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Our Decrepit Food Factories

agriculture, food supplyOur modern system of industrial agriculture is the essence of “unsustainability,” and has already begun to breakdown, according to New York Times contributing writer Michael Pollan in Our Decrepit Food Factories.

He highlights how the hallmark of industrial agriculture -- to maximize production and keep food as cheap as possible -- is pushing natural systems and organisms to their limit, forcing these living creatures to function as machines.

Of course, “whatever we may gain in industrial efficiency, we sacrifice in biological resilience,” he says.

Case in point, a new and more virulent strain of MRSA -- an antibiotic-resistant strain of Staphylococcus bacteria that once only existed in hospitals -- is showing up in the community, and killing otherwise healthy people.

No one knows for sure how this strain evolved, but both common sense and scientific studies are pointing to the vast amounts of antibiotics fed to animals living on factory farms. Recent studies have found that confinement pig operations in Europe and Canada have become “reservoirs of MRSA,” and since these Canadian pigs move freely to the United States, MRSA may also be present on American pig farms.

Also indicative of the downfall of our food system is the massive decline of honeybees. Bees, which are responsible for pollinating a vast amount of the food you eat, have been stricken with a strange illness known as Colony Collapse Disorder. Nobody knows how or why honeybees are disappearing in record numbers, but again experts have pointed out that the way the bees are raised was a disaster waiting to happen.

Honeybees are trucked across the country, and in some cases flown in from Australia, to pollinate almond trees in California. This direct assault to the bees’ natural, cyclical lifestyle is known to leave them stressed and vulnerable to any new infectious agents that come along.

Both of these stories illustrate the unexpected consequences of a truly unsustainable food system.

As Pollan says, “The question is not whether systems this brittle will break down, but when and how …”

Sources:

Dr. Mercola''s Comments Dr. Mercola's Comments:

If you aren’t familiar with New York Times author Michael Pollan, you can count on him to really tell it like it is. This is the same author who wrote about the E. coli spinach scare and the perils of factory-farmed beef (both excellent articles worth reading).

Those of you who are new to this newsletter, or are not used to reading between the lines, may be surprised that our entire food supply is in very real danger. But you will find that when you look a little deeper, all of the pieces of the puzzle fall disturbingly into place.

The food system began its dramatic decline the second the world turned away from the farming practices of our ancestors, and began to attempt to outdo nature with technology. The problematic decisions that followed are too numerous to discuss here, but are not hard to understand. For instance:
  • Factory farms replaced family farms. These corporations produce food on a massive scale, using massive amounts of antibiotics, pesticides, and other chemicals, and producing unprecedented amounts of waste.
  • Circa the 1950s, Americans began to view food in a box that could be cooked quickly (TV dinners) as superior to home-cooked meals.
  • We routinely purchase food that is flown in from around the world in favor of locally grown alternatives produced in our own figurative backyard.
  • Our produce is lacking in essential nutrients because it is grown in nutrient-depleted, overused soil, and picked prior to peak ripeness for transportation purposes.
  • Biotech companies have created terminator seeds, which actually prevent themselves from reproducing unless a certain chemical is applied to the crop. If terminator seeds are used on a large-scale basis, it will likely inevitably lead to famine and starvation on a worldwide basis
What is driving this severely misguided system? Greed. Mass production at the cheapest cost (and with the biggest profits) is its goal, and at this it has succeeded on a grand scale.

The problem, as Pollan points out, is that when you begin to treat living organisms, like animals, honeybees and even bacteria, like machines, they will inevitably remind you that they are not machines.

The animals, and consequently your food supply, become unhealthy. The honeybees begin to get sick and die off. The bacteria prove that they can outwit man-made antibiotics, and create super-versions of themselves. And as nature has shown us many times before, when you take away one part of this integrated, living system, things begin to crumble.

If you value your health and your right to healthy, real food, please join to fight for true sustainability in agriculture. You can speak volumes simply by boycotting factory-made food and instead purchasing locally grown varieties that are still grown with integrity.


Related Links:



Comment on This Article Community Comments (31)
 
 
Posted On Dec 19, 2007
No one is yet sure how or where this strain evolved, you say, however:

"Monsanto dumped their genetically engineered versions of four newly-created species of bacteria into European sewer systems. What arrogance. What a complete disregard for human kind. They gave birth to and then released their monster onto this world. First Europe. Now, America. A newly-published study confirms the European beginning of America's growing MRSA epidemic."

I found it at http://www.rense.com/general79/dnre.htm



 
SamVed
Savvy User Savvy User, Joined On 5/2007
SamVed  
 
 
 
Posted On Jan 05, 2008

In Frankenstein the people banded together to go after the Monster that was terrorizing their village. When will the people of the world light their collective torches to stop the the monstrous corporations (Monsanto,Cargill, ConAgra, Coca Cola, Nestle, etc.) terrorizing humankind?

At the very least we could stop buying their products ... let them rot on the shelves.  

