“Mr. Thompson, don’t you want kids to be healthy so they can live a long and healthy life?” This is how CEO Don Thompson was seriously grilled by a 9-year-old girl at Thursday’s annual shareholder’s meeting in Oak Brook, Ill. Hannah Robertson stood and lectured the CEO of one of the world’s biggest brands. “I don’t think it’s fair when big companies try to trick kids into eating food. It isn’t fair that so many kids my age are getting sick,” she said – blaming McDonald’s for unfairly targeting kids with advertisements for food that isn’t good for them.
We certainly hope Mr. Thompson learned a little something, McDonald’s needs kids more than kids need McDonald’s.
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NASA just threw a $125,000, six-month grant at a project by Anjan Contractor, a mechanical engineer at Systems and Materials Research Corporation in Austin to develop a working prototype of his proposed universal food synthesizer.

The feedstocks for this device, including all the carbs, proteins, macro, and micro nutrients are in powder form. Does placing 3D food printers in households allow a world population, that’s on its way to an estimated nine billion people by 2040, to synthesize healthy meals from powder-filled cartridges? Such dehydrated food stocks would have long shelf lives.

In light of all this it would seem the Star Trek food replicators are really not all that far off. The fictional devices featured in that series were capable of fiddling with reality at the subatomic level to reproduce pretty much anything edible. Also not far off is the Mission to Mars. 78,000 people recently applied for Mars One. The ETA for the first colonists on that mission is just ten years from now in 2023. How would you pack for that little trek?

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First, they asked Monsanto what their ideal future looked like in fifteen to twenty years. Monsanto executives described a world with 100 percent of all commercial seeds genetically modified and patented. Anderson Consulting then worked backwards from that goal, and developed the strategy and tactics to achieve it. They presented Monsanto with the steps and procedures needed to obtain a place of industry dominance in a world in which natural seeds were virtually extinct.
Integral to the plan was Monsanto’s influence in government, whose role was to promote the technology worldwide and to help get the foods into the marketplace quickly, before resistance could get in the way. A biotech consultant later said, “The hope of the industry is that over time, the market is so flooded that there’s nothing you can do about it. You just sort of surrender.”
The anticipated pace of conquest was revealed by a conference speaker from another biotech company. He showed graphs projecting the year-by-year decrease of natural seeds, estimating that in five years, about 95 percent of all seeds would be genetically modified.
More on Acquisquishin’
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When a farmer grows Monsanto’s genetically modified soybean seeds, has he simply “used” the seed to create a crop to sell, or has he “made” untold replicas of Monsanto’s invention that remain subject to the company’s restrictions? The question is now headed to the United States Supreme Court.

“The current intellectual property environment of transgenic crops has spurred the privatization and concentration of the world’s seed supply,” said a brief filed by the Center for Food Safety and Save Our Seeds, groups that have been highly critical of Monsanto and genetically modified crops. “Market concentration has resulted in 10 multinational corporations holding approximately two-thirds (65%) of commercial seed for major crops, reducing choice and innovation, and increasing prices for the American farmer.”

The brief asks the court to end the practice of allowing corporations to place conditions on the sale of its seed and to reject an “end-run around patent exhaustion” for regeneration. “Farming is using seeds, not constructing or manufacturing seeds,” the brief states.

Monsanto, alarmed at the possibilities of what the Supreme Court might do, has circled the wagons.

The Biotechnology Industry Organization warns that advancements in agricultural, medical and environmental research “depend critically on a strong, stable and nationally uniform system of patent rights and protections.”

Universities, economists, intellectual property experts and seed companies have weighed in on Monsanto’s behalf.

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In the beginning was the Word, and the Word choreographed an assembly of amino acids into an exquisite array of specific proteins. Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.” In so doing God demonstrated a penchant for genomic writing, preceded by an amazing series of prebiotic events, in a highly orchestrated presentation of evolutionary overcontrol.

Molecular biology speaks volumes that are beyond anything conceivably produced by either magic matter or magic man. It reflects the wisdom manifest in all of creation. It is a foretaste of life’s logos. Logos spermatikos (the generative principle of the Universe), logos prophorikos (the uttered word), and logos endiathetos (the word remaining within) are all represented in the genomic “Book of Life”.

Nucleic structures reveal the combinatorial nature of protein synthesis. There are two types of polymers found in all living cells. Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) is found primarily in the nucleus of the cell. Ribonucleic Acid (RNA), while synthesized in the nucleus, is found external to the nuclear membrane of the cell (in the cytoplasm). DNA contains the genetic codes to make RNA. The RNA, in turn, then contains the codes for the primary sequence of amino acids to form polymer chains called polypeptides.

