Sunday, November 28, 2010

Scary Food News? Or, Good Food News?

 In the weekend Spectator Nick Bontis says one of the top five careers by 2020 will be:
 • Pharmers: These bioscience professionals are responsible for developing new foods that are both safe and therapeutic. Think of them as glorified gardeners with a PhD in biology and a passion for orthomolecular nutrition. Imagine a world with healthy foods that actually protect you from diseases. You will get all your vitamins and minerals from your daily intake of milk because Bessie the cow was eating specially formulated hay.

First, I had to stop and very slowly say o r t h o m o l e c u l a r .  Then I thought about my plain, old, ordinary leeks that went in the freezer this morning.  And the plain, old, ordinary tomatoes, and zucchini.  The plain old raspberries.  Blueberries.  Sweet potatoes.  And all the other plain, old, ordinary stuff I eat every day.  Is that all becoming just so much chopped liver?  I really don't want growth hormones in my milk, (growth hormones in milk are banned in Canada.  Yaay.).  Corn and soybeans are genetically modified (not all, but trust me - PLENTY).  I wonder if evil, black hat wearing Monsanto Chemical is behind the 'pharmer' career path?  Here is one little wiki link about growth hormones & beef. 

If you don't want to click the link, here is one tiny excerpt. (rBSG is a growth hormone permitted in the USA.)

On September 30, 2010, a U.S. court of appeal found based on studies presented that there is a "compositional difference" between milk from rBSG-treated cows and untreated milk. The court found that studies have shown that rBST milk has: increased levels of the hormone IGF-1; lower nutritional quality when produced at certain points in the cow's lactation cycle; and more pus in the milk (increased somatic cell counts), which "make the milk turn sour more quickly and is another indicator of poor milk quality."

OK, I'm going down to the basement now where I can bury my head in the sand.

1 comment:

  1. Stick with your "plain, old" fruits and veggies. They are much safer for you than anything the chemists can come up with. Not only that, but you are still allowed to propagate them yourself since they have not been genetically modified to be sterile, so save a few seeds.
    The shorter the distance from the dirt to the table the better off you are! It also means that you have control over the chemicals that are applied to your foods.
    LOCAL farmers markets and neighbors who raise produce & livestock are really the way to go if you can. And if you can't, then go for the stuff with the least amount of processing available. It may mean more work in the kitchen, but it is better for you.

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