Is the food you buy safe to eat?

[GoldenBrain]

Haha, I wouldn't classify a good portion of what people eat these days as "food".

This comment is one I agree with so much that it prompted me to start a new thread rather than completely hijack the fortune cookie thread.

Is the food you buy safe to eat? Do you even know where your food comes from or what's been sprayed on it?

My hope with this thread is simply to get people thinking about the foods they are consuming so to start things off I'll post a little bit of doom and gloom info on a popular weed control product.

Below is a link to a publication from the well established Food and Chemical Toxicology Journal. It sites a study on the popular weed control spray Round Up. The study found that the main chemical glyphosate in Roundup is carcinogenic at a rate of 1 part per trillion. That's really scary news since most things carcinogenic are so at rates in the parts per million which is bad enough.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science...78691512005637

I could go on about this study but lets move on instead to genetically modified crops. Below is a link to an article in the Huffington Post which is reporting on a study relating Roundup ready crops and health problems. There are all kinds of studies now on the negative effects of GMO crops so I let you the reader look up those studies rather than posting a wall of links.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0..._n_827135.html

Put the two together and you have a real health problem. For those who don't know, Roundup ready crops are designed in a lab to be resistant to Roundup. This means that farmers can spray tons of this stuff on their fields to kill weeds without harming the food crops. Roundup has a surfactant built into the product to aid in the absorption of said product into the plants so it kills weeds systemically. This means that the food crops are also absorbing this weed killer, however due to their engineered resistance they don't die. This is why it is not recommended to use cow manure anymore for garden fertilizer because it can kill your garden. It isn't that the manure is bad per say, it's the weed killer in the manure that passes through the cow that's bad. Had any beef lately? Do you know for sure it wasn't eating Roundup ready Alfalfa?

Scared yet? Maybe not for some but I will continue to grow ALL my own produce and raise ALL my own animals. I feel bad for those who can't due to lack of garden space so I would encourage those folks to at least consider buying locally grown organic. Also I would recommend asking the seller all kinds of questions about how they grow and what they spray on their produce.

Okay, my rant is over so let the comments fly... Please feel free to site other studies or personal stories if you feel motivated.

[Jimbo]

I have just a few personal thoughts on this. More questions than answers.

First of all, I'm wondering if food allergies were as widespread in the past, before genetically modified crops, pollutants, etc. Or did people just die from various food allergies and not know the causes? I know one woman who claims she has a bad peanut allergy here, yet she can eat them in Europe. Might this be a difference due to modified/non-modified crops?

Are these issues geographical? Are instances of gluten intolerance as common in, say, Asian countries, where "gluten-free" is a fairly alien concept?

[sanjuro_ronin]

If it's dead, I'll eat it, if it's not, I'll kill it and then eat ( or maybe eat it and then kill it).

Gotta love living in "1st world" nations with "eating disorders" and "bad food".

Know what a eating disorder really is? Not having any food to eat !
Know what "bad food" really is? Food that you don't have give to your child that is screaming because they are starving.

Just saying...

[Lucas]

I only eat mutated, genetically modified, and lab grown forms of sustenance. Its all part of my master plan to become a super human. and im pretty fukin super.

[Lucas]

i live in a city full of urban farms, home farms, and organically grown rural farms. pretty much anywhere in this city you are within walking distance from a local farmers market selling a wide variety of all natural organic food stuffs.


its about the only good thing to come to be from all the **** hippies out here.

me? i say blast some death metal and kill all the hippies and eat horse meat grown quickly through immense amounts of radiation therapy and genetic growth manipulation.

[GoldenBrain]

If it's dead, I'll eat it, if it's not, I'll kill it and then eat ( or maybe eat it and then kill it).

Gotta love living in "1st world" nations with "eating disorders" and "bad food".

Know what a eating disorder really is? Not having any food to eat !
Know what "bad food" really is? Food that you don't have give to your child that is screaming because they are starving.

Just saying...

You make a great point. I bet most of the world would love to have our 1st world problems in trade for their 3rd world nightmares. Pretty much everybody in our family gets bent out of shape when we hear about people starving in this world. When we consider the tons of food that is just thrown away in this country alone it just makes us sick. I will be giving away about 50 lbs of squash and zucchini as well as many lbs of other veggies to a local shelter this week because we just have to much and there isn't any more room in our freezers. Kind of makes me sad in a way but at least we are doing our part to help the community. If every yard in this country were turned into a garden we would not only be able to feed the world but we would save about 2 billion gallons of fuel by not having to mow the lawns. It's certainly something to think about.

[Kymus]

If it's dead, I'll eat it, if it's not, I'll kill it and then eat ( or maybe eat it and then kill it).

Gotta love living in "1st world" nations with "eating disorders" and "bad food".

Know what a eating disorder really is? Not having any food to eat !
Know what "bad food" really is? Food that you don't have give to your child that is screaming because they are starving.

Just saying...

80% - 90% of all diseases are a result of diet and lifestyle. Yeah, starving is worse, but diabetes and heart disease isn't that much better.

[Kymus]

Careful GoldenBrain, there are some that like to paint those that are opposed to GMO and pesticides as anti-science hippies that are just over-reacting because they don't understand science and technology

Frankly, I think that when discourse is discouraged like this, there's a big problem.

[GoldenBrain]

Careful GoldenBrain, there are some that like to paint those that are opposed to GMO and pesticides as anti-science hippies that are just over-reacting because they don't understand science and technology

Frankly, I think that when discourse is discouraged like this, there's a big problem.

No worries Kymus. I'm not a hippie, just a concerned farmer, though I really have no problem hearing the opinion of anti-science hippies. I think everybody deserves an opinion whether I agree with it or not. It would appear that you feel the same way.

