WHAT: Congressional Hearing on NAIS (National Animal Identification System) WHEN: Wednesday, March 11 WHERE: Washington, DC
The U.S. House Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy and Poultry will hold a hearing on NAIS on March 11, 2009. Bills to enact NAIS into law, HR875 and HR814, are being pushed through Congress, as well as an enormous "Appropriations Bill", i.e. massive spendulus program, with funding for NAIS which passed in the House and is now awaiting in the Senate.
This House hearing is critical to blocking mandatory NAIS. Blocking passage of the appropriations bill, 1105, is also critical.
Here is the first one HR 814 - the bottom line is that the Dept of Ag can:
1. Make all farmers who bring an animal to a USDA slaughterhouse participate in this program or the USDA slaughterhouse can refuse them (regardless of whether you are selling your meat in state or across state lines).
2. Farms will need a premise ID to ensure traceability from farm to consumer in order to comply with this bill.
3. The Dept of Ag can send a rep out to your farm to inspect and copy your records for each animal.
HR 814 -TRACE ACT of 2009
This Act may be cited as the `Tracing and Recalling Agricultural Contamination Everywhere Act of 2009′ or `TRACE Act of 2009′.
SEC. 414A. TRACEABILITY OF FOOD.
(a) Establishment of System- Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall establish a traceability system described in subsection (b) for all stages of manufacturing, processing, packaging, and distribution of food.
(b) Description of System- The traceability system required by subsection (a) shall require each article of food shipped in interstate commerce to be identified in a manner that enables the Secretary to retrieve the history, use, and location of the article through a recordkeeping and audit system or registered identification.
SEC. 26. TRACEABILITY OF LIVESTOCK, MEAT, AND MEAT PRODUCTS.
(a) Definition of Traceability- In this section, the term `traceability’ means the ability to retrieve the history, use, and location of an article through a recordkeeping and audit system or registered identification.
(b) Requirements-
(1) IN GENERAL- Cattle, sheep, swine, goats, and horses, mules, and other equines presented for slaughter for human food purposes, and the carcasses or parts of carcasses and the meat and meat food products of those animals, shipped in interstate commerce shall be identified in a manner that enables the Secretary to trace–
(A) each animal to any premises or other location at which the animal was held at any time before slaughter; and
(B) each carcass or part of a carcass and meat and meat food product of such animals forward from slaughter through processing and distribution to the ultimate consumer.
(2) TRACEABILITY SYSTEM- Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall establish a traceability system for all stages of production, processing, and distribution of meat and meat food products that are produced through the slaughter of animals described in paragraph (1).
(c) Prohibition or Restriction on Entry- The Secretary may prohibit or restrict entry into any slaughtering establishment inspected under this Act of any cattle, sheep, swine, goats, or horses, mules, or other equines not identified as prescribed by the Secretary under subsection (b).
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The second bill establishes NAIS via the newly created Food and Safety Administration, run by the “Administrator” - whoever that is….
HR 875 - ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FOOD SAFETY ADMINISTRATION
SEC. 210. TRACEBACK REQUIREMENTS.
(a) In General- The Administrator, in order to protect the public health, shall establish a national traceability system that enables the Administrator to retrieve the history, use, and location of an article of food through all stages of its production, processing, and distribution.
b) Applicability - Traceability requirements under this section shall apply to food from food production facilities (FARMS), food establishments, and foreign food establishments.
ACTION: Please call and fax all members of the subcommittee (below).
1. When you call, ask to speak to the legislative aide for agriculture.
2. Please send this to everyone you know, ESPECIALLY to people in the states with members on the subcommittee. Members need to hear from their constituents- -the people who vote them into office. It's important that residents of Colorado and Connecticut call in. The representatives sponsoring these atrocious bills are Diana DeGette (D-CO) and Rosa DeLauro (D-CT).
Also, email Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. His e-mail address is AgSec@usda.gov.
Finally, contact your Senators and tell them NOT to support HR1105.
The message is simple: We don't want, nor will we comply with, the National Animal Identification System in any form.
It doesn't matter that there is ever more consumer demand for locally raised animal products. The government could kill small farming with these bills.
If you are a farmer, take action or lose your right to raise animals.
If you are not a farmer and you plan on raising animals in your backyard, take action or lose the right to raise these animals. How easy/cheap do you think it will be to order a few chicks by mail order from a hatchery when the whole process will require traceability by a bloated government organization?
