Archive for August, 2012

Jeffrey Smith from the Institute for Responsible Technology explains exactly how Monsanto’s genetically modified corn is toxic to humans, according to a new French study from the University of Caen. In the stunning audio below, Smith details how this corn is designed to rupture the stomach of insects and what it did to the stomachs of humans during this study.

At the very same time President Obama continues to allow his appointees, Michael Taylor, in charge of food safety at the FDA, and Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture, to maintain GMOs are safe, the White House holds events to “inform” and “educate” parents about healthy school lunches for children.

Here’s the audio from Jeffrey Smith (warning: graphic descriptions) with commentary from Food Nation Radio Network: Interview with Jeffrey Smith

There continues to be a disconnect among the FDA, USDA, the White House and Americans about what is safe to eat and disclosure about what Americans are consuming. Upwards of 90% of Americans want genetically modified foods labeled and a petition is still sitting up at the FDA containing well over 1 million signatures from concerned citizens requesting the FDA label GMOs. The FDA had given assurances months ago the agency would consider and respond to the petition. That has yet to happen. In 2007 on the campaign trail, Candidate Obama promised to label GMOs if elected. He has not done so and in fact, appointed Taylor and Vilsack with long-standing ties to Monsanto, a major developer of GMO seeds, instead.

Elizabeth Dougherty has been a food writer for over 10 years, attended culinary school and holds a Bachelor’s degree, Magna Cum Laude in Hospitality, Business and Labor Relations from NYIT. She has been a talk show host of nearly 150 episodes of Food Nation Radio which airs each Saturday afternoon at 4 on WWBA AM820 News and other stations. You can read her articles and hear previous shows on her podcast page on the Food Nation Radio Network website and on Facebook.

(Photo/Jeffrey Smith)

You can ignore the topic.

You can tiptoe around the subject if you want to.

You can pretend it doesn’t matter that in a 2007 campaign speech to Iowa farmers, then candidate Obama said that Americans had the right to know about the foods they eat. You can pretend it doesn’t matter he went on to say that if elected, he would label genetically modified food. Listen to that audio here:

Candidate Obama’s Promise to Label GMOs

(He didn’t and hasn’t done so.)

You can pretend it doesn’t matter that as president, Mr. Obama has appointed two men, Michael Taylor and Tom Vilsack to the most important food safety/food supply positions in the country. Both had ties to Monsanto. You can pretend the President and the First Lady are not part of one administration and one agenda that sometimes chooses big corporate interests over those of your children.

The overriding feeling is, it’s all YOUR fault, parents, some of your children are overweight. You are the ones feeding your kids foods considered by most to be unhealthy, like high fructose corn syrup, candy made with beet sugar (from genetically modified sources), and allowing your children to gain weight. The administration takes no responsibility for any of that, whatsoever. At the Childhood Obesity Summit in 2010, the First Lady said, “Our kids didn’t do this to themselves.” She’s right. The administration and Congress helped.

The issue of processed food and huge subsidies in the Farm Bill for companies producing corn for corn syrup, sugar beets for sugary foods and other less healthy foods is one that travels on both sides of the aisle. Some groups say it’s up to us, as parents and as voters to tell politicians we expect better for our kids. At the same time, one of the amendments to the Farm Bill would cut funding for school lunch. The Farm Bill in its current form is stalled in Congress, at this writing, until sometime next month.

A new study on genetically modified food conducted over ten years by Austrian, Turkish, Australian, Irish and Norwegian researchers was released in July of this year. The main focus of the study was corn and soy. Scientists found a correlation between consumption of GM corn and soy and increased weight gain among pigs, rodents and fish. The test subjects who ate the modified food experienced changes in their intestines as well, causing them to digest less protein from the food they consumed. Adverse effects to the immune system were also noted.

The most concerning outcome in the test subjects was organ changes to the liver and kidneys. Also, genes from the modified food were found in the blood. GMO proponents have maintained there is no danger in consuming genetically modified food since it “doesn’t stay in the body”. Hmm.

