I’m no nutritionist. In fact, as I write this I am probably about 50 pounds overweight, which I guess depending on how you look at it could indeed make me a food expert. But for the most part, I’ve learned as an adult that I have horrible eating habits. I was raised like many other millennials. McDonald’s was a greatly anticipated treat at least once a week, and at home my mother made us tacos, meatloaf, cheese burgers, spaghetti, fried chicken and pork chops. Lots of potatoes, corn and 2% milk in the mornings with my Cinnamon Toast Crunch.
Basically, my mom raised us on a diet of death. She didn’t know, of course, that the food industry was controlled by a few large corporations, or that the FDA was completely controlled by the same interests. I remember doing a micro-documentary a few years ago connecting all the power players in D.C. who were in charge of SNAP (food stamps), to Pepsi-Frito Lay, Coke, Nestle and 7-Eleven. My mom, who raised me in the 80s and early 90s, didn’t have the Internet, endless amount of food documentaries, or even the organic boom that has given us healthier options in our grocery stores.
As a parent today, I do have those tools. I have seen those documentaries, and as a father, having this information has transformed teaching my children about food into another responsibility.
Anyone willing to give 10 minutes of research into our food will quickly learn that Monsanto, in cooperation with our government, is pretty much destroying humanity. Ravaging our farmlands, suing our family farms with frivolous lawsuits, and mutating our seeds into a crime against nature, thus affecting people, bees, and even neighboring crops who aren’t even using their products. Kids today are exposed to GMO food in almost everything they consume. The fish we eat, even caught wild, may have come across GMO food. It’s not just the likely candidates like soda, chips and salty snacks; the GMOs are in the ingredients for our breads, cereals, meats, rice, teas, soups, and thousands of other individual meals.
Why does this matter? It matters to me because I want to raise my children to think, and I truly feel that giving them GMO products and other damaging foods can potentially harm them. Like I said, I am not a nutritionist, but common sense tells me that if humans practice unnatural habits like swallowing pesticide, over-consuming processed foods, and living off of the bi-products of other animals, it’s probably not going to be good for your body. You probably aren’t going to be running at 100%. I don’t know the long-term effects, but when I see the government going out of its way to allow large corporations to expose us to all kinds of chemicals and engineered food products, I know it can’t be good for my kids. Knowing what I do about the government’s involvement in the economy, I am scared to even consider how ignorant I am about its involvement in our food.
In my household, we’ve done our best to get back to the basics. Literally starting from scratch, forgetting about what we are supposed to eat during certain times of the day, and just totally mixing it up. In all that we do when it comes to food, my wife and I try to always offer up fruit and vegetables throughout the day.
This morning, for example, my kids and I blended up some frozen bananas and strawberries for breakfast. Yesterday it was salmon and salad. I know this goes against General Mills’ marketing, but, you know what, I feel better than ever. And I feel great knowing that my kids are giving their bodies the carbs and calories they were designed for.
Everyone reading this goes against the grain in many ways (no pun intended), and I know this is just one more thing that will make us the odd balls out, but it may indeed be the most important action we take.
My children regularly snack on carrots with Himalayan pink salt, or dip their cucumbers in apple cider vinegar, so it’s not as if we are just sitting around grazing on grass. The foods we eat are still great, and we include a wide variety of choices to complement our taste buds.
Letting go of the American diet was just one more act of liberty that we thought beneficial for our children, and I believe they will benefit greatly by learning how to truly eat. Because in today’s environment, I don’t even know if much of what we eat can be called food anymore.
– Daniel Ameduri aka The Dissident Dad
For more info see this author’s bio.
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Oh yes, you are right. Here is one of my recipes. Pancakes made from blended oatmeal, raspberries, chopped carrots, chopped dates, eggs, and lactate fat free milk. I love them. I can’t stand the kind in the box. I don’t put syrup on mine They don’t need it. Perhaps a little applesauce or something that stirs the pallet.
Good on you for doing what you’re doing. IMO you’re about halfway there. Get a juicer (I use Breville) and juice fruits and vegetables once per day and substitute the juice for one meal. To make it tastier for kids (and adults for that matter), make sure you add apples, beets or oranges (without peel) with the veggies. After a week, you’ll never go back to anything else. 🙂
And you’ll drop those 50 lbs. like a bad habit in 4-5 months.
I lost 35 pounds and reduced pre-diabetic blood sugar levels to normal in five months by eliminating wheat/gluten from my diet and also avoiding the many gluten-free and any other foods and beverages that use GMO food ingredients (corn, soy, canola oil, cotton seed oil, and sugar from sugar beets (not labeled as cane sugar). The most dramatic weight loss occurred in the first two months of avoiding these foods. If you want to lose weight and feel better consider trying these diet changes.
“potentially harm”
Congratulations; the hand-wringing nanny-statists have got to you.
EVERY item can ‘potentially harm’ so that clearly isn’t good enough.
GMOs have now been tested more than non-GMO, raising the question; how do you know that non-GMO food is safe, when the lack of testing proves that it could ‘potentially harm’ us?
