in Sweden.

They said eating an extra 50g of processed meat, approximately one sausage, every day would increase a person's risk by 19%.

But the chance of developing the rare cancer remains low.

The World Cancer Research Fund suggested the link may be down to obesity.

Eating red and processed meat has already been linked to bowel cancer. As a result the UK government recommended in 2011 that people eat no more than 70g a day.

Read More:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16526695

Clint Richardson - Dude, That Isn’t Wax On Your Apple!

Fancy yourself a vegetarian or vegan?

Think that the label that says “organically grown” has anything to do with the packaging, storage, and transport of that product to stores?

What if I told you that cow, pig, and chicken collagen is now used in place of wax on your fruits and vegetables, among many other  things much worse than you can probably imagine?

And what if then I told you, as with most atrocities that happen now-a-days, that this is all approved by the FDA…

Since the early 12th century, there has been a tradition of applying wax onto the skins of fruits and vegetables for longer storage life. Today, that tradition is being carried on with a whole new generation of chemicals and compounds that are genetically designed to accomplish the same goal. But in these modern times, the health and well-being of the consumer of that apple is not necessarily the goal of this unnatural, inorganic process.

Read More:

https://realitybloger.wordpress.com/2012/01/08/that-isn-wax-on-your-apple/

Barbara Ellen - Meat Eaters, You Are Daredevils or Dumb. Or Both

There have been times during my years of vegetarianism when I've wondered if I may indeed grow out of it. I've wondered if there might come a day when I'll put aside my childish aversion to the thought of dead stuff traveling through my intestines, like a corpse on a raft ride.

However, it could never happen, and not because I'm so enlightened, sensitive or any of the other euphemisms for "whining hippie" usually dumped on vegetarians. My conversion to flesh-eating couldn't happen because, frankly, I'm not stupid enough. As in, I can read.

Analysis of more than 6,000 pancreatic cancer cases published in the British Journal of Cancer says that eating just 50g of processed meat a day (one sausage or a couple of slices of bacon) raises the likelihood of pancreatic cancer by a fifth. 100g a day (the equivalent of a medium burger) raises it by 38%, 150g by 57%. Men are worst hit, as they tend to eat the most processed meat. And while pancreatic cancer is not the most common of cancers, it's frequently diagnosed late, with four-fifths of sufferers dying within a year of diagnosis.

Read More:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jan/15/barbara-ellen-meat-eaters-stupid

Red meat lovers have more kidney cancer

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People who eat lots of red meat may have a higher risk of some types of kidney cancer, suggests a large U.S. study.

Researchers found that middle-aged adults who ate the most red meat were 19 percent more likely to be diagnosed with kidney cancer than those who ate the least. A higher intake of chemicals found in grilled or barbecued meat was also linked to increased risk of the disease, they reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

"Red meat is an important source for iron (and) it has protein," said Dr. Mohammed El-Faramawi, an epidemiologist from the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth, who has studied diet and kidney cancer risks but wasn't involved in the new study.

Read more:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_120221.html (*this news item will not be available after 03/27/2012)

Carol M. Ostrum - Study: Brain injury from high-fat foods may be why diets fail

SEATTLE — You've heard "a minute on the lips, years on the hips," or some variation. But did it make you put down that frosted butter cookie?

No? OK, here's another bit of research to snack on: After humans and rodents eat a high-fat diet, their brains begin to show evidence of injuries in just 24 hours. If they keep eating that yummy fatty stuff continuously, the area of their brains that regulates weight - the hypothalamus - will show evidence of serious inflammation and structural damage.

Researchers at the University of Washington and other institutions say they've found the first evidence that "hypothalamic neuron injury" is associated with obesity caused by a high-fat diet in rodents and humans.

Read More:

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/12/30/134511/study-brain-injury-from-high-fat.html 

John Phillip - Resveratrol and nuts team to protect the brain and boost cognitive function

by John Phillip

http://www.naturalnews.com/034503_resveratrol_nuts_cognitive_function.html

(NaturalNews) Nuts, especially walnuts, almonds and hazelnuts, combined with the potent polyphenol resveratrol team, together improve mood and protect the aging brain, thus helping to maintain memory and cognition. Researchers reporting in the New England Journal of Medicine have found that nuts consumed over a period of years not only help with weight management issues, but also can reduce systemic inflammation to improve spirits and prevent cognitive decline.