If parents want the best advice on feeding kids healthy school lunches this school year, the best plan is to seek out organic, local, whole foods from farms and grocers they trust. Stay away from processed food, food dyes, known allergens and non-organic soy, corn, sugar beets, canola, alfalfa and animals fed non-organic soy, corn or alfalfa in their feed.

Until these foods are properly labeled, as promised by the President, and parents know what they are feeding their children, it’s unfair to make parents feel guilty for the weight gain of their kids. The finger points right back at the hypocrisy of  the current White House administration.

Chew on that for a while.

Calls made to the White House requesting President Obama’s current position on labeling GMOs were not returned.

Elizabeth Dougherty has been a food writer for over 10 years, attended culinary school and holds a Bachelor’s degree, Magna Cum Laude in Hospitality, Business and Labor Relations from NYIT. She has been a talk show host of nearly 150 episodes of Food Nation Radio which airs each Saturday afternoon at 4 on WWBA AM820 News and other stations. You can read her articles and hear previous shows on her podcast page on the Food Nation Radio Network website and on Facebook.

I get emails and social media messages from readers and listeners once in a while.

Most of them are pretty benign. “How do I make braciole?” “How do I make pizza?” Very occasionally, I get some really interesting comments. “Sometimes your recipes sound erotic.”

Really?

Food Network is really the hallmark of that type of broadcasting, in my opinion, but maybe there’s such an association between the basic needs of food and sex that people get confused or the lines get blurred. In the wayback machine, there was even a segment on Seinfeld about the urges of food and sex:

Here’s the segment from Food Nation Radio Network that received a few savory comments: FNRN Celebrates Pizza

Elizabeth Dougherty has been a food writer for over 10 years, attended culinary school and holds a Bachelor’s degree, Magna Cum Laude in Hospitality, Business and Labor Relations from NYIT. She has been a talk show host of nearly 150 episodes of Food Nation Radio which airs each Saturday afternoon at 4 on WWBA AM820 News and  other stations. You can read her articles and hear previous shows on her podcast page on the Food Nation Radio Network website and on Facebook.

Got milk?

Sure, if that’s what you want to call it. A glass of milk today is virtually unrecognizable from the milk people consumed in the mid-1800s. Today’s version is pasteurized to kill any possible microbes and toxins, and affects flavor, vitamins and amino acids. Hormones are given to some dairy cows to increase the yield of milk, which, some say, are causing our children to grow faster and larger, physically maturing sooner than ever before. In a European study published last year, 20 different chemicals were found in the average glass of milk, including antibiotics and painkillers.

Proponents of raw milk say they prefer the cow’s milk they consume to be in a more natural state and believe the risks are minimal when purchasing from responsible dairy farms. They believe their children have less milk allergies and less childhood health issues when they drink raw milk, compared to its chemical-laden counterpart.

Food Nation Radio Network asked the FDA about their policy on raw milk sales and consumption. They referred us to their website which clearly states the agency does not believe the consumption of raw milk is safe and can contain dangerous pathogens such as staph, salmonella, E. coli and listeria. To date, 30 states allow raw milk sales and consumption within their state and 20 do not. The FDA prohibits commercial sales of raw milk across interstate lines. All of the information on the site begs one question.

Why do we serve any raw foods at all in this country?

Sushi, oysters, steak tartare, carpaccio, chocolate mousse and many more dishes seen in restaurants every day all contain raw ingredients that carry the very same health risks cited by the FDA about raw milk. Why are all of these allowed to be served (with a warning) to consumers, yet raw milk is not?

Recently we interviewed a mom who regularly purchased milk from an Amish farmer for six years. She tells a story I never thought I’d hear in America, of armed agents storming into a dairy farm in rural Pennsylvania. Listen to this unbelievable story here: Raw Milk & The FDA

Elizabeth Dougherty has been a food writer for over 10 years, attended culinary school and holds a Bachelor’s degree, Magna Cum Laude in Hospitality, Business and Labor Relations from NYIT. She has been a talk show host of nearly 150 episodes of Food Nation Radio which airs each Saturday afternoon at 4 on WWBA AM820 News and other stations. You can read her articles and hear previous shows on her podcast page on the Food Nation Radio Network website and on Facebook.