WHEN WE EAT THESE TOXIC FOODS, WE BECOME ILL AND SUFFER AND OFTEN DIE TOO SOON.
WHEN WE CAN DISCOVER THE SOURCES OF THESE POISONS WE CAN MAKE CHOICES AND FIND WAYS TO PROTECT OURSELVES AND THOSE WE LOVE.
OUR DANGEROUS SOILS
Soil contamination is either solid or liquid hazardous substances mixed with the naturally occurring soil. Usually, contaminants in the soil are physically or chemically attached to soil particles, or, if they are not attached, are trapped in the small spaces between soil particles.
Soil contamination results when hazardous substances are either spilled or buried directly in the soil or migrate to the soil from a spill that has occurred elsewhere. For example, soil can become contaminated when small particles containing hazardous substances are released from a smokestack and are deposited on the surrounding soil as they fall out of the air. Another source of soil contamination could be water that washes contamination from an area containing hazardous substances and deposits the contamination in the soil as it flows over or through it.
Contaminants in the soil can hurt plants when they attempt to grow in contaminated soil and take up the toxins through their roots. This adversely impacts the health of animals and humans when they ingest, inhale, or touch contaminated soil, or when they eat plants or animals that have themselves been grown in or affected by soil contamination. Animals ingest and come into contact with contaminants when they eat feeds or grasses grown in contaminated dirt. Humans ingest and come into contact with contaminants when they play in contaminated soil or dig in the dirt as part of their work. Certain contaminants, when they come into contact with our skin, are absorbed into our bodies. When contaminants are attached to small surface soil particles they can become airborne as dust and can be inhaled.
Companies dumping pollutants is not the only way that soil contamination occurs. There are also cases where things happen such as underground tanks rupturing. At any rate the contamination might involve pesticides, hydrocarbons, metals, industrial solvents, oil dumping, or wastes from landfills. This is not an exhaustive list but it is an example of the pollutants that contaminate the environment.
Sadly when soil contamination happens in some cases people may start to suffer consequences before they even realize what is happening. For example if the groundwater is contaminated that can impact food and drinking water and so people could be potentially ingesting toxins for years and they might not know it. Some individuals do realize that their illness symptoms are associated with soil contamination and they seek help. However some individuals suffer quietly for years before seeking legal help and medical help for their symptoms.
[SOURCE: Soil Contamination
http://www.gblawyers.com/practice-areas/groundwater-contamination/soil-contamination/ ]
Soil contamination or soil pollution is caused by the presence of xenobiotic (human-made) chemicals or other alteration in the natural soil environment. It is typically caused by industrial activity, agricultural chemicals, or improper disposal of waste. The most common chemicals involved are petroleum hydrocarbons, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (such as naphthalene and benzo(a)pyrene), solvents, pesticides, lead, and other heavy metals.
Soil contamination can be caused by:
??? Application of pesticides and fertilizers
??? Mining
??? Oil and fuel dumping
??? Disposal of coal ash
??? Leaching from landfills
??? Drainage of contaminated surface water into the soil
??? Discharging urine and feces in the open
The most common chemicals involved are petroleum hydrocarbons, solvents, pesticides, lead, and other heavy metals.
Coal ash used for residential, commercial, and industrial heating, as well as for industrial processes such as ore smelting, are a common source of contamination in areas that were industrialized before about 1960. Coal naturally concentrates lead and zinc during its formation, as well as other heavy metals to a lesser degree. When the coal is burned, most of these metals become concentrated in the ash (the principal exception being mercury). Coal ash and slag may contain sufficient lead to qualify as a "characteristic hazardous waste", defined in the USA as containing more than 5 mg/L of extractable lead using the TCLP procedure. In addition to lead, coal ash typically contains variable but significant concentrations of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs; e.g., benzo(a)anthracene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, benzo(k)fluoranthene, benzo(a)pyrene, indeno(cd)pyrene, phenanthrene, anthracene, and others). These PAHs are known human carcinogens.
Treated sewage sludge, known in the industry as biosolids, has become controversial as a fertilizer to the land. As it is the byproduct of sewage treatment, it generally contains more contaminants such as organisms, pesticides, and heavy metals than other soil.
In the European Union, the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive ALLOWS sewage sludge to be sprayed onto land.
Pesticides, insecticides and herbicides are commonly sprayed or scattered on farmlands and in or around homes, gardens and yards.
Health consequences from exposure to these soil contaminants vary greatly depending on pollutant type, pathway of attack and vulnerability of the exposed population. Chronic exposure to chromium, lead and other metals, petroleum, solvents, and many pesticide and herbicide formulations can be carcinogenic, DO cause congenital disorders, or cause other chronic health conditions. Industrial or man-made concentrations of naturally occurring substances, such as nitrate and ammonia associated with livestock manure from agricultural operations, have also been identified as health hazards in soil and groundwater.
For my Italian readers, please be aware that there exists in Italy an area known as the "Triangle of Death". This area is located in the Italian province of Campania comprising the municipalities of Acerra, Nola and Marigliano.
The region has recently experienced increasing deaths caused by cancer and other diseases that far exceeds the Italian national average. The rise in cancer-related mortality is thought to be mainly caused by pollution from illegal waste disposal by the Camorra criminal organization.