If you are a consumer of locally raised meat, take action or lose the right to eat the food you want. This isn't an exaggeration. Most people think the choices in our supermarkets are greater than ever before, but this is mostly true for produce and processed foods. Check out the meat products available in London in the mid-1800s. Ask yourself how many of those species and cuts of meat are available in your supermarket today in 2009. Some of this is simply a result of consumer choice, but a good deal of it is regulation. Try finding brain, for instance. It's loaded with DHA and perfectly safe if it comes from grass-fed animals, but the regulators have banned access to it.
The government/Big Ag juggernaut wants to shut down our freedom of choice for their short-term goals. Remember, NAIS is a program invented by Cargill, etc. to gain access to the export market, which requires traceability. They are not content to form a voluntary program on their own; they are the ones who presented the idea to the USDA; they would rather have small farmers pay for the program so that they can benefit (every animal tagged vs. one tag for hundreds of animals for the corporate farm).
If we don't act, small farmers will be forced out of business and we will be faced with one species of chicken raised in a few "approved" warehouses in the United States where the animals are packed in like sardines. Same for every other farm species, of which over 30 will be tracked by this proposed program. Not only is this a violation of our rights, it will further consolidate and endanger our food supply. Any thinking person who understand the principles of disease control could tell you that this is an epidemiologic nightmare waiting to happen -- and the results would be the exact opposite of the supposedly beneficial intentions of this tracking program.
It's that simple. Your sustenance is in peril. Don't think if you are a vegetarian or a vegan that regulation of food "safety" doesn't affect you. "Safety" is just an excuse for ever greater control over our food supply -- whether it is forced regulation /safety /pasteurization / irradiation mandates for meat, milk, or vegetables.
LOW-CARB FOOD STAMP DIET A SUCCESS Week's Diet Proves Good Nutrition Possible on Low Budget
Ari Armstrong ate nutritious food February 4-10 for less than food stamps provide. For the week, he ate only meat, dairy, eggs, olive oil, vegetables, fruit, walnuts, chocolate, tea, and spices. He did not eat any grains, vegetable oils, hydrogenated fat, potatoes, or processed sugar.
For compete details about the diet, including receipts and photographs of select meals, see http://tinyurl.com/a9l7z3.
Armstrong spent $33.07 for the week, or $4.72 per day. (He added 78 cents of bananas to preliminary figures.) However, he had around $5.30 worth of food left at the end of the week, bringing the daily total to around $4. Food stamps provide $5.68 per day to a single individual -- see http://www.fns.usda.gov/FSP/faqs.htm.
Armstrong said, "With this diet, I wanted to prove again that eating well on a low budget is possible. I also wanted to protest increases in the food-stamp budget. People should not be forced to fund the unhealthy food-stamp program. Instead, I favor voluntarily funded food banks, which are better able to offer nutritious food to those in need."
Ari and his wife Jennifer spend a month in 2007 eating a higher-carb -- but still nutritious -- diet for $2.57 per day each.
We are pleased to announce that Congressman Ron Paul has introduced a bill (HR 778) that would repeal the current ban on raw milk and raw milk products for human consumption in interstate commerce. The ban has made it more difficult for consumers to access raw milk and has hurt the ability of raw milk producers to make a living.
Passage of the bill into law would go a long way to stopping the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in its efforts to completely shut down the supply of raw milk.
To be successful, HR 778 must have co-sponsors. Your help is needed. Now is the time to mobilize consumers and farmers across the U.S.
Background
On January 28 Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) introduced HR 778, a bill "to authorize the interstate traffic of unpasteurized milk and milk products that are packaged for direct human consumption." Under the bill, the federal government "may not take any action...that would prohibit, interfere with, regulate, or otherwise restrict the interstate traffic of milk, or a milk product, that is unpasteurized and packaged for direct human consumption solely on the basis that the milk or milk product is unpasteurized...." The bill defines "interstate traffic" as "the movement of any conveyance or the transportation of persons or property...from a point of origin in any State or possession to a point of destination in any other State or possession...."
