Coca Cola Life

Props to Coca Cola for creating a high quality, better for you than their regular soda, product.  According to The Huffington Post:

Coca-Cola announced on Wednesday plans to sell the company's first stevia-sweetened Coke product, Coca-Cola Life, in Argentina beginning this week.

Stevia, a natural sweetener derived from a species of plants native to South America, Central America and Mexico, is sweeter than sugar but has no calories. Coca-Cola Life will have about half the calories of regular Coke.

I've personally had stevia directly from live plants on multiple occasions when I apprenticed at a green house.  It is delicious and absolutely a worthwhile replacement for high fructose corn syrup and whatever other junk they normally put in their sugar water.  I'll probably never try this soda, specifically because it will be in Argentina but also because, well no matter how good they claim it is, it's still soda.

Drinking Soda Instead of Water

... The American Way!  Drink two liters of soda a day and avoid water at all costs.

PopSci reports:

A 31-year-old Monaco woman was recently admitted to the hospital after suffering arrhythmia and fainting spells. Her potassium levels were found to be absurdly, dangerously low. These are bad warning signs, but the woman had no family history of heart problems. Further investigation revealed that the patient had not had a sip of water in 16 years; instead she drank only cola.

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The patient suffered severe fainting fits.

Amazingly, as soon as the doctors took the patient off of her bonkers cola habit, her potassium levels and QT intervals returned to near-normal. Within one week, her QT interval was 430 ms, and her blood-potassium levels returned to 4.1 mmol/L. Amazing how much torture the human body can bounce back from!

It's incredible that this woman's health was able to bounce back so quickly from such extended exposure to this poison.  It says alot about the human body that after spending years smoking the lungs can revert to their perfect health after just a few years.  Apparently the body is capable of similar healing from other negative life style choices. 

It is great that her potassium went back to normal and she is no longer fainting, however I am sure there are other aspects of her health that are not so quickly reversed by this about face.  With that said, if you smoke, if you drink soda or eat fast food, stop now!  Sooner than later your body will be healthy again, it may take a little time but no time is better than the present to start.

Genetically Modified Eggplant's Are Bad for You... SHOCKER!

Natural News reports:

Field trials of genetically-modified (GM) Bt eggplant, also known as Bt talong, have officially ceased in the Philippines following a major ruling by the nation's Court of Appeals. Representing a massive victory for food sovereignty, the Court found that Bt talong is a monumental threat to both environmental and human health, and has subsequently ordered that all existing plantings of Bt talong in test fields be immediately destroyed and blocked from further propagation.

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Everything about this common-sense decision by the Filipino justice system makes perfect sense - GMOs definitively spread their poisonous traits throughout the entire ecosystem, contaminating other crops along the way, and thus have no place in agriculture, period. But sadly, such common sense no longer exists in the U.S., where corporate greed and fundamental corruption have essentially placed profits before people in every aspect of life.
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Meanwhile, millions of acres of uncontested GMO crops in the U.S. continue to ravage both human and environmental health while the hordes of mindless puppets in the U.S. Congress ignore the issue or even pretend that GMOs are not an issue.
It is a sad state of affairs when the majority of the world's nations know GMO is terrible and ban it outright, yet somehow in America most of you are completely blind and ignorant to the issue.  

Welcome to America, WE'RE NUMBER 1!

Number one in heads buried deep in the sand.  

How to Feed 9.6 Billion People

IO9 has a great article on the future of feeding the world as our population reaches numbers never before seen.  

A comprehensive study suggests that food production is not on track to keep up with population growth. That means food prices are going to rise in coming decades. This trend could also reverse the progress we’ve made in world food security.

Previous studies have shown that we’ll need to boost current yields by 60% to 110% to meet rising demand and ensure food security. That means global crop production will have to double by 2050 if we hope to meet the needs of the 9.6 billion people projected to populate the Earth by that point.

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As noted, these effects will be particularly severe for low-income countries with rapidly rising populations. Guatemala is particularly problematic example — a country with a corn-dependent population on the rise, while corn production goes into decline.

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“Now, that said, we have the potential to feed the world,” he says. “We have more than enough land, sunlight, water, and nutrients. The number one problem is that many fields, particularly in poor countries, don’t produce nearly as much food as they could.”

