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Do You Know Where Your Food Comes From?

You can get great results from eating healthily, but if you don’t know where your food comes from you could be putting both your own, and your family’s, health at risk.

Some people believe a trip to the nearest supermarket to stock up with a selection of food from the low-cost meat, fruit and vegetable sections is sufficient to keep them healthy. Many people who think this also believe they have no other choice. But healthy eating is just education and knowing what to look for. Like most things in life, wherever you are on your healthy eating journey you can learn to get more skilled at it than you are today. If you do buy your food from a large supermarket then the chances are the food you’re putting into your shopping basket every week is not as healthy as you think it is. This is because the food industry is producing basic everyday essentials that could be making you and your family sick if you don’t know where your food comes from.

Low-cost food – the price is higher than you think

Supermarkets and large food chains have entered a price war with each other and are driving down the cost of producing food in large quantities in order to supply their customers with cheaper and cheaper prices.

On the face of it, this appears to be a good thing, until someone comes along and lifts the veil to disclose the truth about where your food comes from.

Also known as factory farming, intensive farming and modern farming, they call it progress, a marriage between science and technology. Food is produced faster, fatter, bigger, and cheaper. But the price is much higher than most people realise.

What makes this really sickening is this; the biggest predictor of obesity and disease is income level because the lower paid cannot afford to buy real food anymore. If that isn’t bad enough many Governments around the world are heavily subsidising the cheap food industry to help it prosper instead of subsidising real food to make it affordable for everyone.

What the food industry doesn’t want you to know

Many people are unaware of the darker side of the food industry.

We’ve learnt to avoid processed foods, sugary foods, salty foods, added chemicals and preservatives but this modern farming method is potentially far more deadly.

For example, cows that once grazed peacefully in green fields eating nothing but grass are now being kept in pens only big enough for them to stand up in or lay down. They are fed cheap corn to make them grow fat, and then they are slaughtered and their meat enters the food chain.

Feeding animals on cheap corn causes a high level of Omega 6 fatty acids to accumulate in their body, this high level of Omega 6 fatty acids creates an imbalance which makes them gain weight quickly. This is good for the farmer because it reduces the amount of time it takes to get the animal ready for slaughter which means the farmer gets paid faster for less work. This method saves time and money and keeps the price of the meat low.

However, when the end consumers (you and I) buy this type of meat product, the fattening affect is passed on to us too because the meat is too high in Omega 6 fatty acids.

This applies to all meat that has been intensely farmed such as cows, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, ducks and turkeys etc.

If you or I were to keep animals in these conditions we would be prosecuted and banned from keeping animals for life but because it’s for the food industry the authorities turn a blind eye.

You are entitled to know where your food comes from and how it was farmed, so you can make informed choices and avoid intensely farmed food if you want to. Unfortunately the food industry does not make it clear enough on the information labels but a good indication of modern farming methods is a sticker that’s appeared lately in my local supermarket that simply says “Improved Welfare”.

We all have the right to speak up

As public awareness grows customers are beginning to question the ethics of the food industry.

Last week I left a message on my local supermarket’s website asking for an easier labelling system:

A few days later I received this reply via email:

I wasn’t the only person voicing my concerns about intensive farming either.

Luckily for us, supermarkets are customer driven, meaning they will only sell what their customers want to buy. At the end of the day, they are only concerned with making a profit and if enough people ask for more ethically sourced food then they will give it.

The truth is it’s the customers who have the power to put an end to it all

If products don’t sell well then the supermarkets won’t stock them. We all cast our vote every time we go shopping with the items we put in our baskets.

The RSPCA says this on their website:

If you want to enjoy all the benefits of healthy eating and good nutrition such as a healthy body, glowing skin, bright clear eyes and shiny hair then it’s time for you to speak up and say you care about where your food comes from.

Don’t ever feel that your opinion doesn’t count because you can have your say and make your feelings known.

If you’re sick and tired of fighting the battle against weight gain and health problems then there are several things you can do:

The RSPCA recommends you should make sure you are armed with all the facts about where your food comes from and how it is produced. You can then make an informed choice.

Add more locally grown or organic products to your grocery list.

Eat better quality food and buy less of it.

Cut down on the amount of cheap food you buy.

Only buy what you need and cut down on waste.

Cook from scratch using good quality ingredients

Watch the Food, Inc. Documentary (see below)

Share this page so more people become aware.

Recent Revelations In the Food Industry

After the recent horse meat scandal hit the news in the UK a Which? survey has shown that 60% of UK consumers have changed their shopping habits. Maybe this is the tide of change that will alter the way we shop and view food for ever.

Trust in the food industry has never been so low with many people demanding tighter laws covering labelling and ingredient lists.

It doesn’t help that the food chain is so complicated and the traceability of many meat products back to source is now impossible.

You can read more here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21765737

Have your say on the Which? survey here:

http://conversation.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/horsemeat-scandal-lessons-trust-supermarkets-tesco-fsa-defra/

Full length documentary film

I have done a lot of research into this and found factory farming is far more widespread than many of us think. For legal reasons I cannot name any of the participating companies but I can recommend you watch the documentary film made by Food, Inc. about the US food industry. Although factory farming is worldwide and not restricted to the US.

Filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on a nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanised underbelly that's been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of the US government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA.

You will be shocked, as I was, no matter how much you already know. This documentary shows disturbing scenes that made me cry but it also gives hope to everyone who wants to change where our food comes from.

Watch Official Food, Inc. Trailer:

You can get your own copy of the full length documentary from either Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Food, Inc [DVD] from Amazon.co.uk

Food, Inc. DVD from Amazon.com

Charities are working hard

Many charities work tirelessly to gather information and evidence of cruelty in factory farming to bring law suits and prosecutions to the worst offenders. Some farms have been shut down but their fight continues on a daily basis and they need our help.

Big name brands stocked by leading supermarkets have found themselves under investigation after hidden cameras have revealed the terrible reality behind closed doors.

Hillside Animal Sanctuary has video evidence on their website showing how low these big companies will stoop in order to make a profit at our expense. They employ low paid workers who do not care about the welfare of the animals they are paid a pittance to look after.

Here are two Hillside Animal Sanctuary investigations that were reported in the UK National Press:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/secret-film-exposes-chicken-factory-1338652

http://www.people.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/2011/09/18/sickening-scenes-at-freedom-food-pig-farm-102039-23427967/

Food Matters

Food Matters is a feature length documentary film informing you on the best choices you can make for you and your family's health.

Watch the Official Trailer:

With nutritionally-depleted foods, chemical additives and our tendency to rely upon pharmaceutical drugs to treat what's wrong with our malnourished bodies, it's no wonder that modern society is getting sicker. Food Matters sets about uncovering the trillion dollar worldwide 'sickness industry' and gives people some scientifically verifiable solutions for overcoming illness naturally.

Watch the first 40 minutes free

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