Dog Lovers ALERT:

Just found this article.

The Controversy Over Menadione In Dog Food

I was researching the ingredients in a Purina Brand Dog Food ("Beyond All-Natural Dog Food: Superfood Blend") because my 1-yr. old puppy began dripping blood everytime he pooped and sometimes when he didn't.

I make Tyler the Pup's food from scratch (Turkey/ground beef, kale, sweet potato) and, occasionally, I add some Premium dry kibble.

Normally, as a rule, I would NEVER use Purina or any other by-product-/synthetic ingredient- containing commercial pet food brands - but, I ran out and my Mom, unfortunately, bought this home.

I was recovering from surgery, so I was only going to use it for a few days, until I was able to get to the store and buy a dry kibble brand that I'd researched and knew to be much better.

A Red Flag went up when Tyler began leaking blood drops when he relieved himself. Sometimes, he would stop, squat and push - hard - and only blood drops would come out.  I knew it couldn't have been from the food that I was making.

So, it had to be the Purina Brand Kibble!

Immediately, I stopped adding the Purina Kibble and Tyler stopped crapping blood!

If you buy commercial food for your companion-animals, PLEASE read the ingredient label.

And, look up any ingredients that are multi-syllabic or sound like synthetic chemicals!

Especially ones like menadione (synth Vit. K3) - which the FDA BANNED in Human supplements!

There's no good reason to use synthesized vitamins that are banned from human consumption in our beloved companion animals' food!

GMOs In The UK: Just Because You've Banned Them, Doesn't Mean They're Staying Out Of Your Food Supply...

Hey! Watch Out! Big, Bad (Bad, Very Bad!) Biotech Is Sneaking Around Behind The Peoples' Backs, Again!

(*Guard Your Food Sources/Safety/Sustainability and Your Natural Resources As If Your Life Depends Upon It... - Because It Does.)

Monsanto, Syngenta and Bayer... Oh My!
(cue theme music for "Jaws")

(From: "Monsanto, Syngenta and Bayer CropScience... Co-optation, Deception and Collusion")

British Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary Owen Paterson is a staunch supporter of the GM ("Genetic Modification") sector (1). Despite criticisms of him being an industry puppet (2) and content to ignore the devastating, deleterious health, environmental, social and agricultural impacts of GMOs (3), both he and other officials like the EU’s chief science advisor Anne Glover (4) have been more than happy to act as mouthpieces for the GM sector by making false statements and claims about the benefits and safety of GMOs that fly in the face of scientific findings.

*And, if you think GM-corruption and GM greased-palm crap isn't going on in the U.S.A. and Everywhere...
Well, then, you don't know... Monsanto!  (Get off your arse and do some research!)

*Those of us already 'in the know' about GMOs need to Stay Informed, Stay Involved and Stay Active:

http://www.stopthecrop.org/

http://www.councilforresponsiblegenetics.org/

http://www.gmwatch.org/

http://www.ucsusa.org/  (Website for: Union of Concerned Scientists)

Speaking of monsters... er, Monsanto - Read "Monsanto’s Harvest of Fear"

Speaking of monsters... er, I mean Monsanto...

"Monsanto’s Harvest of Fear" is a terrific & in-depth investigation by Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele that appeared in Vanity Fair in 2008.

And, don't let the year put you off in the least. This is a well-researched, timely and informative article and, thereby, a worthwhile read...
Especially if you are someone who is unfamiliar with Monsanto's shameless shenanigans...

Or, if you are someone who has concerns about the safety of our food and of our food supply...

Or, if you are someone who consumes dairy products / is a milk-drinker...

Or, if you or someone that you love happens to eat food...

Why?...  Because Monsanto has contaminated America’s food-chain with its genetically modified (GM) seeds and crops and they've - with force - injected rGBH (recombinant bovine growth hormone) into U.S. milk production. Monsanto’s playbook tactics (ruthless legal battles against small farmers) are frightening.

Not only that, as an adherent of "To be fore-warned is to be fore-armed." (a.k.a. "Knowledge is Power"), I strongly-believe that people can only benefit from knowing facts about Monsanto's decades-long  (continuing...) history of toxic contamination, legal maneuvering and political plays.

Here's the link to the article:
Monsanto’s Harvest of Fear by Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele

Enjoy!
L.

US Cattle Cloned From Dead Animals. Demand Clone-Free Food Labels

In light of what you are about to read...

I encourage you to actively fight for Your Right To Be Informed About What, Exactly, Is In The Food That You Are Eating.

I feel that it's imperative for all of us to demand that the FDA approve either "Cloned Food" Labels Or "Clone-Free Food" Labels.

Why?

Check This Out...

I just stumbled across what I deem to be a significantly newsworthy story:

You'll never guess what the FDA is allowing into the US Food Supply...
Without Your Knowledge or Informed Consent?

What surprised me the most about this meaty morsel is...

The fact that this is a US-based story, regarding the US Food Supply/Chain.
It's about something which effects every single American...

Yet, the first and - so far - only article covering it from a major worldwide news source/outlet comes from the U.K?