Worse for you, how do you plan to go back, now that Normal Boralug’s success has made millions dependent on GMO?
The asymmetry in the testing for GMO vs non-GMO is open-and-shut, BTW. Without addressing that distinction, your argument is DOA.
The Europeans have tested and resist importation of GMOs. It’s hard not to notice they have much lower rates of chronic illness and obesity.
So “Europeans” is your evidence?
Tommy, follow the money trail to your bank account. That will give you the answer.
I use a credit union for my dollars.
So, is that it, then?
Just the meaningless ‘revealed’ standard, like the Astrologers, and upon an irrelevant basis, then you’re out of here, pretending you’ve made a point?
Good job falling on your sword.
You be sure to let me know when you have, you know, evidence, like someone who knows what he’s talking about, OK?
One thing is for sure I admire you tenacity.
Where does the credit union get your dollars? In other word where does the money in your credit union account come from?
From me, obviously.
I see from your waffling bullshit that you don’t actually have a valid point.
… right?
That means you were wrong and should stfu.
FYI.
Again, I love you Mother EST language. The source of your paychecks will give you the answer you want.
And, again, your waffling bullshit proves you don’t have a VALID point.
(Hint; I have personal clients who pay me directly. You are chasing irrelevant bullshit instead of making a valid point FOR A REASON. Would you like, assuming you can, to learn what it is?)
“the answer you want.”
Reading comprehension problems, huh?
I’ve repeatedly TOLD you what I seek; evidence that proves you aren’t just full of shit.
If you keep retreating from your opportunity to present some support for your notions, I’ll have to conclude that you don’t have any, and that you believe stupid shit because you’re stupid, OK?
To Tommy Maq:
Claiming that studies prove GMO products are safe to eat — are you talking about the one conducted by Dr. Van Eenennaam, former research scientist and then project leader for Monsanto? The one where she gives a table summarising 10 studies on pigs revealing changes in blood biochemistry, haematology, immune function, intestines (histology), kidney weights, liver weights and gut bacteria in pigs fed GM feed –which she then concluded that these studies show that eating GM crops caused no adverse effects in animals.
These were short-term, limited studies on one particular kind of animal. Show me any long-term studies of the effect of GMO products on HUMANS, that are NOT conducted/funded by current or former employees of the biotech or ag food industry and perhaps someone might take your comments seriously.
I never made any such claim, nor would I, because science doesn’t prove things true. Getting that backwards probably means you have nothing valid to say, but why don’t you humor me and try again? Try addressing what I SAID instead of discrediting yourself with the strawman fallacy again.
” Show me any long-term studies of the effect of GMO products on HUMANS, that are NOT conducted/funded by current or former employees of the biotech or ag food industry and perhaps someone might take your comments seriously.”
Actually, the challenge, as I’d explained, was for someone who is against GMOs (I’m guessing that’s you) to present some studies of non-GMO food to establish that it’s safe. I’m guessing from the way you tried to change the question that you don’t have anything.
That means you lost the argument, so remember what you learned today: because GMO food has been tested far more than non-GMO, “could potentially harm” obviously applies to non-GMO food far more than GMO.
Got it?
I’m confused by people who get so nasty in their defense of a corporate product. You must make your living based on the success of this science experiment we are all living through. Maybe gmos are the cause of such rude behavior on Internet chat boards. You sound like a defensive jerk child just attacking anyone who dares to question the safety of consuming large amounts of pesticides. Since the medical system is swamped with more and more chronic illness it seems pretty rational to question the choices we’ve made that have led us to this point.
TommyMac is a pro-GMO ideologue and troll, likely paid. Don’t engage him directly…it only encourages him…and he’s only here to irritate people, and create conflict. Don’t feed trolls like him!
TommyMaq, you are obviously very intelligent, so I guess you’re just stupid! Do you really think you can trust the people doing the testing? It’s the government, elitists just like you! The fox is guarding the hen house, Follow the money it will lead you from Monsanto through to the government. You know communists like you……..
Do you have any evidence for your conspiracy theory, or are you, like most moonbats, trotting out unfalsifiable bullshit because you don’t like the ACTUAL conclusion based on the evidence?
More power to you. Just thinking about it is key.
My grown family of millenneals in the US is affected by all the standard afflictions: overweight, no exercise, smoking, tatoos and recreational drugs. Unlike you, they were exposed to a good diet and exercise regime – and rebelled. If life is pointless, so is all that other stuff.
It is important that they understand how diet works, and also that they think they have something important to do in life. There needs to be a reason for maintaining good health.
https://www.facebook.com/Cornucopia.Institute/photos/a.84288542116.93553.72977977116/10152541527242117/?type=1&fref=nf
I use a color wheel to encourage my kids to eat healthy–throw all the processed crap away, and pretend it’s gray brown (it is without dye). But carrots and okra or shrimp with black olive dip–these provide pretty color contrasts for young children. I don’t obsess about it just take a big picture view of all these little choices the less processed the better. And resetting your body and mind allows you to follow real food cravings naturally…