Mark


 
Mark_Mathews
Novice User Novice User, Joined On 12/2006
Mark_Mathews  
Replied

marky56
Novice User Novice User Joined On 11/2007
marky56  
 
Posted On Jan 07, 2008

That's the problem, they WON'T rot, as they are fullof BHT and other junk.  And if the companies start to go out of business, the 'conservative' administration will give them bailouts, to 'protect' the economy.



sunshine50
Novice User Novice User Joined On 4/2008
sunshine50  
 
Posted On May 23, 2008

That is a great idea Mark.I've been doing that for a long time.One problem I have is there is only 3 months in the year you can grow food here unless I have a solarium attached to my house.I used to buy canned foods for the winter but now they are coated with plastic inside.The only safe things I found was in tomatoe sauce sold in glass jars and we don't know if it is made with GMO foods since they don't have to put it on the ingredients.I just had this experience a couple of weeks ago buying Himalain Sea Salt from a health food store.The salt was in chunks and had to be ground if you put it on salads.Well I found chunks of plastic in it.I don't know yet if someone in packaging put it in as a joke or the company added it in to get more money for less salt.I took it back to the health food store and told them about it.Was told that they would send it back to the factory.


 
 
 
Posted On Jan 05, 2008

Reference Jeffrey Smith (and his book):   This is the most powerful comment I have EVER SEEN on GMO and its effects.  Previously I had asked (myself), "What are the effects of consuming food developed with GMO components."  (If little bugs can't eat it and survive, maybe we might get in trouble by eating it.)  No one had ever seen any articles..  This video explains why, and the implications.  I intend to get (and read) his book.  In my imagination I would like to see MILLIONS of his books distributed by July 4, 2008.  (Plenty of time BEFORE) the election.)  I had suspected for years that the FDA was working against the public good; this video gave the specifics, confirming that it is that way and of how that worked and WHY.


 
oldbooy
Novice User Novice User, Joined On 6/2006
oldbooy  
 
 
 
Posted On Jan 05, 2008

I have been horrified by the abuse of the corporate food manufacturers.  Years ago I was talking to farmers using terminator seeds and saw how they had to spray the seeds with chemicals before they would even start to grow.  It is in complete disregard for nature.  It makes sense that nature is fighting back, when we have treated her so horribly.  Unfortunately it is now up to us to stop this.  Europe fought against letting our GM foods into their continent and most people here aren't even aware of how this is even happening here.  Why the media isn't giving us the truth about what we are doing to our land is unfathomable.  Thank you for making these issues more widely known.

Here is a good video about what is happening to the bees if anyone wants to see that - http://www.vanishingbees.com/

We need to start speaking out loudly and in unison to demand change before the catastrophe sets in.  The media pushes false alarms like bird flu instead of waking us up to real threats.  They talked about the bee problem but they didn't sound the alarm bells in the same way.  Shocking.


 
hollymo
Novice User Novice User, Joined On 1/2008
hollymo  
 
 
 
Posted On Dec 18, 2007
So many problems in our ecosystem.  So many human-created things threatening our survival along with many other species.  I always come back to wondering if the root of it all is overpopulation.  It makes sense to me.  It's so huge though, I may never figure out the root.

 
EQ
Savvy User Savvy User, Joined On 3/2007
EQ  
Replied

HansMassage_203
Apprentice User Apprentice User Joined On 6/2006
HansMassage_203  
 
Posted On Jan 05, 2008

The ROOT is "the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one." 1 John 5:19



schmaltztwics
Novice User Novice User Joined On 12/2006
schmaltztwics  
 
Posted On Jan 05, 2008

eqhealth07--

Try this on for size. (Some facts about the Al Gore factor.)

cuttingthrough.jenkness.com/.../Alan_Watt_Blurb_GreeningSchemingDreaming_April052007.mp3

More food for thought here (December 27 2007 shows for GMO weaponization of food):  

www.cuttingthroughthematrix.com/alanwattpods.rss



EQ
Savvy User Savvy User Joined On 3/2007
EQ  
 
Posted On Jan 05, 2008

What a strange thing that I get a negative ding for just wondering about something.  I didn't pay attention to the votes for a while, and now it's time to stop paying attention to them again.

lively,

Thanks for the Alan Watts links.  I haven't listened to him in years.  He's always very thought provoking.



mick-marie
Novice User Novice User Joined On 11/2007
mick-marie  
 
Posted On Jan 06, 2008

you said you may never find the root to this problem. You can find

it in the Bible! "THE LOVE OF MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL". Not

money, by the way...the LOVE of it. Money CAN be a GOOD thing but

if a person or organization or company loves money more than people

then crimes against humanity are inevitable. These companies will

pay dearly for their sins!! What a shock they'll have when they

find out there really IS a God!!!



mick-marie
Novice User Novice User Joined On 11/2007
mick-marie  
 
Posted On Jan 06, 2008

You said you may never know what the root of this problem is. The

root is in the Bible! "THE LOVE OF MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL".

Not money, by the way, the LOVE of it. Money can be a GOOD thing but

if a person or an organization or a company loves money more than

people then crimes against humanity will be inevitable.

These companies will pay dearly for their sins! Imagin their shock

when they find out there really IS a God!!



sunshine50
Novice User Novice User Joined On 4/2008
sunshine50  
 
Posted On May 23, 2008

It's over population with people who will not follow The Way Of Creator and too stupid or greedy to see what is happening.Most peoples goals are to become rich and go for physical pleasures.Don't want to get religious here but even all the books like the bible,the Kora and Budist books have been changed by the greed of people.Hear is a video people should watch.

www.godlikeproductions.com/.../pg1

Take out your popcorn.It is long.


 
 
 
 
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