Scam

A stratagem for gain; a swindle.

Toxic Milk

One of the Yahoo Groups I belong to contained a link to an article on the Body Ecology website. The article is titled Is Milk Making You Sick? The Modern Dangers of Milk You Must Be Aware Of. Sounds ominous. The article explains that beta-casein A1 in milk from common dairy breeds is toxic. Whoa! Does that mean that any dairy I buy in America is poisoning me?

Amasi to the Rescue

But there’s hope! The goods news is that Amasi, a fermented “healing beverage” from ancient lines of African cattle is free of this poison. But there’s only one company in America that sells it. Thank goodness, there’s a link to that company, ’cause I wants me some o’ dat. (I note that the link includes the website owner’s “enroller” number.)

Sign Up to Be an “Independent Mission Marketer”

The link takes me directly to a signup page for Jordan Rubin’s multi-level marketing company Beyond Organic, and a video pops up explaining why I should join. (You’ll have to click on the video on the right, because I’m not an enroller and the video therefore won’t pop up). Here’s part of the video’s message along with my commentary.

You Can Change Your Life and Even Your World

What If you only ate wholesome, farm-fresh foods?

Sounds good so far. I’m into that.

Trading out your conventional products for foods that come straight from the farm and can contribute to a healthier life, not to mention the lasting impact it would have on our agriculture and our environment. One change in your diet can change your life and even your world. That’s the vision of Beyond Organic.

Wow! What a great vision. I bought half a cow, half a pig and a lamb from farmers no further than 50 miles from my home. The farmer 50 miles away was only 5 miles away from the farmer who provides my cat food. I get raw milk and cheese from Showman Farms in Edinboro, a lovely drive unless it’s winter and snowing. I’m happy to buy locally when possible.

Beyond Organic is a virtual farmers’ market providing you with the highest quality organic food staples.

But not providing me with any product or shipping prices prior to signing up. (But I note that the healthful Amasi has been changed to Amasai™ and trademarked.)

But instead of going through a middleman, Beyond Organic brings these pure whole foods and beverages directly to you, straight from the farm to your front door, making an organic, sustainable lifestyle more accessible and convenient than ever.

I have to say, that is pretty convenient (sustainable, not so much). Not as convenient as buying a chest freezer and filling it with a side of beef. I have only to walk downstairs to the basement for that. And it’s cheaper than buying off the Internet. But I would love to avoid driving to the farm for my water. Oh wait, I get my water from my kitchen tap or, if I want to drive, from numerous sources found through Find a Spring.

As the name implies, these foods and beverages aren’t just organic. They’re, well, beyond. Beyond Organic foods are grown as God intended: no pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, chemical fertilizers or other environmental pollutants. And of course they’re not genetically modified.

Aren’t those already the requirements of food certified as organic?

Organic food is produced by farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future generations. Organic meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products come from animals that are given no antibiotics or growth hormones. Organic food is produced without using most conventional pesticides; fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; bioengineering; or ionizing radiation. What is organic food? — USDA

So how is Beyond Organic’s organic food, well, beyond? And how do you conserve water when you’re shipping it all over the nation?

Beyond Organic foods are fair made, meaning your local farmer gets a fair cut of the deal.

Okay, this outright LIE is why I wrote this blasphemous, nonconformist post! The Beyond Organic website FAQ states:

We have our very own “Beyond Organic” standards of raising and slaughtering animals…As far as we know, we are the only 100% GreenFed™ ranch to combine all of these standards…For the last two years, we have been working on the infrastructure needed to support the production and distribution of the Beyond Organic products. There is also a plan in place for the company to continue to acquire more land, cattle and increase production capacity…All products will be shipped directly from our distribution center in Kansas City to your home

They have their own standards, and they’re the only ones complying with them. And everything ships out of Kansas City. So unless you live near Kansas City, none of the money you spend will go to your local farmer. (Just how did Jordan Rubin magically become my local farmer?)

Beyond Organic meat and dairy comes from Green-Fed™ cattle, and our certified organic farms and ranches never feed grain or administer antibiotics, hormones, or vaccines, and they use Biblical slaughter methods.

How cute! He trademarked another term. What’s the difference between grass-fed and Green-Fed™? Changing the name (and cleverly trademarking it) doesn’t stop abuse. If you want beef that ate only grass, buy “grass-finished” beef. I see no reason to trust Rubin over my local farmer whose farm I can actually visit.

