You Are What You Eat Including Food Additives And Chemicals…

Guest article, by ‘NRP’…

You ARE what you EAT.

We use approximately 275 chemical food “additives” in this country:

The short list:
Azodicarbonamide, calcium carbonate, calcium sulfate, ammonium sulfate, DATEM, sodium stearoyl lactylate, potassium iodate, ascorbic acid, Tartrazine, Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), Propyl gallate, Sodium nitrite, TBHQ (tert-Butylhydroquinone), Silicon dioxide, silica and calcium silicate, Triacetin (glycerol triacetate), Potassium Bromate, METHYLCYCLOPROPENE, ASPARTAME, ASTAXANTHIN, BENZOIC ACID/SODIUM BENZOATE, CANTHAXANTHIN, MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE (MSG), OLESTRA, 8-methyl-N-vannillyl-6-nonenamide, Dihydrogen Monoxide

 
We also use roughly 700 million to 1.2 billion pounds of pesticides per year in this country, and some of that DOES get into our foods.

The short list:
Acetamiprid, Azadirachtin, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), Bifenthrin, Bordeaux mixture, Captan, Carbaryl, Sevin, Bonide, Chlorothalonil, Daconil, Bonide Fungonil, CydX, Virusoft, Carpovirusine, Copper, Botanigard, Naturalis (Beauveria bassiana), Entomopathogenic nematodes, Scanmask (Steinernema carpocapsae), Cruiser (Heterorhabditis bacteriophora), Gamma-cyholothrin, SunSpray, Ultrafine, Orchex, Bonide All Season Spray Oil, Ortho Volck, High Yield Dormant Spray, Fertilome Scalecide, Bayer Advanced Garden Tree and Shrub Insect Control (apple and pear only), Bayer Advanced Fruit, Citrus, and Vegetable Insect Control, Ortho Max Tree and Shrub Insect Control, Bonide Systemic Insect Spray (neonicotinoid; caution label), Kaolin clay, Ortho Max Malathion, High Yield Malathion, Malathion (organophosphate; caution label), Neem oil, Permethrin, Phosphoric Acid, Potassium bicarbonate, Propiconazole, Pyrethrin, Pyrethrum, Spinosad, Streptomycin,

 
I have often heard it said,
“If Grandma could not pronounce it, do NOT eat it”.

How true this is in a day and age we are all thinking of health; yet eat foods that are, in my opinion, laced with poisons.


 

Chemical additives and Pesticides are dangerous and I believe killing us all.

100% of the chemicals listed above are “approved” by the FDA.gov; 100% of the same chemicals are known to cause some sorts of ill/deadly effects to Humans if consumed to an excess, but who is it that sets that “excess”? The same .gov that approves their use?

As we look at the world as we know it and strive to be better prepared, if you’re eating poisons and/or constantly immersed in chemicals (clothing, bathing, oral care, etc.) how can one expect to be “Healthy”? How can one expect to survive the battle if you’re weakened by chemical induced foods?

I will admit chemicals (and food modification, GMO’s) have increased the “amount” of foods, BUT they are also lowering the “quality” of the same foods. This being the case, we end up taking dozens of “pills” to supplement the lack of nutrition in foods that are chemically enhanced.

One should ask themselves,
Why is it that “organic” foods cost 25-50% more that chemical raised foods?
Why are we seeing such an increase of illnesses and Cancers?
Why are people seemingly losing their ability to think clearly?
Why are people becoming more and more violent?
Any of this have to do with the food?

What’s in your food?
-NRP

 
Ken adds: Apparently many food additives are not even required to be listed on the ingredients list if they don’t meet a pre-determined threshold compared to what’s in the rest of the food. Still, look at the ingredients list anyway.

Did you know that ‘the order’ of the listed ingredients are the order from ‘most’ to ‘least’? That knowledge helps to determine how much of something (relatively) is part of the food.

Have you noticed that most grocery store bought tomatoes just don’t taste much like tomatoes anymore? Yuk! That’s why I love homegrown tomatoes and all other homegrown vegetables. They are SO much better, and better for you.

Almost all foods today are ‘processed’. Mass agriculture, mass importation and distribution from other countries, mass pesticides, mass chemicals and additives, are all part of the food chain. It sure is nicer to have your own food chain, and knowing where it came from and how it was grown or raised…

How are the vegetables, etc.. in your grocery store? Do they taste ‘normal’ to you?

98 Comments

    1. I thought all you Hawaiian’s eat SPAM? Wouldn’t that be a more appropriate life-form comparison? (Although I suppose there really is ‘pork’ in SPAM? ;) )

  1. I grown my own heirloom veggies and fruit, which is no easy task in our area, and can and dry the surplus. I also make my own bread and rolls. Our chemicals come from some no no’s, which I guess I could also make at home. FYI one of the best tomatoes that seem to grow no matter what the climate or weather are Oregon Spring. After 3 years of collecting seeds they acclimate to your area and grow bigger and stronger.

    1. @ old lady

      I tried a couple of Oregon Spring tomatoes last year, I agree, very good, unfortunately I did not save any of the seeds, I will be getting more in.

      Another GREAT tomato is Siberian Red tomato, really REALLY good. Of course I still like the good old Early Girl and Beefsteak….

      If I could just get rid of the stinking Tomato Virus that hit the area I would be in great shape. Maybe a few pounds of DDT??? HAHAHA

      NRP

      1. Breed your own. Seriously. Take seeds from the plants that DON’T die from the virus/bacteria/fungus. If you have one or two that aren’t affected at all, use those. Do that every year. If you can plant the seeds and get more seeds the same year, do the same. It’s called selective breeding.

      2. NRP
        Will post on your tomato problem Saturday’s link, look for it.

  2. Growing heirloom organic is very difficult here in farm country. The weather is great, but the environmental pollution is the problem. I keep trying though. And, you’re right, Ken. There’s no real taste to fruits and vegetables in the grocery store, even the better stores.

