Don't Eat That Bagged Spinach!

Google News headlines related to the E. Coli. outbreak 1st Warning Issued 9/15/06

Natural Selection Foods (www.nsfoods.com) and Earthbound Farm (www.ebfarm.com) appear to me to be the same enterprise. It is a shame that the organic industry is being tarnished by this terrible outbreak of sickness. I pray no one else is harmed.

The brands being recalled are: Dole, Natural Selection Foods, Pride of San Juan, Earthbound Farm, Bellissima, Rave Spinach, Emeril, Sysco, O Organic, Fresh Point, River Ranch, Superior, Nature’s Basket, Pro-Mark, Compliments, Trader Joe’s, Ready Pac, Jansal Valley, Cheney Brothers, Coastline, D’Arrigo Brothers, Green Harvest, Mann, Mills Family Farm, Premium Fresh, Snoboy, The Farmer’s Market, Tanimura & Antle, President’s Choice, Cross Valley, Riverside Farms.

Earthbound Farm farms about 26,000 acres and its products are sold in 74% of US supermarkets.

I hope you can see the danger here. It isn't organic farming. It is the national, capital intensive, processing and distribution system. Organic farms that ship their produce all over the continent should be called "organic factory farms".

The lesson to me is: buy from your sustainable-ag, local farmer OR grow it yourself!

BREAKAWAY FARMS is located in Lancaster County PA. They sell the healthiest, tastiest meats you can buy because their animals live outside and get fresh air and sunshine. For more info please email info@breakawayfarms.net

Why Is Rennet Controversial?

Mmmmm! HAVE YOU HAD YOUR CHYMOSIN TODAY?


Courtesy of wholefoods.com. I did not write this article.

Historically rennet was extracted from calf stomachs by killing the calves, cutting the stomach into strips, scraping the lining to remove surface fat, stretching it onto racks where moisture is removed, grinding it and then finally mixing it with a salt solution until the rennin is extracted. Today the use of animal rennin is controversial to a variety of cheese consumers. The main positions are subdivided below.

Animal rights. Animal rights activists argue that it is inhumane to kill calves for their stomach enzymes, especially when there are several alternative coagulants available to make cheese. These activists would argue that if you eat cheese, then purchase one that is made using cloned or microbial enzymes.

Vegetarianism. Vegetarians can have a confusing time trying to figure out what type of coagulant is acceptable in their cheese. While some vegetarians would strictly adhere to a non-dairy diet, others who eat dairy are content to allow microbial coagulants and some can accept cloned chymosin as a reasonable alternative to using calf rennet. Several vegetarian organizations accept the use of cloned animal enzymes as a reasonable alternative to the animal rennet derived from the killing of calves.

Bioengineering. Genetic engineering has brought new ways to create chymosin for use in cheese making. Originally, a prochymosin gene was injected into a host strain of E Coli K-12, creating a tiny enzyme factory that produced an extremely pure and recoverable chymosin for use in cheese production. Current technology cuts genes from a calf cell and injects it into the genomes of bacteria and yeast. This produces high quality chymosin that is not subject to the volatile market for animal derived rennet. It is estimated that 70% of domestic cheese is produced with bioengineered chymosin. For a consumer who does not want bioengineered foods, animal or microbial rennet should be their choice.

Religion. Some orthodox religions (Jewish and Islam) have specific requirements and prohibitions for the consumption of meat products that can preclude the use of animal rennet. For example, information received from Dr. Chaudry of the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America (IFNCA), stated that for a food to be "Halal" (permitted for consumption by Muslims), it must be void of certain animal products and processing procedures. In this case, cheeses that are made from animal rennet are only excluded if the calf is slaughtered improperly or is contaminated with other prohibited ingredients or procedures. The IFNCA recommends the use of microbial or bioengineered chymosin for cheese making.

Flowers Foods believes in good nutrition and healthy eating?

In 2005 Flowers Foods had $1.72 billion in sales and serves over 40% of the US population.
Flowers Foods markets these brands:
Natures Own
Cobblestone Mill
Whitewheat
Sunbeam
Bunny
BlueBird
Mrs. Freshley's
MiCasa
Tesoritos
European Bakery

I just wasted 15 minutes of my life scouring most of these brand's websites for ingredients. Nearly all of them including Nature's Own list High Fructose Corn Syrup as a main ingredient. Most of the ingredients are "dough conditioners" which must be important to the most efficient bakeries in the world.

Here is Flowers Foods Goal directly from their website.

With more than 80 years of experience in the baking industry and a seasoned management team, Flowers Foods has developed a strategic vision that gives it competitive advantages in the marketplace and helps it outperform its peers. This strategic vision has one goal: To increase the value of the company for shareholders.

Oh, OK. It's all about the shareholders.My question for Flowers Foods is:

DO YOU BELIEVE GMO WHEAT AND HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP ARE GOOD AND HEALTHY?

WalMart "Great Value" sour cream - UPDATED

WalMart sour cream
INGREDIENTS: CULTURED PASTEURIZED GRADE A NONFAT MILK, CREAM, MODIFIED CORNSTARCH, SODIUM PHOSPHATE, CAROB BEAN GUM, CARRAGEENAN, ENZYME

Giant Sour Cream
INGREDIENTS: CULTURED NONFAT MILK, CREAM, RENNET.

Wifey bought the Walmart brand of sour cream to save some money. OK. Why is there cornstarch in sour cream? My guess - its a filler so they can sell it cheaper just like their saline injected meats! GROSS! I may be wrong about cornstarch but I will err on the side of criticising Wally World.

What's up with all that other junk, too? YUCK! Does anyone know how nonfat milk is made? Do you know what happens to the healthy benefits of milk when it is de-fatted? You should know.

Here's an article at Sustainable Table: Dairy

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What do you think?