My understanding is that Kosher methods require the animal to be conscious as its throat is slit and it bleeds out. Unless you’re Jewish, I don’t see the upside here. The side of beef I bought received no antibiotics, hormones or vaccines (or so the farmer tells me) and it was humanely dispatched with a bullet to the head. I saw the grass it was eating in summer, and I saw all the grass that was harvested, dried and stored for its winter feed.

Is Beyond Organic a Scam?

Do a search of “Is Beyond Organic a Scam?” and you’ll find all sorts of sites telling you it isn’t. But click on their link to the site and note the “enroller” number. Of course it’s not a scam to them; they’re hoping to cash in.

Multi-Level Marketing Turns You Into an Asshole

Have you ever been a member of an MLM? Here’s how it works. You pay a fee to sign up. This gets you discounts on the product. But the greatest wealth of this so-called self-employment opportunity occurs when you sign others up under you (but the fee is higher).

So first you go through your address book and contact all your friends about this marvelous opportunity. You cajole your family into buying something from you. Most of them become annoyed; some begin to avoid your company.

Then you get really obnoxious. You start cold calling. You purchase literature to hand out (or at least a set of business cards). Maybe you plaster people’s cars with flyers.

You start approaching strangers. Everybody becomes a potential “opportunity” to recruit into your downline. You try to turn every conversation to the subject matter to your “business.” But it’s so draining and demeaning that all your meager profit goes to buying cassettes and books on sales and keeping an upbeat attitude. Any Amway marketer can tell you they have drawers of cassettes to keep them on track.

A very clever Internet marketer might be able to pull it off with his or her own website. Unfortunately…

It seems that not only do independent Mission Marketers have to risk being potentially squashed by big business, but that Beyond Organic itself seems rather hell bent on making its members marketing campaigns an extremely difficult task. — Marketing Beyond Organic more trouble than it’s worth?

Obnoxious MLMers

You’ll also consume a lot of product, because you “believe in it,” and you want everyone to know it. (You also have to convince your subconscious mind that all the money and effort you plow into the venture is worth it.)

I went to a weekend financial seminar attended by a lot of MLMers. One lady sat next to me. She spritzed herself with her special water. She took a pill assisted down her throat with her special water. Then spritzed again. I’m trying to listen to the speaker and this woman was a bustle of marketing activity. She naturally tried to recruit me.

I moved to another seat and another very friendly woman with special stones sat next to me. She told all about their magical qualities, and when I said I wasn’t interested, she ignored me.

Then there’s the gal years ago at Costco who sat across from me while we ate lunch. I couldn’t believe how friendly she was. My faith in humankind was renewed. She asked what I did for a living, and I told her about my new word processing business. She told me she had a lot of friends she could refer to me. Meanwhile, she wanted to send me something. Turned out to be another MLM and I declined the opportunity. Of course, no one was ever referred to me.

This brings up another event. I was with a friend at the mall. A woman got to talking with him, and he came back telling me how friendly she was. She got his phone number and told him she’d call him. He was looking forward to a date with this vivacious woman.

I asked him, “Did she tell you about any opportunity she was involved with that she wanted to share with you?” As a matter of fact, yes. Then it all clicked. My friend understood why she was so friendly (and why her sister kept rolling her eyes). Then he got furious. Yes, a subsequent phone call confirmed she was an MLMer.

It’s Not About Changing the World–It’s About Greed, His and Yours

Beyond Organic appeals to that which is best within us: our desire for small-scale, local agriculture, a nontoxic world and a clean, nutritious dinner table. But it also appeals to our greed.

If you have lots of gullible friends, Jordan Rubin invites you to become a “Beyond-Organic Mission Marketer” so you can help spread the Good word! He says you can “cultivate” your own community of online subscribers, and if you sign up enough people for his “magical” grocery grab-bag of “organic” foodstuffs, you’ll get your groceries for free! — Mischa Popoff

TANSTAAFL, folks! Somebody has to pay. If you’re successful, that’ll be your downline, but you’ll have to be really, really successful. I hope you don’t have a day job.

NOT Sustainable

Listen, I have no beef (no pun intended) with entrepreneurs filling a need. What I do object to is lying to people to do it.

How does my local farmer get a fair cut of the deal?

How sustainable is the fossil fuel required to truck product across the nation?

How sustainable is drawing water from Missouri aquifers and shipping it to your front door?