    1. @ Ms. L and Ken

      I agree wholeheartedly, store bought Tomatoes are totally awful… I refuse to even buy but some for a salad anymore, better to open a home-canned jar drain and drink the juice and slice them on top.

      Actually I’m finding that with almost everything (vegetables) from any store, even the organic stuff is not really so good…. Absolutely NO flavor at all.

      NRP

  3. Cheese would be the first on the ingredient list, I think. Beyond that we’re all a mixed bag of fruits/veggies and nuts. Almonds, most recently, although my sister is a walnut. She’s twisted.

  4. My mother knew a man all her life who was a mortician. Family business, so his father and grandfather had been in the same trade. He said that at that time (in the 90’s) they were using a third as much embalming fluid because people are already mostly pickled when they die.

    1. @ Lauren

      I’m wondering if Gin is an embalming fluid????? Dang… HAHAHA

      NRP

      1. NRP,

        No, Bombay muscle relaxant is theoretically good as an attitude adjuster!

  5. This past summer, my sister brought me some heirloom tomatoes from Illinois.
    Called mortgage busters, home grown and absolutely huge!
    One slice overlapped a regular slice of bread.
    We made BLT sandwiches, with some of our own bacon and lettuce on home made bread.
    What a treat! And we all reminisced on growing up on the farm. Time well spent!

    1. I love the mortgage lifters, but because they’re low acid I’m the only one here that will eat them (aside from the worms). Dad won’t touch a pink (or green, or purple) tomato so I stick with the old standby we’ve been harvesting seeds from forever.

      1. Mortgage lifters, yes that’s the one. I tried to grow them here in Florida. They just don’t do well here.

  6. Having been born in Europe, I had a dietary history of eating breads and pastries. Everything was fine until the early eighties when I came down with ulcerative colitis. It took me a year to discover that it was the gluten in foods I was eating that was making me sicker by the month. Since then, no gluten and life is good.

    So here is my question – I heard that we started importing large food bags of gluten from China to use in most commercial bakeries and commercially produced flour. Could this importation, that I believe was around the time I became ill, have been processed in a suspect way in China. AND, what the HELL is wrong with all the grain we produce over here and why can we not process our own food – Ya I know the answer – money.

    Was I misled about this gluten importation – anyone out there know the facts?

    1. homebody,

      Risking being attacked for suggesting this, read the article “The truth about gluten” at WebMD.

      Basically, gluten is only a health problem for those suffering a condition called celiac disease. Gluten doesn’t need to be imported due to the fact it is a natural part of most common grains. Eliminating it from your diet unnecessarily will cause problems of it’s own, as gluten aids in the absorption of some nutrients.

      If you think you are suffering because of gluten consumption, ask your doctor to test you. If he says you don’t have celiac disease, avoiding gluten makes about as much sense as not eating peanuts when you are not allergic to them.

      Does the typical diet contain too much gluten? Probably, but balance is the answer, not total elimination, unless a medical condition would indicate otherwise.

      Hunkering down, expecting incoming.

      1. Dennis…

        was curious, as have known many others with similar gluten problems, so I checked on the Celiac Website..Here is what is posted…

        “Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity: How to Diagnose and Differentiate it from Celiac Disease

        Summary
        Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity can present with intestinal and extra-intestinal symptoms
        There are no biomarkers for diagnosis
        Autoantibodies (TTG, EMA, DGP) are absent
        There is no villous atrophy
        Diagnosis requires excluding celiac disease by serological tests
        A gluten-free diet should not be started before ruling out celiac disease
        The gluten-free diet is complicated and expensive
        Patients should be referred to a dietitian with expertise in the gluten-free diet.

        The spectrum of gluten-related disorders includes celiac disease, dermatitis herpetiformis, gluten ataxia, wheat allergy and non-celiac gluten sensitivity. The term non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) is used to describe the clinical state of individuals who develop symptoms when they consume gluten-containing foods and feel better on a gluten-free (GF) diet but do NOT have celiac disease.”

        1. Peace and good health to all~

          Quote from article posted from Celiac website:

          “The gluten-free diet is complicated and expensive”

          I do not think so on either point..

          I’ve been 100% gluten free since 2000 nobody was talking gluten then…
          up to that point I was very ill let’s just say that…
          As soon as I stopped eating gluten (and other additives) my health began to rebound

          I had to re-learn how to eat…

          Just speaking from my experience that eating a gluten free is LESS expensive than when I was eating pre-packaged processed foods (yes GF prepared foods can be $$)…

          Each one of us has unique needs, just sharing what works for me
          my basic diet includes (organic whenever possible-
          knowing not all can afford organic from stores, mainly listing categories)
          fresh fruits and vegs
          rice/brown rice pasta
          meat and eggs we raise
          homemade chicken broth (very healing to GI)
          seeds (sunflower, sesame, pumpkin)
          first cold pressed, unrefined olive oil and coconut oil
          I also use Himalayan salt and ground black pepper
          sometimes dried herbs

          I am allergic to dairy so I use fortified rice milk
          and diatomaceous earth and other calcium supps

          Eating clean (unprocessed) is less expensive imho

          Don’t let fears of $$ hold you back from pursuing a healthier diet

          To all, May all your health prosper :)

        2. Seriously. If you add up what a “normal” person spends on digestive related disorders and add that into the food budget, it’s a LOT cheaper!

        3. yes, avoid the poisons that affect your own body and save on all medications, diet gimmicks, and illness.

        4. Last time I took Nyquil it dried me out so bad I could barely breathe and I spent a week dry coughing. I’ll suffer the cold, thanks. One ibuprophen will put me to sleep, and forget acetominaphen. I can just imagine a doctor’s panic if he gave me some prescription and the effects were five times as strong as he expected…

          The medical poisons are usually unnecessary. Every problem I’ve had in the last ten years has been fixed by diet or exercise.

      2. Thanks for the reply. Since I dropped gluten and after enduring colon/rectal exams every two or three years for twenty years, I feel great, put in a full days work, and have maintained a proper weight at under two hundred. Some doctors I have consulted, include two Harvard grads, said the only definitive way to test was for me to eat gluten again, get sick, and then we would know – they also said, “why not just stay with what works for you”.

