A January 16th column in the Toledo Blade by Charles Krauthammer on the resurgence of libertarianism, lead me to conclude that I am a schizophrenic Progressive - torn between liberalism and libertarianism. Right wingers' focus on 'rights' of the unborn and marriage are certainly not libertarian. Their emphasis on cutting taxes and government seems to reflect greed and selfishness more than any concern for the common good, in spite of their claim to be Christian. I'm afraid I see right wing ideas leading down the path to serfdom, as the rich become ever more powerful and the poor become poorer. On the other hand Democrats need to learn from libertarians that reams of regulations are not the answer to a healthier, happier, more productive society.
The current USDA goal of eliminating access to raw milk by 2020 is but one example of regulatory overkill. Never mind that good quality raw milk has nourished millions of people around the world for thousands of year, and there are currently better that 8 million raw milk drinkers in this country with no evidence that it is more dangerous than all the other things on our grocery store shelves.
The book, 'Everything I Want to Do is Illegal,' written by one of the smartest ecological farmers in this country, Joel Salatin, details a host of other ridiculous, job-killing regulations that add nothing to the safety or health of our food supply. I can see the influence of powerful corporations behind much of this over-regulation, designed to kill small businesses and cut the competition, whichever party is in power, and then the bureaucrats become control freaks. Is either party willing to cut the corporate purse strings, resist corrupt corporate influence, and do what we really need to do to make this a better world?
A few examples of adverse corporate influence:
Dairy Industry
The government war on raw milk is an attack against food freedom
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
Meat Industry
Everything I want to do is Illegal - War Stories from the Local Food Front
Ag/Food industries
The Farm Bill: Better Food Starts Here
http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/food/farm-bill-2012
Drug Industry
Ex-Pharma Sales Reps Speaks Out - Pharma Not in Business of Health, Healing, Cures, Wellness
GMO Industry
Scientist finding many negative impacts of Roundup Ready GM crops
Trust Us, We're Experts! How Industry Manipulates Science and Gambles with Your Future
There are more examples on my website
Showing posts with label agriculture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label agriculture. Show all posts
Friday, March 2, 2012
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Where are the Innovators?
In response to the Editorial on page 37 of the October 10-16, 2011 large print weekly of the NYTimes, titled "Where to Find the Innovators?"(They are always changing the name!) I wrote this response - but was too late to send it.
What do you mean 'Where are the innovators?' There are plenty of innovators but they are being systematically squashed!
There are innovative eco-farmers who are producing super nutritious, tasty and highly productive farm products, using innovative, sophisticated, ecologically friendly, sustainable techniques, but they have been ignored or belittled by conventional agricultural experts.
There are small eco-farmers and their customers who are producing wonderfully nutritious and innovative value added products, but they are crushed by burdensome, irrational, often arbitrarily applied regulations which have little to do with real food safety, but are true job killers. Read famed, truly innovative eco-farmer Joel Salatin's book, Everything I Want To Do is Illegal, to see what innovation killers those regulations can be. (Summary article)
There are unconventional health professionals who are not only curing cancer, but also guiding their patients into how to prevent it and a host of other chronic diseases in the first place, yet they are regularly disparaged as quacks and frauds by establishment medicine and often threatened with loss of their license to practice.
The public has been led to believe that the latest drug is truly innovative, when in fact the really innovative, effective, and relatively low cost non-drug approaches being used by knowledgeable nutritionists face all kinds of regulatory barriers, while the practitioners are attacked by the dietetic police for not having the "proper credentials," or not following proper protocols.
Wall Street's insistence on short term profits is behind much of this - so hurrah for 'Occupy Wall Street'! An end to the collusion between big corporations and government!
Your everlovin' reformed and retired dietitian,
Kris
What do you mean 'Where are the innovators?' There are plenty of innovators but they are being systematically squashed!
There are innovative eco-farmers who are producing super nutritious, tasty and highly productive farm products, using innovative, sophisticated, ecologically friendly, sustainable techniques, but they have been ignored or belittled by conventional agricultural experts.
