It Matters

My wife and I had opportunity to watch the documentary “FoodMatters” recently.  It’s not the first time we’ve watched it.  I would recommend it as a worthy use of your time. 

By the way, if you use Netflix, it's an instant watch.

The main premise is that we are not eating as we should and that, as a culture, we neglect vitamins and vitamin supplements in favor of anti-biotics.  We make these choices even when more natural methods would work.  It explores this culture of ours and the predisposition we have toward the use of medicine. 

Yet I walked away with a different impression as I watched it this time around.  As usual, I thought about all the ways in which I need to improve my health and that of my family.  I thought about the foods I should be eating, the vitamins I should be supplementing, and the nutrients I should be seeking out.  And, as usual, I was overwhelmed and ate a bowl of ice cream to feel better.

It did help by the way.

This time, though, I thought of all the stuff I’m not doing, and then asked myself why I wasn’t doing any of it?  To put it another way, I asked myself what I could start doing now.  How could I improve my health right now?  I’ve learned much over the years about healthy living.  I’ve found that there is one thing that all the health experts agree on.  They all agree that we need to be healthier.

But that’s where the agreement stops.

There is no magic pill, no silver bullet that will lead to good health.  It has to start small.  After watching the movie, I decided to take some vitamin C supplements and eat more foods that contain C.  Why?  Simply put, we’re in the cold/flu season.  Why not take some preventative measure before I get sick?  This is a no brainer, but I wasn’t doing it.  So now I am. 

Living a healthy lifestyle in modern America is difficult. 

Did you just read that statement?  Did it strike you as odd?  It should.  Here we are in one of the richest countries in the world.  We throw away more rotten and out date foods than some countries will even be able to produce.  We have access to, and the means to buy, fruits and vegetables.  We have whole aisles at the store committed to vitamins.  We have entire stores dedicated to healthy living.  Yet we are a people who read about healthy living more than we live healthy.

Why? 

I submit to you that we are a lazy people.  I know I am.  Here’s an example:  I ordered coffee (yes, I buy it online, yes I am a coffee snob) and forgot to specify that I needed it ground.  I don’t have a grinder.  So each morning I am painstakingly grinding my own beans with a mortar and pestle (As a side note, it tastes absolutely fabulous.  Not sure why the mortar and pestle makes a difference, but it does). Even as I grind, I’m thinking I should just buy a grinder, you know, and then use it every time I order.  Yet as I sit and think about this now, it takes me approximately 5 minutes in the early morning to grind the coffee fresh.  But that 5 minutes is more than I want to spend.  That’s because I’m lazy.  This laziness translates to my health choices.  I know what I should and should not be eating, but McDonald’s has already prepared it.  I know how much I should and should not be eating, but there’s more food piled high on the table.  So I indulge….every single day.  If I indulged only once in a while, say once a week, I would be in good shape.  But I don’t.  I indulge every day.

But I don’t have to.  And you don’t either.

Start today.  Let me know what you choose to do.  No matter how healthy you are, no matter how natural your food choices, do something more.  Do just one more thing.  Do it today.  Tell others.  Take one step at a time toward pulling away from the indulgence that is all around us.  It may not be easy, but in the long run, it will be worth it.

Anti-biotics for Dinner?

There has been plenty of information regarding the dangers of over-prescribing anti-biotics both in humans and in animals.  A friend passed along an article today that dealt with the topic in a very balanced manner.  I wrote about MRSA in animals in a previous post.  One thing I'd like to clarify; like all drugs, anti-biotics are not evil.  In fact, they are very helpful.  The problem is not that we don't recognize the benefits of anti-biotics, but rather that we see them being prescribed even when they are not necessary.  Livestock is a great example.

When you buy chick feed at the local mill, what you'll find is that in almost every case, the pre-packaged feed will contain anti-biotics.  I'm sure there are some places that stock anti-biotic free feed, but I suspect they are few.  Of course you can order it on-line, but the shipping fees are expensive.  It's a shame, really, because not only does ordering on-line become cost prohibitive, it pulls business away from the local farmers and mills.  In our case, we use the Ida Farmer's Co-op in Ida, MI.  While they don't stock pre-packaged anti-biotic free chick feed, they will grind feed to your specifications on the spot.  It's a great blessing to be near a mill that will custom grind rations for you.  There are other mills in the area, but chick feed is not a hot commodity in our area so they don't grind it.  They just buy it wholesale from Purina and sell it.

