Good for You, Good for Our Earth

A new study reported in Harvard Magazine did a really good job covering a story about the extra hormones in milk, and how they affect us. The article informed the reader about the negative consequences of drinking milk due to the extra hormones it contains. What it didn’t emphasize in the story was the very last statement in the article which mentioned that hormones are only carried in the ‘fat’ of the milk. Milk such as skim milk is fat free. Therefore contains all the goodness of milk, with out the added fat and hormones! So if you are unable to afford organic milk, and still want to provide your family with the nutrition milk contains, next time you are at the store, reach for the locally produced skim milk. It will do your body good

I am in love with the “Bon Appetit Management Company”. Take a moment to watch their chefs and clients bragging about how much they love the company to. All I have to say is, way to go Ebay!

Bon Appetit Management Company

SWEDEN is to become the first country to promote “climate-friendly” food labels. Consumers who want to buy food products that are ‘good for our earth’, now have a system to help them do so. Or do they really?  Ironically, the first product to tout the label is a small milk producer located just north of Stockhol. This milk has gone ‘green’ by  switching from chemical-based fertilizers to manure. Does it say anywhere on the label that milk is one of the more energy resource foods to begin with? Of course not. This type of ‘helpful’ food labeling has been done before and can be a double edged sword. For example, companies promote their product to be ‘free of saturated fats’, when in fact there were never any saturated fats in the products to begin with AND they are loaded with copious amounts of extra sugar.  The point is -  consumers should not just ‘trust’ the label.  Labels often miss the whole story of the product.  Switching from chemical based fertilizers to manure, sounds great, and it is a good start.  If the consumer is not aware that meat and dairy are extremely energy consuming food products as is, then we are still going in circles.

So…would I buy the less energy intense milk? Yep. However, I have already cut my milk and meat consumption to 1/4 of what it use to be. Reducing overall consumption is what really needs to be at the top of the ‘to do’ list!

According to the World Health Organization, Genetically Modified Organisms(GMOs) are “organisms in which the genetic material (DNA) has been altered in such a way that does not occur naturally.

We have been told that genetically-modified foods have the potential to solve many of the world’s hunger and malnutrition problems, and to help protect and preserve the environment by increasing yield and reducing reliance upon chemical pesticides and herbicides.

However, because GM foods have not been properly tested for human consumption, and because there is ample evidence of probable harm, the American Academy of Environmental Medicine asks:

• Physicians to educate their patients, the medical community, and the public to avoid GM foods when possible and provide educational materials concerning GM foods and health risks.
• Physicians to consider the possible role of GM foods in the disease processes of the patients they treat and to document any changes in patient health when changing from GM food to non-GM food.
• Our members, the medical community, and the independent scientific community to gather case studies potentially related to GM food consumption and health effects, begin epidemiological research to investigate the role of GM foods on human health, and conduct safe methods of determining the effect of GM foods on human health.
• For a moratorium on GM food, implementation of immediate long term independent safety testing, and labeling of GM foods, which is necessary for the health and safety of consumers.

To read the whole article, and find the studies linking GM food to detrimental health benefits go to:

http://www.aaemonline.org/gmopost.html

Below is a summary of one of my favorite new books. It’s called Foods that Prevent Cancer and its by Richard Beliveau and Denis Gingras.  The authors base their recommendations on the scientific studies currently available.
They have found that approximately one-third of all cancers are directly related to diet. To help prevent cancer, they recommended making some of these foods that fight cancer a regular part of your diet.

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