Food discussion arising from: Nothing in a star's lunchbox

[Prem Rogue]

I have it figured out. I just now have time to deal with it. So in the morning it will be all ready to go. Then I have to write! I have so many stories about the bad food. The letter from Cocoa Cola, the phone call to Subway. I understand people can reply and tell me their bad stories also. I just need a name for it. They want me to name it! Bad Food? The poisoning of the world? Adventures with food? Things I learned on the way to the kitchen?

How about The Digestive Tract?

[Dil Bert]

I just need a name for it. They want me to name it!

Corn -- Threat or Menace?
Gut Instinct
Food so good you can't keep it down
WWJE

[corbie]

Both great. We did name it tonight. Corbie's Rant. I can get very outspoken when I go on a rant! I have a client coming any minute and I have on no eyeliner. I feel very odd!

[Dil Bert]

http://www.geo-pie.cornell.edu/crops/ingredients.html

Common food ingredients derived from corn and soybeans

The following is a partial list of many common food ingredients derived from corn and/or soybeans (listed together because there is some overlap). These ingredients are either extracted directly from corn or soybeans (flour, starch, oil, etc) or are ingredients made using corn- or soy- based derivatives as source materials (example: vitamins derived from corn sugars). Most of these ingredients are so highly processed or refined that it is not possible to determine whether they came from GE or non-GE corn or soybean varieties (or a mixture of both).

    * Ascorbate (Vitamin C)
    * Aspartame
    * Beta-carotine (pro-Vitamin A)
    * Caramel
    * Carotenoids
    * Cellulose
    * Cobalamin (Vitamin B12)
    * Corn Flour
    * Corn Masa
    * Corn Meal
    * Corn Oil
    * Corn Starch
    * Corn Syrup
    * Cystein
    * Dextrin
    * Dextrose
    * Fructose
    * Glucose
    * Glutamate
    * Gluten
    * Hemicellulose
    * High Fructose Corn Syrup
    * Inositol
    * Invert Sugars
    * Lactose
    * Lactoflavin
    * Lecithin
    * Leucine
    * Lysine
    * Maltose
    * Methionine
    * Methylcellulose
    * Modified Starch
    * Mono- and Diglycerides
    * Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)
    * Niacin
    * Phenylalanine
    * Riboflavin (Vitamin B2)
    * Sorbitol
    * Soy Flour
    * Soy Isolate
    * Soy Isoflavones
    * Soy Lecithin
    * Soy Protein
    * Soybean Oil
    * Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP)
    * Threonine
    * Tocopherol (Vitamin E)
    * Tryptophan
    * Vanilla Extract (contains corn syrup)
    * Vegetable Fat
    * Vegetable Oil
    * Xanthan Gum
    * Zein

[corbie]

I found a new one today after I woke up with a headache. I won't put this one on my new blog as I don't want my dear friend to know she accidentally poisoned me last night. She made us a nice Marsala dish. Marsala wine is "fortified" with ethanol alcohol witch is made from corn. My husband put a link on my profile. It will be a ramble and probably jump subjects as my mind does that.

Also John was researching more stuff along with the wine. The shiny wax on fruit is also made with corn. I buy organic so I haven't been poisoned with that one yet.

[Dil Bert]

Perhaps you need to put your energy toward ending the farm subsidy on corn, as corn is being made into water bottles and many other things.

http://www.cornproductsus.com/cpus/jsp/ProductMain.jsp

[Darshana]

Corbie - if you are not locked in to a blog name - I have a thought: I wonder if it would be best to have a name that would bring your blog up in Internet searches done by your potential readers.

Or to have words in the "subtitle" of your blog that would do that for you.

Word I think of are: "weight problems," "weight gan," "weight loss," "overweight," obesity," "diet," "food additives,"  as well as the corn-related words and phrases.  What I am thinking is that you'd hope to make your blog findable by people browsing around for general stuff about weight gain and diet, as well as people who are already on the track of the corn thing!!

But -- please also check with someone who knows what she's talking about re: blogs, which isn't me!!

[corbie]

I have no idea if it is locked or not. I have written three things. I want it to be  anonymous if someone finds it, but able to put a link to it. I end up writing so many emails to various people, it will be nice to be able to say the information is right here and stop repeating my self all the time. So much of the information is available on the net if some one is looking. I will ask John. So far I wrote about our soap, eye make up and after getting poisoned again, went ahead and wrote what I learned about migraines! I will ask John. He liked the suggestion of food so good you can't keep it down! I just called it Corbie's Rant. I should have done Corbie's Rants, but oh well!

[emel3]

I have a stupid question -- well actually two stupid questions -- 1. is genetically modified food always bad? and 2. are corn products always bad too?

