CONFIRMED: Big Food Is Making Us Sick

[wehateporn]

Giant Food Corporations Work Hand-In-Glove With Corrupt Government Agencies To Dish Up Cheap, Unhealthy Food

Can it be stopped?

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/...lthy-food.html

The Independent reports that small farmers are being challenged by food companies are becoming insanely concentrated:

Increasingly, a handful of multinationals are tightening their grip on the commodity markets, with potentially dramatic effects for consumers and food producers alike.

Three companies now account for more than 40 per cent of global coffee sales, eight companies control the supply of cocoa and chocolate, seven control 85 per cent of tea production, five account for 75 per cent of the world banana trade, and the largest six sugar traders account for about two-thirds of world trade, according to the new publication from the Fairtrade Foundation.

This is the year ?to put the politics of food on the public agenda and find better solutions to the insanity of our broken food system?.

More people may be shopping ethically ? sales of Fairtrade cocoa grew by more than 20 per cent last year to £153m ? but, according to the report, the world?s food system is ?dangerously out of control?.

How is that effecting the safety of our food supply? Reuters notes:

Multinational food, drink and alcohol companies are using strategies similar to those employed by the tobacco industry to undermine public health policies, health experts said on Tuesday.

In an international analysis of involvement by so-called ?unhealthy commodity? companies in health policy-making, researchers from Australia, Britain, Brazil and elsewhere said ? that through the aggressive marketing of ultra-processed food and drink, multinational companies were now major drivers of the world?s growing epidemic of chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes.

Writing in The Lancet medical journal, the researchers cited industry documents they said revealed how companies seek to shape health legislation and avoid regulation.

This is done by ?building financial and institutional relations? with health professionals, non-governmental organizations and health agencies, distorting research findings, and lobbying politicians to oppose health reforms, they said.

They cited analysis of published research which found systematic bias from industry funding: articles sponsored exclusively by food and drinks companies were between four and eight times more likely to have conclusions that favored the companies than those not sponsored by them.

How are giant food manufacturers trying to influence legislation?

As Waking Times reports, they?re trying to gag all reporting:

States are adopting laws meant to keep consumers in the dark about where their food comes from.

Do you have a right to know where that steak on your plate came from?

Should it be legal to photograph chicken farms and dairy cows?

Big Agriculture says you don?t and it shouldn?t. Armies of Big Ag lobbyists are pushing for new state-level laws across the country to keep us all in the dark. Less restrictive versions have been law in some states since the 1980s, but the meat industry has ratcheted up a radical new campaign.

This wave of ?ag-gag? bills would criminalize whistleblowers, investigators, and journalists who expose animal welfare abuses at factory farms and slaughterhouses. Ten states considered ?ag-gag? bills last year, and Iowa, Missouri, and Utah approved them. Even more are soon to follow.

Had these laws been in force, the Humane Society might have been prosecuted for documenting repeated animal welfare and food safety violations at Hallmark/Westland, formerly the second-largest supplier of beef to the National School Lunch Program. Cows too sick to walk were being slaughtered and that meat was shipped to our schools, endangering our kids. The investigation led to the largest meat recall in U.S. history.

Big Ag wants to silence whistleblowers rather than clean up its act. Ag-gag bills are now pending in Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Indiana, Nebraska, and New Hampshire. Similar legislation may crop up in North Carolina and Minnesota.

The bills aren?t identical, but they share common language ? sometimes even word-for-word. Some criminalize anyone who even ?records an image or sound? from a factory farm. Others mandate that witnesses report abuses within a few hours, which would make it impossible for whistleblowers to secure advice and protection, or for them to document a pattern of abuses.

Indiana?s version of this cookie-cutter legislation ominously begins with the statement that farmers have the right to ?engage in agricultural operations free from the threat of terrorism and interference from unauthorized third persons.? [The Feds are treating people who expose abuse in factory farms as potential terrorists ? and the states want the same power.]

Yet these bills aren?t about violence or terrorism. They?re about truth-telling that?s bad for branding. For these corporations, a ?terrorist? is anyone who threatens their profits by exposing inhumane practices that jeopardize consumer health.

Ag-gag bills aren?t about silencing journalists and whistleblowers. They?re about curbing consumer access to information at a time when more and more Americans want to know where our food comes from and how it?s produced.

The problem for corporations is that when people have information, they act on it. During a recent ag-gag hearing in Indiana, one of the nation?s largest egg producers told lawmakers about a recent investigation. After an undercover video was posted online, 50 customers quickly called and stopped buying their eggs. An informed public is the biggest threat to business as usual.

An informed public is also the biggest threat to these ag-gag bills. In Wyoming, one of the bills has already failed. According to sponsors, it was abandoned in part because of negative publicity. By shining a light on these attempts, we can make sure that the rest fail as well, while protecting the right of consumers to know what they?re buying.

More here http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/...lthy-food.html

[Deputy Chief Command]

why do you even post on GFY?

[wehateporn]

Originally Posted by Deputy Chief Command

why do you even post on GFY?

So as bots like you don't have to do all the work, you should be grateful

[BFT3K]

Originally Posted by Deputy Chief Command

why do you even post on GFY?

Why shouldn't he?

How many people have left GFY over the past 5 years because they lost interest, or didn't see the point of arguing and getting ridiculed on a continuous basis?

People post here to carry on conversations about all sorts of topics, as well as adult business. Who's to say what is important enough to post, or who should bother posting?

It is 2013 - how many people will be here next year?