How sustainable are all the temperature controlled boxes and dry ice required to ship this stuff?

And how sustainable is diverting your dollars from your local economy to M Frikkin’ City?!!!

True Sustainability and Community Building

Do you want grass-fed beef sustainably raised? Then to go Eat Wild and find a farmer in your neighborhood. Or visit Local Harvest to find local farmers’ markets, dairy, eggs, and produce. Learn how to make your own cheese and get a water filter or find a local spring.

You want to give to charity? Then give. You don’t need to join Beyond Organic to do that.

Beyond Organics is about selling beef, dairy and water from Missouri and lining the pockets of Jordan Rubin. When I was first introduced to Beyond Organic I thought I smelled a rat. But what I smell is BO!

I received this email this morning from FRESH, and I am just disgusted. It’s not enough that Monsanto has been systematically buying up seed companies. It’s not enough that they sell most of the corn and soy bean seeds in this country filling our food supply with GMOs, but now they want to market GMO sweet corn.

It’s obvious our government loves Monsanto money and will bend over backwards for them, appointing their people in key government positions. They let Monsanto introduce their GMO alfalfa, which could potentially destroy any possibility for organic meat production. Now even your sweet corn is unsafe. Please read this and sign the petition asking stores not to carry their product.

——————–

Dear Joanne,

Monsanto is at it again. Despite commanding over 60% of the U.S. corn market, they want more—they want to be on your plate. For the first time, Monsanto is marketing a genetically-modified (GM) corn that will be sold directly to consumers. This is NOT commodity corn that will be processed into oil or fed to animals. These ears of sweet corn will go directly to grocery aisles, possibly in cans or frozen packs, where it will be impossible to tell them apart from pure varieties.

We’ve got to speak up about this where it counts. Tell our nation’s largest supermarkets that we will not buy any corn unless it is clearly labeled non-GMO.

The new GM sweet corn is engineered to kill insects with Bt toxins and to resist heavy spraying with Roundup herbicide. Already, Roundup resistant crops have resulted in an epidemic of over 21 types of resistant superweeds. Even more alarming, recent studies have linked Roundup with birth defects in animals, and Bt toxins from GM foods have been found in the bloodstreams of pregnant mothers and their unborn babies. The results are clear: producing GM sweet-corn for direct human consumption will have untold environmental and health tolls.

And it doesn’t end here. If successful, Monsanto is sure to introduce more GM produce targeted for supermarket shelves.

Let’s nip this in the bud now. Trader Joe’s has already indicated they will not carry GM sweet corn. Sign to tell the rest of the top grocery chains to follow suit.

Fundamentally, this is about the freedom of choice. If we aren’t even aware when a food has been genetically-modified, we can’t make an informed decision on whether to accept or reject the technology. Monsanto is counting on our ignorance to push GM sweet corn on us. We can show them we’re watching.

Working for safer food,

Ana and Crystal
The FRESH Team

Here’s an interesting article published by Hal Herzog, PhD, on the prevalence of eating disorders among vegetarians.

Eating Disorders: The Dark Side of Vegetarianism?.

Things were going fine until I asked Staci why she quit eating meat in the first place. She said that she became a vegetarian when she was a teenager. Then she dropped the bombshell: “My vegetarianism was tied up with my eating disorder.”

She went on: “Being a vegetarian was a way for me to have more control over my body by taking the fat out of my diet. Fat was the big evil. Emotionally I was in a tough position in my life at seventeen. Vegetarianism gave me something to hold onto.

A follow-up article claims that most vegetarians who return to eating meat do so for health reasons.

Why Do Most Vegetarians Go Back To Eating Meat?

Oak Park Woman Faces 93-Days in Jail For Planting Vegetable Garden by Alexis Wiley, WJBK | myFOXDetroit.com

OAK PARK, Mich. (WJBK) – “The price of organic food is kind of through the roof,” said Julie Bass.

So, why not grow your own? However, Bass’ garden is a little unique because it’s in her front yard.

“We thought it’d be really cool to do it so the neighbors could see. The kids love it. The kids from the neighborhood all come and help,” she said.

Bass’ cool garden has landed her in hot water with the City of Oak Park. Code enforcement gave her a warning, then a ticket and now she’s been charged with a misdemeanor.

