Thursday, October 28, 2010

A Letter to The Nation on Food and Health Freedom

To The Nation

As a Progressive who for the first time became politically active in 2008, working for the Obama campaign, I’ll have to say I am disappointed not only because Pres. Obama has fallen under the influence of big business interests, but because the Progressive movement seems to have been so silent on some issues which are dear to the hearts of many of us, issues that might be called common sense progressive libertarianism – "get the government off my back".

Example – the Raw Milk Movement, whose only champion in Congress at this point seems to be Ron Paul, while misguided public health authorities do everything in the power to shut down the movement, to the detriment of our health and our freedom. It is outrageous that at this time when there is so much concern about lack of jobs, we have a government agency, the FDA, that is throwing their weight around trying to shut down legitimate farm businesses based on completely unfounded food safety concerns - over and over again.* As a dietitian I am appalled at their arrogance! We can go to the store and buy all kinds of junk foods that are leading us down the path to obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer and more and we can't have raw milk cheese (or raw milk for that matter) because we might get sick??? Give me a break! I hear so many stories from raw milk consumers of healing from whole natural foods, but the public health authorities refuse to acknowledge that the benefits might outweigh the risks. Does this reflect the influence of the commercial dairy industry that doesn’t like the competition???

Another, but related, example – there is a comprehensive food safety bill in Congress, fortunately stalled by one Republican senator, which could have the effect of putting many small farms producing excellent artisanal food products out of business, with rules that are only appropriate for big commercial farm/food operations, who are the predominant sources of food poisoning crises. Without the passage of the Tester-Hagan amendment this bill would be a disaster for many farms and food processors that produce some of the healthiest food in this country. Are we looking at the oppressive influence of the giant commercial farm and food industries trying to shut down the competition???

Another example – The USDA Dietary Guidelines, which guide the food planning at millions of institutions about the country, and are currently being updated, are based on politics more than solid science! Luise Light, MS, EdD, in her book, What To Eat, tells the story of how her committee of nutrition experts developed the original Food Guide Pyramid based on their understanding of the science, only to have the guidelines changed by the top guns at USDA for political reasons – and this is happening again in 2010! The result has been the steady deterioration of health in this country and persistent rise in health care costs, as our grocery stores are filled with unhealthy but profitable processed foods. Is this again the aggressive influence of big moneyed interests in the food industry???

These, and many others,** are issues of great concern to many of my friends, who are often progressive in their thinking – supporting real health care reform, immigration reform, financial industry reform, etc., but we feel these concerns are not being addressed, and in fact receive little media coverage and would be nearly invisible except for the Internet. There are very personal issues that affect our health and well-being. The article on page 11 of the Nov. 8 issue of The Nation speaks of the lack of a persuasive long-term vision for how to create good jobs, yet a growing source of good, green, sustainable jobs and professions, producing high quality real foods and genuine healing, are being ignored by the media, and in fact undermined at every turn.*** Many of us would love to be part of a powerful progressive movement for change, but our concerns need to be part of that long-term vision! Let’s recruit these advocates for food and health freedom to a powerful progressive movement for change that recognizes that wise government promotes justice, not oppression and profits for big corporations.

* lots more at http://www.ftcldf.org/

** Other instances of inappropriate government control or action:
Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s),
Health Freedom issues,
T
he undue influence of the drug industry

*** EVERYTHING I WANT TO DO IS ILLEGAL: War Stories from the Local Food Front, by Joel Salatin

Sunday, August 15, 2010

On "corporate hatred"

I listened to BBC Business Weekly this morning (Sunday) – ‘A glimpse of the future’ during which Lucy Kellaway commented on why corporate hatred is rampant these days.

She identifies emotional response to the credit crunch, executive pay, corporate image building, and the Internet as driving this hatred, but I would add these really important reasons why we "hate" or are very disillusioned with many giant corporations:

Examples:

  • US health care reform that protects drug and health insurance companies, and almost guarantees continued escalation of health care costs
  • Proposed fresh food safety legislation that threatens to ruin small organic/ecological farms, while paying no attention to the refined, processed foods that are the real source of many of our health problems
  • Raw milk wars that have nearly eliminated the easy availability of this ancient healthful food, driving farmers out of business and driving access underground
  • Corporate-influenced medical school accreditation guidelines that eliminated the excellent nutrition oriented medical schools of days past, and brainwashed physicians (and the FDA and the media) into thinking that drugs and high tech are the answer to every health problem
  • Attacks on doctors who eschew conventional therapies and rely on nutrition and detoxification to bring healing to their patients
  • Corporate efforts to demonize anything that threatens to cut into their profits (which seems to cut into media coverage of low cost alternatives of merit).