The term was first used in August 2004 by the international scientific medical review journal The Lancet Oncology (edited by Elsevier) that published an article Kathryn Senior and Alfredo Mazza (researchers in Pisa's CNR) called: Italian "Triangle of death" linked to waste crisis.
[See: The Lancet Oncology, vol. 5, n. 9, settembre 2004, pag. 525-527, Italian ?Triangle of death? linked to waste crisis.
(Italian) See [1] from website Centro Nazionale di Epidemiologia, Sorveglianza e Promozione della Salute, AND? "Il triangolo della morte". rassegna.it. march 2007. Retrieved 26-09-2008]
This region and its contamination problem was the subject of a documentary by Esmeralda Calabria and Andrea D'Ambrosio entitled 'Bi?tiful cauntri'.
The Italian version is available here on YOUTUBE and I hope you can access it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otE_6Shy5tg
Knowledge gives us power, my friends. When we are aware of such things, we can work to make them right!
May you be protected from harm, all who live in this region.
THE ENTIRE FOOD INDUSTRY SEEMS TO WORK AGAINST US!
In 1972 there were approximately 50,000 FDA food inspections per year and in 2006 there were only 9,000, thanks mainly to the Bush2's administration rescinding many programs and legislation involving our environment and the safety of our food supplies. Obama's regime has not seen fit to replace the safeguards, such as unannounced inspections, that we lost.
Deregulation has severely weakened consumer protection from the questionable and blatant production practices of the food industry.
From seed to table, our foods are rendered TOXIC TO LIFE!
We may assume that profits for the food producers are more important to Congress and the White House than our health.
In the documentary movie 'Food Inc.', it is emphasized that "industrial food is not honest food" and that once corporations decide to market food for mass appeal (AND HIGHER PROFITS!), consumers and products are viewed simply as dollar signs. We see today that corporate- sponsored, non-independent journalism does not lead to honest information about our foods. Whistle-blowers in the mainstream meia often findd themselves quickly without jobs and "black-listed". Our media prints and airs what it is told to print and air by its sponsors, those who pollute our food supply.
John Nichols in an interview with Robert McChesney on PBS's 'Now' said that this degeneration of news is what is creating "a perfect model for a propaganda state", which he explains is "very few independent journalists, independent sources of news, but a need for news, a demand for information...Who fills that vacuum? Well, naturally, big corporations and government [do]."
'FOOD INC." is a film well worth watching, but, unfortunately, is not available on YOUTUBE.
OUR CHILDREN AT RISK: FOOD DYES
In kitchens across this country, eight dyes, currently being used by manufacturers, can be found in everything from packaged macaroni and cheese to breakfast cereal to practically every piece of candy your child has ever put in his or her mouth. Links are being found to hyperactivity in kids (ADHD), cancer and serious food allergies caused by these dyes.
In response to the 2007 Southampton Research Study of food dyes,? six colors , sunset yellow (E110), quinoline yellow (E104), carmoisine (E122), allura red (E129), tartrazine (E102) and ponceau 4R (E124) were removed by Wal-Mart, Kraft, Coca Cola and the Mars candy company (who make M&Ms), from foods and drinks sold in the U.K. and other European nations. They also voluntarily removed the preservative sodium benzoate, and even aspartame from their products sold overseas to the same nations.
THEY HAVE NOT REMOVE THOSE PRODUCTS FROM AMERICAN FOODS AND DRINKS!
WHY NOT?
Kraft, Coca Cola and Wal-Mart show us proof that it IS possible for giant corporations to make and sell kid-friendly, family-friendly, and healthy processed food without necessarily exposing them to a chemical cocktail that might also give them allergic reactions, brain tumors, or leukemia, or the symptoms of ADHD, as the Center for Science in the Public Interest recently highlighted in their report Rainbow of Risks.
June 29, 2010
WASHINGTON?Food dyes?used in everything from M&Ms to Manischewitz Matzo Balls to Kraft salad dressings?pose risks of cancer, hyperactivity in children, and allergies, and should be banned, according to a new report by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. A top government scientist agrees, and says that food dyes present unnecessary risks to the public.
The three most widely used dyes, Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6, are contaminated with known carcinogens, says CSPI. Another dye, Red 3, has been acknowledged for years by the Food and Drug Administration to be a carcinogen, yet is still in the food supply.
Despite those concerns, each year manufacturers pour about 15 million pounds of eight synthetic dyes into our foods. Per capita consumption of dyes has increased five-fold since 1955, thanks in part to the proliferation of brightly colored breakfast cereals, fruit drinks, and candies pitched to children.
CSPI charges that the FDA is not enforcing the law in several regards:
??? Red 3 and Citrus Red 2 should be banned under the Delaney amendment, because they caused cancer in rats (some uses were banned in 1990), as should Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6, which are tainted with cancer-causing contaminants.
??? Evidence suggests, though does not prove, that Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Red 40, and Yellow 6 cause cancer in animals. There certainly is not ?convincing evidence? of safety.
??? Dyed foods should be considered adulterated under the law, because the dyes make a food ?appear better or of greater value than it is??typically by masking the absence of fruit, vegetable, or other more costly ingredient.
WHAT ON EARTH CAN WE DO ABOUT ALL THIS? HOW CAN WE MAKE SURE WE AREN'T POISONING OURSELVES WITH THE FOODS WE EAT?
1. Stay away from processed meats like bacon, hot dogs, and sausage. Sodium nitrate accounts for their appetizing red hue, but this additive can also cause the formation of nitrosamines in your system, which can lead to cancer.
