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Allergies and Your Diet

Sunday, June 7th, 2009
alllergy-picture

Raw milk may help Allergies

Our bodies are complex systems that easily can be thrown out of balance by toxins in our environment and the foods we eat. If your body isn’t able to compensate and recover from exposure to these toxic substances, chemicals and processed foods, then you could develop sensitivity, or what is known as an allergy.

Allergists estimate that 80 percent of people have allergies in one form or another and that number is growing partially due to what many believe is our “modern” diet. Allergies may appear as sneezing with a runny nose when they have an allergic reaction to pollen. Or you may develop asthma. Children can develop ADHD symptoms as a result of an allergic reaction to food, chemicals or pollens. Even conservative sources estimate that five percent of children with ADHD have their symptoms because of some type of allergic reaction.

The good news: A change in diet can do wonders to curb most allergies.

Studies show that most people’s sensitivities dramatically improve when they avoid sugar, most grains, and pasteurized dairy products. Replacing commercial milk with raw milk from grass-fed cows is usually well tolerated by most people and is highly health promoting. It is also helpful to eat products such as eggs, poultry, and beef from animals fed a natural diet, which does not include grains, and by consuming fresh organic produce — all produced without man-made chemicals, hormones, pesticides, dyes, or additives

Making certain that enough long-chain animal based omega-3 fats (DHA and EPA) are included in your diet is also important. Grass-fed raw dairy contains the crucial omega-3 fatty acids needed for brain function, good bacteria for a healthy digestive system, and plentiful vitamins A and D for proper growth and development. It is also rich in the raw, saturated fatty acids that nourish the brain and intestinal lining.

Eliminating allergies may not be as easy as drinking a glass of raw milk, but it is a good way to start.

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States warming up to unheated milk.

Saturday, June 6th, 2009
kurtz-raw-milk-half-gallon

Raw Milk

There seems to be an unexpected bright side to our bleak economic times.   For many years state legislatures have restricted raw milk citing safety.  However, current economic troubles have many states warming up to unheated milk.

Could the bad-mouthing and fear mongering of raw milk producers have been to protect the economic interest of Big Dairy and not the well being of  the American consumer?   Could it be that raw milk is NOT inherently dangerous and can be produced safely and to the highest standard of cleanliness?.  You be the judge.

Raw Milk Legislative Update

Due to the decline in pay prices for conventional dairies and the cutback in organic milk production by many organic farms because of decreased sales, state legislatures are becoming more receptive to the sale and distribution of raw milk.

Here are the latest developments:

Tennessee:

On May 21, Governor Phil Bredesen signed into law a bill (HB 721) stating that nothing in the law “shall be construed as prohibiting the independent or partial owner of any hoofed mammal from using the milk from such animal for the owner’s personal consumption or other use.”

Learn more at www.tennesseansforrawmilk.com.

Vermont:

A bill (H.125) that would increase the amount of raw milk dairy farmers can sell from the current 12.5 gallons a day to 40 gallons, has passed both the House and the Senate and is awaiting the governor’s signature. While sales are currently only allowed at the farm, any farm that complies with the additional standards can also sell milk through delivery.

Learn more at www.ftcldf.org/state_bills-VT.htm.

New Jersey:

On May 11, after a hearing on bill A621, Committee Chairman Nelson Albano (D-Cape May) said, “Our intent as a committee is to make sure that we do everything possible to help dairy farmers in the state of New Jersey. We cannot let this be a dying breed … we also have to make sure that consumers in New Jersey have the right to purchase something they can get in any other state.”

Learn more at www.ftcldf.org/state_bills-NJ.htm.

Connecticut:

A bill (HB 6313) that would have limited sales of raw milk to the farm only, died in the Joint Committee on the Environment. Raw milk can currently be sold in retail stores.

A bill (HB 6312) that previously stalled is now attached to an unrelated bill. If this bill passes into law, cow share programs would become illegal in the state unless the farmer has a retail raw milk license.

Learn more at www.ftcldf.org/state_bills-CT.htm.

Federal:

An online petition is posted at the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund website (www.ftcldf.org/petitions/index.php) in support of HR 778, a bill introduced by Congressman Ron Paul that would overturn the interstate ban on raw milk for human consumption.

Learn more at www.ftcldf.org/federal_bills-HR778.htm.

