Organic prooves to be cheaper after all!!!

Who would have thunk!!?? Not me!

My husband and I were calculating our taxes for last year, and in doing so we figured out we averaged $39/day on food, when we were eating fast food at least twice, sometimes even 3 times/day. Ouch.

So far, going all organic has not only help me shed pounds (organic in conjunction w/ low carb), but trim my wallet as well!

We have spent an average of $21/day on food, purchasing it mostly at Mrs. Greens, or local favorite store of choice, and havent felt like we were sparing any expenses. I have bought expensive items every time I frequented, $8.00 almond butter, for example, or $13.00 filet mignon (grass fed of course ;).... We have been eating really well--- so good in fact I want to show you the proof.

Heres a typical Non-organic, non-low carb, fast food day for me:

B: McDonalds: #1- Coffee, egg Mcmuffin & Hash Brown
L: Deli sandwich, bag of chips, diet soda or iced tea.
D: Wendys chicken sandwich & fries, sometimes also a Frostie.... (ugh, i think im going to be sick just typing that in..... i am truly grosed out)

My new typical Organic, lowish carb, home-made diet:

B: 2 eggs, scrambled in real butter, coffee with cream and stevia.
L: Organic Stadium style hot dog, side of Salad w/ homemade Balsamic vinegrette
D: Rib Eye Steak or Chicken Breast or similar (marinated in garlic,thyme,oilve oil), with a salad and side of either broccoli and cheese soup or green beans.

All organic, from the butter to the cream, to the mustard i ate w/ my hotdog.

ALL!!!

AND- Cheaper!!??? Really???? Is that possible??? Why then have I been tought to think Fast food is cheaper???

Oh, thats right, b/c it is - its cheap for them to buy, its cheap for them to employ, and cheap + cheap = a HUGE Profit left after I dish out my $39/day.

HUH- now I see why McDonalds rules the world. Aha moment!!

Join me in stopping the madness- Visit http://www.sustainabletable.org/intro/you/ to start.

then, continue doing more and more research, spread the word, and vow to yourself you will help make the world a better place. You CAN make a difference. Each of us CAN!!!

All we need to do is affect these companies such that they suffer 1% profit loss, and that small amount will affect them such that they will notice- and that is the start to change for the better!!!!

And, in closing- a very disturbing post today on my forums in response to CJD Aweareness:

Author protected:

"This might not be the most informational post ever but my sister is a rancher, so I just wanted to give you a little "inside" information. She was telling me about the cattle auctions where they sell their beef. Here is a basic breakdown.

Her cattle is all free range, grass fed beef. She sells all of her beef to one place pretty exclusively now, because they pay top dollar and always outbid everyone...Ruth Chris Steakhouse. Her beef is considered prime beef. So, if you want "organic" beef, you are safe with Ruth Chris. Just some FYI.

Also, they are actually allowed to sell beef that is alive, even if it is not in good condition. They have to bring in some cattle on forklifts and inloaders because the cattle can't walk due to congentials defects, illness, etc. This is the beef that McDonald's generally buys. She said that they, more than anyone else, buy the worse cattle at the cattle auctions. As for the fast food restaurants, the Hardees/Carl Jrs. parent company buys mid-range cattle. They don't buy the cattle that has to be brought in on forklifts, but they will buy the commercial cattle beef. The same goes for most of the beef you get in your local grocery store. That is primarily commercial beef. But of course, don't forget how much beef is also imported as well!

Unfortunately, organizations like the Cattleman's Association is really out to protect the big commercial ranchers rather than the small ranchers like my sister. I am lucky, because she will send me sides of beef, so I can count on prime beef and KNOW I am getting top notch quality beef. Believe me, American ranchers would be just as happy to be behind this effort to have back their ranges as would anyone else, because they detest the whole commercialization of ranching as well. In fact, her husband's family comes from a long history of ranching and they are constantly getting pressured from a commercial ranching company to try and sell their land. They are even fighting a court battle right now because that commercial company is trying an emminent domain thing now!

