Chicago Tribune: We chow down on a diet salted with mystery

[marmar]

We chow down on a diet salted with mystery
Julie Deardorff HEALTH AND FITNESS REPORTER
February 24, 2008


Most of us have absolutely no idea where -- or from whom -- our food is coming, which is exactly how we like it.

Factory farming isn't pretty, even when slaughterhouses obey regulations. And who cares whether pineapples grow high on trees or low to the ground as long as they're available in February?

But last week's massive beef recall, sparked by an unpalatable video showing workers using forklifts and electric shocks to move sick animals to slaughter, shows the importance of knowing the source of your sustenance.

The way food is grown and harvested directly affects our health. But we've become so divorced from the process that we're unable to make logical or intuitive food choices.

Instead we read confusing labels, we listen to food marketers, we buy into so-called health claims. Our mechanized system of food production, meanwhile, is not necessarily in sync with the Earth; it relies on antibiotics, synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and genetic modification.

The result -- food ignorance and an explosion of diet-related health problems -- has prompted two leading thinkers and best-selling writers to propose radical reforms.

What if, wondered Barbara Kingsolver in "Animal Vegetable Miracle" (HarperCollins, $26.95), we mandated agriculture classes in schools, along with reading and writing? ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/health/chi-0224deardorfffeb24,1,3134528.story

[Warpy]

1. I remember field trips to local farms when I was a kid

and when there were local farms. I knew what an electric milker and cream separator looked like. I learned how well kept pigs smell. I'd already fed chickens at my granny's house and seen their headless bodies on the clothesline draining into the garden in preparation for Sunday dinner. I'd watched an uncle butcher whole sides of beef into steaks, roasts and hamburger while feral cats at the back door to the shop meowed for the scraps he was soft hearted enough to feed them.

I knew where meat on the table came from back then.

When factory farming came in, that's about the time I stopped eating meat. I'm not a strict vegetarian and will buy an occasional piece of organically farmed meat once or twice a year, something that usually reminds me why I don't eat meat. I don't like the way I feel when I eat it.

In any case, I know where the meat in the supermarket case comes from, and I won't support cruelty.

[monmouth]

2. Ya know I was recently on a diet and ate a lot, lot of veggies. I must

say, although I did feel hungry after (carb and sugar withdrawl I'm sure) I did feel better. I slept better and seemed to have more energy. Even found time to move that stupid vacuum cleaner around when I wasn't on DU. I just may go all veg, enjoyed your informative post.

[marmar]

3. I really want to go vegetarian.....but corned beef and lamb are my absolute faves.....

.... Even so, I've really cut down on my red meat consumption.

[Warpy]

5. Everybody's different

and some people feel worse if they try to go veg, even if they're doing it correctly and not just eating junk food. Other people work through a period of feeling worse and end up feeling better on it.

Still others are like you and me and get a Jones a couple of times a year and remind ourselves why we don't eat all that meat any more.

Thank goodness for Quorn. I no longer have to give in to a fried chicken Jones once a summer because their products satisfy it completely.

[bryant69]

4. I know everything I want to know about the making of sausage.

Probably a bit more than I want to know, actually. Ignorance is bliss.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Mojorabbit]

6. I have a garden

and my husband hunts. He brought me another wild pig yesterday. I make my own sausage and am trying my hand at various bacons and hams. I am the one who cuts the meat off the pig when he brings it home after he field dresses it. It wasn't hard to learn. I know which weeds that grow in my yard are edible.
If nothing else, these are good skills to have. Who knows what the future will be.

[fed-up]

7. local schools are getting grants for gardening-but the dietician that is helping organize knows

little to nothing about farming/gardening or about what crops are in season and when

I was at my boyfriend's booth this weekend and the woman stopped by as she was looking to make a purchase of veggies to feed 100 people for one of thier sessions, but then she said she wanted to be able to come to his farm to pick them up on Wednesday as she wanted them fresh for Thursday.

I patiently explained that since this week was forecast for sunny weather the farmer would most likely be tilling or planting and not have time to take an hour or two to handle a small purchase

I explained that most of the farmers at the market did not also sell from their farms and that it would be good to plan her events for a Monday if she really wanted farm fresh ingredients. I also suggested that it would be good if she gave the farmer a week's notice as most farmers know in advance about how much they will sell each week even considering different weather.

She also had no clue what she wanted and had no clue that different veggies were seasonal.

I gave her a few suggestions for activities for the kids while gardening and also suggested she try unusual varieties such as the red carrots. I also suggested that they plant a few different fruit and nut trees at each school in the district and then they can share the bounty as some schools may not have room for a large orchard. Since local lumber companies were donating the lumber for raised beds I suggested she ask for hardware cloth to line the bottom to prevent loss to gophers. Nothing like dampening enthusiasism in kids if they watch their crops disappear.

The project is a great idea, but if they have people running it that have no clue about gardening it may have a rough start...

[conscious evolution]

8. Tell her to find the local hippies.

The hippy crowd has been into the organic farming and gardening for years now.Plenty of experience to draw from.

[fed-up]

9. didn't clarify-she was talking to "the hippies", BF is organic farmers & we were at Farmer's Market

she asked if I wanted to sign up as volunteer, but I am not in the best of shape to do so right now, too many issues I am currently dealing with.

She did say she would come back and chat more in the future :)