“I think it’s sad that the City of Oak Park that’s already strapped for cash is paying a lot of money to have a prosecutor bothering us,” Bass told FOX 2′s Alexis Wiley.

“That’s not what we want to see in a front yard,” said Oak Park City Planner Kevin Rulkowski.

Why? The city is pointing to a code that says a front yard has to have suitable, live, plant material. The big question is what’s “suitable?”

We asked Bass whether she thinks she has suitable, live, plant material in her front yard.

“It’s definitely live. It’s definitely plant. It’s definitely material. We think it’s suitable,” she said.

So, we asked Rulkowski why it’s not suitable.

“If you look at the definition of what suitable is in Webster’s dictionary, it will say common. So, if you look around and you look in any other community, what’s common to a front yard is a nice, grass yard with beautiful trees and bushes and flowers,” he said.

Read the rest of this pathetic story here.

I picked up my side of beef a couple weeks ago and made a video of the cuts. The butcher skins the steer and removes the organs, head, and feet and then weighs a side. They charge the per-pound fee based on hanging weight. My side weighed 330 pounds. After cutting and packaging, the usable portion was 245 pounds. The rest was waste.

Below the video are a couple pictures of the herd from which my steer was selected. These are Piedmontese cattle, known for their lean meat rich in omega-3 fatty acids.

Unlike their grain-eating counterparts, these cattle lived a life of leisure, free from predation and fed year round from the grasses and hay that grew on this land. They consumed no grain, which is given to cattle to fatten them and provide the marbling that we’ve been convinced is so desirable. They received no antibiotics or vaccinations, because they never needed them. They had only one bad day in their lives. (Well, perhaps the steers had two bad days, if you get my meaning.)

Anybody hungry? Dinner’s on me! Here’s what half a cow looks like:

Additional reading:

Shopping Local Farms for Pasture-raised Lamb, Pork, Beef, Poultry, and Eggs
Illegal Federal Raids on Food Co-ops Should Make Us All Ill

I just heard about a six-figure Consumer Alliance between the Coca-Cola Company and the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).

The Consumer Alliance is a program that allows corporate partners like The Coca-Cola Company to work with the AAFP to educate consumers about the role their products can play in a healthy, active lifestyle. As part of this partnership, The Coca-Cola Company is providing a grant to the AAFP to develop consumer education content on beverages and sweeteners for FamilyDoctor.org, an award-winning consumer health and wellness resource.

You’ve got to be kidding me? The scary part is the term “award-winning.” Who’s passing out the awards?

For those of you who don’t know this, Coca-Cola is not a food! It’s a chemical concoction full of HFCS and caffeine that is highly addicting and contributes to obesity and disease.

Its high calorie content also displaces nutrients in food. In other words, if you drink 600 calories a day of Coke, then that’s a potential 600 calories of nutrient-dense food you won’t be eating. Additionally, converting the sugar to usable energy takes up vitamins and minerals from your reserves, so it’s an anti-nutrient.

Yes, it tastes good, but chemists could make my cat’s crap taste good by adding flavor chemicals.

Dr. Rhona Applebaum, vice president and chief scientific and regulatory officer at The Coca-Cola Company, said:

Our partnership will help provide Americans with credible information on beverages and enable consumers to make informed decisions about what they drink based on individual need.

Credible information? At least reading this article is good for my health because it makes me laugh, which makes my nervous and immune systems happy.

But what happens when an organization receives funding from another organization? Well, it doesn’t want to risk offending its contributor by posting negative information and the information it does post is largely informed by the one with the money. You know, like politics and lobby groups.

A Harvard University nutrition expert, Dr. Walter Willett, wrote in an email:

Coca-Cola, like other sodas, causes enormous suffering and premature death by increasing the risks of obesity, diabetes, heart attacks, gout, and cavities… [the academy] should be a loud critic of these products and practices, but by signing with Coke their voice has almost surely been muzzled.

(Where’s Frederick Stare when you need him? He was the former head of the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health and was dubbed “The Sugar King” because of his support of the sugar industry. Maybe there’s hope yet for Harvard.)

In response, AAFC CEO Dr. Douglas Henley said that the deal won’t influence the group’s public health messages, and that the company will have no control over editorial content. He said the new online information will include research linking soft drinks with obesity and will focus on sugar-free alternatives.

HFCS or Aspartame? Pick your poison, folks. Of course, everyone just knows there’s nothing wrong with Aspartame, right?