        1. homebody

          myself, am a firm believer in “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, as in, if it works for you, keep on keeping on…

          I think many folks would be healthier and happier if they listened to their bodies (as you have done), instead of the “label”…(that is all those labels that proclaim how healthy they are), etc..

    2. @ homebody

      Not sure about the story of importation. All I know is I LOVE the home milled flour I get from a local grower, Red Wheat Berries are cheap, around $12-$15 per 50#, and will store for a very long time until ground. The flavor is outstanding….

      As far as the importation of gluten, I would have NO doubt its true, this world is not the same one our parents and grandparents knew; again I look at the new illnesses and the quantity of Cancer that’s increasing every year…. The more and more people we have on this rock (7billion+) are putting a strain on the ecology of the world, and I feel it’s going to pop one of these days. We can only pollute for so long till it all comes crashing down

      JMHO
      NRP

      1. NRP: I agree. And anyone who is suffering cancer and other debilitating illnesses should be extremely careful of what they consume and from where. I really, really miss seafood. Salmon, tuna, shrimp, any white fish….I wouldn’t touch any of it now because of all the pollution, Fukishima, gulf oil spill(s), etc. And not so much the oil spills as the clean-up chemicals still in the waters. We have a pond here on our homestead and it is stocked with edible fish like small-mouth bass, plus a large lake 6 miles away with even more varieties should I feel the need for fish in our diet again. In the meantime, there is flaxseed meal added to our diets for those all-important Omega 3s.

    3. Homebody,

      a good friend had the same problem. He found out he was allergic to the wheat mites that are present in just about all flour. He freezes his flour for 3 days. Then he doesn’t have any problem. You would think that baking it would do the trick but apparently it doesn’t. He freezes his pasta too for the same reason. He never eats at a restaurant.

      I personally think it is the GMO wheat. So many now can’t eat wheat products.
      I would stick with what works for you. I know folks who have gone to rice flour as a substitute…

      1. Hey Bill

        Eating gluten and pesticide free is much easier now than twenty years ago. A good garden and raising our own animals has helped our health, budget, and long term prepping. GMO may be a problem for mankind, but I guess the jury is still out on that one.

    4. In the 60’s and 70’s the “traditional” wheat started being replaced by wheat that had been bred for high gluten content, interbred with other grasses that made the stalks shorter and wheat easier to harvest. Traditional wheat had (and I’m going by memory here) about 3 to 6% gluten. We’re now eating wheat with 12 to 20% gluten which has gluten added to make it rise more easily. We’re eating up to 6 times as much gluten in a loaf of bread as our ancestors would have. Our digestive systems simply are not designed to handle that.

      Many people find that simply by making their own bread (without added gluten) or using low gluten wheat their problems are resolved. Others need probiotics in order to help their digestive system heal from the systematic abuse.

      1. I agree! In addition, wheat flour used to have iodine in it. Manufacturers now add bromine to it, starting around that same time you mentioned. Bromine is a halogen with a similar chemical structure as iodine. Iodine is required for good health, bromine, not so much. Consumption of wheat with the bromine in it replaces iodine in the body, causing poor health. Say no to modern wheat! gluten or no gluten sensitivity!!

      2. I have read the same thing. The wheat we have now has more gluten and that is why people have more problems. I am eating wheat that is over 15 years old and has been canned by Sam Andy. IT is great, no problems.

    5. It may not be gluten intolerance at all, but a sensitivity or allergic reaction to GMO’s or the chemicals they are grown with (like Roundup). Like others here, we grow our own organic fruits and veggies and only buy organic foods grown elsewhere. I buy and grind organic hard white wheat from Honeyville grain and bake whatever I need, like breads, tortillas,whatever. i would never buy things like tomatoes from the store in winter. We try to eat seasonally with what we have put up throughout the year. I healed my diverticulitis issues with months of a bland diet (ugh!), ONLY organic foods,and tons of homemade organic bone broth. I now can eat anything I want including the once-forbidden nuts and seeds! A key issue here though is also eliminating STRESS. I no longer watch tv or tv news, worry about current events, or worry about anything. We are as prepared as we can be and will handle whatever comes our way to the bet of our abilities. Like NRP always says, “We are living the lifestyle.”

      So, it may not be (but yes could be in your case) gluten intolerance. And try NOT to buy foods fron foreign countries at all IMHO. Does anyone really need fresh blueberries from Mexico or Chili in winter? Are there frozen organic blueberries from Maine in the store freezer case? These are questions to ask yourselves when shopping. just my thoughts this morning.

      Blessings to all here.

    6. Homebody,

      I read something interesting the other day about a lady who had reactions to bromated flour. Virtually all baked goods and flours in america are bromated (treated with bromine). In Europe, it’s outlawed. This lady figured out that if she consumed goods made with non-bromated flour, she had no reaction. Pasta from Italy had no effect on her! I think I read that King Arthur flour is non-bromated.

      I swear, when I go to the grocery store and see all the lovely baked goods, I feel like a crack addict…I want to BUY THEM ALL!!!

      Of course, when I came across that article, I had just bought a 5lb bag of regular old BROMATED flour…ugh. And am too cheap to throw it out. Maybe I should just give it to the food pantry! ha

      dude

  7. A while back I watched a show on the largest ships. This one was about a boat that could carry around 20,000 head of cattle or 30,000 sheep (if memory serves). I was curious why this vessel was needed and continued to watch – it was Australia shipping livestock offshore for processing and then shipping it back for consumption. This idiocy was far beyond my comprehension – until I thought about the pennies per pound that could be saved by all this handling and unregulated processing. We are not the only idiots out there.

  8. Thanks NRP, this a good wake up article.

    Unfortunately most foods in the grocery store are designed to “taste good” not necessarily be good for you. Restaurants, unless they are “organic”, have a terrible concoction of manufactured food, especially the fast food joints.