Passage of the bill into law would repeal the federal regulation prohibiting raw milk and raw milk products for human consumption in interstate commerce. That regulation (21 CFR 1240.61) provides, in part, that "no person shall cause to be delivered into interstate commerce or shall sell, otherwise distribute, or hold for sale or other distribution after shipment in interstate commerce any milk or milk product in final package form for direct human consumption unless the product has been pasteurized...."
The regulation is judge-made law having been issued in response to a 1986 court order requiring FDA to prohibit the sale of raw milk and raw milk products in interstate commerce. The people's branch of government, the Legislature, had no input in the issuance of the regulation.
The bill honors States' rights and would not force a State to legalize the sale of raw milk by producers within its boundaries nor would it force a State to allow the sale of raw milk from out-of-State producers in its retail stores. As the law currently stands, raw milk cannot even be shipped from a State where its sale is legal into another State where the sale is also legal. The bill would enable consumers to enter into transactions to obtain raw milk and raw milk products from other States without the transactions being in violation of federal law.
The consumption of raw milk is legal in every State, yet its sale is currently illegal in about half the States. HR 778 would enable those living in States where the sale of raw milk is illegal-and those living in States where the sale is legal but sources are not present-to be able to exercise their legal right to consume raw milk. As Congressman Paul stated in introducing the bill, "Americans have the right to consume these products without having the Federal Government second-guess their judgment about what products best promote health. If there are legitimate concerns about the safety of unpasteurized milk, those concerns should be addressed at the state and local level.
Personally, I don't even think that states or local governments should have anything to say about a person's right to obtain raw milk. The people at the FDA can be tyrants but so can local and state officials, as evidenced by the Lorain County (Ohio) Health Dept. raid on the Stowers farm and co-op, Manna Storehouse. "But how can we guarantee the safe supply of raw milk without government standards?" it is often asked. Well, here in Colorado we have a wonderful independent organization of producers and consumers, the Raw Milk Association of Colorado, that has guidelines for the safe production of raw milk. It is a perfect example of the type of self-regulating organization that would emerge in a laissez-faire, capitalist milk market. And it works wonderfully. There hasn't been a single food-borne illness outbreak from raw milk in Colorado in the entire time the raw milk program has been operating for approximately 30 years. Such organizations could exist in any state or county and would set far more objective standards with regard to raw milk than government officials, whose standards are too often arbitrary and changing whims based on bad science or political pressure. We've seen that type of pressure even at the state level. This isn't an issue of states' rights. It's an issue of individual rights. However, I'll still take concrete progress on this issue if we can get it, and this bill would definitely mean progress.
WAPF continues:
FDA's position is that "raw milk should not be consumed by anyone, at any time, for any reason." The agency is working to impose this belief upon those who would disagree. FDA is currently pushing some States to toughen their laws on raw milk production and sales while trying to move other States to ban the sale or other distribution of raw milk altogether. Rather than meddling in the States' exercise of their police powers, FDA should be focusing its resources and attention on the many problems that exist in our faltering industrial food system.
Raw milk producers stand to benefit significantly from the passage of the bill. Nearby and accessible markets would be opened up to them with the passage of the bill. Small dairy farms, whose continued existence is threatened, could be enabled to survive with the additional customers that would now be available to them. Conventional small dairies suffering from the collapse in milk prices paid them by dairy cooperatives could transition to selling or otherwise distributing raw dairy products with a greater likelihood of success. Lifting the ban would also promote the local food movement by connecting consumers with producers who happen to live just across state lines.
Action to Take
HR 778 has been assigned to the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Those supporting the bill should contact members of the Committee as well as their own Representative to encourage them to sign on as co-sponsors for the bill. See links and committee members below.
Supporters of the bill are encouraged to write letters and make phone calls. Letters of one page or less can be sent to each member by email and then sent by postal mail. Suggested points to make in the letter are as follows.
1. The bill upholds consumer freedom of choice. The consumption of raw dairy products is legal in all fifty states. The bill enables consumers to exercise their legal right in States where the sale of raw milk and/or raw milk products is illegal or where there are no in-State sources.
2. The bill upholds States' rights. Decisions about the safety of raw milk should be made at the state and local level, not by the federal government.
3. The bill supports family farms by expanding their markets for raw dairy products. The bill increases the chances of survival for those dairies that are no longer able to subsist solely on the income from the dairy cooperative system.
4. The bill promotes the local food movement by connecting consumers to producers who happen to live just over state lines.