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Raw Milk vs Cloned Milk

Thursday, April 2nd, 2009

I recently came across a website that floored me.  The website is http://www.cyclonedairy.com/ and turns out to be an April Fool’s Day prank.  It was all done to inform the public about the dangers of cloned food.  In January 2008, the U.S Food and Drug Administration declared milk and meat from cloned animals safe for human consumption.  This is the first step in allowing foods from cloned animals into our food supply.  Instead of addressing the deplorable conditions of the industrial food system we move headlong into a potential science fiction horror story.
Real milk- Grass fed raw milk, as advocated by the Weston Price Foundation, is one of  nature’s perfect food.   Real milk has a built in immune system to protect from potential pathogens provided the cows are fed correctly. Raw milk also retains all the enzymes intact which allows for  complete digestion.  Raw milk from cows fed grass is also high in vital nutrients, especially CLA.  CLA is a type of fat recently discovered to melt fat, protect from cancer and put on muscle mass.
Cloned foods on the other hand open up a Pandora’s box of issues.  There have not been extensive long term studies of these practices and the public would be sitting ducks to say the least.  Let your voice be heard.  Even in Orlando we can stand up against cloned food.

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Local Food in Orlando

Saturday, March 21st, 2009

As many of you might have already noticed, finding local sources of local farm fresh food is difficult.  The Orlando metro area, which once had thriving agricultural enterprises, instead is filled with urban sprawl.  Fortunately, the times are changing.  People in Orlando are searching high and low for free-range eggs, fresh milk, local organic produce, and much more.  Many have formed co-ops and bring in food from around the US.  While commendable, I’m of the opinion that we should support and source food from around Florida and Orlando as much as possible.  There some obvious obstacles of course, chief among them is the price of land.  Second we need suppliers of natural, non-toxic feed for the animals.  Third, we need laws to encourage the growth of local meat processing operations.  I do not mean the large slaughterhouses on an industrial scale but rather small mom and pop operations.  Smaller operations are easier to keep clean and you can build a personal relationship with them.  Can you imagine the return of your local butcher that offers grass-fed meat, lamb and truly pastured chickens?  So what can you do?  Buy local first.  Follow the 80-20 rule.  Try to buy a larger portion of your food locally and the remainder from conventional sources.  Second, write your local, state and federal representatives to make your voice heard.  In these economic troubles, buying locally will have an immediate positive impact.

Please visit these resources below to get started:

Click on Find Local Food

http://www.holisticlivingschool.org/coop

/

http://apmarket.wordpress.com/

http://www.localharvest.org/

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Food Safety Bill and Florida Farm Foods

Tuesday, March 17th, 2009

HR 875, a food safety bill, has been introduced in Congress, and while a true need exists, this bill has real potential to limit your access to Florida farm foods.  As many of you are aware we have had a slew of food borne illness outbreaks.  This is all  the consequence of our industrial food system.  A food system that routinely keeps animals in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions.  A food system that in order to keep these animals alive uses  70% of all the antibiotics the US produces. We should not be surprised that these operations are the new breeding ground of mutating pathogens.  So what is the response to all these unsafe practices?…Do they proposed to curb antibiotic use? Perhaps regulators what to change the living conditions of these animals?  NO! The proposal is to institute far-reaching, potentially repressive laws that threaten your access to Florida farm foods.   Lets take a deeper look:

Definitions in Section 1, Section 3 of HR 875

CATEGORY 1 FOOD ESTABLISHMENT- The term `category 1 food establishment’ means a food establishment (other than a seafood processing establishment) that slaughters, for the purpose of producing food, animals that are not subject to inspection under the Federal Meat Inspection Act or poultry that are not subject to inspection under the Poultry Products Inspection Act. (This would include local  Florida farmers slaughtering for their families &/or friends & neighbors &/or those doing so at Farmer’s markets, etc. What they really mean is  “anyone not currently subject to inspection”….)

CATEGORY 3 FOOD ESTABLISHMENT- The term `category 3 food establishment’ means a food establishment (other than a category 1 or category 2 establishment) that processes cooked, pasteurized, or otherwise ready-to-eat seafood or other animal products, fresh produce in ready-to-eat raw form, or other products that pose a risk of hazardous contamination. They don’t say “sells”…only  “that processes…fresh produce in ready-to-eat raw form…” Once again this  would include those growing food for their own family’s consumption, food for consumption by their family &/or friends & neighbors, etc. as well as those selling at local farmer’s markets.)

Sec. 201 (a) (2) ensure that persons who produce, process, or distribute food meet their responsibility to prevent or minimize food safety hazards related to their products. (This is one of my favorites “…Persons?” Not companies, but “persons”…)

Raw milk, pastured eggs, local Florida beef, all these are in danger if our local small farmers are forced into this system.  They essentially would be priced out of the market.  I agree with greater oversight of the offenders and that is huge multinational big business.  So regulate the offenders not my local Florida farmers.  See the links below for more information:

http://www.ftcldf.org/aa/aa-14mar2009.htm

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=92002

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