Our Food Supply - Corruption & Failure

Junk food causes heart disease Left to their own devices, food manufacturers have taken it upon themselves to set their own food standards, and are more or less free to openly deceive the public about the nature of the ingredients in their products.

Some corporations even show their own version of a food pyramid, leading us to believe that their highly refined products form the foundation of good health. Most of these foods are filled with chemicals and artificial ingredients that have created the foundation for the epidemic of chronic disease in the US today. Thanks to the power of persuasive advertising, it is paying off big time… at the direct expense of not only our health, but the health of our pets and children.

Related Articles

False Advertising & False Health Claims

Food is a multi-billion dollar business when it comes to annual profits. A big chunk of this profit is used in savvy, misleading advertising, designed to shape the way people think and act, pacifying the public and lulling them into trusting the colorful claims on the labels. Splashy images show green pastures, pretty flowers, happy animals, beautiful bodies, and fresh ingredients - just some of the marketing strategies that manufacturers use to try and convince the public that the products are healthy. Billboards and TV commercials relentlessly invade our thoughts with alluring pictures of yummy desserts and tantalizing meals.

Many people are completely unaware that the government provides very lax standards on how to use the terms "health" and "natural" and "heart-healthy" and "No. 1 Doctor-recommended", which gives food corporations free-run to make outrageous claims. The cold, hard truth is that these words are plastered on thousands of extremely unhealthy products filled with ingredients that are toxic, and that contribute to the steadily rising rates of chronic and degenerative diseases. The popular slogan "contains whole grains!" fools us into thinking that the main ingredient is whole grains, when often it is a tiny part of an ingredient list filled with artificial chemicals and preservatives. Full marks to the savvy advertisers!

The lack of concern about the health and welfare of the consumer is staggering.

Why Unhealthy Food Is So Cheap

Why is it that unhealthy food is cheaper than healthy food? Government subsidies are a big cause, contributing to the health epidemic by making it cheaper to produce and purchase chemicalized and highly refined foods.(1)

The government subsidizes American farmers to produce crops such as corn and soybeans (most of which are genetically modified), substantially increasing their production. Less than 10% of the USDA subsidies are spent on fruits and vegetables. It is simply not as profitable for farmers to grow fruits, vegetables, and healthy grain products.

What is healthy for us to eat is not what the government pays farmers to grow.

Corn & Soy - Processed Beyond All Recognition

Processed corn and soy are two of the absolute worst offenders in our food chain. Corn and soy in their natural, whole state are healthy foods. But not in today's industrialized American food chain. These two products are processed and genetically modified beyond all redemption and are now used in thousands of different food items, including:

Processed human foods (adult and infant)
Processed pet foods
Feed used in agriculture for factory farming, instead of a natural grass-fed diet

Processed soy sludge (processed soy) and corn products are used as a cheap method of creating meat substitutes, and for adding flavor to packaged junk foods, soft drinks, and fast foods. Unfortunately, they now form the basis of many vegans and vegetarian foods, quickly transforming these healthy diets into another version of the standard American junk food diet.

Vegetarian & vegan living: Doing it right...

Unfortunately, derivatives of these two products are now found in over 90% of processed foods as hidden ingredients:

What you need to know about corn & soy...

Soy

Processed soy has now made its way into almost every category of food in our supermarkets. From meat substitutes and frozen meals, to cereals, crackers, cooking oils, soy milk, salad dressings, soy ice cream, food emulsifiers (lecithin), condiments, soy protein bars, protein shakes, and supplements, to feed for farmed animals, and pet foods - heavily processed and refined soy is everywhere. The majority of it is genetically modified.

Some of the foods containing soy are falsely marketed as "heart healthy," which they are not, as the American Heart Association themselves have clearly stated. Soy should also never be fed to infants. Soy infant formulas are banned in some countries and carry serious warnings in others, yet they are still widely available in the US.

Healthy food does not contain processed soy because processed soy is NOT a healthy food! It is a sludge that does not belong in the body. The only soy that should be eaten is non-GMO fermented soy, or non-GMO whole soybeans (edamame). If you are purchasing soy sauce, always look for Nama Shoyu (unpasteurized soy sauce), which is sold in many health food stores, and make sure it is not genetically modified.

Corn

Similar to soy, it is now very difficult to find a packaged food product in the supermarkets, pet foods, and livestock feed that does not contain genetically modified and highly processed corn derivatives that in no way resemble their original healthful state. The ONLY corn ingredient that should be listed in any food is "sweet corn," and it should be non-GMO.

Let's take a look at some common processed corn and soy derivatives hidden in refined foods:

Soy Derivatives		Corn Derivatives

any ingredient with the word "soy" soy flour lecithin hydrolyzed vegetable protein soy protein isolate protein concentrate textured vegetable protein vegetable oil (simply, fully, or partially hydrogenated) soybean oil plant sterols soy sauce soybean oil guar gum The only soy ingredient that should ever be eaten is fresh, organic soybeans (edamame), or non-GMO unpasteurized soy sauce (Nama Shoyu).		any ingredient with the word "corn" citric acid, any citrate ingredient ferrous gluconate cellulose corn starch, corn meal, starch corn flour corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup corn oil monosodium glutamate dextrin, maltodextrin, dextrose, polydextrose, glucose, maltitol, maltose, mannitol, ethanol saccharin hydrolyzed vegetable protein The only corn ingredient that should ever be eaten is fresh, organic sweet corn.