2. Stick to low-mercury fish like American-farmed tilapia instead of swordfish or tuna. Overexposure can cause memory problems, fatigue, and other health issues.
3. Reduce the amount of canned food you consume. The resin linings of tin cans contain bisphenol-A, a synthetic estrogen that has been linked to ailments ranging from reproductive problems to heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Unfortunately, acidity (a prominent characteristic of tomatoes) causes BPA to leach into your food. Studies show that the BPA in most people's body exceeds the amount that suppresses sperm production or causes chromosomal damage to the eggs of animals.
4. Cut back on meat and dairy products. These animal products may contain trace amounts of harmful contaminants like polybrominated diphenyl ethers, polychlorinated biphenyl and dioxins. Although many of these toxins have been banned, they are still present in the soil. Cattle evolved to eat grass, not grains, but farmers today feed their animals corn and soybeans, which fatten up the animals faster for slaughter. THESE FEEDS OFTEN CONTAIN CHICKEN MANURE. A recent comprehensive study conducted by the USDA and researchers from Clemson University found that compared with corn-fed beef, grass-fed beef is higher in beta-carotene, vitamin E, omega-3s, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), calcium, magnesium, and potassium; lower in inflammatory omega-6s; and lower in saturated fats that have been linked to heart disease.
5. Skip the diet soda and artificial sweeteners. Prolonged exposure to aspartame, a neurotoxic chemical additive in these products, can lead to nerve cell damage, dizziness, and headaches. Besides, anything that gives rats brain tumors is worth avoiding.
6. Choose your farmed fish carefully. Studies show that farm-raised fish contain more polychlorinated biphenyl and over ten times the amount of dioxin. Nature didn't intend for fish to be crammed into pens and fed soy, poultry litter, and hydrolyzed chicken feathers. As a result, farmed fish, especially salmon, is lower in vitamin D and higher in contaminants, including carcinogens, PCBs, brominated flame retardants, and pesticides such as dioxin and DDT. The most contaminated fish come from Northern Europe, which can be found on American menus. Always ask for the source of your fish.
Fish with the highest mercury content: shark, swordfish, king mackerel, tuna, orange roughy, marlin, Chilean bass, lobster, halibut, snapper.
Freely eat fish with the lowest mercury content ( Ocean perch, Alaskan salmon, tilapia, founder, sole, catfish).
7. Opt for organic poultry. The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy discovered traces of arsenic in non-organic chickens. Exposure to this dangerous chemical can lead to cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Another study also found numerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria in conventional poultry.
8. Only drink milk that says ?no rBGH? on the carton because recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) has been STRONGLY linked with cancer.
Milk producers treat their dairy cattle with recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH or rBST, as it is also known) to boost milk production. But rBGH also increases udder infections and even PUS in the milk. It also leads to higher levels of a hormone called insulin-like growth factor in milk. In humans, high levels of IGF-1 may contribute to breast, prostate, and colon cancers. When the government approved rBGH, it was thought that IGF-1 from milk would be broken down in the human digestive tract. Such is not the case, and it is banned in most industrialized countries.
9. Avoid manufactured snacks. Hydrogenated oils are used to lengthen the shelf life of products like crackers and cookies, but they are also associated with diabetes and heart disease. Chemicals, including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), in the lining of the bag of some snacks (especially microwave popcorn), are part of a class of compounds that may be linked to infertility in humans, according to a recent study from UCLA. In animal testing, the chemicals cause liver, testicular, and pancreatic cancer.
10. Stay away from artificially-colored foods like candy, maraschino cherries, and gelatin. Mice and rats exposed to blue 1 and 2, red 3 and yellow 6 suffered from brain, adrenal gland, thyroid, and kidney tumors.
11. Always buy organic produce, or grow your own. Lingering pesticides can lead to nervous and reproductive system damage, not to mention cancer. Root vegetables absorb herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides that wind up in soil. In the case of potatoes, America's most popular vegetable, they're treated with fungicides during the growing season, then sprayed with herbicides to kill off the fibrous vines before harvesting. After they're dug up, the potatoes are treated yet again to prevent them from sprouting.
12. Use stainless steel or cast iron cookware to prepare your meals. The Teflon used to create nonstick surfaces can release noxious gases when exposed to high temperatures, which puts you at risk for heart disease. (More on this below.)
13. Never microwave food in plastic bowls, containers, or dishes. Exposure to heat causes the bisphenol-A found in plastics to break down and potentially contaminate your food. Also, make sure to hand wash plastics and never put them in the automatic dishwasher.
OF SPECIAL CONCERN IS THE CORN WE CONSUME. THIS MAY BE ONE OF THE MOST TOXIC SUBSTANCES IN OUR DIETS!
When U.S. regulators approved Monsanto's genetically modified "Bt" corn, they knew it would add a deadly poison into our food supply. That's what it was designed to do. The corn's DNA is equipped with a gene from soil bacteria called Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) that produces the Bt-toxin. It's a pesticide; it breaks open the stomach of certain insects and kills them.
But Monsanto and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) swore to the heavens that it was only insects that would be hurt. The Bt-toxin, they claimed, would be completely destroyed in the human digestive system and not have any impact on all of us trusting corn-eating consumers.
More than one study has proved them wrong.
THEY LIED!