The Coca-Cola Company is the world’s largest beverage company, refreshing consumers with nearly 500 sparkling and still brands.

“Refreshing” is not the word I would use.

Hey, do you like soft drinks? Why settle for the run-of-the-mill, artificial, mass-produced, chemical concoctions. Here’s a great video I saw on the different soft drinks available to consumers. If I hadn’t given up sugar, I’d happily try some of these for a rare treat. Now this guy knows his soda! Check it out:

References:
American Academy of Family Physicians Launches Consumer Alliance With First Partner: The Coca-Cola Company

Family doctors group loses members over Coke deal

I decided it was time to get my hair colored and cut. In this video you’ll meet my stylist, Autumn, and hear about what can go wrong when you stop eating animals but still eat typical American foods.

Please let me know if you have any trouble viewing the video. This is my first video shot with an HD camera and edited in Final Express 4.

Now that I’m eating meat, I’m having fun cooking again and trying new recipes. A couple nights ago I cooked Tarragon Chicken.

In this recipe I was introduced to the delightful taste of shallots and tarragon in white wine, and I used crème fraîshe for the first time. I have to say that tarragon is such a sweet and delicious herb, and I’m saddened that it took almost 50 years to experience its loveliness.

This recipe was quick and easy and oh so delicious. It took about 15 minutes to prepare. But I find chicken breast doesn’t do much for me. It seems dry and tough and just doesn’t soak up the yummy juices. (I’ve always preferred dark meat.) A friend told me he cooks his for over an hour to soften the meat.

My friend Tom tells me that shallots and tarragon are also great with scrambled eggs, so I’ll have to try that too.

Here’s a picture of my dinner:

Thursday my friend Pete and I went to see Julie and Julia in the theater. Also in attendance were about 30 female grayhairs and one other man. I would have loved to interview some of the women watching with us to get their impressions. The theater was filled with laughter many times. I wonder how many of those women faithfully watched every Julia Child cooking show so they could provide healthy, tasty meals for their families.

I was mostly interested in watching the movie because the main character, (Julie Powell played by Amy Adams) was a blogger. She cooked her way through Julia Child’s book in one year and blogged about it. In the end she became a successful blogger and published a book and then this movie was made.

Julia Child (played by Meryl Streep) was a middle-aged married woman recently moved with her husband to France in the 1950s. With time on her hands, she took up cooking. This turned into a lifelong pursuit of perfection and a passion to help American women cook French food.

The movie was absolutely delightful. I laughed. I cried. I wanted to cook something. I left the theater feeling happy. There’s no better entertainment than that.

What really moved me was thinking how one decision in each of these women’s lives and the passion that carried them forward changed the world. Who hasn’t heard of Julia Child? And whereas formerly I didn’t know a thing about Julia Child, I am now very fond of her because of Julie Powell’s blogging success.

Julia Child was unflappable. She dove into cooking and spent years revising a cookbook and trying to get it published. She became disheartened at numerous rejections, but never gave up. Her book was finally published and now she’s a household icon.

So today I bought Julia’s Kitchen Wisdom: Essential Techniques and Recipes from a Lifetime of Cooking, which looked like a great buy at 40% off. Since I never learned to cook, I guess I need to understand some basic principles.

Now that I’ve chosen the paleolithic diet, I want to learn how to cook. And her book on French cooking is probably a good place to start. So I’ll be buying that as well when funds allow.

Have you heard of the French paradox? Our medical establishment calls it a paradox because it violates their propaganda about saturated fats and cholesterol. Turns out the French are eating all sorts of fatty things and not dying nearly as often of heart disease as we are.

Amazon’s number 1 bestseller today is Mastering The Art of French Cooking, Volume One , which is at 45% off. Her book Mastering the Art of French Cooking Vol. 2 is coming in at #16 and is 40% off.

We all have this potential to make changes for the better in the lives of others. What can you do to impact your world? What drives you? What fills you with passion and gets your mind seething with creativity? This is why you are here, and you will never be really fulfilled until you act on these impulses.

Michael Eades posted today about a book by Leirre Keith called The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice, and Sustainability , which ties in well with some of the thoughts I posted yesterday. Thanks, Michael! I’m definitely going to have to get my hands on this book. (So many good books, so little time.)

I wanted to share a short video with you in which Keith discusses some of the agricultural problems with the vegetarian/vegan diet.

Did someone mention baby bunnies?