Resveratrol has long been associated with brain health. The Journal of Pineal Research reports that resveratrol demonstrates anti-aging properties in the brain necessary for energy production and optimal brain function. Combining these two natural agents together as part of your healthy diet can improve mood, help retain memories and preserve youthful thought patterns.

Researchers determined to validate the health-promoting capacity of nuts provided test participants with a diet of walnuts, almonds and hazelnuts for a period of 12 weeks. The volunteers for this study were sex and age-matched individuals given a control diet, and were compared to a group not receiving the nut mixture. All participants exhibited symptoms of metabolic syndrome, increasing risk for developing diabetes, heart disease, mood disorders and loss of cognition.

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raw-food-health.net - Nutrition Requirements On A Raw Food Diet

This information came from: http://www.raw-food-health.net/Nutrition-Requirements.html#ixzz1hqUVFFmh 
http://www.raw-food-health.net/ 

When they adopt raw food diets, many people start caring about their nutrition requirements due to concerns over inadequacy. What's the RDA for calcium? Am I getting enough zinc? What about protein? 

Knowing what recommendations to follow can be a bit tricky, as different bodies of experts suggest different things. There's also no assurance their recommendations even apply to you because good raw food diets are so radically different than what most people eat, and require different standards.

For most nutrients my diet meets - and in many cases exceeds by large factor - the standard RDA suggestions, but in some areas I'm "deficient," by the SAD nutrition requirements proposed by the usual bodies of experts. Yet in following this diet since 2005, my health has been near perfect, with not so much as a head cold in sight. So can I really be deficient?

We have to look at why the RDAs are set where they are to understand that a healthy intake of some nutrients can be much lower than the official suggestion.  

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Vincent Graff - Carrots in the car park. Radishes on the roundabout. The deliciously eccentric story of the town growing ALL its own veg

Friday, Dec 16 2011 3PM  1°C 6PM 0°C 5-Day Forecast

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2072383/Eccentric-town-Todmorden-growing-ALL-veg.html

By Vincent Graff

Admittedly, it sounds like the most foolhardy of criminal capers, and one of the cheekiest, too.

Outside the police station in the small Victorian mill town of Todmorden, West Yorkshire, there are three large raised flower beds.

If you’d visited a few months ago, you’d have found them overflowing with curly kale, carrot plants, lettuces, spring onions — all manner of vegetables and salad leaves.

Today the beds are bare. Why? Because people have been wandering up to the police station forecourt in broad daylight and digging up the vegetables. And what are the cops doing about this brazen theft from right under their noses? Nothing.

Well, that’s not quite correct.

‘I watch ’em on camera as they come up and pick them,’ says desk officer Janet Scott, with a huge grin. It’s the smile that explains everything.

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Anna Taylor - Warning as infectious salmon disease spreads from Europe's fish farms to Canada

Anna Taylor

The Ecologist, 15th December, 2011

http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/1165637/warning_as_infectious_salmon_disease_spreads_from_europes_fish_farms_to_canada.html#

Discovery of the deadly salmon virus Infectious Salmon Anaemia in Canada is just latest likely example of disease spreading to wild fish stocks from the world's mega fish farms

The rise of the farmed fish industry in recent years has been accompanied by the emergence of many infectious diseases of fish. One of the most recent and serious diseases is the marine viral disease, Infectious Salmon Anaemia (ISA). 

First detected in Atlantic salmon farmed along the southwest coast of Norway in 1984, it has since spread throughout the world. 

As the name suggests, ISA shows itself by a severe anaemia, with fish displaying pale gills, and often swimming close to the surface of the water, gulping for air. More insidiously, however, many fish show no signs at all until they suddenly die. 

An outbreak of the ISA was detected in wild Pacific salmon last October, in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Outbreaks of this virus have previously been detected in fish farms in Chile and Scotland, and although not dangerous to human health, have had serious impacts on the industry and the communities who depend upon it.

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You Tube Video - Does Whole Foods really sell "Organic Foods?"

Here is a short youtube video about fresh
organic produce sold by Whole Foods.   
It's an eye opener.