Doctors at Sherbrooke University Hospital in Quebec found the corn's Bt-toxin in the blood of pregnant women and their babies, as well as in non-pregnant women. Specifically, the toxin was identified in 93% of 30 pregnant women, 80% of umbilical blood in their babies, and 67% of 39 non-pregnant women. The study has been accepted for publication in the peer reviewed journal Reproductive Toxicology.
Organizations from England to New Zealand are now calling for investigations and for GM crops to be halted due to the serious implications of this finding.
TODAY'S CORN IS NOT CORN
Over 81% of corn in America is genetically modified and can cause organ damage in mammals. WE ARE MAMMALS, MY FRIENDS!
Genetically modified corn can damage the liver and other internal organs.?
Those are the findings in a new study published in the International Journal of Biological Science.
Corn is what they now call a ?cultigen?. It no longer resembles its ancestors.
Today's corn cannot even reproduce on its own anymore. If we don?t plant corn, it disappears?forever! GMO corn does not produce viable seed!
Corn is the fourth food (along with the grains wheat, barley and rye, plus dairy foods, and soy) that can damage the villi of the small intestine and cause them to atrophy.
[PLEASE NOTE, ALMOST ALL OUR SOYBEANS ARE GMO TODAY.]
The villi are finger-like projections which increase the surface area of the duodenum, jejunum and ileum, and are responsible for absorbing our B complex, along with our calcium, iron, iodine, C, and trace minerals (such as boron, magnesium, manganese, copper, zinc, and many others. THESE MINERALS AND VITAMINS ARE ESSENTIAL TO HUMAN HEALTH!
It is possible for people who THINK they are eating well to suffer terribly from MALNUTRITION because of this! When a human body can't absorb and make use of the nutrients ingested, IT STARVES!
Corn is now being closely studied for its damaging neurological effects, especially in the autistic individual. Once again, certain lectins are capable of killing neurons. We know that gluten can do this in sensitized individuals so we really should not be surprised that corn lectins can do the same thing. High fructose corn syrup is also a neurotoxin. Soy also does this, aided by the neurotoxic amounts of the amino acid glutamate (the parent protein in MSG/monosodium glutamate) and the staggering levels of estrogen it contains.
You may read more about the neurotoxic nature of corn here:
http://wurtmanlab.mit.edu/static/pdf/171.pdf
After Monsanto/GMO corn and cotton was introduced in India, thousands of Indian farm laborers are suffering from the same allergic and flu-like symptoms as those in the Pacific Northwest simply from handling genetically engineered plants that produce Bt-toxin.
When they allowed livestock to graze on the GMO/Bt cotton plants' leaves after harvest, thousands of sheep, goats, and buffalo died. Numerous others got sick.
What GMO corn, or GMO soybeans, or GMO anything does to us is install LIVING PESTICIDE FACTORIES INSIDE OUR BODIES...KILLING US SLOWLY, DAY AFTER DAY.
There is a fine article on this here: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/10/06/dangerous-toxins-from-gmo-foods.aspx
BE CAREFUL CONSUMING NUTS...
BRAZIL NUTS contain radioactive radium in amounts 1,000 times higher than in other foods; not because of radium in the soil, but due to the extensive root system of the trees which can live hundreds of years.
ALMONDS: Effective September 2007, the USDA ordered all almond growers to ?sterilize? almonds in one of several ways: heat them using steam, irradiate them using a controversial ionization process, roast or blanch them, or treat them with propylene oxide (PPO).
PPO is a known carcinogen, and most countries, including the EU, have banned imported nuts treated with PPO. The chemical is so nasty that it?s even been banned by both the National Hot Rod and American Motorcycle Racing Associations, where it had been used as a fuel additive before it was deemed too dangerous.
PEANUTS: Peanuts are susceptible to a fungi known as Aspergillus which produces aflatoxins (a known carcinogen) that can inflame and impair the liver, even possibly leading to cancer or liver shutdown. Workers around peanuts are actually said to wear protection (like facial masks for breathing) from the mold and danger it creates.
In most cases, the mold cannot be seen in peanut butter and unfortunately there?s been no way determined to completely eliminate it from peanuts and peanut butter. This mold is something to be aware of, especially if you may be suffering from candida.
Also, even if the Aspergillus fungus is killed through heating, the dangerous aflatoxins will remain.
SHOULDN'T THESE TOXIC GMO FOODS BE LABELED?
DON'T WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO CHOICE, TO ELIMINATE THEM FROM OUR DIETS BY BEING ABLE TO READ ON FOOD LABELS WHICH ONES CONTAIN EVEN A GRAIN OF GMO FOODS?
MONSANTO AND OTHER GM FOOD PRODUCERS HAVE SPENT BILLIONS UPON BILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO FIGHT SUCH LABELING! THEY ARE WILLING TO SPEND BILLIONS MORE!
THEY KNOW THAT PEOPLE WHO ARE AWARE OF THE DANGERS OF GMO FOODS WON'T BUY THEM, SO THEY HAVE FOUGHT IN EVERY COURT IN THE LAN TO PREVENT LABELING OF GMOs.
OUR CONGRESS AND PRESIDENT HAVE AIDED AND ABETTED THEM IN THIS!
CONGRESS RECENTLY PASSED "THE MONSANTO PROTECTION ACT" LEGISLATION AND OBAMA SIGNED IT INTO LAW!