I would think that this trend started off with good intentions i.e. to provide cheap, healthy food for millions -- and got subverted along the way....

[Dil Bert]

Emel3,

Some corn products, such as High Fructose Corn Syrup, seem to be bad for everyone:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070823094819.htm

Corbie seems to be allergic to corn products in general, which is a problem for her and others like her as cheap, subsidized corn products are in many, many US food products under a variety of different names.


GM food is probably not always bad, but European consumers have rejected it, while it is in the US/Canadian food supply.

[amit]

1. is genetically modified food always bad?

Not necessarily but we don't know. It's being forced on people without any adequate long-term testing, or informing them that it's in their food. So the issue is not so much the technology itself (though some oppose it on ethical grounds) but testing and labeling, and how it's being pushed. The thing is that no one can say for sure whether GM crops are safer for the environment and for us in the long run, since the technology is new and its effects not well-understood and not fully known. So it comes down to the precautionary principle, or going full-steam ahead.

In India, the GM seeds were planted without the knowledge of farmers, right next to their fields with conventional crops. When people found out, they rightfully burned those fields planted with GM crops. Such sneaky tactics don't really help in winning friends or for advancing your case.

A Cornell study found that planting of Bt cotton in China has led to erosion of any profits, and other pests have started attacking the crops.

Another study actually says GMO rice benefits China.

In India, there has been controversy over the GM rice with beta-carotene (golden rice), with arguments for and against. People argue that to combat vitamin A deficiency, there are other cheaper and more practical ways to handle it, than eating golden rice. And one would have to eat a lot of golden rice to get the recommended dose of vitamin A.

I'm not an expert, but from what I've read, it seems to me that "feeding the poor" is a common argument thrown around by bio-tech companies to oppose any resistance to their profit-making. I think the issue is not insufficient food production, but inequities in the distribution of (surplus) food, though there's more complexity to it.

I've heard there's a book called 'World Hunger: 12 myths' by Frances Moore Lappe, but I haven't read it yet.

[blue]

Corbie, is your blog on line? or not yet. I don't see a link.

[Dil Bert]

Corbie, is your blog on line? or not yet. I don't see a link.

http://corbiesrant.blogspot.com/

[blue]

http://corbiesrant.blogspot.com/

Thank you Dil Bert

[corbie]

Now that I only have one week of school left I will be back on my blog (hopefully) ranting about all that is wrong with our medical, drug and food mess. It is funny that I took a CNA class. The teacher was offering candy and junk for everyone to eat as snacks when the class first started. I refused to eat any while everyone else dived in. She said it was all ok as none had  transfats, the new buzz word. I told her it was all crap and then wasn't able to keep my mouth shut about all I know and have researched. Slowly the rest of the class wouldn't eat it either. She started asking questions and started bringing better stuff and wanted me to read labels.

At one point she went out to lunch with me and my husband and I asked her if I should start keeping my mouth shut and she said no, she was learning.

So I ended up teaching two of the classes in the class I was taking. The teacher decided I knew more about holistic medicine than she or the book and so I taught that segment and then I taught one on nutrition and Reiki.

I was talking about how bad soy is and how it is messing with thyroid function and women's reproduction and the class was saying but they say it is healthy when one girl who has diabetes said that her doctor had told her if she ever wants children to not eat any. She thought it was because of her diabetes and never asked anything further. So some doctors know.

Also there is a new documentary out called King Corn. I watched it, including the extras and it is worse than I thought.

[James]

I've just come across this thread for the first time.  I wish I had been here to help you name your blog before...I would've suggested "cornucopia"!     (it's got 'corn' in it, and it's describing something that's everywhere/abundant!)

I try to be conscious about what I eat, and as a lacto-vegetarian (for almost ten years now) I think I manage a reasonable awareness.  Society is definitely not geared toward trying to help you really be healthy, though, probably because too many people's livelihoods depend on people being sick.  Most restaurants and supermarkets are geared towards what's easy, which usually means fatty and lacking nutrition, and lots and lots of animal products!

I've had a vague awareness of the problem with high fructose corn for a long time, which I believe they put in pop?  I don't drink pop at all, except the odd time when it comes in a combo when I'm eating fast food (which I do fairly rarely since there are so few places that have vegetarian options).  A gentleman I work with, though, is highly addicted to Coca Cola, and is very obese, and just by cutting down on his pop intake he's lost more than twenty pounds.  I shudder to think if I were still drinking that crap!  There are so many people have combos with pop on an almost daily basis it's no wonder the weight everyone is gaining.