Ronnie Cummins - Stop Buying Tainted Food From Billion Dollar Corporations

Published on Wednesday, December 7, 2011 by CommonDreams.org

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/12/07-5

It’s time for the Great Boycott of Big Food Inc.

by Ronnie Cummins

“I have not spoken to one farmer who doesn’t understand the message of Occupy Wall Street, the message that so many people keep saying is nebulous. It’s very clear. Because of business and corporate participation in agriculture, farmers are losing their livelihoods…  And if it goes on like this, all we’re going to have to eat in this country is unregulated, imported, genetically modified produce. That’s not a healthy food system.”  Jim Gerritsen, a Maine organic farmer.

“A Farmer Speaks to Wall Street,” The New York Times, December 5, 2011

For the first time since the late-1960s, the American elite and their indentured politicians are losing legitimacy, part of a deepening global crisis that is simultaneously political, economic, and ecological. In the powerful wake of the 2011 Arab Spring, the European Summer of the Indignados (the indignant ones), and the Occupy Wall Street movement, rebellion is in the air. As protestors in New York put it “The one thing we all have in common is that we are the 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%."

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Medical News Today - High Fruit And Veggie Diet In Females Reduces Stroke Risk

Medical News Today, 05 Dec 2011

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/238638.php

Females who consume lots of fruit, vegetables and grains have a lower risk of stroke, even if they have a history of cardiovascular disease, compared to women who don't, researchers from the Karolinska Institute, Sweden, reported in Stroke.

First author, Susanne Rautiainen, said:

"Eating antioxidant-rich foods may reduce your risk of stroke by inhibiting oxidative stress and inflammation. This means people should eat more foods such as fruits and vegetables that contribute to total antioxidant capacity."

Free radicals, oxidative stress and antioxidants

Oxidative stress occurs when there is an imbalance between the production of free radicals, which damage cells, and the human body's ability to neutralize them or repair the subsequent damage, which results in blood vessel damage, stiffening and inflammation.

Oxidative stress can be inhibited by antioxidants, such as vitamins E and C, flavonoids, and carotenoids - antioxidants scavenge the free radicals. Flavonoids, for example, can help improve endothelial function, blood pressure, inflammation, and reduce blood clotting.

According to Medilexicon's medical dictionary:

An antioxidant is an agent that inhibits oxidation; any of numerous chemical substances including certain natural body products and nutrients that can neutralize the oxidant effect of free radicals and other substances.

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Free From Harm - Uncle Robert, Why Don’t You Eat Cheese?

http://freefromharm.org/farm-animal-welfare/uncle-robert-why-dont-you-eat-cheese/

By Free From Harm | November 25, 2011

http://vimeo.com/animalsaustralia/dairy - Watch Here

When my 8-year-old niece asked me why I don’t eat cheese during our preparation for Thanksgiving dinner, I hesitated, but then told her that some day I would explain to her why. Part of me believes it is best for her mother to decide when and how to explain this. My hope for her is that she becomes part of a generation that learns the truth and is not raised in ignorance, told stories about the mythical Old McDonald’s Farm and the Happy Cows, only to then learn the truth in adulthood and filled with regret for not knowing sooner! When we were growing up, the truth about dairy cows was kept hidden from us, and from my parents as well. All we knew is that milk came from cows.

If my child were to ask me this questions, I would simply wait until I felt he or she was mature enough to understand and explain it this way:

Cows must be pregnant to lactate and produce milk. Babies are forcibly separated from their mothers on day 1. After nine months of carrying that baby, all that mother wants is to nurse that newborn, and instead she is denied this natural act. The mother mourns the loss of her babies for days and sometimes go mad and have to be put down. This happens for a cycle of 4-5 times until she can no longer lactate and then she is sent to slaughter. Half of her babies are male and are hauled away on transport trucks to auctions where they are sold to veal farmers and soon slaughtered for veal. The other females are born into the same servitude as their mothers. All this psychological / physical torment just so that we can use the cow’s mammary gland secretions for dairy products that are actually flooding our bodies with saturated fats and casein, (the animal protein linked to breast and prostate cancer), growth factors and naturally occurring hormones (all linked to cancer promotion). All this because we are told that we need the calcium from dairy products when in fact recent studies show that we only absorb a mere 30% of the calcium in cow’s milk. In green leafy vegetables we absorb 50 to 60% of the abundant calcium (which consequently would spare the animals this needless suffering).