Sadly I already know what the solution to this problem will be, GMO.  Not a good solution, but the one the world ends up going with sadly.  The better solution is start using propaganda for good and indoctrinate human beings to believe that growing their own food is the solution.  

Teach people to start their own gardens, use whatever space they have available to grow food.  I have less then ten feet by two feet of soil outside of my one bedroom apartment, every square inch is used for growing vegetables.  If you have a yard, you have more than enough space to feed your family.  

After going over some possible solutions to this problems the articles goes on to say:

In addition to these two approaches, Naam says we should reduce food waste (an estimated 25% of all food gets thrown out!) and reduce the ‘meat burden.’ He’s a bit dubious about the last point, but feels that more work should be done to develop vat grown meat.

Which is a great suggestion, stop wasting food and we'll have more to go around.  As far as the vat meat, I'd rather be a vegetarian!

Read the entire report here...

Eat Insects

(Bon Appetit)

This report came out a few weeks ago now where the UN tries to support eating insects to battle world hunger.  Natural News brought the situation up again today so I thought it was worth sharing their thoughts on the subject:

World hunger would not really be that big of an issue if people would just eat more insects as part of their normal diet. This is the basic premise of a new report recently put out by the United Nations (U.N.) Food and Agriculture Organization (F.A.O.), which actually makes the claim that ants, grasshoppers and other bugs are somehow healthier and better for the environment than the traditional protein-dense foodstuffs we are all used to eating. 

The ridiculous proposal gives a whole new meaning to the phrase, "Let them eat cake!" Except for the fact that, to most people living in developed countries, being told to eat bugs by an unelected and highly-corrupt entity like the U.N. is far more offensive. Worse is the fact that the U.N. is pulling out all the usual propaganda to push its new bug-eating agenda, including the tired warnings about how eating meat contributes to "global warming." 

"Insects are healthy, nutritious alternatives to mainstream staples such as chicken, pork, beef and even fish," claims the U.N. in its report  

Mmm Yum Yum!

Nazi Ronald McDonald

Vitamin C

I am dumb founded by the current status quo of doctors in America.  When someone come's in begging for help, explaining symptoms and hoping for a cure chances are they will be prescribed some sort of insane drug that will completely change their mental state and their ability to properly get through the day.  The doctors would rather give you a drug that gives you suicidal thoughts and blurred vision than possibly recommend a long term solution for a problem based on substances that actually help the body and don't just cover up the symptoms.

With all of that said, apparently Vitamin C is like a magic cure for many different diseases.  According to Natural News:


If you suffer from fatigue, muscle weakness, achy joints and muscles, bleeding gums or leg rashes - you could be vitamin C deficient. Everything from the common cold to cancer can't resist the healing power 
of vitamin C. In fact, there is not a known virus that can survive in the presence of this essential antioxidant.

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Eating enough vitamin C, antioxidant-rich foods make it virtually impossible for our body to experience cellular inflammation. And, remember, inflammation is an essential component to just about every chronic, degenerative disease - including cancer.

According to the work of Linus Pauling and the Linus Pauling Institute, vitamin C therapy has been shown to prevent, even reverse serious health condition, like cancer. 

So maybe next time your doctor tells you that some sort of crazy drug you've never heard of can help, you should ask him if there are any natural alternatives.  The  natural "drugs" may take longer to fix the problem, but they will actually fix it in the long run, instead of just covering it up and creating even worse problems due to side effects.  Stan Lee said it great in a Stan's Rant recently.

Just to be clear here, Big Pharma, you want to cure my mountain cedar allergies with a pill that will also give me cancer? 

GMO VS Non-GMO Companies

While many people claim to eat healthy, and think they are, in reality there are a ton of companies out there that claim to be "natural" or "organic" and are actually filled with genetically modified organisms. For a quick list of companies to avoid check out the image below:

On the opposite side of things you can check out this link to see a list of companies that are fighting the good fight to rid our food supply of GMO's.

Check out Natural News for more.

Bolivians Kick McDonalds out of their Country!

Natural News has a great article on just why Bolivia has rejected McDonalds and it's brand of "food".

McDonald’s happy image and its golden arches aren’t the gateway to bliss in Bolivia. This South American country isn’t falling for the barrage of advertising and fast food cooking methods that so easily engulf countries like the United States. Bolivians simply don’t trust food prepared in such little time. The quick and easy, mass production method of fast food actually turns Bolivians off altogether. Sixty percent of Bolivians are an indigenous population who generally don’t find it worth their health or money to step foot in a McDonald’s. Despite its economically friendly fast food prices, McDonald’s couldn’t coax enough of the indigenous population of Bolivia to eat their BigMacs, McNuggets or McRibs.

