| ||||||
| In case there's anyone left who would be willing to pay any attention to me and still thinks HFCS is perfectly safe: Child diabetes blamed on food sweetener - "Over 10 weeks, 16 volunteers on a strictly controlled diet, including high levels of fructose, produced new fat cells around their heart, liver and other digestive organs. They also showed signs of food-processing abnormalities linked to diabetes and heart disease. Another group of volunteers on the same diet, but with glucose sugar replacing fructose, did not have these problems." Actual study is here. Okay, you can criticize this for being a small sample, for being fructose vs glucose and not involving sucrose, or probably other reasons. But it comes down to this yet again: if HFCS *might* be a health risk, proven or not but just *MIGHT* be one, why would you willingly eat it and serve it to your kids? Again, I don't mean the two-or-three-times-a-year indulgence. It's in the bread (even the bakery bread), the condiments, the soda, the fake juices, the deli meats, the yogurt, and yes even in some products with organic labels (it just has to be made with organic corn). If you buy normal US processed food products, you are eating this stuff at every meal. Canadians, it's crept into your supply too, so go back to checking labels (you're usually going to find it as something like "glucose-fructose syrup") and check known foods periodically to see if they've changed. We are never going to get this stuff legislated away. BPA is an actual poison and we can't get it legislated out of everything (some smarter countries like Canada are banning it from baby bottles, but not from food cans and bags), so there's no hope of battling the corn industry to get HFCS out of food. The only way it'll stop being added to everything is by consumer revolt. When HFCS-free foods outsell HFCS-laden ones, it becomes worth their while to take it out. It's already happening with some products, which is why the corn industry is spooked and putting out such stupid ads. | ||||||
comments: 11 comments or Leave a comment   |
Blatherings
|
|||||||||||||||
December 17th, 2009
December 15th, 2009
| ||||||
| Not news to me because I've watched food-dressing competitions and I know just how much non-edible content can go into advertising sometimes, but in case you're curious to see what is done to a burger to make it ad ready: | ||||||
| comments: Leave a comment |
December 10th, 2009
| ||||||
| Here's an amusing set of ads as picked by Time Magazine: Top 10 TV Ads And the spoofs of the GM ad are better than the real one. Here are two: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ts_fZStH http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFV1 | ||||||
| comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
| ||||||
| If you're pregnant, here's something to consider before using insect repellents: Repellents and insecticides linked to birth defects in baby boys They're very clear that there's no clear causation, just a statistical link. But if you're pregnant and not in an area where a bite risks other health problems, you might want to consider skipping the repellent and use other avoidance measures, just to be on the safe side. | ||||||
| comments: Leave a comment |
November 16th, 2009
| ||||||
| For those who aren't worried about BPA in plastics, here's more to consider: Study links BPA in plastics to erectile dysfunction
Now, most people reading this will never be working in a factory where they're exposed to high levels like that. However, it does mean that those of us who purchase products containing BPA are contributing to the health problems of the workers. In essence, our convenience is poisoning other people. It'd be nice if we had more choices to not have to purchase it at all, but since it's in almost all canned food, that's very hard. And it does make me wonder about the long-term safety of exposing kids to the stuff. | ||||||
| comments: Leave a comment |
November 8th, 2009
| ||||||
| Another reason to not shop at Walmart...if they decide you've shoplifted (especially if you are part of a minority group that may make you more likely to be harassed) but then the security video shows that you were actually innocent, it won't matter to them and they'll still abuse you and your kids (including using language demeaning to your minority group) and try to fine you after the fact: http://consumerist.com/5399061/walm | ||||||
| comments: Leave a comment |
October 26th, 2009
| ||||||