According to the article the FDA has stated that "Giving animals antibiotics in order to increase food production is a threat to public health and should be stopped".  The common wisdom is that anti-biotics not only fight off infection, but also increase weight gain.  In many farming operations, that's the name of the game.  The FDA's Deputy Commissioner also said that "Such use encourages the growth of drug-resistant bacteria that can cause hard-to-treat human disease".  

We've all known for years that increased use of anti-biotics promotes resistant strains for bacteria.  For years we've been told that at least two weeks before slaughter you should stop giving the animals anti-biotics.  We don't really discuss why...but I think we all know.  

Our birds are given no anti-biotics.  Instead we mix Fertrell Nutri-balancer in with the feed.  It contains, among other things, kelp (a natural immune booster),   vitamins A, D, and E, and a pro-biotic.  This sort of customized ration we've put together is more expensive, but we are trying to boost the natural health of the poultry BEFORE we have an issue.

Would we ever use anti-biotics?  If there was an epidemic present in the flock, we would likely need to.  I'd let you know if we had to do that.  But that would be an emergency situation. What is amazing is how God has granted His creation the ability to fight off disease.  We just have to make sure that system has the tools to work properly.

So you can rest assured; your birds are strong and healthy.  And, they're anti-biotic free!

MRSA

I've been reading lately about MRSA being in our food system.  Do you remember MRSA?  There was  lot of buzz about it a few years back.  Is that staph infection that they found so prevalent in hospitals.  It's a bacteria that has become resistant to anti-biotics.  It was pretty scary stuff when they were putting it on every news show from here to Texas.  It almost gave me a feeling of dread.  But, then, we stopped hearing about it and I forgot about it.

A book has been released on the subject and as the author was interviewed she indicated that MRSA has been released now into the "community" (meaning a place other than a medical facility) and our food system.  I wasn't exactly shocked that it had escaped, but as usual I marvel that the public media hasn't been reporting on it.  What was once a hot topic is now old news.  We're much better off hearing about Sandra Bullocks marriage woes or how national health care is being signed into law.  Funny...we focus on getting insurance and not on getting healthy.  But I digress.

Anyway, I did some digging to find out just how this has entered our food system.  The conclusions should have been obvious.  It's being found in livestock.  And how, you ask, were livestock exposed to this?  I'm not sure they were (my opinion).  Maybe they developed it for themselves (with a little help from humans).

What we know is that livestock, being raised on a typical factory farm, are given low doses of anti-biotics regularly.  In an environment where animals are kept standing in their own feces, fed things we'd never let our mouths touch, and living in amongst dead cage mates, it's clear to see why anti-biotics would be necessary.  How else would they survive?  And in this veritable paradise of filth, the staph would find a living situation perfectly suited to its liking.  Now, combine the anti-biotics and the staph and what do you get?  MRSA....for animals. 

Alarming as this is, I found very little evidence of MRSA in U.S. publications.  It seems that the U.S. is not tracking MRSA as part of its statistics.  However, a Dutch study from 2007 (as reported here by our government website) found that out of the 31 farms tested for MRSA, 11% of the livestock did indeed host the disease.  On our own soil, a study published in Veterinary Microbiology, also in 2007, showed a prevalence of MRSA in U.S. pig farms. 

The pro anti-biotic website, KeepAntibioticsWorking.com, indicates that what we need is stricter government oversight of farming operations to ensure they eliminate the infection.  They suggest that we should look at a separate batch of anti-biotics rated for livestock to prevent the same strains of staph from cross-contaminating humans and livestock.

But wait....

Well, I'm no scientist as Mr. Hammar, my high school science teacher, can attest to, but doesn't it seem like if we give animals a different anti-biotic that they'd simply inherit a different type of MRSA?  And if that were introduced into our food system, would we not simply create two separate things our body needs to fight against?

Is there any other way?

Why don't we demand that livestock be treated humanely and in conditions best suited for their species?  As much as possible, we need to focus on real food that is grown locally.  We should be visiting farms and farmers to see what their practices are.  Those farmers who use practices you approve of, patronize them!  Let them know you appreciate them.  One guy, after hearing my diatribe of food atrocities perpetrated on the American public said "What can I do then?"  I said simply "Hire me...or people like me.  People who want to make a difference.  People who genuinely want to raise clean and healthy livestock or produce.  Hire us and we'll get the job done."