NOW, WHEN GENETICALLY MODIFIED SEEDS AND FOODS CAUSE HEALTH PROBLEMS OR DEATH IN CONSUMERS, BIOTECH COMPANIES MAY NOT BE HELD LEGALLY RESPONSIBLE EVEN THOUGH CONSUMERS CANNOT KNOW THEY ARE INGESTING THESE POISONS BECAUSE IT IS NOT ON THE LABELS OF OUR FOODS!
NOW YOU KNOW....CONGRESS IS A WHORE TO THE BIOTECH INDUSTRY, ESPECIALLY TO MONSANTO! THEY SOLD US OUT TO PACIFY A COMPANY THAT CREATED AGENT ORANGE AND DDT!
A committee made up of members of the U.S. House of Representatives agreed to allow genetically modified crops manufactured by the Monsanto corporation and other biotech companies, including competitors Dupont Co., to continue to be used on American farmlands. The ruling comes despite a trove of legal challenges that have hindered full-fledged approval of some genetically modified organisms, or GMOs.
MONSANTO, meanwhile, has threatened lesser farms with hundreds of lawsuits for using genetically modified crops patented by Monsanto that have been carried onto their farms BY THE WIND and other elements of nature. THEY ARE SUING SMALL FARMS WHO NEVER WANTED MONSANTO CROPS! Recently, the corporation threatened to sue THE ENTIRE STATE OF VERMONT because lawmakers there were considering a bill that would force manufacturers to label products that are created either partially or in full from a GMO!
FARMERS ARE KILLING THEMSELVES BECAUSE OF MONSANTO!
Monsanto?s GMO Seeds Contributing to Farmer Suicides Every 30 Minutes!
http://naturalsociety.com/monsantos-gmo-seeds-farmer-suicides-every-30-minutes/
<<In what has been called the single largest wave of recorded suicides in human history, Indian farmers are now killing themselves in record numbers. It has been extensively reported, even in mainstream news, but nothing has been done about the issue. The cause? Monsanto?s cost-inflated and ineffective seeds have been driving farmers to suicide, and is considered to be one of the largest ? if not the largest ? cause of the quarter of a million farmer suicides over the past 16 years.
According to the most recent figures (provided by the New York University School of Law), 17,638 Indian farmers committed suicide in 2009 ? about one death every 30 minutes. In 2008, the Daily Mail labeled the continual and disturbing suicide spree as ?The GM (genetically modified) Genocide?. Due to failing harvests and inflated prices that bankrupt the poor farmers, struggling Indian farmers began to kill themselves. Oftentimes, they would commit the act by drinking the very same insecticide that Monsanto supplied them with ? a gruesome testament to the extent in which Monsanto has wrecked the lives of independent and traditional farmers.>>
CAN YOU IMAGINE HOW THESE FARMERS MUST HAVE SUFFERED TO CONSIDER SUCH A TERRIBLE THING?
The families they left behind are now ruined because of these suicides, left to economic ruin and must struggle to fight off starvation.
?We are ruined now,? said one dead man?s 38-year-old wife. ?We bought 100 grams of BT Cotton. Our crop failed twice. My husband had become depressed. He went out to his field, lay down in the cotton and swallowed insecticide.?
FACTORY FARMS RESEMBLE HELL FOR ANIMALS AND HUMANS
YOU WOULD NEVER BELIEVE THE ABSOLUTE HELL THAT FACTORY FARM ANIMALS ENDURE! NOT ONLY IS ABUSE OF THE ANIMALS RAMPANT AS REPORTED TIME AND TIME AGAIN BY DOCUMENTARIES, BUT THEY ARE BREEDING GROUNDS FOR DISEASE.
Factory farms are indeed breeding grounds for extremely virulent diseases which then spread to the wider community via many routes... not just in food, but also in water, the air, and the bodies of farmers, farm workers and their families. Once those microbes become widespread in the environment, it's very difficult if not completely impossible to get rid of them.
A 2008 report from the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production, a joint project of the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, underscores those risks. The 111-page report, two years in the making, outlines the public health, environmental, animal welfare and rural livelihood consequences of what they call "industrial farm animal production." Its conclusions couldn't be clearer. Factory farm production is intensifying worldwide, and rates of new infectious diseases are rising. Of particular concern is the rapid rise of antibiotic-resistant microbes, an inevitable consequence of the widespread use of antibiotics as feed additives in industrial livestock operations.
CONCENTRATED ANIMAL FEEDING OPERATIONS (CAFOs): FORCE-FEEDING TOXINS TO FOOD ANIMALS EVERY DAY
The World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have recommended restrictions on agricultural uses of antibiotics; the American Public Health Association (APHA) proposed a moratorium on CAFOs back in 2003. All told, more than 350 professional organizations - including the APHA, American Medical Association, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, and the American Academy of Pediatrics - have called for greater regulation of antibiotic use in livestock. The Infectious Diseases Society of America has declared antibiotic-resistant infections an epidemic in the United States. The FAO recently warned that global industrial meat production poses a serious threat to human health.
"In recent decades," writes Dr. Michael Greger, director of public health and animal agriculture for the Humane Society of the United States and author of Bird Flu: A Virus of Our Own Hatching, "previously unknown diseases have surfaced at a pace unheard of in the recorded annals of medicine: more than 30 newly identified human pathogens in 30 years, most of them newly discovered zoonotic viruses." (Zoonotic viruses are those that can be passed from animals to humans.)
