Real Food Movement

[kstaven]

Over the past year I have seen a real awakening in the general public. More people searching out information on how to grow there own or where to access Farm Fresh Produce. At the same time I have noted more movement on the part of many agencies cracking down on small producers over producing that food which I feel is everyones right to chose or not as the case may be.

In recent months I have sen many groups banding together and forming larger organizations such as this one. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=96156033611&ref=mf Not only does this fledgling initiative encompass the U.S.A it has individual arms in many states and across Canada.

If my Great Grandparents where still alive they would be in shock concerning what has happened in recent years. As a kid having fresh vegetables, fruit, chicken, beef and milk from the farm was just a part of normal life. I find myself saddened at times when I discover people who actually fear farm fresh food.

Are people who hang out on forums such as this really the last best hope for true freedom of choice and can we effect a change?

I ask this question honestly and have to request people refrain from pointing the finger at any politician or political party in their response.

 

[Beekissed]

I'm not sure if we are the only hope but I think the mind set of those on this forum and others like us are a good start in awakening awareness to our present food situation. The Joel Salatins of the world give me hope also.

Affect a change? I'm not sure how much but I surely am trying to affect a change in my own little corner and not just for my family. I hope to set an example and gain other's interest one inquiring mind at a time.

 

[freemotion]

If each of us were to educate as many people in our circle as we can, patiently and repeatedly, we could make a significant difference.

When I first got my chickens for the purpose of having access to fresh, healthy, beyond organic and cruelty-free pastured eggs (lots of adjectives, there, and not even enough to do justice!) I had some brief difficulty in getting rid of the excess. I sent out a series of e-mails, each with a bit of information as to why we need to look at our food source. My list of people who wanted my eggs shot up to 17, and I only had 2-3 dozen a week to sell.

We NEED to do this or there will be no resources left for us. No seed catalogs, no wheat berries for grinding, no spices for cooking. The availability of even basic cooking and baking (from scratch) supplies is disappearing at an alarming rate.

Been to Whole Foods lately? It is ridiculous! I could not find soft white wheat berries, Celtic salt, or half the herbs on my list. No tamari. The goat cheese in the case had SOY OIL in it!!! No sprouting seeds. The list goes on. WHOLE FOODS!!! Sheesh!

Create demand, create markets.

 

[Wildsky]

All is not lost out in the middle of nowhere land!

Around where I live its common for folks to raise chickens and other animals and share it out between neighbors. Folks in the next town over from us raised 100 chickens and shared between the 3 families involved in the processing ect (wish I could have gotten in on that)
Our friends and neighbor down the street has raised 4 red angus this year, going to the butcher in a couple of weeks, half of one has our name on it.

Everyone gets excited to start planting in the spring, and folks share their veggies with delight, I send buckets full of apples to my hubby's work, and in return we get cucumbers, tomatoes and peaches. Almost everyone grows corn

Folks around here don't have a lot of money and can't afford to "waste" it on trivial fancy foods, I think if they could affor to they probably would! But as it stands everyone eats as much as they can produce on their own, and gifts from friends and neighbors, and they buy the other things on a budget!

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

hey kstaven,

i'm not sure if we are the last best hope.. but the double edge sword of 'trendiness' sure is in our corner. a lot of the top/celebrity chefs are advocating local and real food -- so this is great.

the hard thing, still, is that i'm not sure that everyone wants to know who or where they food comes from.

recently i was telling someone, a smart/well educated person, about our goat milking... and their question (full of surprise and a little fear) was "but isnt raw milk dangerous?"

dangerous? milk? REAL milk? wow - big dairy really did a job on the masses. but i didnt know better before.. and when i knew better i did better.

i suggested doing their own research and said that after i looked at it from all angles, we were all raw milk, all the time.

i think people WANT to know about food - but when you start talking about butchering they cover their eyes and start bantying about the 'cruelty' word... but those of us who dress our own food know thats just not the case.

and even veggies are victims of marketing. i was at a farmers market once where the local potato gal had to display a sign that said "these potatoes are dirty on purpose - they will keep longer that way"...but go across the street to the luxury grocery store - their produce is scrubbed and trimmed...and no one has to get their hands dirty.

so i'm not sure which way the winds will blow. i was encouraged that stupid walmart of all things (lets not start that thread again folks just sayin') got the hormone free milk thing going!

i think there is hope. but we've got a long way to go, baby.

 

[lorihadams]

I think more and more people are realizing just how far we are from real food now. There are lots of man made diseases if you really think about it. Take diabetes for instance, not to offend anyone that struggles with it by any means, but if you go back a hundred years it virtually didn't exist. We are eating ourselves to death. We don't have a food identity here in the U.S. You can look at some foods and know what country they come from by the ingredients used and the way they are prepared and eaten but here, nope. Not unless you count super sized portions of food that doesn't occur in nature.

 

[Dace]

I just met with a woman who runs a successful high school garden, in very urban inner city neighborhood. We are trying to put together some cooking classes to kind of take the food from the soil to the plate so to speak.

She tells me that the students who choose to work the garden are very open to eating new foods grown there. The students who are using the garden for their mandatory internship, refuse to try anything new.

It is all in the mindset, that is where we need a shift. While it helps to see Emeril Lagasse talk about grass fed beef, we need more than that....we need it now and from every angle possible. Michelle Obama did a great thing by starting a garden now we need more schools to start gardens and offer classes in food and nutrition to families. We need more farmers markets, easier to locate local meats and cheeses, and on and on and on.