And in case you are wondering, here is documentation of these serious charges…

Trust Us, We're Experts! How Industry Manipulates Science and Gambles with Your Future, by Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber

Doubt Is Their Product – How Industry’s Assault on Science Threatens Your Health, by David Michaels

The Oiling of America by Sally Fallon Morell and Mary Enig, PhD

More on my Blog – ‘Sorry to get political!’
and on my website - Politics and the Environment, Health and Freedom

While there is occasionally an admirable media effort to cover the controversial issues raised above, the need to provide "balance" covering the other side of the story leads to the "experts" spouting official lies and deceptions, while claiming ‘There’s no scientific evidence that XXX is true!’ insisting that the defendants provide "scientific evidence" of their claim because they are relying on mere ‘anecdotal’ evidence.

But I would counter that there is no good, valid scientific evidence that XXX is not true, and I would challenge the ‘experts’ to pursue the leads raised by the anecdotal evidence, though I doubt that there is any money to do this very difficult and often unprofitable research, considering the complications, complexities and near impossibility of doing high quality valid double blind studies of human beings that is their ‘gold standard.’ The anecdotal evidence is often so powerful as to preclude such research ethically.

These are serious issues that affect the entire planet! I would challenge the high quality, supposedly impartial media, like BBC and Public Radio, to be fully aware of and report on the ways in which powerful interests manipulate the science to their advantage, and do some in depth reporting on these justice issues and alternative ways to pursue health.

My thoughts for today. Seems like I've covered some of this same territory before! Is anyone listening?

Kris

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Change to mineral rich natural sea salt!

Ordinary table salt is a killer. I just read today in Dr. Bruce West's Health Alert about a doctor in Finland who developed a "therapeutic salt’ that contains less sodium, with added magnesium, potassium, and the amino acid l-lysine hydrochloride. Called Pansalt its use in a Finnish study change resulted in a more than 60% reduction in deaths from coronary heart disease and stroke!

A therapeutic salt that is readily available is Celtic Sea Salt® (www.celticseasalt.com ) or its sister, Hawaiian Salt. Read more about it on my website - Therapeutic Salt

Monday, July 26, 2010

Sorry to get political!!!

I started this back in May, but it’s even more appropriate today! This seems to be what we've gotten back to:
From "The Old Enemies" by New York Times columnist, Paul Krugman
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/24/opinion/24krugman.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

"Mr. Obama wanted to transcend partisanship. Instead, however, he finds himself very much in the position Franklin Roosevelt described in a famous 1936 speech, struggling with "the old enemies of peace — business and financial monopoly, speculation, reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering." "

Re: corporate monopolies:
Chemical companies like Monsan… aiming to monopolize plant genetics around the world and inflict their dangerous GMO's on the whole world, causing enormous grief to farmers and the environment.

Toxic chemical industry cover-up shenanigans revealed in Doubt Is Their Product – How Industry’s Assault on Science Threatens Your Health, by David Michaels

Agriculture giants like Monsan… and Archer Dan… promoting environmentally disastrous farming methods around the worldFood processing giants like Kraft & Coke turning corn, wheat and soybeans into unhealthy nutrient-depleted processed foods, while taking over all the small organic food companies More links on The Grocery Store Blues

Pharmaceutical industry giants like Merck turning doctors into drug pushers with their "education-providing" drug reps and their excessive influence on medical education, while actively suppressing unfavorable research results and ignoring effective alternative therapies if they can't turn them into profitable patentable drugs

With these forces lined up against genuine reform (and I haven’t even touched on the military/industrial complex or the oil & coal industries and their anti-global warming campaign, or the financial industry & it’s resistance to regulatory reform, or the dairy industry and its anti-raw milk propaganda), is it any wonder that President Obama has a hard time making progress on campaign promises. We need to understand what is behind the controversy and doubt that drives the raucous noise and uncertainty that floods the airways and byways, and stand up for what is right and just in this crazy world! And call our politicians and bureaucrats to task for succumbing to big money pressures and refusing to break up these monopolies that undermine the health and welfare of our citizens and the environment our health depends on.