    “We are what we eat” is a truism that cannot be denied. IMHO if you wish to be healthy stay out of the grocery stores and restaurants and grow as much of your own food as you possibly can. I realize a lot of people cannot have a large garden but you can grow sprouts and herbs in an apartment and buy as much organic as you can. I know, it is more expensive to buy organic but the bottom line is to be healthier. Also, look at vitamin supplements to improve your health .

    1. @ BLUESMAN

      “IMHO if you wish to be healthy stay out of the grocery stores and restaurants and grow as much of your own food as you possibly can”

      Absolutely 1000% correct.

      As one of many here, I’m a ‘lifestyle’ person than actually enjoys growing and preserving my own “Home Grown” It takes a LOT of work, and time, unfortunately most people don’t have that sort of resources, And yes it takes a chunk of dirt, but in all reality not that much, a small back yard can produce a LOT of food if one has the inclination to do so. Life is all about the choices we make….

      NRP

      PS; if your going to do vitamins supplements, get GOOD ones that are actually absorbed and used in the body. Find a GREAT health foods store, get to know the people and talk with them. Believe it or not an ex-hippy from the 60s, that survived, is a good source of info on the right foods to eat.

  9. Plus the soil and water contamination from chemtrails. Detox may be a helpful consideration.

    1. @ CR

      Thinking of writing an article on the Air we breathe, and the Water we drink in a week or so.

      You think the food is frightening, wait till ya hear all about what’s “really” in the water. Even bottled and filtered water…..

      An example;
      Look up the 2015 Gold King Mine waste water spill into the Animas River, done by the EPA;
      Three million US gallons (11 ML) of mine waste water and tailings
      The Short List;
      Cadmium, Lead, arsenic, beryllium, zinc, iron, copper, among a few dozen others.
      And yes, it’s still in the water my friends, the water that’s directed to SO Cal.
      Enjoy the nice gift from your fast and friendly EPA.

      Even better yet; Fukushima (Japan) Nuclear Power Plant Explosion 12 March 2011, how’s that “glow in the dark” Salmon up there in the NWT? Radiation levels are sky rocketing off the coast of OR and WA.

      NRP

  10. Excellent article NRP
    It really opens ones eyes to how many unwanted things they put in our food.
    This really gives me “FOOD FOR THOUGHT” ;)

  11. I tend to eat fairly well and mainly shop the perimeter of grocery stores. Not that I don’t have my junk food days! What I’ve run into in respect to food storage is that most of it falls into the junk, heavy chemical ingredient category and isn’t stuff that I normally eat much of. I’ve been into juicing lately and buy organic as much as possible. My budget for meat is just grocery CAFCO quality.

    Gluten. It’s my understanding that some people react to it but are not celiac. I don’t especially trust WebMD- it’s just another am of .gov. I will include it when I am researching though.

  12. I just did a quick google search on how much gluten is imported to the US – even for our pet food. One Chinese company was banned from importing due to contaminated gluten for pet food. I am just beginning to read more articles even though I am no longer afflicted by the gluten bug.

    1. I don’t get much gluten myself and the cat gets some in the canned food even though it is low carb. The dog gets very little as I make his food and it has no grains or carbs. Additives that came from China killed a bunch of pets a few years back. Don’t remember exactly what it was but something that boosted the protein level. (I think)

        1. @DJ5280

          A few months back we talked about this very thing. If your buying canned goods from the store you will be hard pressed to find anything NOT from China. Not sure where our US grown stuff is going.

        2. Yeah. I try to not buy commercially canned foods at all. I can, dehydrate, or freeze whatever organic veggies I can grow or buy at the farmers markets. Even swap some things with other gardeners. Granted, it is a huge amount of work, but the more I read and research what has been done to our food supply the more determined I am to succeed in staying out of the commercial food supply. It’s crazy, and i am a firm believer it is where much of our cancers and ill health are coming from.

  13. If considering supplements I suggest you research Juice Plus. It is the most studied supplement on the market. Most of the studies are done by the Mayo Clinic. It is concentrated organically grown fruits and vegetables. Other kinds are available but I haven’t tried them. My sister and I have been taking them for about fifteen to twenty years and neither of us has gotten a cold since then. It seems to really build up your immune system.

    As to what to eat and what is best for you, I don’t believe we should blindly accept the charts the government puts out as to how much of each food group we should eat daily. Each person must have the self discipline to remove a food group one at a time and see how they feel.

    For myself, I lovingly call myself the carrier of the cat genome, chromosome or whatever ( not too scientifically minded). Just as a cat, unlike a dog, will not eat bread, a cracker, chocolate, etc. neither do I. If I do, I feel poisoned the next day. Can I slip a little bit? Yes, But only once in a while. But, if a cat can do it, so can I.

    1. Me too but chocolate – impossible for me to avoid and I’m sure NRP would go ballistic without it.

    2. I used to have a cat that would eat potato peelings–as long as they had pepper on them. Same cat would eat bread but didn’t like it. He was feral as a kitten, so used to eating what he could find.

  14. When my daughter was 14 months old I accidentally bought a package of strawberries that was not organic. She spit them out and wouldn’t eat them. They looked perfect. I am convinced she could smell and taste the pesticides.

    Feeding my family clean food is my main job and I take it very seriously.

    90% of the garbage in the grocery store is toxic. You notice I don’t call it food because when you add chemicals, it is no longer food. You wouldn’t willingly put Round Up on your toothbrush so why would you feed it to your kids in the form a corn chip.

    I cringe when someones says they put Sevin dust on their garden plants. Why would someone go to the trouble of growing their own glorious tomatoes and then poison them? I would rather eat the bugs they are trying to kill.

    When I see someone buying gallons of Round Up I want to scream at the top of my lungs.

    Eight years ago I took the Locavore challenge for a year. I ate nothing but foods grown within 100 miles of my home. With the exception of salt.
    I would have taken medication, like an antibiotic, if needed but I didn’t get as much as a sniffle.
    I missed coffee, citrus and bananas for a short time. I missed alot of essential oils. Other than that, I was fine.
    I was lucky we had one restaurant in town that buys and cooks only locally grown foods.