In your research Corbie, have you come across the answer to the question, "Why corn?".  I know the Huron in Southern Ontario and Québec ate a lot of corn primarily for protein.  They used to boil it, eat it on the cob, whatever, since they were farmers as opposed to hunters and gatherers and didn't always have a lot of meat in their diet.  I can't help but wonder if there's a connection, considering they were located in one of the areas of North America that was first colonised by Europeans and had extensive contact with them, though this would only be a guess.  I suppose corn is cheap is what it comes down to.

[corbie]

Why corn? It grows fast and yields more grain than other crops. And then it lent itself to being genetically modified to yield even more. The numbers were staggering when I saw the documentary. It lends itself to being used in many different ways. It is NOT the corn of the Indians. It has been changed into something called industrial corn and is not even edible.

Go rent it and let me know your thoughts. It was totally scary. My husband was drinking only about 3 sodas a week when he quit. Nothing else in the diet has changed except ingredients. Down 45 lbs and counting. I never drank soda but it was in a lot of my so called health food. I have lost even more. And I still eat whatever I feel like as long as there is no corn or soy in it. For dinner I just had two eggs with a bit of cheese and a couple of besum ladoos.

Soy is actually as nasty as the corn. Suppresses thyroid function, messes with a woman reproductive system. More of a mess.

Off to class to do more subversion.

[tanya]

Monsanto corporation is selling its gmo seeds to farmers in India. John has been telling me about it. I haven't looked anything up about it myself. And if they are importing anything from this country, it is suspect!

If I remember correctly there was quite a lot about Monsanto's genetically modified seeds in the documentary The Future of Food. (I don't think anyone has mentioned it?)  It was a really good documentary. Apart from the genetically modified food and health issue, it discusses the disruption of traditional farming by the introduction of modified seeds that produce sterile plants.

Edit:

I'm not an expert, but from what I've read, it seems to me that "feeding the poor" is a common argument thrown around by bio-tech companies to oppose any resistance to their profit-making. I think the issue is not insufficient food production, but inequities in the distribution of (surplus) food, though there's more complexity to it

They make that argument in this documentary. According to the documentary, the bio-tech companies are trying to defend their practice of selling modified seeds that produce sterile plants to farmers as it forces the farmers to rely on purchasing seed from them every time.

[amit]

They make that argument in this documentary. According to the documentary, the bio-tech companies are trying to defend their practice of selling modified seeds that produce sterile plants to farmers as it forces the farmers to rely on purchasing seed from them every time.

Yup. They're called Terminator seeds - an example that blasts a huge hole in their very argument that they are concerned with feeding the poor. 

[tanya]

Yup. They're called Terminator seeds - an example that blasts a huge hole in their very argument that they are concerned with feeding the poor. 

"Terminator seeds" ... surely the person that thought that up has "evil genius" on his/her business card and spends a lot of time stroking a white cat? It would make a great movie if it weren't, y'know, real.

[corbie]

I just got onto netflix and ordered The Future of Food. I have been doing this all hit or miss as I see something. I just talked with my comedy friend and she has a dear friend who was just diagnosed with severe thyriod problems. She is a vegetarian who eats a lot of soy products. I need to go blog about the article I found in a magazine and then stupidly left it here at the store and it is gone and I don't remember which one it was. The article said that by now we have all heard the stories about soy and it supresses tyroid function, messing with women's reproductive systems and it appears it is all true. But instead of saying a person should quit it went on about moderation and to just cut back!

[corbie]

http://www.truefoodnow.org/shoppersguide/guide_printable.html#snacks

I found this list while just cruising around.

[corbie]

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/30/still-spooked-by-high-fructose-corn-syrup/?hp

Interesting article (thanks Darshana!) The corn lobby just won't quit. Anybody I can convince to quit this stuff loses weight and a lot of health problems.

[emel3]

I have been meaning to ask if you have seen the ads for corn syrup, corn products and high fructose corn syrup that are currently being shown on Canadian TV?  I figured that if they are being shown here, then they are definitely being shown in the US. Is my assumption correct?  I find the ads very interesting in terms of purporting to show a balanced view of nutrition and health but not really.  One tends to forget somewhere along the lines that it is an AD with the single purpose of sellling the stuff.

[derketchup]

Yup. They're called Terminator seeds - an example that blasts a huge hole in their very argument that they are concerned with feeding the poor. 

Trust me, Monsanto is only concerned with feeding their own bank accounts.  Maybe I'm cynical because I grew up in farm country, but their tactics are horrid.  Do you know they own more patents for seed than any other corporation???

And how does one exactly own "life", anyways?

One good thing about GMOs is that some of them require less pesticides.  But it's a moot point because using pesticides is only necessary because of how we grow food in America (monocropping, monocropping, oh and monocropping).  It's like taking an antibiotic to get rid of a chronic infection caused by a poor diet and then treating yourself "holistically" for the yeast infection caused by the antibiotic.

My apologies for the overly complicated analogy.