My thoughts for today!
Kris

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Taking Tea Partiers Seriously

My recent comments to the editors of The Progressive:

Thank you for "Taking Tea Partiers Seriously." As a progressive who for the first time worked in a political campaign, I went door to door for Obama. I've also given some support to Sen. Sherrod Brown and Rep Dennis Kucinich here in Ohio. But right now I'm very disappointed with what is going on in Washington, because I see so many ways in which government is getting in the way of what I hold dear - living an eco-friendly, sustainable, life that is fair to all. I see the heavy influence of big business on Pres. Obama and Democrats, as well as Republicans, as they try to protect their profits.

The drug/insurance/conventional medical industries don't want to see real health care reform as it would cut their profits, so the monstrous health care bill protects these industries, while harassing and marginalizing the very medical professionals who are using natural means to guide their patients to healing and true health, and who would actually contribute to reducing health care costs in this country. Health Care Reform will never succeed in reducing costs until these very capable alternative health professionals can practice freely and our health insurance premiums stop subsidizing the doctors who just push drugs. Check the history of medical school accreditation to see why our conventional doctors are taught drug therapy (under the heavy influence of the drug industry), but very little about nutrition.

The conventional agriculture and food industries don't want to see real change so they can continue to produce processed profitable foods that contribute to our health problems while supporting legislation and regulation that undermines the small ethical farmers who are farming sustainable, such as
  • Efforts to shut down raw milk producers because of an unreasonable fear of raw milk,
  • Ridiculous regulations for growing greens,
  • NAIS (which, thank goodness, has been cast aside)
  • Unreasonable regulations for small butcheries and food processors
  • Huge subsidies for the grains that are making us fat and unhealthy, with minimal support for pasture-based and organic farming
  • The FDA acts as a drug protection agency, while tying down the supplement and herb businesses with ridiculous regulations that prevent them from even giving factual information about their products.
  • Harassment, in the name of misguided food safety notions, of small farmers who sell directly to consumers
As well-known eco-farmer, Joel Salatin, says "Everything I want to do is illegal!"

Add in the military/industrial complex that General Eisenhower warned against, that seems to protect their profits by pushing us into picking fights all over the world. Is it any wonder that insurgents around the world use ever more sophisticated methods to get the USA off their backs. Or that tea party rhetoric appeals, even to some liberals!

We got into this horrendous recession because of too much debt, high flying financial shenanigans, and overspending on cars and houses that are too big, junk we don't need, sophisticated drugs and medical procedures that don't bring real health, too much junky food, while producing less and less of things of true value. We won't pull out of this slump until we learn again to be
I invite you all to share in this vision. Get acquainted with your local farmers, invest in the very best food, and be rewarded with vibrant health.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Medical Miscue or excessive drug industry influence?

A February 3 article on the vaccine-autism link in the Toledo Blade prompted a related editorial on Feb. 6 that reflected the excessive influence of the drug industry on our health care system. My letter to the Editor in response was published yesterday. Elaborating on my letter, which got cut somewhat...

The research in Lancet by Dr. Andrew Wakefield was not flawed, but with the imminent publication of his new research on the long term health of monkeys given vaccines, which shows stark differences between those were and were not vaccinated, there has been an insidious effort to discredit this scientist who is publishing such embarrassing research. Imagine the fallout from this study for vaccine makers and public health officials! Is it any wonder there is a "Tea Party" movement in this country as more and more people understand that government seems more interested in protecting the profits of big corporations than in the health and welfare of its citizens. This effort to discredit happens over and over again to those health professionals who call the bluff on the drug industry by using low cost natural means to guide their patients to healing and genuine health.

For those who would like to understand this issue further go to http://generationrescue.org/wakefield_statement2.html. The increase in measles has more to do with the poor nutritional status of our children than the lack of vaccination. For an effective alternative to questionable vaccinations check out "Curing the Incurable" by Thomas E. Levy, MD, JD (tomlevymd.com). Dr. Levy's effective high dose IV vitamin C treatment is just one example of nutritional therapies that would put an end to the morbidity and mortality of a wide range of infectious and chronic diseases that burden our society.

Many health professionals will cry 'foul,' but with health care costs in our country escalating, while our health deteriorates, they need to start listening to the rebels!