If it weren't so tragic at the core, it might prove somewhat amusing to watch the politicians and special interest groups scramble over putting together a cogent health care plan for U.S. citizens. Obviously, Americans do need access to health services—but we have to acknowledge that healthcare wouldn't be such a drain if we could stem the drain of epidemics caused by the products we use and the foods we eat.

When will we change our policies on suspected carcinogens and toxins to "guilty until proven innocent" instead of "innocent until proven guilty"? When will we realize that it's the cumulative effect of so many toxic influences that are chipping away at our health, and not a single chemical we can damn with definitive studies so that we can bumble blithely on with our lives? When will we finally admit that prevention trumps cure?

We're not the only ones who think focusing on the things that actually influence our health as a nation should take center stage. Natural News recently posted a list of areas for real change and progress, with a handful that we think deserve immediate national attention.

• Supporting FDA review and approval of natural cures and safe, effective nutritional supplements
• Banning dangerous chemical ingredients that cause health epidemics (aspartame, MSG, sodium nitrite, etc.)
• Improving school lunches to serve food that's nutritious instead of food that's cheap and convenient
• Ending food subsidies on crops like corn that end up making high fructose corn syrup the cheapest sweetener for manufacturers to use
• Requiring honest food labeling, including irradiated and GMO products

Wouldn't it be wonderful if Americans could open a dialogue about health care that actually centered on health?

(Photo credit:Dan4th, flickr)

There's a place for both pragmatists and idealists in the green spectrum—but when it comes to irradiated foods in the face of a food safety tsunami, we lean toward safe rather than sorry. On the idealists' side of the fence, researchers and groups like the Organic Consumers Association worry that irradiating food may offer a false sense of security. They think irradiation may dissuade an insistence on safe agricultural and food handling practices. Irradiation, or safer handling? We wonder: Is it too much to ask for both?

"Irradiation" is itself a scary-sounding word, conjuring up images of toxic, glowing greens. Even irradiation's detractors, however, admit it's an effective method of eliminating bacteria such as E. coli and salmonella from foods such as spinach and other leafy greens. We all know that raw veggies offer the best nutritional bang for the buck—and irradiating them gives consumers the confidence to munch and crunch rather than fall back on cooking to gain an added margin of safety. Eating Well magazine agrees, encouraging readers in its most recent print edition to boost their raw veggie and greens intake safely by purchasing irradiated foods. They cite a 2008 study in the Journal of Food Science that found irradiation does not compromise food's taste, texture or nutrition.

For now, the availability of irradiated produce remains somewhat limited. You can find irradiated foods by looking for "Treated With Radiation" or "Treated by Irradiation" on the label, as well as the international irradiation symbol, which resembles a flower.

(Photo credit:Organic Consumers Association)

The U.S. food system is broken. Contaminated spinach, tomatoes, and peanut butter across the country speak volumes about food processing safety and food inspection standards. The huge USDA budget is packed with subsidies for corporate agriculture but too little is allocated for support of small farms that feed the "eat local" movement. To compete with the big-agriculture industrial food operations, small farmers and ranchers need a level planting field. The Ethicurean has a list of milestones—short term reasonable goals for measuring progress at the USDA.

They urge that funding be redirected to support organic farming research instead of pumping all of the research money into genetic engineering. And they suggest, "Start supporting diversified, decentralized food systems right now, and stop risking American lives by encouraging all our eggs to be put in one basket (or hamburger in one plant, peanuts in one processor)."

It's time to bring some order back into food production and distribution. The FDA is doing "a heckuva job" playing catch-up on the peanut butter recall, but it's the Department of Agriculture that needs to be tightened up. The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service has seen its inspection budget cut over the years, while hi-tech solutions like food irradiation have been encouraged. Irradiation is meant to kill germs that shouldn't be in the food in the first place, but sanitary standards in the food factories have slipped big-time in the absence of inspection and regulation.

The pendulum of politics seems to be returning to governance and proper regulation. The banks are getting a bail-out. The auto makers are getting a bail-out. Big agriculture is used to getting billions and billions every year and they don't even call it a bail-out. For them, it's more like a hand-out. And it's time to change that.

(Photo credit:tlindenbaum, flickr)

Back in the mid-nineties, when organic produce and products were just beginning to enter the mainstream consciousness, my mother and I were both pretty skeptical of the concept. We pooh-poohed the idea that one should pay more for anemic bunches of celery and gnarled apples and announced that conventional foods were more than sufficient for our needs. After all, people had been eating conventionally grown food for decades and if it was good enough for them, it was good enough for us.

However, over the years, we learned that we weren’t eating the same foods that people had been eating for generations. As we discovered more about the unsustainable nature of current farming practices, we began to edge away from our anti-organic stances towards one that was more welcoming to the world of organically grown foods (while still welcoming many conventionally raised products).

For those of you who are still wary of organic products and wonder if it’s worth the time and money to procure organic foods. But first:

What does “organic” mean?
 

Continue reading What 'organic' means ›

(Photo credit:Marisa McClellan)