As food prices rise, we are all forced to reevaluate what we call “value.” We haggle quality for quantity trying to get more out of less. But can we afford to sacrifice quality nutrition for GM foods? I think we can’t, especially now and here’s why.
1. Genetically Modified Organisms/Foods (GMOs) contribute less and less.
Sweet corn on the cob covered in butter. We all love it, especially in summer gathered around the grill. Hell yes! It’s a traditional summertime highlight and downright un-American to feel otherwise.
It is estimated that corn constitutes about 60% of our diet. It’s in everything we eat, mostly like corn syrup and food “extenders.” Yellow corn was modified to provide ranchers with an inexpensive way to quickly fatten cows before they were weighed at the slaughterhouse. Cheap fat cows fast. Wow! Whose fattening pig? Or was that living on high? Hmm.
Solution: White and Blue Corn products are made from native corn. While these native corns are denser and provide a slightly nuttier texture, they contain more protein, a lower glycemic index (GI), and less starch than yellow corn, which is good news for diabetics. It also means you’ll feel full longer and avoid that bloated cow feeling after meals.
2. Pound-for-pound hamburger weight vs. native beans
Puffed up enough with yellow corn, the fat cow is taken to the slaughterhouse and turned into… Burger. Another American favourite, served with greasy fries and lots of salt. The burger is around $2.99 a pound and it’s still going up. Depending on how you prepare it, you need 1/4 to 1/2 pound of raw burger per person. Of course, as you cook the meat, the volume will decrease. Regardless of whether it’s 15% or 20% less fat to start with, it will reduce as it cooks. Period. So you’re paying less just for weight and volume. And we are just beginning.
Dried native beans are around $3.50 a pound. Regardless of how you cook them, the volume expands! Yes, it’s water. But you don’t pay for water. In principle it is a food that expands, never reduces. You can prepare it in as many ways as hamburgers and it is easy to digest. Easily digestible means that your body, over thousands of years, has refined the process of digesting plant proteins so that it’s used more efficiently than hamburger and less sits in your gut, spoiling and wasting, waiting for you to take a few Tums. .
If that’s not enough, native beans are free of hormones and antibiotics that can be linked to a wide range of health problems. Add to that the growing evidence that native beans can prevent, even cure diabetes and help boost your immune system. Low in fat, low in carbs and high in protein. Now, which one weighs in as the best value?
Solution: Use native beans in more meals. If gas is a problem, try cooking them longer or try adding a little epazote while they cook. Be creative. Think Mexican, Latin or Cuban cuisine. A little lime, fresh onions, cilantro, blue corn tortilla chips on the side. To May Zing!
3. Transgenic foods. You are the weakest link!
I love that show, it has a touch of sarcasm which I really like! In this case, the weakest link is the food we are eating. Oh! Take, for example, heavy turkeys that are so genetically weak that they cannot reproduce naturally. Corn products that do a great job of fattening us up and contributing to an epidemic of obesity and diabetes. Fat, fast cows that are so weak that they can’t survive more than 24 hours without a constant stream of hormones and antibiotics. And everything is regulated to meet high-quality health standards.
THAT!
Not only is this what we are buying with our specially earned money, but we are feeding it to our children. Can we afford to do that? Actually?
And since I’ve mentioned offspring, think about the less than resilient gene pool I just mentioned. Would it surprise you to learn that hoses too weak to mate are being inseminated? It is very scary to think about what we are going to eat next. Triple breast turkey anyone? He just gets sicker and sicker. Think about it. If it’s bad now, it’s only going to get worse as big business and corporations find ways to stretch their dollar.
To add fuel to the fire as we rely more on GMOs to stretch the dollar and more farmers use stocks of immunodeficient GMOs, this sets the stage for a global famine. God forbid that our crops be affected by a “plague” of a significant proportion. Total devastation of the world’s food supply because we chose the least of all possible options. So I have to ask… Can we really afford to do that? Actually?
Solution: Super native foods, with their ultra, super immune conditioning, are not only resistant to disease, pests, and drought, but also impart those same qualities as we absorb them. As we use native plant foods, their immune response becomes stronger, resulting in stronger and stronger food crops. Native foods strengthen the environment and improve the genetic code. On our children and the planet. What’s not to like? Native foods provide what is so lacking in GMOs.
As we look at this time of economic change, why not use it as an opportunity to get back to basics and improve the quality of our lives? We all have to do to change in some way. By adjusting them slightly, we can make small decisions that add up to big changes later. Instead of looking for the cheapest and weakest link, why not take a bite-size look at sustainability? Yours, that of your families and that of future generations.