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The eight remaining McDonald’s fast food shops that stuck it out in the Bolivian city’s of La Paz, Cochabamba, and Santa Cruz de la Sierra, had reportedly operated on losses every year for a decade. The McDonald’s franchise had been persistent over that time, flexing its franchise’s deep pockets to continue business in Bolivia.

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Store after store shut down as Bolivia rejected the McDonald’s fast food agenda. Soon enough, they kissed the last McDonald’s goodbye.

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The rejection isn’t necessarily based on the taste or the type of food McDonald’s prepared. The rejection of the fast food system stemmed from Bolivian’s mindset of how meals are to be properly prepared. Bolivians more so respect their bodies, valuing the quality of what goes into their stomach. The time it takes for fast food to be prepared throws up a warning flag in their minds. Where other cultures see no risk, eating McDonald’s every week; Bolivians feel that it just isn’t worth the health risk. Bolivians seek well prepared, local meals, and want to know that their food was prepared the right way.   

That is awesome!  The people of Bolivia make the people of the "west" look like ignorant slaves to fast food.  Yet somehow westerners are the most civilized population in the world (in their own minds)?

Interactive Craft Beer Map

This is awesome!  A map of the U.S. that allows you to see which states have the most craft breweries, which breweries are the fastest growing, which make the most beer and so on and so forth.  How is your state doing in the Craft Beer revolution?

Here are two examples, the first being the newest craft breweries of 2012 the second being the largest craft breweries in the country, my personal favorite being highlighted on Long Island.  Oh how I cannot wait till the 4th of July to take a trip back to the island.  Family is a secondary reason, Blue Point Beer is the main one!

Burger King: Hands Free Whopper

According to Fox News:

Tired of the exercise required to lift a burger to your mouth? Have no fear. Burger King has found the solution.

In celebration of its 50th anniversary in Puerto Rico, the burger chain gave away 50 hands free Whopper holders. Yes, they are exactly what they sound like, plastic burger-holding devices that hang from the neck leaving your hands free to perform all sorts of tasks.

A Burger King-produced video announcing the product shows happy Whopper-eaters using their hands to ballroom dance, practice karate, box, trim hedges, give massages and shoot hoops.

To the sound of an electric guitar, the video begins with an introduction in Spanish that reads, “In a world of multitasking, how can you use your hands to do your daily activities and eat a Whopper at the same time?”

This may be an all-time low in the laziness to calorie intake ratio, but it does appear to make burger consumption much more convenient.

While it appears Burger King has removed its official ad for the Whopper holder, here is an unofficial version of the video in all its gluttonous glory. 

Are any comment necessary or is this story absurd enough on it's own?  

McDonalds: "We Don't Sell Junk Food"

“know what Hanna, if you don't like the food there, simple solution, EAT WHERE YOU DO LIKE THE FOOD. I don't like salads, but I don't go and try and make salad restaraunts look bad. You come off as a spoiled brat saying things will have to be my way or no way.”

“you know....if you don't like it, don't eat it...I am PROUD to work at the number 1 restaurant chain in the world!”

“Don't worry Mr. Thompson; no intelligent person is going to listen to a snotty little brat begging for attention and egged on my her idiot mother. When I want a Big Mac, fries and a chocolate shake no words from a rug rat is going to affect my decision.”

"Those were the tamest comments I could find" was the follow up statement from the mother of a 9 year old girl.  The girls remarks to the CEO of McDonalds about advertising junk food to children have gotten fervent McDisciples up in arms defending their favorite physical manifestation of their own disgusting existence.  

Being that I take info from sources both progressive and conservative this story comes from The Christian Science Monitor:

The mother of a nine-year-old girl who addressed McDonald's CEO Don Thompson at a shareholder’s meeting about the corporate practice of using toys included in meals as a means of getting kids to eat unhealthy food says there has been an enormous backlash in comments against her child from the brand’s supporters.

From the brands supporters?  I had no idea that McDonald's had evangelical supporters who care so much about their fast food company of choice as to send hate mail to a child.  Are there really people out there who care so much about Big Macs that they support the rights of a company who is openly poisoning them over a child who just wants to spread some common sense?! 

