Taking Back Our Food....

[Earth Walker]

...and Our Lives

Whole foods contain all the nutrients essential for life;
proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals.
When industry refines our food, it ususally takes some of
these essential nutrients away and adds chemicals so
that the food will have a long "shelf life," more important
by its reckoning than a long human life. Of the more than
two thousand food additives currently in use, only a fraction of them have been tested for safety. The testing is often inadequate to examine the full range of
effects the additives may have over a long period of time. When we eat these chemicals we eat several at a time, but the tests are done for only one chemical at a time, and the testing is left up to the manufacturer.
He gets to choose which laboratory will do his testing.
In reality, the public is the testing ground. We have
become guinea pigs for the chemical/food industry.
As yet there is no "scientific" proof that such-and-such
an additive, or combinations of additives, causes cancer
or mental illness or allergies; besides, who has the money to support such research--the government?
No, the government has more important things to spend our money on, such as weaponry and space programs. Again, it is women who realize that food is
EATEN and becomes part of our lives, part of our life
process.
The patriarchy is too involved in packaging and selling it.
Along with the Women's Liberation movement came a feeling among many women that they would no longer do such traditional "women's things" as cooking. So, in
the name of liberation, many of us forgot--or never
learned--how to cook. However, it is crucial that we remember what our foremothers knew about food.
We must learn how to cook because this means knowing how to take care of ourselves. I am not against men learning how to cook, but men have traditionally not taken of their own nutritional needs, much less anyone else's. If women do not know how to take care of themselves, the men certainly won't do it for them.
We are the ones who get pregnant and whose bodies become nutritionally drained during childbirth. We are the ones who go on crash diets to look "beautiful" and
stay "fashion-model slim" as we are told, thereby
destroying our health.
In the food industry, as in all aspects of capitalist industry, profit is the primary concern. Sugar is added to
almost all industry food, to get people hooked on the sweet taste. Valuable nutrients, the life-energy of food,
are processed out. Women who understand that food is to be eaten rather than sold, transported or used as a weapon of domestic or foreign relations, are concerned with the nutritional, life-giving value of the food.
Only through constant lying does the food industry make
us believe that their food is better than what we can
make ourselves.
Many women eat in fast food places because this
"saves time" and is so "easy." We should remember that the fast food business is another aspect of our lives that is under control of the giant corporations.
Every time we stop for a Big Mac, a Whopper, a Shaky's
pizza or any other high calorie/low nutrition food, we are giving our money, our support and our good health
away to the patriarchy. No one can cook as well or as
cheaply as we can.(Pagans)
Remember that the Female Principle symbolizes LIFE.
Cook your own food; nourish your body. Don't eat the
dead food that patriarchy serves up consistently.

[Maggie]

Originally posted by Mystique
...and Our Lives

Whole foods contain all the nutrients essential for life;
proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals.
When industry refines our food, it ususally takes some of
these essential nutrients away and adds chemicals so
that the food will have a long "shelf life," more important
by its reckoning than a long human life. Of the more than
two thousand food additives currently in use, only a fraction of them have been tested for safety. The testing is often inadequate to examine the full range of
effects the additives may have over a long period of time. When we eat these chemicals we eat several at a time, but the tests are done for only one chemical at a time, and the testing is left up to the manufacturer.
He gets to choose which laboratory will do his testing.
In reality, the public is the testing ground. We have
become guinea pigs for the chemical/food industry.
As yet there is no "scientific" proof that such-and-such
an additive, or combinations of additives, causes cancer
or mental illness or allergies; besides, who has the money to support such research--the government?


Actually, some of the testing is and has been done by the USDA. And there are scientific studies that some of these things are mutagenic agents--another word for cancer causing.



Along with the Women's Liberation movement came a feeling among many women that they would no longer do such traditional "women's things" as cooking. So, in the name of liberation, many of us forgot--or never learned--how to cook. However, it is crucial that we remember what our foremothers knew about food.


Yes and no. I can't cook very well, my family has requested that I leave it to my husband--and I'm not joking. Also, it was not so much a desire to cease doing traditional things as it was doing others. Time being inelastic as it is, something had to be given up.



We must learn how to cook because this means knowing how to take care of ourselves. I am not against men learning how to cook, but men have traditionally not taken of their own nutritional needs, much less anyone else's. If women do not know how to take care of themselves, the men certainly won't do it for them.

Maybe--but I would rather that both genders learn together, I don't want to return to the times when everything was the province of one gender or another. I think that's going backward rather finding a more equitable new way.




In the food industry, as in all aspects of capitalist industry, profit is the primary concern. Sugar is added to
almost all industry food, to get people hooked on the sweet taste.

Sweet tastes have always been appealing to humans. In areas without cane sugar, other sources were found, such as honey.



Valuable nutrients, the life-energy of food,
are processed out. Women who understand that food is to be eaten rather than sold, transported or used as a weapon of domestic or foreign relations, are concerned with the nutritional, life-giving value of the food.
Only through constant lying does the food industry make
us believe that their food is better than what we can
make ourselves.

Sometimes, sometimes not. Often the processing keeps the food safe to eat, our food supply, even with all the problems that still occur, is still the safest we've ever had. Would you prefer to go back to drinking raw milk, for instance?