Anyway, that's just a small glance at what my sister told what it's like when she goes to her cattle auctions. I tell you one thing. I haven't ever gone to a McDonald's since I heard that!"

Thank you- my friend- for enlightening all of us and confirming our suspicions!!

Low carb is a perfect way of life ( with an Organic Twist )

I am really proud of a cookbook, that i self published in late 05, Full Flavored Low carb Favorites, available on ebay (http://myworld.ebay.com/rnrcorners). I will admit though after the book being published, I almost fell to the media hype from my diet that I adhered to so closely for 5+years. This past year was a rough one for me for a number of reasons, but i have to say- eating out, fast food etc- made me feel so incredibly unhealthy as of late. I have decided to spice up the low carb lifestyle with an organic twist. I am basically eating really simply and clean and it feels great! organic eggs, meats, teas, lots of nuts, veggies (all but starchy ones), soups (yes -organic <10 carbs/serving do exist) and dark chocolate (see my article on dark chocolate)...(oh, and occasionally a small portion of dreamsfields pasta- i dont know what exactly is in it, but its got more fiber for slower digestion) but that can be a frankenfood for some. lately- i mean in the past week, have dropped 5lbs, and feel amazing. For those who think low carb is out- you are wrong. It will never be out. It might have fallen out of popularity temporarily, but - you can easily google many recent articles, independent studies, forums sites that attest- it is still a thriving way of life/eating. That being said- i am an advocate for healthy eating via organic foods, research and listening to your body and nourishing it how you deem appropriate. I dont like the push the low carb diet on anyone- but i gladly educate anyone who would like to listen...but i realize that some people dont need low low carbs. Some people (my mother) do just fine on a diet of whole grains, low fats, starches, bread etc... After learning how dangerous meats, and many other proteins can be if they come from the wrong sources (namely diseased animals and those who dont take care in the meat raising/processing/packing plants), and that our Government is going to do basically nothing about that problem (see my articles on Mad Cow/CJD) I have been enlightened. However it wasn't convincing enough to scare me "vegetarian"... as i have tried that route- and it wasn't for me- and there is evidence that some vegetarians had fallen ill to CJD in the past, showing that no one is really safe from the disease. (Geletin in pills, supplements, tainted dairy etc could be to blame)... I do believe that humans are omnivores, and we were designed for eating a diet of plant matter and meat (note the human jaw and dentition structure). However we need to be so careful of those food sources. I dont want to make anyone paranoid, but i think we all have become compliant on systems that are just expected to "work" but i must tell you- such complacency is really lethal to society as a whole. All this stuff, this research, has lead me to find, for now what i feel to be the perfect diet. I cant say how much better I feel- it is amazing, after ridding all the toxins, hormones, etc from my food. So- while i dont know that we literally "Are what we Eat" i certainly feel "We fall ill from the effects of what we eat and drink" that is a fact.

Happy low carbing! :)

Join tens of thousands of citizens and sign the Mad Cow USA-Stop the Madness petition NOW!

http://www.organicconsumers.org/madcow.cfm

"Energy and persistence conquer all things".
- Benjamin Franklin

The Mad Cow Epidemic that YOU NEED to know about. Could it really be this huge?

Mad Cow Disease- (BSE)- is the Government covering up an epidemic?(1)

Some of my motivation in starting this post stems from losing my Grandfather, a vibrant, 58 year old man, who died from CJD in 1998. It is a horrible disease with a horrible outcome, a death sentence, as there is no cure. We don’t know how he contracted it, as it was labeled “sporadic”, essentially that the cause is unknown. In an attempt to find answers to many questions I have had over the years, I have done my share of research, and found- I am not alone. People- Our lives are all at jeopardy here- and that could be an understatement.