These polypeptides are folded to make globular or fibrous biochemical compounds that facilitate a biological function. Such biochemical compounds are called proteins. Proteins participate in virtually every process occurring within cells. Because each protein fulfills a specific function, there must be a good fit. This is achieved, primarily, through the proper sequencing of amino acids, to support the precise rubrics of polypeptide formation.

The determining factor for this “good fit” often hinges upon our choices of what to ingest from within the range of animal, vegetable, and mineral sources. The right combination will not only inhibit disease but will also promote mental and physical health. Animals (including humans) cannot synthesize all the amino acids they need for good sequencing and must obtain essential amino acids from food. Through the process of digestion, we break down ingested protein into free amino acids that are then used in metabolism. Animal protein must be fit for purpose, synthesized in a species specific way.  When we obtain too much of it directly from other animal sources, thus bypassing the soil/plant medium, it may not contain all the chemical components required by our complex human machinery. Some of our biological macromolecules can only be obtained through vegetable or mineral sources.

Of course these vegetable sources require their own resources. Healthy, nutrient rich plants can only stem from healthy, nutrient rich soil. Such soil will contain a high microbial biomass. Foods gathered in the wild, if the land has not been influenced by humans will naturally be in balance.  Biodynamic farming and integrated pest management (guided by pest control mesa az) can also produce rich, healthy foods. In this scenario the ideal ratio of pests to beneficials occurs naturally. This is in contrast to the whack-a-mole approach characteristic of chemical applications and artificial genetic modifications that are often unintelligent, unconditioned and uncontrolled. The never ending game of targeting specific proteins is, in the long run, an exercise in futility. With pest control nashville one can be assured to get rid of all the pests that are a menace.

Active soils, that are in balance, provide superior protection when compared to the sterile soils that may result from the breakdown of genetically modified plants or repeated applications of pesticides and herbicides. Without the protection provided by nature’s balance, devastating infestations are usually just one mutation away from returning with a vengeance.

Living plants vary in both color and chemistry. The process of photosynthesis is unique to over three hundred thousand members of Kingdom Plantae. The crytoxanthins that give oranges their appealing color, the lycopene of red tomatoes, and the beta-carotene of yellow squash are collectively known as carotenoids, a subset of the group of chemicals known as antioxidants.

Because we do not perform photosynthesis, we cannot produce antioxidants. Certain plants with their appealing colors are designed to attract us so that we may partake of their healthful benefits. Many of us can easily obtain these valuable antioxidants from the beautiful array of fruits and vegetables now available in the marketplace. From them we gain the ability to defend against free radicals and the damage they may cause by destabilizing certain protein complexes and other essentials of biochemistry.

Free radicals are chemically reactive atoms, molecules, or ions with unpaired electrons. Some free radicals are necessary for life. They play an important role in a number of biological processes, including normal polymerization reactions necessary for protein synthesis. Also, the intracellular killing of harmful bacteria often involves free radicals.

One negative reaction involves polymer chains that are attacked by free radicals when the body is deprived of certain chemical compositions that help insure the health of our bodies. Free radicals can also participate in certain other unwanted reactions resulting in cell damage or cell death. These factors may contribute to the onset of cancer, strokes, coronaries, diabetes, autoimmune problems and other diseases. Even the symptoms of aging such as atherosclerosis can now be attributed to the free-radical induced oxidation of many chemicals essential to life.

Animal protein, for example, can create an acidic environment which suppreses the ability of the body to convert the vitimin D stored in the liver to the “supercharged” form (1,25 D ) used by the kidneys. Production of this essential metabolite is often impaired due to the decreased ability of an important parathyroid hormone to create and regulate kidney enzyme activity. Several cancers, autoimmune diseases, and a variety of other maladies thrive in the environment devoid of supercharged D.

Another example of protein misfits involves Insulin-like Growth Factor (IGF-1) as a predictor of cancer. We make more IGF-1 when we consume animal foods like meat and dairy. When men also have low blood levels of a protein that binds and inactivates IGF-1 they will have 9.5 times the risk of advanced-stage prostate cancer. Animal protein causes the body to produce more IGF-1 which causes cell growth and removal to occur in an uncoordinated way, thus stimulating cancer development.

Food from animal sources is also responsible for a high cholesterol condition that favors the production of the beta-amyloid which accumulates as a plaque in critical areas of the brain. This condition has been linked to Alzheimer’s. A high cholesterol condition is also responsible for the build-up of a greasy layer of plaque composed of proteins, fats, and immune system cells on the inner walls of coronary arteries thus causing various forms of heart disease.