Many women eat in fast food places because this
"saves time" and is so "easy." We should remember that the fast food business is another aspect of our lives that is under control of the giant corporations.
Every time we stop for a Big Mac, a Whopper, a Shaky's
pizza or any other high calorie/low nutrition food, we are giving our money, our support and our good health
away to the patriarchy. No one can cook as well or as
cheaply as we can.(Pagans)

I stop in sometimes because that's what I want to eat. And there are others who do believe in whole food nutrition who aren't pagans.

Your arguements would be much stronger without over-stating your case. There is much to be said for home cooking and healthy ingredients--but the commercial food industry is not automatically evil.




Remember that the Female Principle symbolizes LIFE.
Cook your own food; nourish your body. Don't eat the
dead food that patriarchy serves up consistently.

But it takes the male principle along with the female to create that life. And if chosen carefully, commercial foods aren't any 'deader' than your own.

Regards,

Maggie

[Earth Walker]

It will take strong protests to shut down Monsanto,
Cargill, etc., to prevent them from making only GM
foods available....splicing animal DNA into plants...?
It doesn't sound appealing, and what would it do to
people who ate it? :confused:
Remember when they crossed Cauliflower with Broccoli?
It was a failure; it didn't cook well, and it didn't taste
good.





THE OUTER LIMITS

...we control the vertical, we control the horizontal....

[Maggie]

Originally posted by Mystique
It will take strong protests to shut down Monsanto,
Cargill, etc., to prevent them from making only GM
foods available....splicing animal DNA into plants...?
It doesn't sound appealing, and what would it do to
people who ate it? :confused:
Remember when they crossed Cauliflower with Broccoli?
It was a failure; it didn't cook well, and it didn't taste
good.





THE OUTER LIMITS

...we control the vertical, we control the horizontal....

The thing is, overstated arguements are too easy to shoot down and actually weaken the one you are trying to make.

Breeding plant foods predates Monstanto et al by eons--no one can name the parents of domestic wheat etc with any certainty, they can only make educated guesses with DNA profiles. Plant crosses are always vulnerable to taste testing, ancient peoples chose the best tasting or most useful to propagate themselves.
Monsanto has other problems--they already control most of the commercial seed industry and they are the originators of the "Terminator Gene" that was designed to prevent farmers from saving seed for next year's crop. Public outcry (and from the scientific community) made them backpedal, but valid arguements are needed, not sweeping statements that are easy for the 'other side' to discount.

Regards,

Maggie

[illuminatiguru]

I personally can't relate to being anti-big business. Big business runs on supply and demand. What people demand, they will sell. People like sugar, they like Mc Donalds, and a whole bunch of other things that are not healthy for you. People buy billions of cigarettes, tons of cocaine, heroine, and a bunch of other things that are unhealthy- the demand is their whether or not the supply is legal.

The thing that is great about big business is that in order to get that big they had to become the most efficent at getting the cheapest products to consumers in order to drive all their competitiors out of business. At least with Big business we can hold them accountable, unlike when we ban things and send them underground into the black market. The more I study how economics works, the more capitalist and free market I become. I think everyone should read Adam Smith instead of Karl Marx. Marx may have summed up emotions, but he is a terrible economist. I also think Thomas Malthus's pessimistic predictions also failed. (I dont blame anyone for believing them, I used to believe in Marx and Malthus until I understood how economics and business really work).

I am not anti-patriarchy, nor am I pro-matriarchy. I believe men and women are complements to each other. Neither being superior or inferior, but instead like a yin to a yang.

Monsanto is not the first to pick plants for their genetic qualities. Indians did that with corn. Corn used to be this puney little weed that looks nothing like corn today. Gregor Mendal did genetic experiments with peas. People have always done this. The only thing that GMO's do is isolate desired genes and gives us the ability to cross species that one couldnt before. The Genetically modified papaya saved the all the papaya farms in Hawaii from the spotted ring virus. We eat GMO's all the time.

the reason that scientists take all that food and subject it to all the manipulations they do is out of safety reasons. pasturized milk being a great example. People used to die from the organic things that grew on food, so today they try to kill of pathogens and insert vitamins and minerals. a great example is iodine in salt- how many of you know people with goiter? exactly- iodinzed salt stopped the epidemic.

As for cooking. From what people tell me I am a great cook. My great- grandmother taught me. I like to cook and never saw it as oppressive. i saw cooking as not only being a way to express creativity, but also as a way to eat what tastes good to me.

I'm not a vegetarian. I have raised goats and sheep for slaughter on a farm. I have been a pesticide applicator. I have a degree in water and waste water treatment. I major in philosophy with a natural resource managment minor. I think that is important to know about me if you want to see what kind of bias and assumptions I have.

I do not spell woman with a "y" because I never understood why people did that. If someone can shed some light on this, I would greatly appreciate it. What is that whole movement about, and what recommended readings go along with it?

[Illuminatus]

First, welcome to the community Illuminatiguru. I'm sure we're going to get along just fine!

Second, a lot of foods are being robbed of nutrients, certainly... but at least the information is out there. You can LOOK at the label and see exactly how much niacin you are getting... and if you feel you are a bit short on something, it's cheap and easy to find a daily suppliment or multivitamin to insure your health. I once took 6 pills a day, just for extra antioxidents and stuff. Nowadays, I don't take so much, because calcium and vitamin b and c i know i'm getting plenty of.

Don't forget that some foods are actually enriched with extra vitamins. Cereal being the classic example. General Mills is responsible for lowering the rate of bowel cancer by adding fiber to cereal.

[Williwaw]

illuminatiguru, I agree with everything you said.
:yourock:

Gina