| Just to prove why you should never, ever believe any self-promoting food labels, especially on processed food: Smart Choices Campaign Goes Bye-Bye Just because this one got exposed for the sad fraud that it was doesn't make other similar programs legitimate. If a processed food has any kind of health claim, be suspicious, because chances are it's only making that claim to trick you into buying it. The healthiest foods, such as real fruit and veg, almost never have marketing dollars behind them. For example, chocolate is yummy, but will NOT fix your heart. The much-touted study that linked flavonoids to improvements in heart health/blood pressure was paid for by Ethel M. and involved a special chocolate available only in a laboratory that had mega-amounts of flavonoids in it. You can't buy that. A regular chocolate bar, even a high-quality, super-dark one, still has fat and other calories, and not enough flavonoids to make a substantial difference. Go ahead and eat some chocolate if you want to, but don't consider it health food. That's a marketing lie. If you're choosing something based on cost or taste, that's one thing. But if you're choosing based on health, read the ingredients (and educate yourself about those ingredients) and go for the least processed versions. We like Michael Pollan's suggested rules of avoiding things that have ingredients your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize, and looking for foods with five ingredients or less. Remember: all marketing logos exist to sell things to you. The industry does not care about your health, only your money. Don't let them trick you. | ||||||
| comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
October 9th, 2009
| ||||||
| Here's a toy to avoid for your pregnant friends (and it's one a lot of people would normally buy...we would have but I knitted a version instead): Fisher-Price Rock-A-Stack Bleeds Blue All Over Babies Fisher Price says it's non-toxic, but that's a far cry from edible, and really, do you want your friend mad at you when their baby goes smurfy eating the toy you gave them? | ||||||
| comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
October 7th, 2009
| ||||||
| Dave Carrol of "United Breaks Guitars" fame has a great new song about how the cable industry hurts local programming in Canada: He's my new favourite activist singer! | ||||||
| comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
September 30th, 2009
| ||||||
| This is nifty, although some of it is possibly creepy... http://consumerist.com/5370343/50-c They've got a link to a blog that shows 50 cool billboards, some of which are really, really awesome. And there's a video link to a story in NZ about billboards that "cry blood" when it rains to remind people to drive safely for the sake of their children. | ||||||
| comments: Leave a comment |
September 29th, 2009
| ||||||
| Attention Prius drivers (and some other models too): Toyota is recalling 3.8 million cars and warning owners of certain late-model cars to immediately remove their driver's side floor mat to avoid accelerators getting stuck. The affected Toyota and Lexus models are: 2007-2010 Camry 2005-2010 Avalon 2004-2009 Prius 2005-2010 Tacoma 2007-2010 Tundra 2007-2010 ES 350 2006-2010 IS 250 and IS 350 From: http://consumerist.com/5370496/toyota-r This is the first time a vehicle recall has affected us. | ||||||
| comments: Leave a comment |
| ||||||
 Well...duh. And for Consumerist fans... ( see where it's from ) | ||||||
| comments: Leave a comment |
September 14th, 2009
| ||||||
| I've been meaning to say for awhile now that Corran and I each read Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma" and "In Defense of Food" and highly recommend both. I could go on forever as to why, but the summed up version is this: agribusiness combined with government subsidies ensure that the unhealthiest food is the cheapest and easiest, and if you want to be healthy you need to get off of the idea of dieting by the nutrient and instead return to more basic, whole, unprocessed, unmaligned food. And that's not just eating more fruit and veg, which is obvious...it's doing things like switching to grass-fed beef (cows weren't made to eat corn, it makes them sick, which is why they need to be jammed up with meds, and the result of all that gastronomic abuse is corn-fed meat has higher saturated fat and less healthy fats like Omega 3), organic products, etc. See http://eatwild.com/ for where to buy pastured meats near you in the US. Anyway, I could go on, and I have several good articles sitting in tabs I've been meaning to post (and will eventually) but for now I wanted to link to a new editorial by Pollan in the New York Times that has several interesting things to say about how health care reform is currently ignoring the food problem but how it might force change in the future: Big Food vs. Big Insurance Seriously, go read the books. They're available at the Austin Library and probably any other library as well. And then go find a source of pastured chicken near you and do a taste test against regular chicken. You'll be AMAZED. The pastured stuff tastes like uber-yummy-chicken and the regular stuff tastes blank by comparison. It's absolutely worth the extra cost unless you are literally unable to pay for basic food. | ||||||
| comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
September 5th, 2009
| ||||||
| For those of you on Facebook: Quiz Yourself About Facebook Quiz Applications And Privacy - "While some parts of Facebook's privacy policy will change thanks to the Canadian government, some of these changes will take up to a year. So take a few minutes to learn what information someone is learning about you and your friends when you take a silly little quiz to figure out what flavor cupcake or breed of cat you are." | ||||||
| comments: Leave a comment |
September 3rd, 2009
| ||||||
| FYI to Time Warner customers and to anyone concerned about the issue of capping Internet accounts...I just did an online survey through a major polling company (to which I subscribe and get regular surveys) that gave me a VERY strong impression that Time Warner and possibly other companies are trying to gauge general internet usage in terms of what kind of media is watched online versus on cable TV. This could easily be a prelude to another round of attempts to cap internet service in order to save declining revenues in the cable industry. Just be on your toes and pay attention to any mail, electronic or postal, you get from your cable/internet provider. | ||||||
| comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
August 22nd, 2009
| ||||||
| Some interesting stories I've seen lately: Taco Joint Fined $46G for Firing Mom for Breastfeeding The Lighter Side: What Do Republicans Really Want? More Shoppers Thinking Twice in the Checkout Line (many people should be thinking more without a recession!) Awesome Doctor Who cakes on Cake Wrecks' Sunday Sweets from a few weeks ago | ||||||
| comments: Leave a comment |
August 19th, 2009
| ||||||
| There's a second installation in the United Breaks Guitars saga: Here's the first song, which I like best: Also...Dave Carroll Says No To Guitar Hush Money From United (includes link to video and a transcript) Looking forward to the promised third song! | ||||||
| comments: Leave a comment |
August 14th, 2009
| ||||||
| Consumerist: Consumers Finally Growing Some Damned Sense, Not Buying Bottled Water And someone posted this great Lewis Black clip about the stupidity of buying water (not work safe): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNGWn-aW I looked for a Jim Gaffigan bit I recall about the French duping Americans into buying bottled water, but couldn't find it. Did find this good Penn and Teller bit though (also not work safe): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfPAjUvv And for the record, yes, we have occasionally bought bottled water, almost always when we've been dumb enough not to have some on hand on a hot Vegas summer day and end up having to buy at whatever event we're at. I even accepted a free case of it twice at the grocery store when something else I'd purchased qualified me for it (several other times, I didn't accept). But we've never paid for a case, and we reuse bottles all the time (and yes I know that's a BPA issue, which is why Peo has BPA-free bottles I scored at Costco for a very low price). I put a small amount of fridge-filtered water in the bottles and then freeze them, so on any hot day I can grab a bottle, put in more filtered water, and voila, instant cold water on the go. I've even recently knit both Peo and I some holders with straps for easy carrying, but mostly because once we moved to Texas and were re-introduced to actual humidity, I decided it would help with condensation that was mucking up stuff in my bag. Her holders are fitted her bottles; mine fits the reused "disposable" ones. One of these days I'll get around to taking pics and updating my knit gallery... | ||||||
| comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
August 6th, 2009
| ||||||
| Not yet convinced of Wal-Mart's evil and why you shouldn't shop there if you have another choice? How about this: Wal-Mart Knocks Off the Girl Scouts Now, whether you think Girl Scouts (or everywhere else on the planet, Girl Guides) is a good organization or not, or whether they should be funded by sales campaigns or not, or whether you ever were a girl or not or anything else...the point is, this is a charitable organization known for decades to fund themselves this way and Wal-Mart is stepping in to take a piece of the action. Seriously evil. Shopping there if you have another choice means you condone this. | ||||||
| comments: 12 comments or Leave a comment |
August 5th, 2009
| ||||||
| Petland Employees Drowned Rabbits, Posted Photos on Facebook Above link is to Consumerist coverage, which has a link to the nasty photos but does not show them. They strongly recommend NOT looking at the photos. I have not looked. But it's another good reason not to shop at Petland. The other reason, as linked in the story, is they use puppy mills. | ||||||
| comments: Leave a comment |
Blatherings
|
|||||||||||||||