Chicken and pig production are particularly bad. In 1965, the total U.S. hog population numbered 53 million, spread over more than 1 million pig farms in the United States ? most of them small family operations. Today, we have 65 million hogs on just 65,640 farms nationwide. Many of these ?farms? ? 2,538, to be exact ? have upwards of 5,000 hogs on the premises at any given time. Broiler chicken production rose from 366 million in 1945 to 8,400 million in 2001, most of them in facilities housing tens of thousands of birds.
On a global scale, the situation is even worse. Fifty-five billion chickens are now reared each year worldwide. The global pig inventory is approaching 1 billion, an estimated half of which are raised in confinement. In China and Malaysia, it?s not unheard of for hog facilities to house 20,000 or even 50,000 animals.
The use of antibiotics as feed additives has become standard practice across much of the food animal industry. The Union of Concerned Scientists estimates that non-therapeutic animal agriculture use (drugs given to animals even when they are not sick) accounts for 70 percent of total antibiotic consumption in the United States.
There also are indications that factory farm conditions make animals more likely to excrete pathogenic microbes, suggesting another mechanism by which conversion to more humane farming methods would offer greater protection for human health.
The increasingly globalized nature of the farm animal production system means that live animals, as well as fresh and frozen meat, are constantly crossing international borders, ensuring that diseases present in one location will soon spread elsewhere. But the biggest transmission route is waste: Confined livestock operations in the United States produce three times as much waste each year as our country?s entire human population ? and yet all that manure is much more loosely regulated and handled than human waste. Antibiotic-resistant microbes, as well as the antibiotics themselves, are now widely present as environmental contaminants, with unknown consequences for everything from soil microorganisms to people. Canada?s largest waterborne disease outbreak, which infected 1,346 people and killed six, was traced to runoff from livestock farms into a town?s water supply. The U.S. Geological Survey found antimicrobial residues in 48 percent of 139 streams tested nationwide from 1999 to 2000. Other studies have detected resistant bacteria in the air up to 30 meters upwind and 150 meters downwind of industrial hog facilities.
IS IT ANY WONDER IT'S SO HARD FOR OUR DOCTORS TO CURE OUR EVERYDAY AILMENTS WHEN WE'RE PUMPED FULL OF ANTIBIOTICS FROM THE MEATS WE CONSUME? OUR INTESTINAL TRACTS, THE CORE OF OUR IMMUNE SYSTEM, IS COMPROMISED SO MUCH BY THESE ANTIBIOTIC ADDITIVES THAT GASTROINTESTINAL ILLNESSES ARE DEBILITATING EVERYONE WHO CONSUMES AMERICAN-GROWN MEATS.
WITHOUT A HEALTHY IMMUNE SYSTEM, WE CANNOT POSSIBLY WARD OFF DANGEROUS DISEASES WHEN THEY STRIKE, AND FREE RADICALS PROLIFERATE IN OUR OVER-BURDENED HUMAN SYSTEMS.
THE FOOD INDUSTRY IS WELL AWARE OF THIS, BUT, INTENT ON THE HIGHEST PROFITS, DOES NOTHING TO IMPROVE OUR HEALTH, NOR THE NATURAL HEALTH OF THE ANIMALS THEY RAISE FOR SLAUGHTER.
BUT IT DOESN'T STOP HERE...THE TOXINS IN OUR SOILS AND THEREFORE IN OUR FOODS ARE JUST THE BEGINNING.
WHAT WE CHOOSE TO STORE AND COOK THOSE FOODS IN, INCLUDING TOXIC WATER, ALSO CONTRIBUTE TO WORLDWIDE "DEATH BY FOOD".
Few may be aware that ALUMINUM and TEFLON are extremely toxic when heated.
In 2006, pots and pans with the special coating Teflon constituted 90% of all aluminum cookware sold.
The coating on non-stick cookware contains a chemical called polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). DuPont's Teflon is the most well-known brand. When heated , this coating creates hazardous fumes. The synthetic chemical perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is used to make non-stick coatings and has various other industrial applications. PFOA causes cancer and birth defects in animals, according to Consumer Reports. [ WE ARE IN THAT ANIMAL GROUP, PEOPLE!] The Society of the Plastics Industry, a major trade group, acknowledges that PFOA is found in the blood of 95% of the U.S. population "and is persistent in the environment, even in remote locations.
"Exposure to Teflon resins may produce a condition termed 'polymer fume fever' characterized by flu-like symptoms such as chills, fever, body aches, nausea and occasional vomiting," states a Federal Aviation Agency Occupational Health & Safety Bulletin. A chemical, C-8, used to make non-stick coated pans has been linked to birth defects in humans to cancer in laboratory animals. The chemical is also present in the blood for up to 4 years and shows up in breast milk.
TEFLON IS IN THE BLOOD OF 95% OF AMERICANS! IMAGINE WHAT THAT IS DOING TO OUR CELLS!
Birds have extreme sensitivity to fumes from non-stick pans. In the past 25 years, heated non-stick cookware has been linked to the deaths of hundreds of pet birds.
Particles from older non-stick pans can chip off and get into food.
The Environmental Working Group asked the Consumer Product Safety Commission to require manufacturers of Teflon-type cookware to place warning labels on their products that caution consumers of the potential health risks of the non-stick coating.