There are small eco-farmers and their customers who are producing wonderfully nutritious and innovative value added products, but they are crushed by burdensome, irrational, often arbitrarily applied regulations which have little to do with real food safety, but are true job killers. Read famed, truly innovative eco-farmer Joel Salatin's book, Everything I Want To Do is Illegal, to see what innovation killers those regulations can be. (Summary article)
There are unconventional health professionals who are not only curing cancer, but also guiding their patients into how to prevent it and a host of other chronic diseases in the first place, yet they are regularly disparaged as quacks and frauds by establishment medicine and often threatened with loss of their license to practice.
The public has been led to believe that the latest drug is truly innovative, when in fact the really innovative, effective, and relatively low cost non-drug approaches being used by knowledgeable nutritionists face all kinds of regulatory barriers, while the practitioners are attacked by the dietetic police for not having the "proper credentials," or not following proper protocols.
Wall Street's insistence on short term profits is behind much of this - so hurrah for 'Occupy Wall Street'! An end to the collusion between big corporations and government!
Your everlovin' reformed and retired dietitian,
Kris
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Fat be not proud
It seems like there are item daily in the newspaper that I'd like to respond to. Here's a recent letter to The Blade responding to a Blade editorial called 'Fat be not proud' http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091206/OPINION03/912060316 (4th letter down the page)
While it's true that obesity is a major and growing health problem in our country, Congress and industry certainly need to share the blame. Agricultural subsidies support the growing of far too much wheat, corn and soybeans than we need, while our food industry turns them into the heavily advertised processed foods that line our grocery store shelves, foods that are stripped of essential vitamins and mineral that contribute to good health and laced with processed vegetable oils that undermine our health. Then our health authorities have provoked fat phobia, telling us to eat less fat and cholesterol, more fiber, and exercise more - none of which has proved particularly effective for successful weight loss. In Good Calorie, Bad Calories, Gary Taubes traces the research showing that the carb foods we're advised to eat are the very foods that contribute to weight gain, diabetes, and all the associated health problems. Cutting calories by trying to eat a low fat diet while avoiding high carb foods leaves you hungry and unhappy. My advice - avoid processed foods, limit carbs, overcome your fat phobia, eat natural whole foods, including meat, butter and eggs from pasture raised animals - the foods our ancestors ate without being plagued by diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Let's put our unemployed back to work doing the wonderfully satisfying job of raising high quality fruits, vegetables, grains and pastured animals on well managed organic farms that can be very bit as productive as our present commercial agriculture, while supporting, rather than undermining our health, our communities and the environment.
Kris Johnson, retired dietitian
There's more on my Website if you want to pursue these issues:
Carb Issues
Planning Healthy Meals
Justice and Agriculture Issues
While it's true that obesity is a major and growing health problem in our country, Congress and industry certainly need to share the blame. Agricultural subsidies support the growing of far too much wheat, corn and soybeans than we need, while our food industry turns them into the heavily advertised processed foods that line our grocery store shelves, foods that are stripped of essential vitamins and mineral that contribute to good health and laced with processed vegetable oils that undermine our health. Then our health authorities have provoked fat phobia, telling us to eat less fat and cholesterol, more fiber, and exercise more - none of which has proved particularly effective for successful weight loss. In Good Calorie, Bad Calories, Gary Taubes traces the research showing that the carb foods we're advised to eat are the very foods that contribute to weight gain, diabetes, and all the associated health problems. Cutting calories by trying to eat a low fat diet while avoiding high carb foods leaves you hungry and unhappy. My advice - avoid processed foods, limit carbs, overcome your fat phobia, eat natural whole foods, including meat, butter and eggs from pasture raised animals - the foods our ancestors ate without being plagued by diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Let's put our unemployed back to work doing the wonderfully satisfying job of raising high quality fruits, vegetables, grains and pastured animals on well managed organic farms that can be very bit as productive as our present commercial agriculture, while supporting, rather than undermining our health, our communities and the environment.
Kris Johnson, retired dietitian
There's more on my Website if you want to pursue these issues:
Carb Issues
Planning Healthy Meals
Justice and Agriculture Issues
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Big Food vs. Big Insurance
Excellent article by Michael Pollan on the potential influence of the health insurance industry on the food and agriculture industries.
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