[Rochard]

Originally Posted by wehateporn

Three companies now account for more than 40 per cent of global coffee sales, eight companies control the supply of cocoa and chocolate, seven control 85 per cent of tea production, five account for 75 per cent of the world banana trade, and the largest six sugar traders account for about two-thirds of world trade, according to the new publication from the Fairtrade Foundation.

But hasn't that always been the case?

If you think about it, forty years ago there was only a handful of companies producing each product. Take Dole for example - They seem to be the only people in the world to grow bananas here in the US.

[DWB]

Seriously, you needed the media to tell you all that shit is bad for you?

[Robbie]

Originally Posted by Rochard

But hasn't that always been the case?

If you think about it, forty years ago there was only a handful of companies producing each product. Take Dole for example - They seem to be the only people in the world to grow bananas here in the US.

And pineapples too!

Those evil motherfuckers!!!

[2013]

Originally Posted by BFT3K

I love 2013 -

nice !

[brassmonkey]

op where did your green go???

[Supz]

so fast food and soda is not good for you? thanks for the update from 1983.

[Slappin Fish]

I won't believe it until I see a Youtube video confirming it.

[2013]

i just busted a huge load in my pants

[scottybuzz]

the last time i was ill was 6 months ago. Same time I had a burger king.

Last Tuesday I had McDonalds and I got ill again.

No fast food in between. No being ill in between

I am sure that shit breaks your system down like crazy.

I agree, saving a fraction of a cent each time will really fuck up the food supply.

[wehateporn]

Originally Posted by DWB

Seriously, you needed the media to tell you all that shit is bad for you?

I knew a long time ago, but it's useful when these things show up in the MSM to get others to take note

[Joshua G]

the OP is making false assumptions...that the factory farms are ipso facto committing acts of animal abuse. & their purpose with gag-ag is to cover up ongoing abuses.

maybe gag-ag laws are passing legislatures because, on balance, there is more abuse from animal rights activists breaking into factories & sabotoging things, then there is actual animal abuse. lets remember these are people who throw blood on women because they wear fur.

im not saying there are not abuses. just that taking a slanted position & making false assumptions does not bode well for your argument, even if it has merit. Let the merit stand for itself without the built in political bias. naturalnews & greenpace can be just as full of shit as big corporations.

[wehateporn]

Originally Posted by brassmonkey

op where did your green go???

What does green mean? I don't pay attention to these things

[Dirty F]

Originally Posted by JoshGirls Josh

the OP is making false assumptions...

Nooooo, he would never do such a thing!

[MrMaxwell]

Of course it can't be stopped
The people want the garbage
You can't stop the masses

The media doesn't even matter on this one. They could do a nationwide top story saying fast food had human baby parts and puree of dog shit in it and people would still buy it.

[purecane]

it's because assclowns in washington hire lobbyists to regulate themselves...e.g. Micheal Taylor, president Obama's appointment to be deputy commisioner of the FDA, was the former vice president of monsanto........corruption much?

[2MuchMark]

Fast food is cheaper than fresh healthy fruit and vegetables grown locally, and its easier to get too. It's also quite delicious and the sugar and other goodies make you feel good when you eat it.

Simple solution : Eat less fast food. Talk to your doctor about nutrition facts and start eating alot more fruit and veggies, especially green veggies. If possible buy local fruit and veggies from your own city, province or state and avoid stuff shipped to you from out of town too.

[DWB]

Originally Posted by wehateporn

I knew a long time ago, but it's useful when these things show up in the MSM to get others to take note

People also know smoking kills them but they still smoke.

Yes, it is better for the info to be out there, but to be honest if people are dumb enough to believe any of that is healthy for them, perhaps this is just Darwin doing his part.

[Joshua G]

Originally Posted by **********

Fast food is cheaper than fresh healthy fruit and vegetables grown locally, and its easier to get too. It's also quite delicious and the sugar and other goodies make you feel good when you eat it.

Simple solution : Eat less fast food. Talk to your doctor about nutrition facts and start eating alot more fruit and veggies, especially green veggies. If possible buy local fruit and veggies from your own city, province or state and avoid stuff shipped to you from out of town too.

yeah man. Supersize me was one of the best movies ever.

fast food is only half the problem. the supermarket is stuffed with overprocessed foods. they got a big pack of oreo cookies on the shelf for 3 bucks...at the entrance of the store. they sell "no sugar" or "low carb" food as a health food when its just junk food with a slick label.

there are certainly problems with big foods tactics & industrial food abuses. People just gotta use their brains & use the web & figure out what is healthy for them.

[dyna mo]

Originally Posted by **********

Fast food is cheaper than fresh healthy fruit and vegetables grown locally, and its easier to get too. It's also quite delicious and the sugar and other goodies make you feel good when you eat it.

Simple solution : Eat less fast food. Talk to your doctor about nutrition facts and start eating alot more fruit and veggies, especially green veggies. If possible buy local fruit and veggies from your own city, province or state and avoid stuff shipped to you from out of town too.

1. the benefits of locally grown are overblown. fact is, frozen vegetables are just as beneficial, if not more so simply because they are flash frozen at the peak of ripeness/nutrient value. with fresh, you have no idea how long ago that broccolli was picked and has been at the produce stand for instance. not to mention the pain in the ass of seasonal produce. why make it difficult sure pick up some fresh here and there, but frozen is proven.

2. fast food isn't cheaper than healthy food. simple fact. that's an old wive's tale and has been proven false many times.

3. green vegetables are no more important than fruit.

also, we all need to stop saying veggies, it's vegetables, it's not that much more of a mouthful to say and doesn't sound retarded.