A high concentration of calcium and oxalate in the kidneys is used in the production of kidney stones. This concentration also occurs subsequent to the ingestion of animal protein. Kidney stones can abrade the tissues down stream from the kidneys. These streams contain the toxins removed by the kidneys for expulsion from the body. Such toxins that may be encapsulated or otherwise retained within lesions are another risk factor to consider.

So what’s a body to do? Start with good, unbiased information! The most comprehensive and scientifically sound nutrition study to date is The China Study. The prelude to this research involved a dying head of state and a collection of rats.

The first case occurred in the early 1970’s when the Premier of China, Chou EnLai, was dying of cancer. He mobilized 650,000 workers to survey 2400 Chinese counties (880 million citizens) and tabulate death rates for twelve different kinds of cancer. The survey was unique in that 87% of the Chinese population is comprised of the same (Han) ethnic group. The survey revealed massive variations in disease rates. The counties with the highest rates of some cancers were more than one hundred times greater than those with the lowest rates.

The second case focused on a high incidence of liver cancer in the Philippines. Laboratory experiments revealed a one hundred percent fatality rate from liver cancer for rats that were feeding on a twenty percent protein diet. All of the rats that were fed a five percent protein diet were cancer free over the course of the same study.

The survey in China showed a clear correlation to the more affluent areas and the population’s adoption of diets “rich” in animal protein. The Philippines study seemed to suggest that protein, in excess of what the body requires, feeds cancer. As all good scientists do, those conducting the laboratory experiment began to consider other reasons for the extreme correlation. They took notice of the fact that the protein ingested by the rats was casein, a substance that represents about eighty-five percent of the protein found in cow’s milk.

The time was then ripe for The China Study. Sixty-five hundred Chinese people across sixty-five counties participated in research conducted by Cambridge and Oxford Universities together with researchers from China. The Book by T. Colin Campbell, PhD and Thomas M. Campbell II, MD describes the prelude, the methodologies, and the correlations in detail.

We live in an era where out of control health care costs, combined with low system performance, have serious repercussions. These exert stresses on every sector of society worldwide. It is clear that we must restore that lost art of medicine that depended as much on the patient’s nature of life as it did on symptoms. Knowing the chemistry and energy of the foods we consume should be priority one for personal health, healthcare practitioners and world leaders who would address the large scale problems.

Macronutrients are consumed in large amounts because the body needs these carbohydrates, fats, and proteins to meet its energy requirements. To maintain certain checks and balances, and to keep the body’s systems running smoothly, we also need a full complement of micronutrients. These Minerals, Vitamins, and Phytochemicals could be thought of as the MVPs ― the Most Valuable Players ― in keeping the body running well. For it is, when well maintained, a miraculous self-healing machine.

The Father of Modern Medicine, Hippocrates (460-357 B.C.), knew what all responsible individuals should now know. For he said, “He who does not know food, how can he understand the diseases of man?” The authors of The China Study said it best: “Food Controls Health . . . Give your body the right food and it will do the right thing.”

© 2013 Robert H. Kalk

All Rights Reserved

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The 2013 edition of New Nutrition Business’s trend-spotting report, 10 Key Trends in Food, Nutrition & Health, indicates natural foods and ingredients will continue to see an upward trend in product development.
The report, conducted by German-based Kampffmeyer Food Innovation, highlights consumer research that shows 74% of people surveyed thought that ‘natural’ meant ‘healthier.’
Several product categories appear to be building on the strength of the natural trend including.

• Coconut water –In the US sales of coconut water jumped by more than 100% to at least $200 million in the year to September 2012.
• Snacking nuts –Retail sales grew from zero to more than $400 million from 2008 to 2012.
• Greek yogurt – Explosive growth of Greek yogurt in the US has been powered by the Chobani brand, with annual sales of over $1 billion four years after launch.