    So I stuck with it to a large degree afterwards. I buy organic non local foods. I store organic foods for preps.

    Buy and eat only organic whole foods or foods with a list of 4 or less whole ingredients.
    Cooking whole foods is just as easy as packaged food. Often only seconds or minutes longer.
    How much longer does it take to add real cheese to macaroni, instead of a package of orange powder?

    Let your self learn to love the feel of warm bread dough in your hands. I like to think of the millions of people who did so before me, everyday. It is part of being human.
    I adore using and feeding the ugly jar of 75 year old starter in my frig.

    Nothing about a package of store bought bread does anything for me. It doesn’t nourish my soul with its amazing aroma. I wasn’t able to be part of the process, other than working for the dollars to buy it.

    We all exchange our time for something. Money is necessary in this world. Even the most self sufficient still need it. Don’t waste it on poison.

    Learn to barter with local people for healthy foods. Or for your food growing. I bartered one case of jalapeno jelly for a delivered ton of composted straw for my garden.
    I bartered mending 10 pairs of jeans for a truck load of apples.
    I bartered 12 assorted pies for four truck and trailer loads of pumpkins and squash after Halloween. I fed them to my livestock for 4 months.

    Buy or barter for meats from a local farmer who does not use GMO feed. Or grass fed only. Yes, it costs more but do you really need to eat a rib eye steak four times a week? Start eating more plant based proteins.
    Who doesn’t like a fat bowl of seasoned beans with fried potatoes, some greens and cornbread?
    Go to Farmers Markets almost exclusively to buy your groceries. We have all year markets now, with so many people using greenhouses.
    Stockpile foods for your preps in the summer/fall months. Buy and gather excess harvest at a discount.

    Until people become part of the process of the growing and gathering of local food it is hard to see the real value in it and the fun.

    I am convinced that most of the digestive problems and diseases people experience today are because of toxicity. We might be able to add autism and other birth defects to that list also. One day.

    I could write about this subject all day (literally) but I have much to do.

    If you care about your body and your family you will not consume anything that is not grown by you, your trusted farmer or certified organic.

    In the words of my favorite farmer Joel Salatin,

    You think organic food is expensive?
    Have you priced cancer lately?

    Great article NRP.

    1. @ Farmstead Mom

      Extremely well said.

      I was going to re-quote a bit of what you said, but the last 3 lines really hit me;

      “You think organic food is expensive, Have you priced cancer lately?”

      As one that has lost my wife to Cancer 12 years ago I know the cost, and money is nothing to do with it.
      I, to this day, blame the Coke in her hand constantly for her breast cancer that took her life.

      So, hell yes I’m passionate about the foods we eat, AND the water/Air.

      Please keep up the good work Farmstead Mom, as I tell everyone, the life you save just may be your own, or the wife of 28 years.

      NRP

    2. Amen, Farmstead Mom! You sound like you could be my sister from another mister, as the young folks say! People just shake their head at how I spend my days in the garden or in the barn, or in the kitchen preserving the food I’ve grown. It’s a wonderful and healthy life. I have visited Joel Salatin’s farm in Virginia and have read most of his books. The title that makes me chuckle the most is “Everything I Want to Do is Illegal!” Raw milk and milk products cannot be sold in my state if it’s for human consumption. So silly. Instead, I mentor women who are venturing into dairy goat ownership so they can provide raw milk for their families. Keep up the good work providing healthy food to those you love!

      1. @ Goatlover

        ” “Everything I Want to Do is Illegal!” ”

        Sounds like my kinda of book…..

        NRP

  15. It makes me want to grow more food in my garden, and like what I do, acquire more of my own from the wild.

    “Ascorbic acid” is found naturally in many of my wild collected and home grown plants, so I don’t think vitamin C is harmful, but a benefit.

    I use my hand picked lambs quarters, my own carrots, one of my woods grown potatoes, and onions from my garden, cabbage from a neighbors organic garden, frozen snow and snap peas from my garden, organic sour cream, and wild rice from my local lakes for the soup I make. I just add chicken, beef, or ham, but it is the most vitamin rich meal I could ever have, not to mention the most tasty one.

  16. NRP,

    Another good article!
    As you can imagine, I have been real busy the last couple weeks! Hope to post in the weekend free for all!

    You would think that people would wonder how the Fast food places get their food to taste the same no matter where in the world you are. Chemicals classified as “spices” are the answer. I love the term, “artificial flavors”. Sounds better than man made chemicals that trick your brain and taste buds.

    The crazy part is you tell people and they are indifferent to the fact they are making them and their family sick. Then they act all surprised when their body can’t fight off the toxins/poisons anymore and they get diseased and cancerous. Of course, big pharma is ready to step in and get you to take another poison to combat the disease caused by the other poison.
    WHAT A RACKET!!

    I believe we would have food shortages if it wasn’t for the ability of these big companies to grow enormous amounts of tasteless, vitamin depleted food for the clueless masses. Soylent Green comes to mind!

    Like many here, this is the year we are going all out growing and raising our own food. Now if we can keep the gov.off our backs and out of our fields life will be pretty good…

    1. BJH,
      I remember watching the movie many moons ago, and I can’t eat triscuits crackers, makes me sick….just thinking about it. I love tomatoes especially on a BLT sandwich, but can’t remember last time I had a real one. A lot of folks here where I live give me grief because I hate store bought bread and that one has enhancers to keep it soft made from human hair or horse hair …… ugh

      1. A few years ago, my kids brought home a sub sandwich for a chair shop. I took a small taste of the bun and it did not taste like bread at all – bad smell and felt like cardboard. yuk

        1. homebody

          believe I read at that time those subs had the same ingredient in the buns that is in yoga mats…to make the sub bun last longer /look better etc.

          of course there was a hue and cry, and they swear they have taken said ingredient (rubber?/plastic?) out, but what have they replaced it with??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

      2. Texas, we watched it over the weekend with 2 of our kids/older Grandkids. Sure made an impression on the grandkids…

  17. After reading all this I feel sick already, I guess I need to go take another pill to feel better. Is this not the American way?

