Hazards of Conventional Food

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Definition: Food that is grown conventionally, i.e., using non-organic farming methods.

What's wrong with conventional food?

CONVENTIONAL FOOD MAY BE:
  1. Genetically Engineered: 70% of all processed foods in US supermarkets today are genetically engineered.
  2. Grown with heavy doses of pesticides: A new study released by PANNA(6) and Commonweal called Nowhere to Hide: Persistent Toxic Chemicals in the U.S. Food Supply states that hypothetical daily meal lans in the US can deliver between 63 and 70 exposures to Persistent Organic Pollutants per day.
  3. Have heavy amounts of preservatives in them if not fresh.
  4. Have artificial colors and flavors.
  5. Meat and Dairy products may have hormones/ rBGH in them: These are carcinogenic (cancer-causing)
  6. Animal products are bioaccumulative: They may have a greater amount of chemicals in them.
  7. If they are not locally produced, you are wasting energy: On the average, food not locally grown wastes 25 calories to every calorie of energy they provide you.
  8. Abusing human rights: By not providing farmers/ hired hands living wage and exploiting them.
  9. Artificially grown/ brought from other countries: If produce is not in season.
  10. Irradiated: Especially if they are meats. Electron-beam irradiation, x-rays, and gamma rays (nuclear irradiation) have the SAME effect on the food. They call it "cold pasteurization" and put flowers on their web sites, but it's still nutrient-damaging, false-fresh 100-million-chest-x-ray irradiation. Processed foods such as baby foods do not have to be labeled as irradiated food.
  11. Animal products [meats, dairy products] use more grain, energy and water to grow than veggie produce. You can sustain far more people on a vegetarian/vegan diet than on a meat-based diet.

IN TOTALITY, THE COSTS OF CONVENTIONAL FOODS ARE:
  1. Poisoned bodies [Cancer causing, genetic mutagens, neurotoxins, causing birth defects] because of the pesticides or hormones.
  2. Compromised global food security [if they are genetically engineered].
  3. Poisoned air, water because of the pesticides.
  4. Not safe to consume.
  5. Hazardous to our health.
  6. Inefficient in water and energy usage.
  7. Are unfair to the workers.
  8. They do not have as many nutrients as organic food.
  9. They do not taste as good as organic food.
SOLUTIONS IN THIS CATEGORY ARE:
  1. Organic [non-genetically engineered, grown without the use of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, these foods are not irradiated.
  2. Locally-produced.
  3. Macrobiotic [grown in season].
  4. Eat as low on the food chain as possible.
  5. Natural foods rather than artificial ones.
Links:
  1. Thimmakka's Resources on Diet and Cancer: http://www.thimmakka.org/Newsletters/SA/newsletter4.html#dietandcancer
  2. 101 reasons I am vegetarian http://www.vivavegie.org/vv101/vv101reas.html
  3. Genetically Engineered foods: http://www.thimmakka.org/Newsletters/Newsletter4/ge.html
(Courtesy: http://www.thimmakka.org)

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