Good morning reader friends, I hope you're enjoying summer so far and that you're starting to dig into all the delicious fresh, local produce that we're blessed with these days. I just picked up 2 1/2 flats of organic strawberries and had a great chat with the farmer, too. I love this close-up shot after I had them all cleaned. 🙂
By the way, this week I'm a “crew leader” for VBS at our church (it's crazy, but fun), so if you email me, my replies may be even slower than usual…
- I really need your input on this one. “What if our health care crisis could be solved?” A new film, Forks Over Knives, asks that question, but from the two trailers I saw (see below), sadly, their answer to that seems to be a “plant-based diet”. This almost always means eating soy products (for protein), and a lot of grains, too. I strongly believe that too much of those are detrimental to our health, so what's the answer? I've said it before, why oh why do ALL animal products often get blamed for our health crisis instead of the real problem: conventional animal products?!!! (Did you see my post on this: Are Meat Eaters Ruining the Earth?) Here are the trailers:
- Do you want to see the first post ever written for this blog?! I'm slowly but surely going back in and adding pics to my early posts, because in the beginning, yes I was that green, I didn't know all posts needed a picture. So here's it is: Ancho-chili lime mayo (pictured on a burger) and youza is it ever gooooood.
- Did you see this sad statistic? “CDC study finds 1 in 6 U.S. children have a developmental disability… A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study shows that the prevalence of developmental disabilities among U.S. children has risen by 17% during the past 10 years — driven by an increase in autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder — and about one in six American children have a developmental disability. Researchers said the increase was likely because of more preterm births, higher age of parents and better diagnosis and screening for disabilities. They also predicted an increased need for health and education services.” Washington Post How sad is that? And they think it's all due to “more preterm births, higher age of parents and better diagnosis and screening for disabilities”?!!! Gee, could something like the HUGE increase in the number of vaccinations kids get or maybe what they are being FED have anything to do with it??? Anything at all??? The CDC would never go there, that's for sure. The truth is too financially risky for them. I know it sounds all conspiracy theory-ish, but what else explains why they are “missing” such obvious factors?
Have a great week!
Amy says
I agree with Bobcat, there’s nothing wrong with grains and veggies. In fact, I think they’re very healthy! A plant based diet is great, BUT we need animal products in there, too, for sure.
I’m always highly suspect of anytime natural foods are demonized. Like calling milk evil. The big trend now is to vilify fat, sugar and salt. I say we have far bigger fish to fry. What about the chemicals, the GMOs? Those are so much worse than any natural food. To take the salt out of school meals while leaving in the chemicals is pure craziness in my mind.
On the developmental disabilities: Education costs are rising but no one ever says why. Teachers are being laid off, they’re certainly not getting huge raises every year, so what is it? I think these disabilities are the main reason behind the increases (students with disabilities require a lot of extra care that the schools are obligated to provide), but no one wants to say it. We are paying a massive cost for the cheap food in this country, between health care costs and education costs. When will people realize this? The other unfortunate thing is, those that actually pay the extra for good food have to pay the societal costs, too.
bobcat says
I agree that soy and grains could be bad, depending on how they are prepared/consumed. But, I don’t think that the WAPF standards need to be mutually exclusive with the idea of eating a plant-based diet! I honestly do believe that a plant-based diet will help cure America from all our health issues, if we do it right. What if you could base your diet on plants (like delicious seasonal veggies), then accessorize it with meats and dairy and oils and fats of the highest quality, to get all those animal-based nutrients that we know are essential? I think both are necessary, but I think people need to hear “plant-based diet” because vegetables are the one food most of America is phobic of.
The CDC and the FDA are fat-phobic, but Americans are veggie phobic, if you watch how they eat (their actual behavior, not their rhetoric). Yes, Americans eat too many grains. Yes, they eat too much soy. Yes, they eat too much, period. They may be fat-phobic in their brains, but in their actual behavior, they are veggie-phobic. It kills me to watch it unfold!
KitchenKop says
I tend to think that Americans KNOW vegetables are good, it’s the fats that they need to be educated on more.
I also think that your idea isn’t a bad one, but I’d say that the veggies and small amount of grains should be our accessories and the meat and fats our staples.
Kelly
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
Jen,
That is awesome about your baby! My niece was born at 29 weeks & weighed just over 2#, how much did your little guy weigh?
Jen says
3 pounds, 1 ounce. 🙂 He’s amazing!
Jen says
I meant to say that the reason I told my story is because I’m older AND had a premature birth, two of the three reasons they’re blaming for the increase of developmental disabilities. There is no sign of anything wrong at all with my son, in fact his doctor is totally thrilled with his development. Prayers that continues! I think the fact that I ate traditional foods for the previous 3 years had everything to do with how well he and I both came through the ordeal.
KitchenKop says
Love your story! So how much does he way now? 🙂
Jen says
One of the two guys “turning their backs on their past” and coming to “the same conclusion” in the film has GOT to be the author of The China Study. Which, by the way, has been completely debunked by Denise Minger ( https://rawfoodsos.com/the-china-study/ ).
The CDC statistic is very sad, but every time I’m out and about I see evidence of it everywhere… even in my own family. 🙁
Thought I’d mention that I’m 41, and had my son in December at 29 weeks by emergency C-Section. However, he was in the 95th percentile for weight (for 29 weeks), was born screaming, and did not need any help breathing on his own. I had been eating traditional foods for 3 years prior… thank you WAPF!!! It had been a completely normal pregnancy, and the premature birth was completely unexpected. He is home, doing GREAT, and inching his way up the lower end of the growth charts for his actual age, not adjusted age! I pumped for 3 months, then transitioned him to the raw milk formula. He is thriving! Oh yeah, no vaccinitions either. 🙂 So yes, quality food and no injections of toxic poisons has EVERYTHING to do with health of infants and children.