    1. @ Texas boy

      Ohhhhhh, don’t even get me started on Drugs…

      I admit I’m not the shining light of healthy, BUT at 63 I can proudly say I do NOT take and prescription drugs of any kind OR any OTC drugs, not even for a cold…. Gin and/or Home-Brew BTW are not considered a drug… HAHAHA

      NRP

  18. Hi all. Just thought I’d add my 2 cents on this topic.

    First off, does anyone realize that the FDA has been allowing organic farmers to use some of the same chemicals on their crops that non-organic growers use? Yup, it was several years ago so now our organic produce at the stores isn’t quite so organic as it used to be. Since that’s the situation, I focus on non-gmo produce slightly more than on getting the “organic” stuff.

    I’d rather eat home grown that actually tastes like it should but our growing season is fairly short. So we gorge on home grown veggies at harvest time. During the winter, I use roasted sliced beets in my salads instead of those orbs pretending to be tomatoes.

    Gluten is the bane of my life as DH has celiac disease as well as dermatitis herpiteformis. I developed a sensitivity to gluten more than 20 years ago. These days, wheat or any gluten containing food rarely makes an appearance in our household.

    kk

    1. Oh, yeah. I used homemade sliced pickled beets in my lettuce salad with bacon pieces. It makes the salad explode in my mouth!

  19. Good article NRP. The best thing that happened to me was losing my job. As a result of little money, we had to start cooking 95% of everything we ate from scratch. We bought less and less processed food partly because of the cost.

    After several months I noticed positive changes in our health. The first thing I noticed is that I no longer got heartburn. This was so common that we carried every over the counter drug that we found that would work. I ate Tums like candy. We sleep better as well.

    Occasionally we will splurge and buy some prepackaged item that we at one time loved. After not having that stuff for months, we found the so called food tasted nasty. We could actually taste the chemical flavor. It’s hard even finding good chocolate that taste like chocolate these days.

    1. I can’t find good chocolate in the store, so I order mine from the supplier. My personal favorite is Callebaut semi-sweet. It comes in a 5 kilo bar. One of my signature desserts is flourless chocolate torte. Since it’s just eggs, butter, and chocolate, using the highest quality of all three is extremely important.

  20. Some of the best advice I ever got was to buy groceries from the perimeter of the store, not the aisles. Buying “real” food and staying away from the heavily processed junk. Yes, I know that there is good stuff in the aisles and poison on the perimeter, but it has helped me be conscious of the food decisions I make. It amazes/saddens/angers me how much space in the store is dedicated to frozen pizza and “meals” rather than ingredients.

  21. I recall a couple of years back ? [ time flies more as I age ] there was a problem with produce that came from Mexico that had been watered with e coli. Don’t forget the pet food imported from China that killed unsuspecting consumers best friends, or the scandal of tainted baby food that was a highly publicized loss of face that resulted in at least one execution when the buck stopped. As to those concerned about gluten related issues, you may find the book ”Wheat Belly” interesting. I experienced a drop in blood sugar levels and slight weight loss when I cut most wheat products from my diet temporarily. Remember the song ” Everything Gives You Cancer ” ?

    1. @ BAM BAM

      Ahhhh I hate to tell ya this Bam, the Mexican thing was just last year….

      Not that I have a good… ahhh what were we talking about?? :-)

      NRP

      1. Or maybe two years ago????

        Ahhh boy this old age stuff IS fun huh??? HAHAHA

        NRP

  22. Food safety concerns me. Remember a short while ago (my memory like NRP) when the actual photo of the old saying came to our attention “who pi$$ed in your corn flakes” I see now that the giant cereal maker is under much financial pressure – I can’t remember the last time I bought a half full box of cereal for a fortune.

    1. If the air in the box was actually fresh it might not be such a bad deal.

  23. NRP!! You got me on a roll, and I thought I was the only one with a crazy diet!!

    I feel compelled to clarify a few points I made to a doctor several years ago when she asked me what kinds of food I ate, in her attempt to determine whether or not I was living an unhealthy lifestyle. I told her that she would get a better picture if she provided me with a list of what I should not eat rather than ask me what I did eat and then we could eliminate all those things first.

    Then I told her that in today’s age, a healthy diet is more about what you don’t eat as opposed to what you do eat and it has nothing to do with eliminating groups of foods from your diet. She didn’t have a clue since most people, including doctors think in generic terms when talking about what one should not eat (like fast foods, candy or salt etc), and they leave it at that and never think about why someone should not eat fast food.

    I told her that generally, I eat the same food stuff everybody else eats, for example, I eat hamburgers, canned foods, cookies, bread and pasta as well as all kinds of vegetables, meat and eggs… just like everybody else. On the surface, that comment seems simple enough but it is very misleading. I’ll use three examples here but I gave her about a dozen.

    BREAD – We use a basic bread recipe with fresh ground whole wheat flour, wheat gluten, sea salt, raw sugar or honey, olive oil, crushed pecans or other nuts and ground flax seed. Occasionally we might add fresh ground rye flour, or oat flour or rolled oats or combinations. Although we do add a cup of white bread flour to lighten it up.

    I don’t make my bread in a chemistry lab!! My bread does NOT CONTAIN: High Fructose Corn Syrup; Calcium sulfate, artificial colors, Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Mono- and Diglycerides, Ethoxylated Mono- And Diglycerides, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Calcium Peroxide, Azodicarbonamide, Calcium Propionate or added yeast nutrients (Monocalcium Phosphate, Calcium Sulfate, Ammonium Sulfate), Corn Starch, Dextrose, Sucralose, Guar Gum, Cellulose Fibre, Artificial flavors, or added vitamins made in a chemical refinery to replace those taken away during the refining process of flour.