From the BBC?
(Not that I'm unappreciative. I'm very grateful to them.)

But, why wasn't the first article/report...

No, wait...
(I had to double-check.)

Why isn't there any report coming out of ABC, CBS, NBC, etc.?

Here's a "taste"...

Enjoy!

12 August 2010
Cattle 'Cloned From Dead Animals'
By Pallab Ghosh
Science correspondent, BBC News

"Some of the cattle cloned to boost food production in the US have been created from the cells of dead animals."

"Farmers say it is being done because it is only possible to tell that the animal's meat is of exceptionally high quality by inspecting its carcass."

"Cloning is not used by livestock farmers in Europe, and there are moves by some members of the European Parliament to ban it altogether."

"Two years ago, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ruled that meat and milk from cloned animals were safe to eat. Ever since then, products from the offspring of cloned animals have entered the food chain."
(Source: bbc.co.uk)

Here's the Link to the entire article: www.bbc.co.uk/news

Food, Inc. If You Are What You Eat - Know Where Your Food Comes From!

I was trying very hard to stay away from My MySpace Blog and My "Forget Big Brother" Blog tonight (Friday).

I had made the decision to spend several hours working exclusively on my upcoming Vintage & Designer eBay Listings.

And, I was actually sticking to my plan for about an hour.

Until I heard about the story that this Blog addresses.

I was listening to PBS's NOW program, hosted by David Brancaccio. Tonight's guest: Robert Kenner, the man behind the upcoming film "Food, Inc".

I held back for a while... Focus.... Focus... Damn It!... until I couldn't hold back any longer...

What I was hearing about America's Food Producers, Suppliers, and Retailers demanded my immediate attention.

eBay would just have to wait.

It was about the time that the host and Mr. Kenner were discussing the fact that a fast-food burger from, say McDonald's, has meat in it from 1000 (that's One Thousand) individual animals!

Ugh!... This little tidbit made me feel queasy... even though I've been a vegetarian for most of my life.

The filmmaker has made a film to be proud of. He truly wants to inform the American people. Particularly about how the food choices they make effect the choices that are available. He focuses on real people and real lives.
Don't worry... it isn't a film made in a slaughterhouse... he wants people to
actually watch it.

The Informative Website for: Food, Inc. - The Movie.. (Food, Inc. debuts in San Francisco on June 12, 2009. Among many things, the website lists dates for other cities/theatres where you can see it.)

Below is the trailer for Food, Inc..

Peace & Bon Appetit!

L.

(From: www.pbs.org/now.)

Food, Inc.

Behind the food we love—Secrets that giant food companies don't want you to know.

Americans have a longstanding love affair with food—the modern supermarket has, on average, 47,000 products. But do we really know what goes into making the products we so eagerly consume?

This week, David Brancaccio talks with filmmaker Robert Kenner, the director of "Food, Inc.," which takes a hard look at the secretive and surprising journey food takes on the way from processing plants to our dinner tables. The two discuss why contemporary food processing secrets are so closely guarded, their impact on our health, and another surprising fact: how consumers are actually empowered to make a difference.

Find out why you'll never look at dinner the same way.



About the Film...

"How much do we really know about the food we buy at our local supermarkets and serve to our families?

In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that's been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, insecticide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won't go bad, but we also have new strains of e coli--the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults.

Featuring interviews with such experts as Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma) along with forward thinking social entrepreneurs like Stonyfield Farm's Gary Hirshberg and Polyface Farms' Joel Salatin, Food, Inc. reveals surprising -- and often shocking truths -- about what we eat, how it's produced, who we have become as a nation and where we are going from here. "

(From: ://www.youtube.com.)

Under the USDA, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad Cow World.

Recent News Reports have been filled with the news of the biggest recall of beef in history. The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Sunday ordered the recall of 143 million pounds of frozen beef from Chino-based Westland/Hallmark Meat Co.

The recall will affect beef products dating to Feb. 1, 2006.

In other words, this being February 2008, most of the beef being recalled has likely already been consumed by unwitting, carnivorous, American consumers.

The recall and federally-ordered suspension of operations at Westland/Hallmark comes only after an undercover video from the Humane Society of the United States surfaced showing crippled and sick animals being shoved with forklifts.

Authorities said the video showed workers kicking, using electric shock and otherwise abusing "downer" animals that were apparently too sick or injured to walk into the slaughterhouse. Some animals had water forced down their throats from a high pressure hose.

(In spite of the video (only the most recently caught-on-tape case of animal abuse), the USDA, after much hoof-dragging, finally declared in 2003 that so-called 'downer' animals should be kept out of the human food supply. This was because of the possibility that they might be suffering from/their meat products contaminated with Mad Cow Disease. People who eat the contaminated meat can develop the human version of spongiform encephalopathy.)

I don't know how many slaughterhouses there are in the U.S., but I'm quite sure that this is not an isolated incident.

History is filled with evidence that (and research studies have shown) when some human beings are given absolute power over anyone, be they inmates in a U.S. prison, detainees in Abu Ghraib/Gitmo... or helpless and frightened animals in a factory farm or slaughterhouse...
Terrible Abuse... up to and including Torture... is bound to occur.

