Are You Hungry? Pink Slime, Anyone?

Or thirsty?

Pink slime in the burgers and beetle extract in the strawberry drinks.  Sounds delish, doesn't it?

So far this week we have learned that there are some unbelievable "supplemental" additives in our food that we purchase at our local grocery store and Starbucks. 

Apparently, Starbucks resorted to using beetle extract to avoid using artificial coloring in their Strawberries & Crème Frappuccino and strawberry smoothies.  I won't even go into the area of Fair Trade of which no barista I've spoken to is even aware. 

For a while, now without our knowledge, the ground beef in the stores and restaurants have been 'bumped up' with pink slime or lean, finely-textured meat, as they call it.  True, many grocers (and McDonalds) have pulled the items from their supply but, really?  REALLY??? 

We not only have to deal with the Genetically Modified/Bio-tech foods that they don't have to tell us about, but now this.  I wish that I could say our government is protecting us and our children from eating foods that will make us immune to antibiotics, grow tumors, cause allergies, and KILL US, but I can't.

The FDA is packed with people who were on the board for the main culprit, Monsanto.  Even Clarence Thomas, Supreme Court Justice, worked as legal for them years ago.  The USDA is the same.  In case, you were not aware, the company is the one that created Roundup, to kill weeds.  Then created an insecticide-resistant soy bean...resistant to all but Roundup.  They patented the seed, and many others, as well, like corn, wheat, and canola.  Therefore, a farmer is no longer able to use or REUSE his own seeds to farm or he will be violating a patent, be sued, and, sometimes literally, lose the farm.  We watched a documentary called "The Future of Food" and other investigations into this matter that show farms being sued because Monsanto came and took samples indicating the patented seed was in the farmers' crops.  How do you keep pollen out?  Visits by insects or a breeze can contaminate acres.  They did not intentionally plant it but it was there and that's all that mattered to the courts.

Our government has determined that there is no responsibility to tell us that our food has some GMO product in it.  There is no responsibility to advise us of it at all.  Know why?  Because if it said it was there,  in writing, and someone had a reaction to it, became ill, etc. it could be traced back to that food and, therefore, that company.   

We were supposed to be convinced that fooling around with the genes of live plants would save starving Third World countries.  It has not. They've done this in some of the poorest areas of the world and put local farmers out of business which is why they are even more destitute.

What is the next step? They have already patented a breast cancer.  The feed they give animals are patented.  Does that make whatever the animal becomes part of that patent?  Then, we eat the animal product or plant.  I suppose they could patent human life at some point?  Scary, isn't it?  It's like a Sci-fi/horror movie where you may not be able to reproduce without the Corporation's agreement.  Then they 'own' what is born.  (Shiver!)

I wish the U.S. had gone the way of European countries in rejecting this monstrous creation. I found this on Europa.eu/legislation:

The European Union guarantees the traceability and labelling of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and products produced from these organisms throughout the food chain. Traceability of GMOs allows the monitoring and checking of information given on labels, the monitoring of effects on the environment and the withdrawal of products from the market in cases where new scientific data demonstrate that the GMOs used in the product present an environmental or health risk.


GUARANTEES IT!  Gee, it sounds like they actually care about their citizens. What is wrong with the U.S.?  This brings to mind so many questions of ethics in science.  AGAIN.  Where should you draw the line?  When do you realize you are sacrificing lives due to greed and avarice...and STOP?

Wondering yet what is safe to eat?  Well, our house is focusing on organic and local farms.  Most of the food hasn't travelled so far that it's lost its nutrients.  You can talk to the person that actually grew it.  You can ask questions.  I'm the carnivore in the family, so I seek out grass-fed safe beef and chicken.  You do know that cows eat grass not corn, didn't you?  But corn is cheaper.  Also, although, I once killed a cactus, I'm looking into starting a small garden in pots.  My husband talked me out of the chickens, for eggs.  I'm sort of glad he did.  Ew.

The bottom line is---find out all you can about what you place in your mouth--in your children's mouths.  Read the labels.  High fructose corn syrup is one of the villainous products to watch for.  (By the way, all the food in the aisles will soon be manufactured under 4-6 large corporations under all the different brands.  But that's another post for another rant.)  Personally, my eyes were opened when I read a cracker label that indicated it contained canola, cottonseed, AND/OR soybean oil.  If they don't know then....

That, of course, is a legal way of getting around any illness that may result from eating it.  I've been wondering for years now, why more children are asthmatic these days, what is with the ADD/ADHD diagnosis increase, childhood cancers, diabetes, and the obesity rates.  Wish I'd gone deeper into the science field. This would be a thorn in my side until I figured out.  For now, all we can do is be careful and watch.

So, I hope this has urged you to not just accept whatever is in the grocery aisles as good for you because it may taste good and, certainly, not just because the box says so.  There is more, much more, at stake here.

Sigh! These are the times I envy Adam and Eve...you know, before they screwed everything up.