The 10 Key Trends in Food, Nutrition & Health 2013 report identifies and analyses the 10 major forces that will define the food and beverage industry in the coming year.
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Poor urban neighborhoods are often food deserts, bereft of fresh fruits and vegetables. According to a report by the Bloomberg School of Public Health, nearly one in four school-aged children in Baltimore live in a food desert — an area where nutritious food choices are limited, and almost one-third of city households lacked access to enough nutritious food to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

There is a 20-year difference in life expectancy between some neighborhoods in the city, and unhealthy diet contributes to many of the top causes of death and disease in this city like cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes. That’s according to Dr. Kimberly Gudzone, an assistant professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine who directed a recent pilot program for the Healthy Stores project.
The Healthy Stores projects realistically address the complexities faced by store owners with respect to maintaining an inventory of fresh produce. Teams aim to improve health and prevent obesity and disease in low-income communities. The Johns Hopkins initiative operates through the Center for Human Nutrition and engages in culturally appropriate store-based interventions that increase the supply of healthy foods while also promoting their purchase.
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Beth Wallace, a registered dietitian at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, asked twenty well-respected, experienced, pediatric nutrition experts what foods they refuse to provide to their own children. The children range from 18 months to 20 years old. The results are in.
The top 10 foods experts won’t bring into their home:

1. Sugar sweetened beverages- This was the overwhelming #1 item on everyone’s list and it includes soda, juice drinks, iced tea, lemonade, and powdered drink mixes. These beverages provide no nutrition benefit and are the #1 source of excess calories in adolescent diets. Drinks that were allowed: water (tap for filtered), flavored milk, seltzers, and 100% fruit juice.
2. TV dinners and prepackaged lunches- Another selection on almost every list, these items were banned due to high sodium contents, high fat, and minimal nutrition value (vitamins, minerals, and whole grains).
3. Packaged breakfast pastries- Whether you toasted them or ate them from the wrapper, these items ranked high due to large amounts of sugar and minimal fiber. Though it’s better than nothing in the morning, the experts preferred alternate convenience items like granola bars made with whole grain oats, fruits, and nuts.
4. Sweetened and artificially colored cereals- One dietitian who wrote this on her list said, “if I gave my kids the options of rainbow colored cereals with marshmallows and sprinkles, or a brown whole-grain cereal, guess which one they’d pick every time? That’s why they don’t get the choice.” I couldn’t agree more. Another option: Make sugary cereals a dessert option only, and make sure it’s served in a small bowl.
5. Canned pasta meals- Refined white flour pasta mixed with tomatoes, preservatives and canned meats? There’s not much good I can say about this. Consider making some extra servings of your own spaghetti and meatballs, mix in some vegetables, and freeze in single serving containers for easy reheating.
6. Fruit cups in syrup- Fruit packed in syrup was an absolute no for the experts. These items were considered more acceptable as long as they were packaged in water or juice.
7. Canned meats- These highly processed items were typically too high in fat and sodium for anyone to serve in their own home. An alternative deemed acceptable was canned fish packed in water.
8. Chips (of all varieties)- Puffed, fried, or kettle cooked, these items all made the unacceptable list due to the empty calories and ease of overeating. I will admit that the group was realistic about the fact that this was an inevitable item to avoid at many parties.
9. Hot dogs- The parents of younger kids were concerned with this item being a big-time choking hazard. Parents of older children had it on their list due to high fat and sodium contents. For both reasons combined, it stayed out of most homes.
10. Packaged desserts- Store bought cookies, cupcakes, and other baked goods because they generally contained trans-fats and were loaded with sugar. The other option? Baking treats with your kids so that you know what ingredients are in the product, and to teach them some classic family recipes.

This was certainly not the complete list, but a great place to start.
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Obesity rates for kids have become a hot button educational issue in the USA, with childhood obesity tripling in the last three decades. The State of Georgia is among the worst in the nation with more than 37 percent of students overweight or obese. These children will likely grow up to become obese adults and while suffering from ailments including auto-immune disorders, diabetes, coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, lost productivity and disability. And, as if the human tragedy wasn’t enough, such conditions also strain the state’s healthcare costs.
Almost 75 percent of all children who attend public schools in Georgia participate in the School Nutrition Program. What better way to combat childhood obesity, than to revolutionize the school lunch menu to make a difference where it counts the most.
The Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA) is addressing the challenges associated with a school district offering healthy options – especially when it comes to providing fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables on cafeteria trays. The phrase “Farm-to-School” is becoming increasingly popular in the U.S. when it comes to thinking about how to offer healthy, fresh produce options to students. Now the state Departments of Education and Agriculture are teaming up in a combined effort to assist each and every school district in facing the challenges associated with implementing a Farm-to-School initiative.
In the 2011-12 school year, a handful of schools across the state will be included in the GDA’s pilot program, “Feed My School for a Week.” Each participating school district will have one elementary school host the event and all school lunches served out of that school’s cafeteria will be composed of 75-100 percent of Georgia Grown food. In return, the participating school must be willing and able to host a fall semester planning meeting, which will be put on by the GDA, as well as a week in the school’s spring semester dedicated to putting on the event.
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