Monday, April 19, 2010

Food Wars

Only in America do we have class-ism in food. The New Trend is to go Organic. But isn’t food supposed to be organic to begin with? Isn’t that the essence of food?
When poor people go shopping for food, it is less than nutritious than what rich people could buy. Inexpensive food is chemically laced with almost no Nutritional Value.
But wealthy people will spend $20 on a 4 oz jar of peanut butter that has real ingredients.
The poor and middle class have poor diets in America.
When I went to Italy, the food for all is organic. They use the same farming practices they have used for centuries. In fact Italy hosts two “Blues Zones”. Sardinia and Apulia/Calabria People have healthy diets and lifestyles.
Only during the 20th century was a large supply of new synthetic chemicals introduced to the food supply. This more recent style of production is referred to as "conventional." Under organic production, the use of conventional non-organic pestcides, insecticides and herbicides is greatly restricted and saved as a last resort. However, contrary to popular belief, certain non-organic fertilizers are still used If livestock are involved, they must be reared without the routine use of antibiotics and without the use of growth hormones, and generally fed a healthy diet.[ In most countries, organic produce may not be genteically modifies. It has been suggested that the application of nanotechnology to food and agriculture is a further technology that needs to be excluded from certified organic food. The Soil Association (UK) has been the first organic certifier to implement a nano-exclusion.
Organic food production is a heavily regulated industry, distinct from home gardening. Currently, the European Union, the United States, Canada, Japan and many other countries require producers to obtain certification in order to market food as "organic" within their borders. Most certifications allow some chemicals and pesticides to be used], so consumers should be aware of the standards .

In the European Union 3.9% of the total utilized agricultural area is used for organic production. The countries with the highest proportion of organic land are Austria (11%) and Italy (8.4), followed by Czech Republic and Greece (both 7.2%). The lowest figures are shown for Malta (0.1%), Poland (0.6%) and Ireland (0.8%)
Austria:
· 11.6% of all farmers produced organically in 2007. The government has created incentives to increase the figure to 20% by 2010.[
· 4.9% of all food products sold in Austrian supermarkets (including discount stores) in 2006 were organic. 8000 different organic products were available in the same year.



Italy:
· Since 2005 all school lunches must be organic by law.
Poland:
· In 2005 168,000 ha of land were under organic management. 7 percent of Polish consumers buy food that was produced according to the EU-Eco-regulation. The value of the organic market is estimated at 50 million Euros (2006).
UK:
· Organic food sales increased from just over £100 million in 1993/94 to £1.21 billion in 2004 (an 11% increase on 2003).
Caribbean
CUBA:
· After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990, agricultural inputs that had previously been purchased from Eastern Bloc countries were no longer available in Cuba, and many Cuban farms converted to organic methods out of necessity. Consequently, organic agriculture is a mainstream practice in Cuba, while it remains an alternative practice in most other countries. Although some products called organic in Cuba would not satisfy certification requirements in other countries (crops may be genetically modified, for example, Cuba exports organic citrus and citrus juices to EU markets that meet EU organic standards. Cuba's forced conversion to organic methods may position the country to be a global supplier of organic products.

Jamie Oliver has a new TV show called Food Revolution, this is his staement:

I believe that every child in America has the right to fresh, nutritious school meals, and that every family deserves real, honest, wholesome food. Too many people are being affected by what they eat. It's time for a national revolution. America needs to stand up for better food! You live in an amazing country full of inspirational people and you have the power to change things. With your help, we can get better food into homes, schools and communities all over America and give your kids a better future. Sign the petition to save America's cooking skills and improve school food. It could be the most important thing you ever do for your family. America's health needs you now!

While Frankenfoods/modeified food are known to cause health and nutrition problems. One day we must finally make food organic again.