Do you know what you are eating?

[Glacier]

Here are six things I won't eat (unless it is unavoidable).

1. Canned Tomatoes

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. A one litre can of tomatoes can contain 50 mcg of BPA, and that's a level that is going to impact people, particularly the young.

Solution: Choose tomatoes in glass jars. Better yet, can your own. I plan on doing that this year.

2. Corn-Fed Beef

Cows are supposed to eat grass, not corn, but practically 100% of the beef in the supermarket is raised this way. Cows are raised on grass here in BC and shipped to Alberta where they fatten them up on grain. This fattens them up and "marbles the meat", but it also causes intestinal infections which requires cow to be medicated with antibiotics.

In addition, 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.

The solution: Buy grass-fed beef, as I do. If anyone is interested let me know. I have purchased grass fed beef from Vale Farms, but know several other ranchers who sell their beef.

NOTE: An interesting read.

3. Microwave Popcorn

Chemicals, including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), in the lining of the bag, 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. Studies show that microwaving causes the chemicals to vaporize—and migrate into your popcorn.

These toxic chemicals stay in your body for years and accumulate there, which is why researchers worry that levels in humans could approach the amounts causing cancers in laboratory animals. DuPont and other manufacturers have promised to phase out PFOA by 2015 under a voluntary EPA plan, but millions of bags of popcorn will be sold between now and then.

The solution: Pop natural kernels the old-fashioned way: in a skillet. I also recommend throwing out the microwave, but that is a different topic.

4. Nonorganic Potatoes

Root vegetables absorb herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides that wind up in soil. In the case of potatoes, they are treated with fungicides during the growing season (EVERY TWO WEEKS, ALL SUMMER LONG), 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. In addition these chemicals end up in the streams killing fish and causing breathing problems and other health effects in children as documented in P.E.I.

The solution: Buy organic potatoes. Remember that washing isn't good enough if you're trying to remove chemicals that have been absorbed into the flesh.

5. Farmed Salmon

Nature didn't intend for salmon to be crammed into pens and fed soy, poultry litter, and hydrolyzed chicken feathers. As a result, farmed salmon is lower in vitamin D and higher in contaminants, including carcinogens, PCBs, brominated flame retardants, and pesticides such as dioxin and DDT.

It should also be noted that DFO has been caught in bed with the the salmon farming industry promoting industry instead of properly monitoring the adverse effects to the wild fish.

The solution: Switch to wild-caught salmon, or go get your own. If the package says fresh Atlantic, it's farmed. There are no commercial fisheries left for wild Atlantic salmon.

6. Conventional Apples

If fall fruits held a "most doused in pesticides contest," apples would win because they are individually grafted (descended from a single tree) so that each variety maintains its distinctive flavor. As such, apples don't develop resistance to pests and are sprayed frequently.

The solution: Buy organic apples. There are many excellent organic apple orchards in the Okanagan. If you can't afford organic, peeling helps a little, but still doesn't remove the chemicals that have soaked in past the peel.

[Queen K]

Thanks Glace, sometimes I think my organic garden is a grand waste of time and effort, why don't Mr. QK and I just grass it in? Or build a huge deck complete with pool, hottub, a change room, deck planters and umbrellas. Oh and BBQ stand too.

And along comes a post like this...reminding me, "OH yeah, THAT's right, no one else is looking out for our best interests, so we have to."

Potato patch will not get over run with sunflowers this year.
No matter what, or how cute those first sunflower plants look.

Must grow heritage tomatos. Must can them.

And along comes a huge frost in Florida, or California, and up jumps the prices, reminding me that it's not all about the free time, it's also about automony.

Thanks.

[Glacier]

QK, this kind of topic is one my favourite issues to discuss, but like my favourite thread ("What Questions Do You Have For God?"), it looks like it will just end up being you and me doing 90% of the talking.

Anyway, I posted some graphs in FB related to this topic...

[Captain Awesome]

I refuse to eat microwave ready meals. God knows what goes in there.

[Queen K]

Throwing out the Micowave: My Dad's fav. topic. One day he arrived at my house bound and determined to get me to throw out my microwave. But that's a different story.

We STILL have in our house all the data my dad got ahold of to support his anti-microwave campaign. Even though he knew his natural gas oven had a faulty valve, and he was breathing in Natural Gas, his microwave oven was out on the deck for 8 years. Unused. Why?

Because someone sent him info on what Russian and other Eastern European scientists discovered about the use of microwaves on food and the human body. I have in front of me 12 pages titled, "The Proven Dangers of Microwaves."

We are buying a Microwave hood range, for the venting capabilities and the small fact that we still use it, on occasion, for food and drink. Even though we know better. Just like some people light up a cigarette.

[Glacier]

I think that the article you speaking of called "The Hidden Hazards of Microwave Cooking".

Anyway, I do not own a microwave for several reasons, but really it comes down to the benefit of getting the odd thing quicker is not worth the risk of ingesting free radicals and other chemical agents known to cause premature aging, cancer, and other health effects. In essence what a microwave does to you food is create free-radicals and other dangerous molecules in higher concentrations than you body is designed to handle.

Those Russian studies showed effects of microwave ovens such as:

* Microwaving prepared meats sufficiently to insure sanitary ingestion caused formation of d-Nitrosodienthanolamines, a well-known carcinogen.
* Microwaving milk and cereal grains converted some of their amino acids into carcinogens.
* Thawing frozen fruits converted their glucoside and galactoside containing fractions into carcinogenic substances.
* Extremely short exposure of raw, cooked or frozen vegetables converted their plant alkaloids into carcinogens.
* Carcinogenic free radicals were formed in microwaved plants, especially root vegetables.
* Decrease in nutritional value

[StraitTalk]

Excellent post. You seen Food Inc. Glacier?

[Jo]

Excellent topic!

Re the microwave. I was turned off those things many years ago when my sister gave her milk loving cat some cooled-off microwaved milk. The cat wouldn't touch it. A small thing, but that, along with the generally blech taste and texture of foods cooked in a microwave, convinced me to kiss it off. I've never missed it.

[JLives]

I'm in the anti microwave crowd too. I had an old one that calfed about ten years ago and just never replaced it.

[Captain Awesome]

I wouldn't be able to live without a microwave. How do you heat up food then?

[JLives]

Well I picked up these nifty devices called pots and pans.

[kgcayenne]

Well I picked up these nifty devices called pots and pans.

Do you have an oven too?

[JLives]

Ovens are for rich people.

[Queen K]

I wouldn't be able to live without a microwave. How do you heat up food then?

We have a BBQ on the deck and I covet a pot-bellied stove, but that's more for when The Man cuts off all our Natural Gas to keep the masses down.

We reheat mostly liquids in the microwave, tea, coffee, and treats. Never cooking anything in it.

[Captain Awesome]

Well I picked up these nifty devices called pots and pans.

Do you have an oven too?

Yeah, but oven would take at least half an hour to heat up. And then half an hour to cool down.
What a waste of energy.

With microwave, you just stick whatever leftover you found in the fridge for 2 minutes, and then you're done.