Unfortunately, it's a 'no-brainer.'

What I want to know is... who are the people who the news is saying are "...up in arms over video of animal abuse"? (Other than vegan people, of course, like myself, who find the whole process barbaric whether there's over-the-top torture of the animals or just the run-of-the-mill, normal torture.)

Are they the same people who, at lunch, gave in to a Big Mac Attack?
Are they the same people who think nothing of grabbing a couple of Happy Meals for their kids? ("Happy Meal" is one of the greatest and most horribly ironic misnomers in modern history... Trust me, the cattle who passed through the McMillions Murdered processing plant didn't die happy.)

I saw the video... and it is gut-wrenching to see these gentle and harmless animals -who are obviously suffering horribly (enough to render them incapable of taking the march to captive-bolt stunning and carotid artery slicing death under their own power) being Tortured in their last Torturous Moments.

As for this headline-grabbing, breaking news/lead-in story-worthy and (honestly)relatively pointless recall goes...

"It's really closing the barn door after the cows left.", as Jean Halloran, director of food policy initiatives at Consumers Union noted.



From www.goveg.com/.

Mad Cow Disease: It’s Mad to Eat Meat

Mad cow disease is one of the most frightening diseases of our generation. Also known as “bovine spongiform encephalopathy,” it is a member of a group of diseases called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. These diseases, which cause the brain to degenerate until it becomes “spongy” and lead to eventual death, are caused by misshapen proteins called “prions.”1 Researchers have traced massive outbreaks of the disease on factory farms to the meat industry’s cost-cutting practice of mixing the brain tissue of dead farmed animals into the feed of other farmed animals.

Any animal with a brain has the potential to become infected with a prion disease and could pass the disease on to humans who eat the animal’s flesh.

To make matters worse, prions are nearly indestructible. They're impervious to radiation, washing, boiling and the intense heat of autoclaves used to sterilize surgical instruments. Unlike many harmful bacteria, prions aren't destroyed by cooking or by the strong juices produced in your stomach.

Scientists have already identified mad cow disease variants in humans, fish, sheep, minks, cows, deer, and cats. Although illegal in Japan and Europe, in the U.S. and Canada it remains common to include the blood, bone, and unwanted flesh of all types of farmed animals in the feed of chickens, turkeys, and pigs. Of all the animal flesh and bone meal that is processed into food for farmed animals, almost half is fed to chickens and turkeys, 13 percent is fed to pigs, and 10 percent is fed to cows.

How Do People Get Mad Cow Disease?


When people eat infected animals, they can develop the human version of spongiform encephalopathy called “new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease” (nvCJD). This disease eats holes in the brain (which results in a spongy appearance), initially causing memory loss and erratic behavior. Over a period of months, victims gradually lose the ability to care for themselves or communicate, and they eventually die. There is evidence that a large number of Americans diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia may in fact be victims of CJD.

Eating contaminated meat has caused more than 150 deaths worldwide. Thousands more are likely infected but do not know it yet, according to a study published in The Journal of Pathology, and it can take years for symptoms to develop.6,7 Millions of cows developed the disease in Europe in the 1990s and were killed and their bodies burned—although burning does not destroy prions. Hunters in the U.S. and their families may have contracted the disease by eating infected deer they killed.8


What Is the U.S. Government Doing to Protect Americans From Mad Cow Disease?

The USDA, which is supposed to ensure the safety of the American food supply, has a long, disturbing history of protecting the profits of the wealthy meat, dairy, and egg industries instead of protecting consumers and animals. But the agency’s actions on the mad cow issue may be the most appalling dereliction of duty to date:

“Downed cows” (those too sick or injured to walk) are considered the most likely to have mad cow disease. After years of stalling, the USDA finally announced in late 2003 that it would stop allowing these animals into the human food supply. However, a damning internal report released three years later found that USDA inspectors were still allowing many downed cows to be slaughtered for human consumption.9

While Japan and England test every slaughtered cow for mad cow disease, the U.S. tests fewer than 1 percent of cows.10,11 The USDA even refused to allow a slaughterhouse to do its own testing—perhaps fearful of what the slaughterhouse might find.12

A 2006 audit found that top USDA officials tried to stop additional testing on a cow who was suspected of having mad cow disease because the agency feared that a positive test would cause economic harm to the beef industry. When the inspector general finally insisted that the cow be tested, the results showed that the cow was indeed infected with the disease.13

How to Protect Yourself

The American government is not following the World Health Organization recommendations for protecting Americans from mad cow disease.

There is no cure for vCJD (the form of Mad Cow which humans can develop).

There is also no treatment that will slow the progress of the disease. Drug therapy can be used to help some of the psychiatric symptoms of the condition.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is always fatal. The typical survival time is eight months after symptoms first appear. About 5 percent of patients live longer than two years. The usual survival time for patients with nvCJD is twelve months after onset.

Simply put, the only way to ensure that you won’t eat something that will cause you to develop a horrific, brain-rotting illness is to go vegetarian.