Margaret Meade once said, “It is easier to change a man's religion than to change his diet.” Amen to that, sister!

The sad truth of this statement does not escape me.  People get stuck in their routines and get addicted to certain chemicals very easily.  If your routine is to allow a teenager to deep fry and "grill" your dinner each night and said dinner is filled with chemicals, genetically modified organisms and corn syrup galore, sometime's it becomes easier to denounce God than to start eating healthy.  

So what was it that Hannah said to the McDonalds overlord that enraged his followers to such an extent?  

“Something I don’t think is fair is when big companies try to trick kids into eating food that isn’t good for them by using toys and cartoon characters," Hannah read. "If parents haven’t taught their kids about healthy eating, then the kids probably believe that junk food is good for them because it might taste good.”

“It would be nice if you stopped trying to trick kids into wanting to eat your food all the time,” the younger Robertson continued, still reading from the statement. “I make cooking videos with my mom that show kids that eating healthy can be fun and yummy. We teach them that eating a rainbow of fruits and veggies makes kids healthier, smarter, and happier because that is the truth.”

 “First of all, we don’t sell junk food, Hannah.”

~McDonalds Corporate Stooge  also known as CEO Donald Thompson

Kia Robertson said that she never imagined how vicious McDonald's supporters would be in their responses to her supporting her child’s decision to make her beliefs known to corporate America.

“People have been really rough on us over this, saying I’m a bad parent and accusing me of just doing this to promote my business,” Kia said. “Some of the things they wrote to Hannah directly via our website are just too vile and ugly to repeat. She hasn’t seen any of those, but it’s frightening to see people writing to a child this way. I guess being behind a computer, people feel like they can be that way to a child.”

First off, even if this was a way of promoting her business, it doesn't make the message any less relevant.  

Second this 9 year old girl is smarter, healthier, and more well adjusted than most anyone who eats at McDonalds on the regular, but definitely more so than those who attacked her.  

Third the people who did attack her truly deserve the diseases they are surely working on day in and day out.  

Turning the other cheek, being the bigger person, I think not.  Any one who would attack a 9 year old girl truly deserves whatever they get.  

Monsanto: Just the Facts... and My Opinion!

Monsanto Company

On Saturday May 25th thousands if not millions of people around the world took part in a March Against Monsanto.  The event took place in over 400 cities spanning 52 countries.  This was truly a world wide demonstration against one of the most evil corporation to ever exists.  Of course main stream media completely ignored the protests, Facebook censored images from the marches and the general public were too busy being fat and lazy to take notice.

Since the protest went down there has been an even more damning story to come out to the public about Monsanto.  Apparently in Oregon fields are being found with genetically modified wheat. The cause being Monsanto testing GM wheat in neighboring fields.  The GM wheat then pollinates other wheat in the area and ends up turning a perfectly healthy plant in to a genetic monstrosity.  The major issue beyond health concerns to be considered here is that many countries in the world who import wheat from America are now considering canceling their orders due to a concern over the GM crop which has not been approved by any agencies what so ever.

So my contribution to this movement is a detailed description of just why Monsanto is so evil.  Many people make profound claims with very little information to back it up, and when an intelligent reporter wants to make a movement look bad they can easily edit together a bunch of participants who just have no idea why they think GMO and Monsanto are not good for the world.  So here are the reasons why Monsanto and the GMO that they create are no good for the United States or the Global Community in general.

Monsanto Is...

 

... and of course the rest of the world, but considering Europe has banned GMO and in Hungary they went as far as burning GMO fields, it is the US that needs the most luck in this fight right now.

The New Format

So, it's been a while since I posted to Another Way to Eat.  The reason being, I haven't been eating out very often.  However with the recent March on Monsanto this past Saturday I started to get the idea of changing the format of this blog.  Sure, reviews of eateries are nice, and I sure will keep it as part of the blog, however what the main focus will be from now on is any story that's related to food that I deem interesting.

So with that said, stay tuned for four new blogs this evening involving Monsanto, McDonalds, Burger King and as out of place as it seems, Guantanamo Bay.  Remember just because super markets and restaurants choose to sell inferior food products doesn't mean you have to buy them, there is always another way to eat.  On top of that never let someone tell you eating healthy cost too much, because the cost of not eating healthy in the long run could be your health or even your life.