Amber says
What??? EVERY blog entry has to have a picture!!!!! DANG IT… that’s what I’ve been doing wrong! 😉 That was fun reading your first one…
You mentioned being a “crew captain” for VBS… are ya’ll doing the Jonah curriculum this year as well?
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
No, we’re doing “PANDAMONIUM”! It’s fun, they’re always so clever, I could never come up w/ curriculum ideas. 🙂
Marcee says
We doing that one too! I’m helping out in the hot sun with the games. Getting LOTS of Vitamin D!!!
Marilyn says
I would like to sign up for the Seeds of Change free give away. Your blogs are amazing! Thanks!
Terri says
I hadn’t heard of this movie until a few months ago. My mother-in-law was told by her acupuncturist that she should see it. Since she knows I am into healthy eating, she asked me if I heard of it. I immediately looked into it and saw that it promoted vegetarianism and made milk and meat the villain! I of course had to try to explain to MIL (who BTW is 75) why I disagreed with the information presented in this film. This same acupuncturist told MIL how BAD raw milk was and she shouldn’t be drinking it….just when I was making progress within the family ; )
It is so frustrating at times trying to educate others when the general public believes the mainstream info!
Nourishing Nancy says
Hi Kelly,
Yes, that movie got my attention, too. Then, just like you, I realized it’s another “save the planet through vegetables” farce. I often think about how gullible humans are: we know, somewhere in the back of our memory draws, that humans have always eaten meat, but can be absolutely persuaded that that was a bad idea! I was one of them, back in my vegetarian days. It’s just amazing how powerful suggestion is.
Stanley Fishman says
Eating a Weston A Price style diet, which includes a large amount of animal foods, especially animal fats, is the answer to just about everything involving food and health. It is crucial that the animal foods be truly natural and not the factory versions, which are greatly inferior.
The large agricultural industry loves grains and vegetables because they make much more profit by selling them. They spend a great deal of money pushing grains and vegetables.
But our bodies love animal foods.
Mrs. Bennett says
I would like to sign up for the seed give-a-way. Thanks for the opportunity!
ValerieH says
Forks Over Knives was panned by the local Chicago film critics. They didn’t get into the diet wars. They just said it was a boring movie. https://www.ebertpresents.com/movies/forks-over-knives
I find it very interesting that India and China, the cutlures with the longest history of vegetarianism, also have the most complex ancient medical systems. We don’t know what the European healing methods were because so many women were burned as witches in the middle ages. Even though agriculture goes hand in hand with chronic illness, it led to advancements we would not have seen as hunter-gatherers. Everything has a purpose.
I am trying to be optimistic about the state of the national diet. Our current trajectory cannot sustain itself. Like Potteneger’s cats, our population is reaching the end of its fertility. Something HAS to change. People are waking up. The information is available. It’s hard to watch the suffering. I am not sure whether to try to change things (lobby Congress) or just do my thing. I don’t want to waste my energy opposing monoliths like Monsanto or the CDC. I could funnel that energy into supporting people like Kelly and this great blog :D.
One of my friends at work was just diagnosed with Celiac Disease. I told her about the GAPS diet. She went out and bought a chicken for bone broth. She even bought chicken feet! She pushed herself outside her comfort zone because she hit the wall and was tired of suffering.
Heather says
Those statistics are scary. I work with people with developmental disabilities, and went to a workshop put on by a psychiatrist about three years ago in regards to this. At that time, the EPA cited that at that point in time, 3 in 10 kids had some sort of DD or MI (ADHD, bipolar) issues. The projected that 10 years from then, it would be 6 in 10. That psychiatrist cited mostly environmental reasons for this dramatic increase, and this was as per EPA information. I don’t have the study names or anything, but that information has stuck with me.
nicolette @ momnivore's dilemma says
as one of the mamas who has a child who falls into the 1 in 6…it really cooks me when they blame the rise on such simple factors. it’s the damn shots, our nasty food supply, our water supply, and our environment. in my sons’ case, it was shots + antibiotics+ food intolerances.
Soy protein needs to be villified, as does low fat diets…
Roxanne - TheHolisticMama says
I agree with your section about the CDC. It annoys me so much when people and organizations try to the blame on other factors and don’t admit that the problem is really about FOOD and VACCINES. Children don’t have the proper nutrition to grow into healthy people…
Peggy says
In my typical “follow the money” jadedness, Kelly, I’m afraid the first thing I thought when I read the blurb about the CDC statistic was that there’s no percentage in healthy food. There’s bucks in vaccinations: BIG bucks. There’s bucks in the form of subsidies for bad food. There’s and unbelievable amount of money and dishonesty involved in drugging kids to make them able to withstand a public school life. (Abraham was born to an older mom, and we know how HE turned out, right? 😉 ) Eat, drink and be merry, for today we homeschool!
Lori @ Laurel of Leaves says
I’m with you–I hate that the majority of the “health food” world blames meat for health & environmental problems. I wonder if there are any money trails to be followed to the true beginning of this line of reasoning . . . ?
Looking forward to Real Food Wednesday! I have a great salad recipe to share 🙂