Green Options

The phrase,”industrial farming” is something I see on lots of web posts and comment strings.  I’m guessing that this intentionally derisive terminology conjures up some pretty negative imagery for most people not directly involved with farming.  The use of this emotive term raises two questions for me:

• Is modern, “industrial” farming actually what people imagine it to be?
• Is there actually a viable alternative?

Well, let’s consider some of the features of modern farming

“Industrial Farming Is Highly Mechanized” (True but Necessary)

It might not fit your view of a romantic, rural life-style, but if you are actually the farmer, the comfortable, efficient, sophisticated farm equipment available today sounds pretty good.  As in all “industrialized” segments of our economy, machines and computers make farmers more productive and eliminate the most laborious (and often dangerous) parts of the job.  There is a detailed history of farm equipment on the John Deere website that is worth a read.  Mechanization of farming has enabled the workforce directly involved in farming to drop from ~40% in 1900 to less than 1% today.  Over this time period, people have chosen other careers intentionally.  There are not a lot of people who want to work on farms in the old, labor-intensive way.

Actually, hand-labor-intensive crops (e.g. coffee, strawberries…), or high labor cropping systems (e.g. Organic) are on a collision course with demographic trends.  The pool of unskilled farm laborers upon which rich Americans have (unethically) depended is only going to decline over time and make rejection of “mechanization” an increasingly non-viable option.  Unless you are the one doing the work, it isn’t really reasonable to insist that mechanization be avoided because it’s too “industrial.”

There are measurable levels of MNI’s toxic chemicals in every type of food that has been tested. Most are completely unregulated. There is no requirement that food be labeled to let consumers know that the chemicals are present. You can’t even avoid these chemicals by buying Organic. In fact, Organic produce often has even higher levels of some of the chemicals. You can’t wash them off because they are inside the food. There are very few studies on the long-term effects of ingesting these chemicals and none have ever been funded my MNI itself.  Only publicly funded studies have shed some light on the toxic nature of these chemicals.

This chemical production giant is not a public company so it does nothing to make its activities transparent. MNI has never been successfully challenged in court and isn’t subject to the jurisdiction of any government.

The benefits of organic and grass fed beef have been well documented.  Numerous studies have shown that organic and grass fed beef has significantly higher levels of Omega 3s and lower levels of saturated fats than conventionally produced beef.  But recent studies have cast doubt on the long held wisdom that grass fed beef does not have significant E. Coli contamination issues.

Conventional food wisdom has stated that since it isn’t raised on a feedlot, grass fed beef is less susceptible to E. Coli contamination.  Food activists from local food pioneer Michael Pollan to The Organic Consumers Association are among the proponents who vouch for the nutritional and sustainable characteristics of grass fed beef over conventionally produced beef.

Over the last few days there has been a flurry of blogging activity about a study claiming “organ-toxic effects” in mice fed with GMO corn.  The summaries of the study one sees are certainly scary, but if you read the original paper it is not nearly as clear as these commentators imply - in fact it is a really strange paper to read (seriously, have a look).  Rather than go into the many legitimate questions about this research, I will simply refer you to a very lively, but technically sharp comment stream about it.  Instead of getting into this fray I’d like to try to put this new “threat” into perspective.

Irony

It is ironic that at the same time this uproar is swirling around one bit of uncorroborated evidence for toxicity in corn, an extremely well documented toxin is occuring at unusually high levels in the 2009 US corn crop that is now entering the food supply.  Yet there is no outrage, no activism, no calls for a ban, not even a mention on a “green blog” (until now). What am I talking about?  If you had been following the specialized (but very public) press for farmers, grain traders and ethanol producers this fall and winter, you would know that there has been an exceptionally high level of contamination of the US corn crop this year with a toxic chemical called deoxynivalenol or “DON.”  This contaminant is an epoxy-sesquiterpeneoid that is a “type B trichothecene.” It is a protein synthesis  inhibitor which has the effect of increasing the brain’s uptake of tryptophan and thus to make more serotonin. It also irritates the gut.  Animals exposed to it reduce their feed intake, sometimes severely, and they develop esaughageal stomach ulcers.  It has potential chronic effects as well having been shown to be genotoxic in a chromosomal aberration assay with rat hepatocytes.  The levels of this toxin are high enough this year that it has changed the balance of truck and rail traffic in parts of the Midwest as pork producers in particular scramble to avoid the toxin by shifting feed sources (swine are particularly sensitive to the toxin).

A recent E.U. study found that rats who’s diets included different strains of Monsanto’s genetically modified (GM) corn experienced kidney, liver, and other organ damage.

Priscilla Magnusen, raw food expert and teacher shares some valuable information with us about going raw.

How does going Raw or adding in more raw food to your diet affect your overall health?
When you eat a raw and living food diet you are feeding your body and your cells the vitamins, minerals, and enzymes that cooking destroys. The act of heating food over approximately 112 degrees Fahrenheit destroys enzymes in food.

Our food choices have a cumulative effect on our body, and whether we are conscious of it or not, what we eat affects our mental and emotional health, just as much as our physical health. People who eat raw food invariably experience improved physical health and mental wellbeing, more energy, weight loss, detoxification, and a stronger immune system. I’ve personally witnessed people heal themselves of diabetes, migraines, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, ulcerative colitis, crohn’s disease, IBS, arthritis, allergies, candida, depression, and fibromyalgia.

How is eating Raw good for the planet?
Eating raw naturally lends itself to living in harmony with Mother Earth. You are avoiding packaged or processed foods, so you are not creating any waste or products to be disposed of in landfills. We hardly produce any trash in my home and the leftover food we don’t eat or “drink” goes directly into our compost bin. Those willing to eat organic will be doing even more to support our planet. Conventional produce is grown with pesticides, herbicides, synthetic fertilizers, and other chemicals that are toxic to the environment.

In addition, you’ll likely eat very little, if any, animal products, which have an incredible impact on the planet. A plant-based diet requires 300 gallons of water a day, while a meat filled diet requires over 4,000 gallons per day. Animal feces produced in factory farms is the largest source of airborne methane, which causes global warming. Meat eating also contributes to pollution in lakes and rivers due to run-off from factory farms, and an increase in fossil fuels used to raise animals for food.

At least 19 people in 16 states have gotten sick from E. coli-contaminated beef, and the company that produced these steaks is issuing a recall.

Research from French National Institute of Agronomic Research (INRA) showed that the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) may impact digestion and warned that consumers - especially pregnant women and children - should avoid food that’s come into contact with BPA-containing plastics.

This is on top of earlier research which showed that BPA may cause problems with brain development, breast cancer, and a slough of other health concerns.

The word fungus brings to mind gross images, for the most. Green cotton-like growths on breads, damp mildews and diseases. Not to make things more gross, but mushrooms are also fungi (the plural of fungus). Fungi do not usually conjure the image of something deadly or toxic to man, though certain mushrooms are known to be fatal; but toxins produces by a plain old desperately clingy mold can cause devastation in the human body - through biochemistry.

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