    CANNED FOOD – I eat canned foods but only that which I have canned myself. They contain whatever vegetable or item I’m canning along with filtered boiling water or home made broth and a little sea salt or vinegar and fresh spices in the case of pickles. Although, I must admit, I do use a little sugar in my jellies and jams and some fruits. Granted, it took several years to wean myself from the canned food isle in the grocery store but that’s ancient history now.

    My canned foods DO NOT CONTAIN: GMOs, Glyphosate or other pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, BPA (Bisphenol A), BHA/BHT (butylated hydroxyanisole) and BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene), leached aluminum, High Fructose Corn Syrup, MSG (Monosodium Glutamate), artificial colors or flavors, or any other chemicals put in for freshness or to extend the shelf life.

    SALT (Sodium chloride) Sodium is an essential nutrient for human life. I use standard sea salt with no additives. The soils I grow vegetables in are considered naturally iodine rich and I add seafood waste to the soil for compost (whole fish or fish heads, shrimp heads etc…) so I have no need to consume iodized salt. Plus I get iodine from other sources. I just had to throw SALT in since it is a very sneaky way to add stuff to people’s diet (in the name of whatever or take your pick reason) and then blame the salt for all kinds of illnesses.

    I DO NOT EAT THE ADDITIVES added to regular table salt: The FDA has approved 18 different additives for adding to salt. Regular table salt (Sodium Chloride) contains several additives in addition to iodine, like stabilizers for the iodine and anti-caking compounds. To be specific (potassium iodide, added dextrose as a stabilizer, Sodium ferrocyanide or yellow prussiate of soda or ferric ferrocyanide as an anti-caking agent, tricalcium phosphate, magnesium oxide, silicone dioxide, calcium silicate, sodium aluminosilicate, calcium aluminosilicate, or added iron salts like ferrous fumarate. I’m not sure what all these things are good for other than making people sick over the long term. Someone needs to enlighten me. And… regular table salt will ruin sauerkraut so that should give you a clue as to how good it is.

    Will eating a nutritious and healthy diet make me live longer? No… it probably won’t. I think we all have an expiration date stamped into our genes or DNA or wherever our maker puts it, and no amount of nutritious or healthy foods will extend your life beyond that expiration date. However, I think eliminating the poisons and additives in our food and eating simple home made foods and basic organically grown food will make the last few years of our life a little more pleasant and tolerable. I’m pushing 70 and so far neither I nor my wife have been hooked on the pharmaceutical roller coaster.

    Long live the pressure canner and organically grown vegetables and eggs… yaaaah!!

    Thank you NRP for posting such enlightenment!!!

    1. @ CarbbeNebulae

      Holy Cow (organic of course) I did get you on a roll or what.. LOL

      GREAT added info, thank you… I happen to agree with you on the “date stamp” we all have, the difference is how we spend the days we have… I hate to say it, but I would rather be climbing a mountain at 70+ that sitting in a “rest home” drooling on myself for years on end waiting to pass.

      Thanks also for tossing in the info on salt, I happen to use Redman’s Salt, it comes out of the mines around Salt Lake in UT. GREAT stuff. And NO additives.

      PLUS I did a batch of sauerkraut with “regular” salt, tossed our 15 quarts, a lesson well learned…

      NRP

      PS, I don’t call em “additives” I call them poisons.

  24. I’d say 60 percent of the food my wife and I eat, we grow, shoot, catch, or pick
    and freeze, can, smoke, or dehydrate. My garden is organic. I use no chemical pesticides or fertilizer. I like stinky old chicken manure for fertilizer and use something made from mums etc. for pests once in a while.(Made sure that had no chemicals.)

    However I have my weakness also. I like potato chips and chocolate,and once in a while a big, fat, greasy rib-eye steak.(drool!) The other 40 percent we eat is store bought stuff, but we shop wisely. So far I made it to 70. Still climb around in the woods and find things to eat, summer and fall.

  25. NRP,
    I’m giving you a standing ovation! Great article sir.

  26. Excellent, thought provoking article! To NRP’s statement of being “immersed in chemicals”. Has anyone heard of Norwex? I’ve been using some of their products for a little over a month and really like it. To decrease chemical exposure they use silver infused fibers in their cloth because it is naturally anti-microbial, eliminating the need to use soap; just add water.

    In addition to using it on a normal basis, I plan to put some of it in my bug out bag since I can just “wet-and-wipe” to get clean. I figure if I’m in a situation that requires the use of my bug out bag feeling clean will help morale immensely.

    Just so you know I don’t sell the stuff just thought I would share something I use.

  27. I still have relatives that grow commercially within California. They are not organic because the time/money and testing involved is not cost effective to get the coveted “Organic” label. They also do not spend a lot of money on chemicals to treat the crops or the soil because, once again, laying down chemicals across a number of acres is very expensive. Profit margins are razor thin so they do only what they have to do get a crop to market. Same observations apply to raising cattle.

    As to my diet? I was part of the Wonder bread generation with the soft, squeezable loaves of snow white bread. Sandwiches made with Oscar Meyer processed meats and served with milk from a carton or a soda. I ate like this until my last years of high school when this country started to wake up and realize that this highly processed food was not good for us. I cannot blame my parents. They were trying the best they could and did not know any better. Between the diet and the cigarettes, several uncles had heart attacks before their 40th birthday.

    I now eat better. My brother who had a triple bypass eats better too. Eating right is a constant struggle and the toughest warriors in this fight: Parents of small children. So here’s to you Bill Jenkin’s Horse: I know you are doing your best to teach good eating habits to your grand kids. The produce from my family’s farm is not marked Organic. I hope you will buy and enjoy it out there. (some of this produce is shipped to the East Coast from California)

  28. Good article…and comments..

    When our dog was alive, if we give him a slice of sandwhich meat/prepared meat, he would sniff carefully at it, and then sit and look back and forth reproachfully at us….as if “why are you trying to poison me?”…

    He Knew..

  29. sort of along the topic..

    there have often been discussions about Spam…some like it some don’t, but it is certainly easy “survival” food.