NO ALUMINUM COOKWARE!
Aluminum has LONG been linked to Alzheimer's disease, and we get high doses from both cookware and cosmetics, things like underarm deodorants.
Aluminum is highly toxic. Aluminum, when heated, has also been linked to skin issues, headaches, heartburn, toxicity, brain malfunctions, mental retardation in infants, and Parkinson?s Disease.
A new type of aluminum foil made by Renolds Wrap (also known as "quick release style") has been proven to have caused the death of some parrots.? Pet owners, who may very well be aware of the dangers that cooking with non-stick pans an aluminum can pose, are oblivious to the fact that ANY AND ALL ITEMS with non-stick coating pose the SAME dangers.
ALL Vegetables cooked in aluminum produce hydroxide poison which neutralizes digestive juices, producing stomach and gastrointestinal trouble, such as stomach ulcers and colitis." Dr. A. McGuigan's Report on Findings for the Federal Trade Comm. In Docet Case No. 540 Washington, D.C.
Note: The sale of aluminum cookware is prohibited in Germany, France, Belgium, Gr. Britain Switzerland, Hungary and Brazil.
NO CERAMIC POTS AND PANS!
Ceramic cookware has been linked to lead and other heavy-metals poisoning.
The ceramic coating also peels and flakes and, if ingested, will cut the digestive tract like tiny razors, causing GI bleeding.
DO USE CAST IRON AND STAINLESS STEEL COOKWARE.
Cast iron or stainless steel are the safest choices for cookware.
NEVER STORE OR COOK FOODS IN PLASTIC!
Plastics are loaded with endocrine disrupting Bisphenol-A (BPA). BPA has been linked to cancer, tumors, birth defects, immune system suppression and developmental problems in children. And for those of you who microwave food in plastic containers or covered in saran wrap, STOP! PLEASE STOP IMMEDIATELY! Switch to glass; use glass to store everything, and use only glass baby bottles and water bottles, please.
Two classes of chemicals from plastic are of serious concern for human health: bisphenol-A or BPA, and additives used in the synthesis of plastics, which are known as phthalates. BPA is a basic building block of polycarbonate plastics, such as those used for bottled water, food packaging and other items. BPA is a synthetic estrogen and commonly used to strengthen plastic and line food cans. Scientists have linked it, though not conclusively, to everything from breast cancer to obesity, from attention deficit disorder to genital abnormalities in boys and girls alike.
Adding to the health risks associated with BPA is the fact that other ingredients are routinely added to plastics. Many of these potentially toxic components also can leach out over time. Among the most common is a chemical known as di-ethylhexyl phthalate or DEHP. In some products, like medical devices including IV bags or tubing, additives like DEHP can comprise nearly half of the of the product. ?If you?re in a hospital, hooked up to an IV drip,? Halden explains, ?the chemical that oozes out goes directly into your bloodstream, with no opportunity for detoxification in the gut. This can lead to unhealthy exposure levels, particularly in susceptible populations such as newborns.?
Even more concerning is the fact that BPA may exert its most potent effects on young children, long before breast tissue has started to develop. Exposure to ALL/ANY estrogen-like substances ( like those associated with plastics) could prime the breast tissue to undergo changes that could lead to a cancer later in life.
For years scientists and medical doctors wondered why pre-pubescent girls were suddenly experiencing menses and developing breasts early....the culprit turned out to be the MANY forms of ESTROGEN-LIKE CHEMICALS that were getting into their young bodies and bringing on early puberty.
As of 2010, two times as many girls were experiencing early puberty compared to a decade ago. However, in some cases, children as young as 6 and 7 years old ? or younger ? may experience these symptoms, a condition known as precocious puberty.
The FDA currently allows six hormones in the food supply, including estradiol, estriol, testosterone and progesterone ? the sex hormones that can accelerate the age at which puberty occurs.?
THE FDA ALLOWS THIS! THEY KNOW THE RISKS, BUT THEY ALLOW IT? WHY?
THEY ALLOW OUR CHILDREN TO BE EXPOSED TO THINGS THAT MAY LEAD TO AN EARLY DEATH BY CANCERS CAUSED FROM THESE PRODUCTS?
EVERY PARENT ON EARTH SHOULD BE OUTRAGED AND DEMAND CHANGE!
And, of course, PLASTIC's toxins found in everyday products can be a culprit as well. MANY FOOD CANS ARE LINED WITH PLASTICS, LEACHING TOXINS INTO OUR CANNED FOODS EVERY HOUR.
Household products like hand soap, shampoos, cosmetics and cleaning products contain chemicals called parabens that are known as xenoestrogens and can mimic estrogen in the body, ALSO increasing the likelihood of early puberty.
Not only are plastic food containers and products with parabens a problem, but baby bottles, pacifiers, and formula containers made of plastic can also leach harmful chemicals that may harmfully affect a child later in life.
The WORST plastics contain BPA or phthalates, and the NUMBERS that are SUPPOSED to appear on all plastics' labels marked with a 1, 3, or 7 are the most damaging of all.
PLASTICS COME FROM PETROLEUM....WOULD YOU COOK FOOD IN MOTOR OIL, OR STORE OR COOK FOOD IN A POOL OF PETROL?
READ ALL PRODUCT LABELS, PLEASE!