Advertising to Children

Junk food cereal Since marketing to children became deregulated in the US, childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions. Many other countries do not allow food companies to market junk food directly to children, but in the US, there is no such regulation. Advertisers are allowed to cleverly disguise junk food with advertising techniques such as pretty, fun pictures of favorite cartoon and action figures aimed at brainwashing children.

Experts predict that our children may possibly be the first generation in American history to live a shorter lifespan than their parents.

Massive marketing dollars are spent on marketing to children, and even more shocking, government agencies and many health professionals even endorse some of these campaigns.

Parents Need to Step Up to the Plate

Children are too young to have a sense of personal responsibility when it comes to their health. They quickly develop brand loyalty to cartoon characters on processed food packages, nagging their parents into buying these fun and enticing foods that are highly processed and chemicalized.

Marketers drive a wedge between children and parents, undermining healthy food choices parents try to encourage. The advertising cleverly convinces children that the food is "special" and "only for them." Under the age of 8, children do not have the cognitive capacity to understand what marketing is (for example, separating a cartoon character from a product being advertised).

If parents stopped buying these products in favor of healthy and nutritious food, then the unhealthy products would no longer exist. But the supply is based on the demand, and few parents are stepping up to the plate to make the demand for healthier choices.

Some parents are uneducated about what constitutes a healthy meal, and others are unaware of the dangers of eating foods that are devoid of true nutrition. Some assume the government would never allow dangerous foods in their food chain (think again). Others know, but are simply too worn down by the pestering of their children. Unfortunately, it also comes down to what we have in our wallet, and fast food and junk food are simply cheaper and more convenient than their healthy counterparts. They price their children will later have to pay with their health is not on the radar screen.

Why kids are getting sicker & fatter...

Healthy vs. unhealthy foods for children...

How Do They Get Away With It? The Power of the Lobbyists

The power of the lobbyists How is it possible that the food industry can get away with these tactics? How can it be legal that food corporations can make false health claims and call a food "natural" when it is filled with artificial chemicals, highly processed products, and genetically modified ingredients? How is it possible that corporations can do this unpunished, when a local farmer selling unpasteurized milk and cheese to local residents can be jailed, looted, and bullied by government officials (the same unpasteurized milk that was delivered to the doorsteps of millions of people back in the days of our parents and grandparents).

The answer is very simple: The power of the lobbyists. The government receives financial contributions from powerful lobbyists, lobbyists who prevent government agencies from stating simple, obvious nutritional truths about processed foods because it would damage profits. The food corporations spend tremendous sums of money on lobbying in Washington. During 2011, agricultural companies employed 1,081 federal lobbyists who were working for 443 clients at a cost of $123.6 million. This puts them in a very powerful place and gives them an extremely unfair advantage when it comes to influencing food policies and regulations.⁽²⁾

How politics has contaminated our food...

"During 2011, agricultural companies employed 1,081 federal lobbyists at a cost of $123.6 million."

Food Safety News

Politicians may claim that corporate donors do not influence the policies they promote, but the end result reveals the opposite.

Would the meat or dairy industry continue to provide funding to a Senator that questioned the goodness of dairy products, or educated the public that pasteurized dairy products are not healthy products and have been linked to osteoporosis and other bone-related disorders? Of course not! They would have no reason to fund the Senator.

Politicians need very large sums of money to become elected, and some of their biggest backers are the food and pharmaceutical companies. These companies include General Mills, Kraft, Pepsi, McDonald's, Dairy Farmers of America, National Beer Wholesalers Association, United Egg Association, and many others. Of course these companies would not freely give money to politicians with zero return on their investment!

The truth about pasteurized dairy...

No Education on Diet & Lifestyle

Exploring how diet and lifestyle choices create disease is a critical piece of the puzzle in solving America's healthcare crisis. Why? Because our diet and lifestyle choices are the root cause of nearly all chronic diseases. Today, there are 27 institutes and centers at the National Institutes of Health, but none are devoted to nutrition, despite the fact that the public has a very strong interest in natural methods of healing.

The top 2 causes of chronic disease

#1 - What you put in your mouth
#2 - How you handle your stress

Although the government has devised the MyPlate nutritional recommendations for the American public, it does nothing to promote it or educate the public on the subject of foods high in nutrition. Most people have never even heart of MyPlate. The government also does not educate the public in understanding that your genes play a VERY small role in whether or not you will suffer from the same sicknesses as your parents or grandparents - under 5% - so blaming your genes does not help. The environment you surround yourself with and the food you eat plays a far greater role in whether or not "bad" genes will be expressed in your life.

Why you are NOT a victim of your genes...

Today's medical curriculum for doctors does not provide education on the dietary approach to preventing and treating disease. Doctors have little to no understanding of how diet affects our health, as their focus is largely on reactive medicine, not preventative. They do not learn about population-based studies showing the connection between diet and disease. They are unaware that diet has been used to treat many types of chronic disease in clinical studies that they themselves are only qualified to treat with prescription pills. The preventative and healing power of food is not part of the standard medical curriculum.

The Solution

When it comes to the dietary crisis and the wave of chronic and autoimmune diseases sweeping across the western world, there is a lot we can do as individuals. More and more people are wising up to the fact that the government and healthcare system has not only failed to provide us with what we need, but has contributed to the problem. They are now turning towards more natural solutions on how to both prevent disease, and restore themselves to a state of health.

Where do begin? We begin by first understanding how we get sick and how we heal, and then by providing the body with all the tools it needs to restore itself to a state of balance.

Bring your body back into balance
The Body Healer Protocol

In this section...

In other sections...

View Sources & References

In This Section