5. The bill would free FDA to focus on the pressing problems in our food system, e.g., tainted imports, under-inspected large-scale food processors.
The status of the bill can be tracked on the internet by entering "HR 778" in the Search field at www.thomas.gov; be sure to select "Bill Number" instead of "Word/Phrase".
Please join me in writing your members of the House depending on the state in which you live. I will be focusing on point one -- an individual's right to purchase raw milk -- in my letter, encouraging my representatives to sponsor this bill.Below are members of the commerce committee. Above are all members of Congress should you wish to write all your representatives.
Energy & Commerce Committee Members
Mike Ross, AR Michael A. Ross (D-AR) The Honorable Michael A. Ross United States House of Representatives 2436 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-0404 DC Phone 202-225-3772 DC Fax 202-225-1314 http://ross.house.gov/?sectionid=77�iontree=7677 http://www.house.gov/ross/
George Radanovich, CA George P. Radanovich (R-CA) The Honorable George P. Radanovich United States House of Representatives 2410 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-0519 DC Phone 202-225-4540 DC Fax 202-225-3402 http://radanovich.house.gov/Contact/email.htm http://radanovich.house.gov/
Henry A. Waxman, CA, Chair Henry A. Waxman (D-CA) [Chairman] The Honorable Henry A. Waxman United States House of Representatives 2204 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-0530 DC Phone 202-225-3976 DC Fax 202-225-4099 http://www.house.gov/waxman/contact.htm http://www.house.gov/waxman/
Jerry McNerney, CA Jerry McNerney (D-CA) The Honorable Jerry McNerney United States House of Representatives 312 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-0511 DC Phone 202-225-1947 DC Fax 202-225-4060 http://mcnerney.house.gov/contact.shtml http://mcnerney.house.gov/
Diana DeGette, CO Diana DeGette (D-CO) The Honorable Diana DeGette United States House of Representatives 2335 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-0601 DC Phone 202-225-4431 DC Fax 202-225-5657 http://www.house.gov/formdegette/zip_auth.htm http://degette.house.gov/
Cliff Stearns, FL Cliff Stearns (R-FL) The Honorable Cliff Stearns United States House of Representatives 2370 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-0906 DC Phone 202-225-5744 DC Fax 202-225-3973 http://www.house.gov/writerep/ http://www.house.gov/stearns/
Kathy Castor, FL Kathy Anne Castor (D-FL) The Honorable Kathy Anne Castor United States House of Representatives 317 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-0911 DC Phone 202-225-3376 DC Fax 202-225-5652 http://www.house.gov/writerep/ http://castor.house.gov/
John Barrow, GA John Barrow (D-GA) The Honorable John Barrow United States House of Representatives 213 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-1012 DC Phone 202-225-2823 DC Fax 202-225-3377 http://barrow.house.gov/ima/contact.htm http://barrow.house.gov/
Nathan Deal, GA Nathan Deal (R-GA) The Honorable Nathan Deal United States House of Representatives 2133 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-1010 DC Phone 202-225-5211 DC Fax 202-225-8272 http://www.house.gov/deal/contact.shtml http://www.house.gov/deal/
Bobby Rush, IL Bobby L. Rush (D-IL) The Honorable Bobby L. Rush United States House of Representatives 2416 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-1301 DC Phone 202-225-4372 DC Fax 202-226-0333 http://www.house.gov/rush/zipauth.shtml http://www.house.gov/rush/
Steve Buyer, IN Stephen E. Buyer (R-IN) The Honorable Stephen E. Buyer United States House of Representatives 2230 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-1404 DC Phone 202-225-5037 DC Fax 202-225-2267 http://www.house.gov/writerep/ http://stevebuyer.house.gov
John Sarbanes, MD John P. Sarbanes (D-MD) The Honorable John P. Sarbanes United States House of Representatives 426 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-2003 DC Phone 202-225-4016 DC Fax 202-225-9219 http://sarbanes.house.gov/federal.asp http://sarbanes.house.gov/
Fred Upton, MI Fred Upton (R-MI) The Honorable Fred Upton United States House of Representatives 2183 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-2206 DC Phone 202-225-3761 DC Fax 202-225-4986 http://www.house.gov/writerep/ http://www.house.gov/upton/
