Deatrophication of the Brain

I guess tonight was my political night. I watched Real Time with Bill Maher for an hour in video thanks to the fact that you can now subscribe to the video of “Real Time” through iTunes (it’s the same feed, just has videos in it now). I then watched yesterday’s broadcast of Democracy Now which was an extremely good broadcast about how the diet in America is essentially quickly leading to our demise. I then listened to an hour of Bicycle Mark and Madge Weinstein talk about more political issues as well (YR758 Bicylemark on the FISA Bill, Gold, and More. Also Auntie Vera is abused). They also discussed yesterday’s broadcast of Democracy Now. I guess this will be an echo chamber of sorts but I think I will try to put my own spin on it and talk about how it effects me.

One thing that I’ve been thinking a lot about since I finished the 3 hours of political talk is during the broadcast of Democracy Now, Michael Pollan author of “In Defense of Food” stated that when you go grocery shopping you should only shop around the perimeter of the store because that is where the produce and the non-modified foods are. I agree with this 100% and wish that it was possible to do this. Unfortunately, when you’re broke you are not able to. A big question I have is in regards to breads. Michael and Amy were talking about how the ingredients that are used to make our breads are broken down so small that the good part, the germ of the wheat is taken out. This makes breads taste much sweeter because when they touch your tongue they have been broken down already and your body doesn’t have to do a lot of work to break them down. So, you get an instant rush of glucose. Again, I agree with this but my question is how do we combat this? I would venture to guess that 90% of the breads in this country, even breads that are whole grain and massively produced have been produced by the same methods. You can’t get around it buy buying boxed breads because it’s essentially the same thing. You are simply supplying the final ingredients. Even fresh breads that come from a baker are susceptible to this problem. What do we do?

So much of our food is modified in this country. Even our water isn’t simply water anymore. If you drink your water from the tap it generally has fluoride in it. I do have to point out that the water that comes from my tap does not have fluoride in it because we do not get our water from the utility district. We have our own well. I prefer to not drink the water that comes from it because it has a lot of iron in it and filters get expensive to replace. Right now in Blount County, Tennnessee there is a protest against the utility district’s plan add fluoride to the drinking water. I’m not going to say I’m for or against this because I really don’t know. In the news report there were talks about the health concerns of ingesting fluoride. I remember in my early years of elementary school we would swish fluoride around in our mouths and spit it into a paper cup. Everyone generally participated and it was accepted as being a healthy thing to do, no one questioned it. Most public water supplies have chlorine and other chemicals to help keep the water clean. Just like the food we eat in America our water isn’t simply water anymore.

Turn on the TV right now and I will guarantee you that you will see some sort of commercial for fast food, snack food or frozen dinner that proclaims to be healthy for you. Of course you’ll also see all the reality TV shows that poke fun at the obesity epidemic. Why are we not taking the time to educate about these things in our country? Why is it that when anyone says they are vegan, vegetarian or only eat foods grown locally they are automatically considered an outcast? It’s so accepted to eat junk. It’s what our country eats. If the saying “You are what you eat” is true, then America is junk.

Getting back to an earlier thought. I would love to eat a lot healthier than I do. I am so sick and tired of eating frozen Banquet Salisbury Steak dinners, Banquet Chicken Pot Pies, Banquet Turkey Slices in Gravy with a side of mashed potatoes and something boring from a can. Why do I eat like that? It’s cheap. Healthy foods are UNREACHABLE because of their price tag. If you want to put food on the table on an extremely tight budget you will be going down the middle aisles of the grocery store. I would really love to have a salad every evening but the good salad greens cost a lot more money than the $1 box of frozen salisbury steak with gravy that feeds 6 people.

The local vocational school grows fruits and vegetables during the summer and sales them in the local grocery stores. While I think this is a great idea I question the growing method. I’m sure they are not 100% organic. At some point they HAVE to use some sort of non-organic fertilizer to make a profit which is what it generally boils down to, profit. Last summer we had our own garden here at home. I loved it! It was so nice to be able to go and get a cucumber, a tomato, tommy toes and lettuce out of the garden and make a salad. But still, the garden was not 100% organic. We used fertilizer on the garden. We could have used chicken or cow manure but the question still remains how organic is the manure coming out of the cow? Remember the circle of life they sang about in the Lion King?

Our country has been going downhill for the last 50 years and we’re starting to take other countries down with us. The planet is going to hell in a hand-basket. Let me re-phrase, the country has gone to hell in a hand-basket. I’m afraid that no matter who we elect as our President in Novemember these things WILL NOT change. I hope they do but I’m afraid they won’t. I don’t want out of this country, I want off this planet. Then, where would I find food?

One last thought of the evening and then I’m going to bed. I use to ask how in the world people in foreign countries can be going hungry? How can they go hungry when we in America have all this cheap food. I use to think that we should send a few boat loads of ramen noodles to foreign countries so they can have something to eat! While that would give people food to eat it would be setting them on the same path of destruction America is on. Goodnight.