CJD, or Creutzfeldt- Jakob disease is not a reportable illness in many states in the USA. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) does not actively monitor this disease in the US, therefore it is not improbable that a rise similar to the ones in other countries, namely Britain could be completely missed (1).

For those of you who don’t know, CJD is the human variant of Mad Cow Disease, or BSE. It is a disease which results after infected prions literally eats holes in the brain, leaving it like a sponge.

If you thought concern was only limited to beef (cow) consumption, you may be wrong. Pork is also a potential source of infection, but have any of us heard of that in the news? Cattle remains are still boiled down and legally fed to pigs (as well as chickens) in this country. The FDA allows this exemption because no "naturally occurring" porcine (pig) spongiform encephalopathy has ever been found. But American farmers typically kill pigs at just five months of age, long before the disease is expected to show symptoms. How safe is pork really? Don’t we have the right to know? (6)

In addition, there is reason to believe that many Americans are misdiagnosed with Alzheimer's or dementia, who are actually suffering from CJD. That means potentially hundreds of thousands of misdiagnoses per year !(8) Young CJD Deaths seem to also be on the rise, in US (3), and other Countries (4). What is the explanation for this? Their answer is to hide it- and provide none, or a misdiagnosis of MS (multiple sclerosis), or a Virus. We will never really know, and the public has a right to know.

If more states made CJD a reportable illness, there would most definitely be more clusters detected across the United States. And their have been clusters in recent years, that you may not have heard about. CJD clusters have already been found. In the largest known U.S. outbreak of sporadic cases to date, five times the expected rate was found to be associated with cheese consumption in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley. A striking increase in CJD over expected levels was also reported in Florida and New York (Nassau County) with anecdotal reports of clusters of deaths in Oregon and New Jersey. (1)

We need to demand for much more testing, as well. This quote is from a woman in the USA who lost her mother to CJD “No BSE in the U.S.A.? I would not be so sure of that considering that Since 1990 the U.S. has raised 1,250,880,700 cattle; the U.S. has ONLY checked 8,881 cattle brains for BSE, as of Oct. 4, 1999” (5). To those of you who don’t know what that means, that is only .00071 % THAT IS NOTHING!! Actually, That is less than Nothing. That is only seven ten thousandths of 1 %. That is a minute number for all of us who have taken basic math, one might even ignore such a number in many instances, as an irrelevant margin of error.

Who are they trying to kid?

We deserve, as the British, Canadians, - Japanese, Koreans are still very concerned about importing non-organic US beef… The USDA is actually preventing US Meatpackers, who want to perform volunteer testing, the ability to do so (7)(9) This is outrageous. We went to war over a loss of 3000 precious lives on 9/11, but we have our own war waging here, right in our own country, possibly killing hundreds of thousands of Americans annually. Where are their priorities?

So- what can we do?

We need to encourage every single state in the US to change their laws demanding that CJD become a “reportable illness” so there is some way to track it. That is very important.

We need to demand that their be more testing done, on all animals, for all forms of BSE variants. And, the testing must be in accordance to the WTO (World Trade Organization).

The US actually had the audacity to DECREASE testing by 90% READ HERE: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_1207.cfm - THIS IS COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE!!! The Agriculture Department still prohibits companies from doing their own volunteer tests.

The U.S. should immediately begin testing all cows destined for human consumption, as is done in Japan, should stop feeding slaughterhouse waste to all farm animals (see http://organicconsumers.org/madcow/GregerBSE.cfm), and should immediately enact an active national surveillance program for CJD.(1)

To read more:

(9) http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_3481.cfm

(8) http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_2142.cfm

(7) http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_2395.cfm

(6) http://www.mad-cow.org/~tom/pigs_chickens.html

(5) http://www.freedomtocare.org/page142.htm

(3) http://www.prwatch.org/node/1161

(4) http://www.organicconsumers.org/madcow/cjd52104.cfm

(1) http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0107-07.htm