I love science but I think genetically modifying plants is best left to natural selection and true breeding. To do this in the lab is just lazy and possibly dangerous in my opinion.

I have numerous heirlooms of each plant category that blow away GMO plants. For instance, I grow a zucchini that can get as long and as big around as your arm and tastes way better than anything you can buy in the store. A couple of my tomato varieties, "bloody butcher" and "beefsteak" can get to the size of a melon and the slices are sometimes as big around as a dinner plate which require me to use a 10 inch bread knife to cut them. They are just ridiculous and have more flavor than you can buy commercially. I even have a variety of lemon called a ponderosa lemon that is as big as a grapefruit and grows well in North Texas, and a banana that will grow as far north as Oklahoma. That's just to name a few. All my heirlooms are pest and drought resistant and pull off huge yields so why would I need any of those lab created varieties? I'm sure those who place patents on those lab created varieties would like me to have them but I'm not going for it. As it is now I use no pesticides or weed killer and 100% of my fertilizer is in the form of compost which is just the waste vegetation from previous crops mixed with good old alfalfa which we also grow organically.

I'm just trying to point out that some things are better left to nature and good selective breeding.

[SoCo KungFu]

Careful GoldenBrain, there are some that like to paint those that are opposed to GMO and pesticides as anti-science hippies that are just over-reacting because they don't understand science and technology

Frankly, I think that when discourse is discouraged like this, there's a big problem.

No, we just demand proof if you're going to make a claims such as this:

80% - 90% of all diseases are a result of diet and lifestyle

Yeah, starving is worse, but diabetes and heart disease isn't that much better.

I'll remember that next time I'm in South America or Africa and I'm looking at 6 year olds with their ribs sticking out, begging on the street side.

[sanjuro_ronin]

80% - 90% of all diseases are a result of diet and lifestyle. Yeah, starving is worse, but diabetes and heart disease isn't that much better.

LIFESTYLE is the key element because from that comes WHAT we eat AND how MUCH.

[Kymus]

LIFESTYLE is the key element because from that comes WHAT we eat AND how MUCH.

True, certain people choose to eat better quality foods because they want to live a healthier life. Still, regular foods contain carcinogens (either chemical or are carcinogenic through physiology) and most folks have no idea what they're eating. Following the USDA's nonsensical food pyramid is a recipe for disaster.

Quantity certainly is important as well; especially when dealing with sugar and white flour. But things like meat and milk get thrown in to that group due to cohorts that people embarrassingly hold up as teh proof that they're bad for your health (when really, there's no evidence to suggest it's the food itself, the preservatives maybe, but not the food itself).

So yeah, for the most part I agree with you, Sanjuro! I just think that lots of people have no idea what it is they're eating (outside of something like soda) and feel that if it were dangerous, then the USDA would protect them from it which just isn't the case. That, and, health reporting in America is downright shameful.

[GoldenBrain]

I have just a few personal thoughts on this. More questions than answers.

First of all, I'm wondering if food allergies were as widespread in the past, before genetically modified crops, pollutants, etc. Or did people just die from various food allergies and not know the causes? I know one woman who claims she has a bad peanut allergy here, yet she can eat them in Europe. Might this be a difference due to modified/non-modified crops?

Are these issues geographical? Are instances of gluten intolerance as common in, say, Asian countries, where "gluten-free" is a fairly alien concept?

Those are interesting questions. I performed a cursory search for some answers but all I can tell at this point is that food allergies appear to be on the rise and there is not enough evidence to explain why.

[Kymus]

I have just a few personal thoughts on this. More questions than answers.

First of all, I'm wondering if food allergies were as widespread in the past, before genetically modified crops, pollutants, etc. Or did people just die from various food allergies and not know the causes? I know one woman who claims she has a bad peanut allergy here, yet she can eat them in Europe. Might this be a difference due to modified/non-modified crops?

Are these issues geographical? Are instances of gluten intolerance as common in, say, Asian countries, where "gluten-free" is a fairly alien concept?

I doubt they were as widespread. These days, most people suffer from poor digestion, whether they realize it or not. It's my understanding that food allergies are mostly caused due to gut dysbiosis.

I don't have the data - and I don't know if it exists - on gut dysbiosis 50 - 100yrs ago, but I'd venture to guess that it was much more uncommon since these days we consume many more foods that aggravate the digestion.

TBH, I'm too lazy to look up data on food allergies in other countries

I think it really depends on the country, how westernized they are, and how closely they stick to their traditional diet. Japan wouldn't be a good example; despite all the fish and seafood they eat, they still eat a ton of processed foods, which is why their teeth are so screwed up (well, many, not all. Not trying to paint with a broad brush here).

I wouldn't be surprised to see more food allergies in countries with high soy consumption, since soy is hard to digest.

[SoCo KungFu]

I have just a few personal thoughts on this. More questions than answers.

First of all, I'm wondering if food allergies were as widespread in the past, before genetically modified crops, pollutants, etc. Or did people just die from various food allergies and not know the causes? I know one woman who claims she has a bad peanut allergy here, yet she can eat them in Europe. Might this be a difference due to modified/non-modified crops?

Are these issues geographical? Are instances of gluten intolerance as common in, say, Asian countries, where "gluten-free" is a fairly alien concept?

We live in an age of homogenization. Diet was something that for the greater part of human existence was regional. This is why articles like the one someone linked on the early 1900's Swiss village create a false argument. That diet would not work for the majority of people in the world. Never mind the other nonsense claims. Kids playing in glacial rivers in the winter? Yeah ok, I don't give a shit what you diet is, hypothermia is a bitch. Did he happen to count their toes by chance?