John Dingell, MI, Chair Emeritus John D. Dingell (D-MI) The Honorable John D. Dingell United States House of Representatives 2328 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-2215 DC Phone 202-225-4071 DC Fax 202-226-0371 http://www.house.gov/writerep/ http://www.house.gov/dingell/
Roy Blunt, MO Roy Blunt (R-MO) The Honorable Roy Blunt United States House of Representatives 2229 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-2507 DC Phone 202-225-6536 DC Fax 202-225-5604 http://www.blunt.house.gov/Contact.aspx http://www.house.gov/blunt/
G.K. Butterfield, NC G. K. Butterfield, Jr. (D-NC) The Honorable G. K. Butterfield, Jr. United States House of Representatives 413 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-3301 DC Phone 202-225-3101 DC Fax 202-225-3354 http://butterfield.house.gov/contactinfo.asp http://butterfield.house.gov/
Sue Wilkins Myrick, NC Sue Myrick (R-NC) The Honorable Sue Myrick United States House of Representatives 230 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-3309 DC Phone 202-225-1976 DC Fax 202-225-3389 http://myrick.house.gov/zipauth.shtml http://www.house.gov/myrick/
Frank Pallone, Jr., NJ Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) The Honorable Frank Pallone, Jr. United States House of Representatives 237 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-3006 DC Phone 202-225-4671 DC Fax 202-225-9665 http://www.house.gov/pallone/contact.shtml http://www.house.gov/pallone/
Anthony Weiner, NY Anthony Weiner (D-NY) The Honorable Anthony Weiner United States House of Representatives 2104 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-3209 DC Phone 202-225-6616 DC Fax 202-226-7253 http://weiner.house.gov/email_anthony.aspx http://weiner.house.gov/
Eliot Engel, NY Eliot L. Engel (D-NY) The Honorable Eliot L. Engel United States House of Representatives 2161 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-3217 DC Phone 202-225-2464 DC Fax 202-225-5513 http://www.house.gov/writerep/ http://engel.house.gov/
Betty Sutton, OH Betty Sutton (D-OH) The Honorable Betty Sutton United States House of Representatives 1721 Longworth House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-3513 DC Phone 202-225-3401 DC Fax 202-225-2266 http://sutton.house.gov/about/emailform.cfm http://sutton.house.gov/
Zachary Space, OH Zack T. Space (D-OH) The Honorable Zack T. Space United States House of Representatives 315 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-3518 DC Phone 202-225-6265 DC Fax 202-225-3394 http://space.house.gov/?sectionid=61�iontree=2661 http://space.house.gov/
John Sullivan, OK John Sullivan (R-OK) The Honorable John Sullivan United States House of Representatives 434 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-3601 DC Phone 202-225-2211 DC Fax 202-225-9187 http://sullivan.house.gov/contact/write.htm http://sullivan.house.gov/
Joseph Pitts, PA Joseph R. Pitts (R-PA) The Honorable Joseph R. Pitts United States House of Representatives 420 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-3816 DC Phone 202-225-2411 DC Fax 202-225-2013 http://www.house.gov/pitts/contact.shtml http://www.house.gov/pitts/
Michael Doyle, PA Michael F. Doyle (D-PA) The Honorable Michael F. Doyle United States House of Representatives 401 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-3814 DC Phone 202-225-2135 DC Fax 202-225-3084 http://doyle.house.gov/email_mike.shtml http://doyle.house.gov/
Tim Murphy, PA Tim Murphy (R-PA) The Honorable Tim Murphy United States House of Representatives 322 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-3818 DC Phone 202-225-2301 DC Fax 202-225-1844 http://murphy.house.gov/Contact/zipauth.htm http://murphy.house.gov/
Bart Gordon, TN Bart Gordon (D-TN) The Honorable Bart Gordon United States House of Representatives 2306 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-4206 DC Phone 202-225-4231 DC Fax 202-225-6887 http://gordon.house.gov/contact/index.shtml http://gordon.house.gov/
Marsha Blackburn, TN Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) The Honorable Marsha Blackburn United States House of Representatives 217 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-4305 DC Phone 202-225-2811 DC Fax 202-225-3004 http://blackburn.house.gov/contactform/ http://blackburn.house.gov/
Gene Green, TX Gene Green (D-TX) The Honorable Gene Green United States House of Representatives 2372 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-4329 DC Phone 202-225-1688 DC Fax 202-225-9903 http://www.house.gov/green/contact/ http://www.house.gov/green/