Spend time reading labels when choosing foods, household cleaners, shampoos, soaps and cosmetics. Avoid products with a lengthy chemical list and be on the lookout for the most common culprits of bodily harm, like parabens, ingredients ending in ?-eth,? sodium lauryl or laureth sulfate, triclosan and triethanolamine (TEA).
Cut down on the chemicals in your home by cleaning with natural substances, like vinegar and lemon juice. These are equally effective and non-toxic.
OUR PLASTIC WORLD IS HAZARDOUS TO LIFE!Measurements from the most contaminated regions of the world?s oceans show that the mass of plastics exceeds that of plankton sixfold. Patches of oceanic garbage, called gyres, are swirling vortexes of plastic bits. The North Pacific Gyre, one of several in the world, is expanding at such a rate that from the first time it was studied until now, it has grown from the size of the state of Texas to twice the size of the continental United States!
plastics and their additives aren?t just present in our environment, virtually all of us ingest them as well; plastic is consumed with the food we eat, the water we drink and from other sources.
CHOOSE CAREFULLY THE WATER YOU COOK IN
Finally, be aware that cooking in toxic water passes on silent killers to those you love. I have never lived in an area that didn't have certified pure artesian wells or springs from which one can get good water. If you must buy water, buy only that which is certified from pure sources and bottled in glass.
The very best water purifiers that are made only filter out 95%-98% of the toxins in our water supplies, and VERY FEW even claim to filter out VIRUSES OR DRUGS.
I REFER YOU TO TWO PREVIOUS BLOGS THAT CONTAIN EVEN MORE INFORMATION ON FOOD AND ITS TOXINS:
DEATH BY FOOD, THE COVERT WAR ON LIFE, http://havacuppahemlock1.blogspot.com/2013/03/death-by-food-covert-war-on-life.html
AND
TOXIC FARMS, TOXIC FOOD : CONTROL THE FOOD, CONTROL THE WORLD!
http://havacuppahemlock1.blogspot.com/2013/02/toxic-farms-toxic-food-control-food.html
BOTH POSTS HAVE EXCELLENT VIDEOS LINKED THAT WILL FURTHER EDUCATE YOU ON THIS TOPIC.
AS I PERHAPS TOO OFTEN SAY, WE MUST LEARN OR PERISH.
KNOWLEDGE REALLY DOES GIVE US POWER, AND WE CAN CHOOSE MORE WISELY WHAT WE PUT INTO OUR BODIES BY KNOWING WHAT WILL KILL THEM.
PLEASE TAKE HEART IN KNOWING THAT OUR ANCESTORS LIVED WITHOUT ALL THE MODERN "CONVENIENCES", CHEMICALS AND POLLUTANTS THAT WE ARE LIVING WITH TODAY.
WE COME FROM GOOD, SOLID STOCK, AND WITH A LITTLE EXTRA EFFORT, WE CAN PASS HEALTH AND LONGEVITY ON TO OUR BELOVED CHILDREN.
WE CAN HELP EACH OTHER SURVIVE OUR TOXIC WORLD.
I HOPE THAT EACH OF YOU ARE WELL.
OTHER SOURCES FOR THIS POST:
~http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/10/05/hidden-hormones-can-bring-about-early-puberty-in-kids/#ixzz2PvtCfBx3
~http://www.care2.com/greenliving/the-dangers-of-plastic.html#ixzz2Pvq22s5x
~The Hidden Link Between Factory Farms, Toxic Chemicals and Human Illness
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Natural-Health/Meat-Poultry-Health-Risk.aspx#axzz2PvKIWVWd
~Dangerous Toxins From Genetically Modified Corn Found in Blood of Women and Fetuses
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/10/06/dangerous-toxins-from-gmo-foods.aspx
~Monsanto Now Unstoppable Thanks to Congress
April 6, 2013
http://www.care2.com/causes/monsanto-now-unstoppable-thanks-to-congress.html
~Hidden Dangers in Cookware
http://www.happycookingco.com/hidden-dangers.cfm
~OUR TOXIC PLANET
http://ourtoxicplanet.com/
~13 Secret Toxins Lurking in Your Food, and How to Avoid Them
http://www.alternet.org/story/141870/13_secret_toxins_lurking_in_your_food,_and_how_to_avoid_them
~ 7 Foods That Should Never Cross Your Lips
http://www.prevention.com/food/healthy-eating-tips/7-foods-should-never-cross-your-lips
~ EPA Soil Contamination, http://www.epa.gov/superfund/students/wastsite/soilspil.htm
~ Soil contamination or soil pollution , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_contamination
~ Soref, Anna. ?GM Corn causes organ damage.? Natural Foods Merchandiser, 11 January 2010.
Food, Inc. http://www.takepart.com/foodinc/film
~ THE REALITIES OF OUR TOXIC FOOD & MEDIA INDUSTRY
http://eastcountymagazine.org/node/2623
~ Toxins in Our Kids' Foods: Where Is the FDA?
04/01/11
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/laurie-david/post_1891_b_843577.html
~ UK Food Standards Agency Cites Southampton Study In New Recommendation On Food Additives
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/103792.php
~ CSPI Says Food Dyes Pose Rainbow of Risk
Cancer, Hyperactivity, Allergic Reactions
http://www.cspinet.org/new/201006291.html
Source: http://havacuppahemlock1.blogspot.com/2013/04/our-food-is-killing-uspart-4-of-4.html
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