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ScienceDaily - New Projection Shows Global Food Demand Doubling by 2050

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111121194043.htm

ScienceDaily (Nov. 21, 2011) — Global food demand could double by 2050, according to a new projection by David Tilman, Regents Professor of Ecology in the University of Minnesota's College of Biological Sciences, and colleagues, including Jason Hill, assistant professor in the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences.

Producing that amount of food could significantly increase levels of carbon dioxide and nitrogen in the environment and cause the extinction of numerous species. But this can be avoided, the paper shows, if the high-yielding technologies of rich nations are adapted to work in poor nations, and if all nations use nitrogen fertilizers more efficiently.

"Agriculture's greenhouse gas emissions could double by 2050 if current trends in global food production continue," Tilman said. "Global agriculture already accounts for a third of all greenhouse gas emissions." Much of these emissions come from land clearing, which also threatens species with extinction.

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JUSTIN JUOZAPAVICIUS - Horses could soon be slaughtered for meat in US

By JUSTIN JUOZAPAVICIUS/ AP

http://news.yahoo.com/horses-could-soon-slaughtered-meat-us-080907323.html

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Horses could soon be butchered in the U.S. for human consumption after Congress quietly lifted a 5-year-old ban on funding horse meat inspections, and activists say slaughterhouses could be up and running in as little as a month.

Slaughter opponents pushed a measure cutting off funding for horse meat inspections through Congress in 2006 after other efforts to pass outright bans on horse slaughter failed in previous years. Congress lifted the ban in a spending bill President Barack Obama signed into law Nov. 18 to keep the government afloat until mid-December.

It did not, however, allocate any new money to pay for horse meat inspections, which opponents claim could cost taxpayers $3 million to $5 million a year. The U.S. Department of Agriculture would have to find the money in its existing budget, which is expected to see more cuts this year as Congress and the White House aim to trim federal spending.

The USDA issued a statement Tuesday saying there are no slaughterhouses in the U.S. that butcher horses for human consumption now, but if one were to open, it would conduct inspections to make sure federal laws were being followed. USDA spokesman Neil Gaffney declined to answer questions beyond what was in the statement.

The last U.S. slaughterhouse that butchered horses closed in 2007 in Illinois, and animal welfare activists warned of massive public outcry in any town where a slaughterhouse may open.

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S. D. Wells - Health basics: What is MSG?

by S. D. Wells 

http://www.naturalnews.com/034272_MSG_monosodium_glutamate.html

(NaturalNews) Monosodium Glutamate, better known as MSG, is a form of concentrated salt added to foods to enhance the flavor. This salt version of glutamic acid is an amino acid the body can produce on its own, but the MSG we find on store shelves is processed and comes from fermented sugar beets. Because this kind of MSG is processed, it can cause many adverse reactions, including skin rashes, itching, hives, nausea, vomiting, migraine headaches, asthma, heart irregularities, depression and even seizures (http://www.msgtruth.org/migraine.htm).

Since MSG acquired its infamous reputation for causing migraines, the food industry has given it new names and new forms, including autolyzed yeast, yeast extract, maltodextrin, hydrolyzed protein, sodium caseinate, mono-potassium glutamate, and textured protein. Consumers who are watching out for monosodium glutamate in long ingredients lists usually don't know the aliases, but should.

Because MSG is so cheap, the food industry can use much lower quality foods and simply add MSG as a flavor enhancer. Currently, there is a huge investment by the food giants in MSG medical research to convince consumers of its safety. Monsanto, the giant biotech company that creates genetically modified corn, soy and canola, also controls more than 90% of the sugar beet industry; therefore, MSG contains the gene of the pesticide Roundup. Consumers who don't filter MSG out of their diet are catching a double dose of toxicity.

Foods which contain the largest doses of MSG are spicy corn chips, many soups, certain Chinese foods, ranch dressing, sausages, hot dogs, barbecued meats, smoked meats, processed deli meats, and sauces. Also included are most powdered packets like chili, gravy, taco seasoning, French onion dip and dried dip mixes.

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