Michael Burgess, TX Michael Burgess (R-TX) The Honorable Michael Burgess United States House of Representatives 229 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-4326 DC Phone 202-225-7772 DC Fax 202-225-2919 http://burgess.house.gov/Contact/Offices/ http://burgess.house.gov/
Jim Matheson, UT James D. Matheson (D-UT) The Honorable James D. Matheson United States House of Representatives 2434 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-4402 DC Phone 202-225-3011 DC Fax 202-225-5638 https://forms.house.gov/matheson/contact.shtml http://matheson.house.gov/
Donna Christensen, VI Donna M. Christensen (D-VI) The Honorable Donna M. Christensen United States House of Representatives 1510 Longworth House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-5501 DC Phone 202-225-1790 DC Fax 202-225-5517 http://www.house.gov/writerep/ http://www.donnachristensen.house.gov/
Comedian (and former health writer) Tom Naughton replies to the blame-McDonald's crowd by losing weight on a fat-laden fast-food diet while demonstrating that nearly everything we've been told about obesity and healthy eating is wrong. Along with some delicious parody of Super Size Me Naughton serves up plenty of no-bologna facts that will stun most viewers, such as: The obesity "epidemic" has been wildly exaggerated by the CDC. People the government classifies as "overweight" have longer lifespans than people classified as "normal weight." Having low cholesterol is unhealthy. Lowfat diets can lead to depression and type II diabetes. Saturated fat doesn't cause heart disease -- but sugars, starches and processed vegetable oils do.
Q: What inspired you to make a film challenging Super Size Me?
...I thought Super Size Me was very well done and very amusing, but at the same time a couple of things about it really bugged me. One was the overall premise, that it’s McDonald’s fault people are getting fatter. That’s ridiculous. Ronald McDonald can’t force you to eat anything, and most people eat at McDonald’s once in awhile, not everyday.
But what really bugged me was when I realized Spurlock’s math didn’t add up. I spent a good part of my adult life as a serial dieter, so I have a pretty good idea what the calorie counts are at McDonald’s. When Spurlock’s nutritionist told him he was consuming 5000 calories per day, alarm bells went off in my head. There’s no way you can consume that many calories at McDonald’s if you’re following his supposed rules.
Q: So in your opinion, Super Size Me is essentially dishonest.
A: Yes, it’s dishonest. Long before I saw it, I heard people talk about how Super Size Me shows what would happen if you just ate three meals per day at McDonald’s. But that’s not what it shows. It shows what would happen if you decided to stuff yourself like crazy so you could gain weight and make a movie about it. You could stuff yourself at a vegan restaurant and gain just as much weight, if that was your goal.
Q: You did exactly the opposite: you ate nothing but fast food for a month and lost weight. How did you manage that?
A: I did it by intentionally ignoring the standard-issue nutrition advice.My doctor of course warned me that if I was going to live on fast food, I should eat as many salads and grilled chicken breasts as I could so I wouldn’t consume too much fat. But I knew better. I ate a lot of fat, because fat is what keeps you feeling full and satisfied. But I did limit my carbohydrates to about 100 per day, because that’s the real key to losing weight, at least for me.
I appreciate Naughton's stance on individual rights. He's exactly right. No one is forcing anyone to eat at fast food restaurants, and it's really none of the government's (or anyone else's) business whether McDonald's wants to sell me an entire bucket of french fries for fifty cents:
This summer when I was on the road for 6 weeks, I ate at McDonald's several times. It usually wasn't my first choice because I consider it a pretty expensive place to eat. My diet was uber-low carb at the time, so I opted for pre-packaged hard boiled eggs, cheeses, and meats at the grocery store most of the time, which I would store in my small cooler in my car. (It's pretty easy to find a grocery store when traveling on road trips.) Yet despite eating and McDonald's about 1o-15 times during the course of that six weeks, I lost several pounds.