I feel sort of like it is an huge uphill battle right now, I think we are making progress but there is a huge battle in front of us. When 2 cheese burgers are cheaper than a pound of broccoli ( ) we have a long way to go.

 

[hikerchick]

Take diabetes for instance, not to offend anyone that struggles with it by any means, but if you go back a hundred years it virtually didn't exist.

uhh- not exactly.

1552 B.C. Earliest known record of diabetes mentioned on 3rd Dynasty Egyptian papyrus by physician Hesy-Ra; mentions polyuria (frequent urination) as a symptom.

1st Century A.D. Diabetes described by Arateus as 'the melting down of flesh and limbs into urine.'

c. 164 A.D. Greek physician Galen of Pergamum mistakenly diagnoses diabetes as an ailment of the kidneys.

Up to 11th Century Diabetes commonly diagnosed by 'water tasters,' who drank the urine of those suspected of having diabetes; the urine of people with diabetes was thought to be sweet-tasting. The Latin word for honey (referring to its sweetness), 'mellitus', is added to the term diabetes as a result.

16th Century Paracelsus identifies diabetes as a serious general disorder.

Early 19th Century First chemical tests developed to indicate and measure the presence of sugar in the urine.

l1870s French physician, Bouchardat, notices the disappearance of glycosuria in his diabetes patients during the rationing of food in Paris while under siege by Germany during the Franco-Prussian War; formulates idea of individualized diets for his diabetes patients.

19th Century French researcher, Claude Bernard, studies the workings of the pancreas and the glycogen metabolism of the liver.
Czech researcher, I.V. Pavlov, discovers the links between the nervous system and gastric secretion, making an important contribution to science's knowledge of the physiology of the digestive system.

Late 19th Century Italian diabetes specialist, Catoni, isolates his patients under lock and key in order to get them to follow their diets.

1869 Paul Langerhans, a German medical student, announces in a dissertation that the pancreas contains contains two systems of cells. One set secretes the normal pancreatic juice, the function of the other was unknown. Several years later, these cells are identified as the 'islets of Langerhans.'

 

[Wifezilla]

There are lots of man made diseases if you really think about it. Take diabetes for instance, not to offend anyone that struggles with it by any means, but if you go back a hundred years it virtually didn't exist. We are eating ourselves to death.

Depending on the source, it is estimated that between 75%-90% of diseases in America today are lifestyle related. A lot of it can be traced to an increase in carbohydrate consumption, a DECREASE* in fat consumption, and replacing animal fat sources with vegetable fat sources.

*I emphasized decrease because if you ask your average person on the street, they would say people eat too much fat, but gvmnt statistics show a reduction in fat intake, particularly saturated fats.

http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.c...eart+Disease+Epidemic:+Possible+Culprits+Part
http://www2.barchart.com/comfund/butter.asp
http://www.ravnskov.nu/myth4.htm
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2144097

uhh- not exactly.

1552 B.C. Earliest known record of diabetes mentioned on 3rd Dynasty Egyptian papyrus by physician Hesy-Ra; mentions polyuria (frequent urination) as a symptom.

Egyptians did have a lot of the modern life style diseases...diabetes, heart disease, bad teeth, etc... Their diet was largely dependent on grains.

 

[sylvie]

Take diabetes for instance, not to offend anyone that struggles with it by any means, but if you go back a hundred years it virtually didn't exist.

uhh- not exactly.

1552 B.C. Earliest known record of diabetes mentioned on 3rd Dynasty Egyptian papyrus by physician Hesy-Ra; mentions polyuria (frequent urination) as a symptom.

1st Century A.D. Diabetes described by Arateus as 'the melting down of flesh and limbs into urine.'

c. 164 A.D. Greek physician Galen of Pergamum mistakenly diagnoses diabetes as an ailment of the kidneys.

Up to 11th Century Diabetes commonly diagnosed by 'water tasters,' who drank the urine of those suspected of having diabetes; the urine of people with diabetes was thought to be sweet-tasting. The Latin word for honey (referring to its sweetness), 'mellitus', is added to the term diabetes as a result.

16th Century Paracelsus identifies diabetes as a serious general disorder.

Early 19th Century First chemical tests developed to indicate and measure the presence of sugar in the urine.

l1870s French physician, Bouchardat, notices the disappearance of glycosuria in his diabetes patients during the rationing of food in Paris while under siege by Germany during the Franco-Prussian War; formulates idea of individualized diets for his diabetes patients.

19th Century French researcher, Claude Bernard, studies the workings of the pancreas and the glycogen metabolism of the liver.
Czech researcher, I.V. Pavlov, discovers the links between the nervous system and gastric secretion, making an important contribution to science's knowledge of the physiology of the digestive system.

Late 19th Century Italian diabetes specialist, Catoni, isolates his patients under lock and key in order to get them to follow their diets.

1869 Paul Langerhans, a German medical student, announces in a dissertation that the pancreas contains contains two systems of cells. One set secretes the normal pancreatic juice, the function of the other was unknown. Several years later, these cells are identified as the 'islets of Langerhans.'

Good research, HC!
Add this: organ transplant patients who become diabetic for the first time in their life due to medications that they must take to survive.