    Often seen questions about how long it lasts/under what adverse conditions…

    Just saw an interesting article in The Guardian,

    ‘Extraordinary’ levels of pollutants found in 10km deep Mariana trench ”

    I thought it very interesting that a can of Spam was found, and it looks to be in good shape (grin)…

    so, apparently it can also withstand long periods of time at great depths..

    “A container of Spam rests at 4,947 meters on the slopes of a canyon leading to the Sirena Deep in the Mariana trench.”

    1. @ Anon

      Inmteresting how far reaching the pollution of humans is reaching, sad really.
      Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a tree hugger, but a can of Spam 5000 meters in the ocean, sheeeesh

      NRP

      1. NRP

        yes, I thought it was interesting too…Was trying to figure out how it got there

        -off a military ship?

        1. @ Anon

          I’m thinking Nailbanger, dropped on his last cruse across the pond.
          He’s the King of Bacon flavored Spam ya know?

          NRP

        2. NRP

          nope, just checked, It is NOT Bacon Flavored.

          However, it is reduced salt.

          can read on it, says 25% less salt…

  30. NRP/Ken, Thanks for this post, It reminded me of some things that I need to change.

    Growing up I always had Terrible stomach problems.

    It seemed almost every day my stomach would cramp and it felt like things were tearing apart. IT was an ongoing battle with my mother taking me to every type of Doctor she could think of, and I was taking everything from HCL for low stomach acid to Eastern Doctors giving me alfalfa pills.

    About 5 years ago, I went on a new health kick and met with a nutritionist. The biggest thing we did was completely eliminate canned processed food from my diet. At that point I was eating Canned Campbell’s, Chef Boyardee or Deli meats on an almost daily basis.

    A few months into cooking my own meals using fresh or frozen veggies and meats I suddenly had a moment of clarity, My stomach had not hurt in Days. It was like having a weight lifted off of me. Since then, while I do not always eat totally clean, my GF and I Rarely use a canned food of any kind.

    Yet just recently, in my desire to seek faster more convenient lunch options, I just at this moment, in reading this article, realized I have been eating processed foods again. It appears I need to go back and re-evaluate some recent decisions.

    1. It is VERY difficult to not eat processed foods in some way these days. The population is so very ‘busy’ (that’s the keyword here) that the convenience of processed foods is too, well, convenient. Unfortunately it generally (always?) requires more money and more time to eat ‘better’…

      Even while looking at my own deep pantry food storage, there is a percentage of processed foods there. But that’s okay I suppose with a diversified inventory ;)

  31. Since we garden extensively, we generally eat by the seasons. What we buy fresh, we buy from organic growers in the USA. I refuse to buy foods from Mexico or South American countries. The one exception is the organic cucumbers grown in Canada that we buy during our winter season.

    We love tomatoes on our salads (we eat salad every day) and I use home-canned, homegrown tomatoes. Hopefully some here will try this next year. For us, some of the best flavor in a salad is the tomato-flavored juice that scatters all over the greens. You get that with home-canned tomatoes! Of course, you can substitute this for commercially-canned tomatoes, too, and if you are cautious about chemicals like we are, buy organic brands.

    We don’t consume ‘sugar cereal,’ processed foods, nitrite-filled luncheon meats, soda, junk foods, fried foods, etc. In a store, we are perimeter shoppers. We also cook from scratch — it’s all I’ve ever known. It is VERY rare that we eat out somewhere because we don’t know where the restaurant foods come from (and we cook better).

    During February and March, our root crops (stored in our basement) are shriveling a bit and don’t look pretty. But that’s okay — when you peel them, they still taste great. The carrots still get grated or diced into salads and potatoes cook up into a great bowl of mashed potatoes.

    We are in an area where apple and peach orchards abound. There are only a few orchardists who are certified organic, though. With so many fruit trees in our region, we struggle with our own fruit trees but we have not sprayed them with pesticides to this day.

    Our woods have many oak, walnut, and hickory trees. Lucky for us, we get those nuts by foraging.

    When I had my colonoscopy and learned that I had mild diverticulosis, I was never given any information on dietary changes. To me, this is typical of how practicing medicine has changed — doctors fix the symptoms through medicine or surgery, but do not instruct patients about how to avoid potential problems. ARGH! As folks here are saying, “You are what you eat,” I have learned that it’s best that I avoid popcorn, nuts, and seeds. I’ve also increased my fiber intake. Personally, I’d rather avoid any medical issue by altering my diet.

    Unfortunately, almost all of our FD and DH long-term #10 cans of foods are not organic and we don’t even know the country of origin on these products. However, these are not foods we are eating, they are stored for a true, serious ’emergency’ — if we start eating them in an emergency, whether they’re organic or not probably won’t matter much to us. That’s how we’ve been looking at it. How about everyone else who is buying the commercial FD/DH foods?

    NRP — this was a very good article, looking forward to your next ones. Safe water is so critical for all of us and I’ll venture to say that the majority of Americans really have no clue about the ‘stuff’ in their tapwater.

  32. As a follow up on the article, and I should have mentioned this earlier, A LOT of thanks goes to Ken, he’s one heck of an editor and publisher…. Heck, even makes my writings look good. :-)

    And thanks to everyone that commented and like the article, makes one feel good to know such a GREAT group of friends.

    Thanks Ken, for ALL the good work you do here.
    NRP

    1. Okay Okay Okay NRP – you did a great job – good thing you wear stretchy knitted headgear lol. Now enjoy that gin and chocolate.

      1. @ homebody

        HAHAHAHA, geeee thanks, I think????

        Seriously though, we have all been to those Blogs that get “maybe” 1 or 2 comments, MSB has a FANTASTIC following and a LOT of good people adding to every article. Last time I looked, over 33 million visitors, that’s a HECK of an accomplishment.

        NRP

  33. The more you grow, and preserve, the lest additives you’ll need.

    My “additives” are herbs and spices… they make everything nice.

    Grow as much as you can… I cook 90% of my food without salt.
    Anyone that eats my food loves it… They never add salt… I don’t offer it at my dinner table.

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