Just yesterday, my fiance and I went to McDonald's for a quick lunch and I ordered two double cheeseburgers. I probably got some minimal amount of high fructose corn syrup from the ketchup and who knows what in the processed cheese but I otherwise did very well for less than $2.50. I pulled off the buns and threw them away. I also could have avoided the cheese by ordering a different burger or even asking them to withhold the cheese. That was my choice, and it's really not anyone else's business. Anyone could make a similar or better choice and come away with a relatively healthy meal. Some of us could make even better choices at McDonald's if political pressure of the McGovern dietary committee hadn't influenced them, and farm subsidies hadn't made it cheaper to start using vegetable oils for their French fries. I'd enjoy some fries at McDonald's if they'd return to frying them in beef tallow.
Personally, I think the least offending items to health at McDonald's are the burgers. Naughton shows in Fat Head that if you eat a lot of fat, even at fast food restaurants, your lipid profile will improve and you might even lose weight. That certainly mirrors my own experience. Just call me Fat Girl!
Fat Head appears to be a great expose of the government's role in perpetuating the nutritional myths that were displayed in SuperSize Me, too:
Check out the rest of the clips from the film at Fat Head the Movie. You can order Fat Headhere.
What Can You Buy on Food Stamps? By Monica @ 7:41 AM
Last year, Colorado resident and blogger Ari Armstrong set out to show the types of purchases one could make on the government's food stamp budget at less than $3 per person per day with his FoodEconomyChallenge. Ari is at it again! He will now show how it's possible to eat a "low carb" diet -- generally heavy in nutrient dense foods and often claimed to be too expensive for the poor -- on the government's new food stamp allotment of $4.74 per person per day:
MEDIA RELEASE
ACTIVIST PLANS LOW-CARB DIET ON FOOD STAMP BUDGET New Diet Protests Food Stamp Increases
A healthy diet is achievable on a food stamp budget, and Ari Armstrong plans to prove it, again. Armstrong, who previously spent a month eating for $2.57 per day -- see http://tinyurl.com/c35e8q -- will spend February 4-10 eating a highly nutritious, low-carb diet for less than food stamps provide.
Armstrong said, "Not only has Congress increased the food stamp budget since my $2.57 per day diet, but the so-called 'stimulus' package calls for additional food-stamp funds. Enough is enough. I oppose any increases to the food stamp budget, and call for the program to be replaced with voluntarily funded food banks, which offer more nutritious food at lower cost."
Armstrong's new diet, unlike his previous one, will be low-carb, roughly following the advice of such writers as Gary Taubes and similar to "paleo" or "cave-man" diets. The diet will consist of meat, dairy, eggs, vegetables, fruit, nuts, olive oil, chocolate, and spices. It will not contain any grains, vegetable oils, hydrogenated fat, potatoes, or processed sugar.
Armstrong will limit his daily budget to $4.74 per day, less than food stamps provide to a single individual. The Department of Agriculture -- see http://www.fns.usda.gov/FSP/faqs.htm -- offers a family of four $588 per month, or $4.74 per person per day. (The food stamp allotment is reduced for those deemed able to fund some of their own food.) Armstrong will not accept any free food, and he will shop only at nearby regular grocery stores. He will track all his purchases and receipts at FreeColorado.com.
"With the previous diet, my goal was to minimize daily expenses. With the new diet my goal is to show that a very healthy diet is possible on a limited budget. The cost of my diet will actually be inflated, not only because I'll be eating no free food, but because a week's diet is not able to take advantage of bulk purchases of sales items," Armstrong pointed out. "I've been known to purchase 40 pounds of bananas, a dozen squash, or twenty pounds of meat when they're on sale; obviously that's not possible for a single week."
Part of the motivation to track the new diet was a recent CNN report -- see http://tinyurl.com/d2lb5g -- in which a woman on food stamps complains, "We get like the mac and cheese, which is dehydrated cheese -- basically food that's no good for you health wise... Everything is high in sodium and trans fats... and that's all we basically can afford. There's not enough assistance to eat healthy and maintain a healthy weight."
Armstrong replied, "That's nonsense, and I'm prepared to prove it. I'm frankly irritated that some food stamp recipients waste our tax dollars on overpriced junk food, then complain about their grocery budget. I'll make the following offer. For anybody on food stamps who complains that they can't afford good food, I'll be more than happy to evaluate your entire monthly budget, including your grocery budget, and recommend judicious cuts, limited to the first five people who reply."
This ought to provide some wonderful evidence to contradict the claims of those suggesting that a food stamp budget doesn't allow them to eat healthily. Kudos to Ari for initiating the new Food Stamp Challenge!
