Institute for Responsible Technology - Quotes from FDA Scientists

Key documents revealing the hazards of Genetically Modified foods and flaws with how the agency made its policy.

These documents became available through the Alliance for Bio-Integrity's lawsuit to gain mandatory safety testing and labeling of these foods.

Institute for Responsible Technology - Quotes from FDA Scientists

11-year-old Birke Baehr talks about our food system

This is such an awesome video! Only 5 minutes. You pretty much need to see it...

Click here to watch!!

Ghetto...Not So Fabulous

I guess I chose to go to the restroom at the wrong time today. While in the stall, a women came in yelling at her child "you better pull your pants down because you're getting a whoopin".  I assume he did because then I could hear, rather loudly, the woman spanking the child. After he got his "whoopin", the yelling continued. The poor child answered his mother "no sir" and got a promt, "IT'S NO MA'M!!" yikes. So then she yelled, "do you want to go to McDonalds or not?!?" I liked this part. The little boy says, "no"  haha. I think this angered her more.

Why I am still standing in the bathroom I have no idea but as soon as these people walk out, another woman walks in. 

AGAIN, this woman yells at her daughter and then starts spanking her very loudly. I couldn't take anymore so I came out, and to my shock, this child could not have been over the age of 2, and looked terrified. I nicely attempted to give the woman the, "you can not hit your children while you are in the health department" speech and was bombarded with an array of questions including, "well why can't I hit her in the bathroom?" ---her point here being that the bathroom was not part of the heath department. So ANYWAY. I tried to calmly respond to her questions and after the last one I got a finger in the face and a "BITCH PLEASE". Classy. Well I obviously told her that was unacceptable behavior and I was going to get the director who would escort her from the building. In the 30 seconds it took the director to get to the lobby the woman had run off, without her checks. 

Hunny, Bon Qui Qui has more class than you.

Ban Food Stamps for Sodas

Plan to Ban Food Stamps for Sodas Has Hurdle


Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg may face legal and political hurdles in carrying out his ambitious plan to bar food-stamp recipients from using their benefits to buy sugar-sweetened drinks, food policy experts said Thursday.


Click here to read this story

Break the Habit

Awesome commercial ad about childhood obesity

It's only 1 minute, definitely worth watching

Click here to watch the VIDEO

Seriously KFC??

"Kentucky Fried Cruelty is allegedly testing a new sandwich at select stores. What kind of sandwich? Try "5 layers of fried chicken skin, lumped on a bun and topped with white american cheese and bacon." Mmmm, I can already feel my intestines trying to escape out my butthole."

Click here to read more




Did someone forget to tell KFC about the obesity epedemic?

Virgin: the world's best passenger complaint letter?

"Ironically, by the end of the flight I would have gladly paid over a thousand rupees for a single biscuit following the culinary journey of hell I was subjected to at the hands of your corporation."

Click here to read the letter and see pictures of the FOOD!

As if you needed another reason NOT to give your baby formula...

Abbott recalls infant formula on bug contamination

By MATTHEW PERRONE, AP Health Writer Matthew Perrone, Ap Health Writer
–Wed Sep 22, 8:47 pm ET


WASHINGTON – Drugmaker Abbott Laboratories said Wednesday it is recalling millions of containers of its best-selling Similac infant formula that may be contaminated with INSECT PARTS.

Click to read the entire story

Bento Style Lunches

Borrowed from: http://wendolonia.com/blog/

Terrified Sandwich

Just because this is cute and I am not a fan of deli meat...

 

When I was little and about to eat a piece of meat, my dad would go, "Mooooo! Noooooo! Moooo! Don't eat me! That hurts!"
I think it's one of the reasons I'm mostly a vegetarian today.

This picture and comment is by: Sakurako Kitsa's photostream

The next 9 months...

No I'm not pregnant. But I will be completing my dietetic internship over the next 9 months which means I will not be working in the WIC clinic. For this reason, most of my blogs will likely be similar to the past couple I have posted. I may throw in some WIC stories from the past though ;)

Culture Crisis

The following was written by a young physician by the name of Dr. Roger Starner Jones. His short two-paragraph letter to the White House accurately puts the blame on a "Culture Crisis" instead of a "Health Care Crisis"..

It's worth a quick read:


Dear Mr. President:
During my shift in the Emergency Room last night, I had the pleasure of evaluating a patient whose smile revealed an expensive shiny gold tooth, whose body was adorned with a wide assortment of elaborate and costly tattoos, who wore a very expensive brand of tennis shoes and who chatted on a new cellular telephone equipped with a popular R&B ringtone.


While glancing over her patient chart, I happened to notice that her payer status was listed as "Medicaid"! During my examination of her, the patient informed me that she smokes more than one pack of cigarettes every day, eats only at fast-food take-outs, and somehow still has money to buy pretzels and beer. And, you and our Congress expect me to pay for this woman's health care? I contend that our nation's "health care crisis" is not the result of a shortage of quality hospitals, doctors or nurses. Rather, it is the result of a "crisis of culture" a culture in which it is perfectly acceptable to spend money on luxuries and vices while refusing to take care of one's self or, heaven forbid, purchase health insurance. It is a culture based in the irresponsible credo that "I can do whatever I want to because someone else will always take care of me". Once you fix this "culture crisis" that rewards irresponsibility and dependency, you'll be amazed at how quickly our nation's health care difficulties will disappear.

Respectfully,
ROGER STARNER JONES, MD 

Letter written by my friend and coworker Alex Kenefic, a MUST read

To Whom It May Concern,

I recently visited your location in Baton Rouge, La.  The food was fine, the service was fine.  I’m writing about an advertisement on our table.  This advertisement was for the Grade A USDA Prime Grain-fed Beef that Copeland’s offers.  I had to read it twice to make sure it was actually advertising GRAIN-fed Beef!  Granted, I’m glad I saw that so I knew not to order the steak (although that’s what I really wanted, since it was my birthday).  My hope is that this advertisement was printed and distributed by people who don’t know what that implies.

Grain=corn.  Cows did not evolve to eat corn; they evolved to eat grass and hay.  Eating corn makes them sick and kills them slowly before they’re slaughtered early.  Eating corn greatly lowers the pH level in their stomach creating an environment too acidic for them to live.  After more than a few months on corn, their stomach ulcers are to the point of needing treatment, or they’ll die.  This acidic environment is also the reason why E. coli is dangerous when we eat it.  The bacteria become accustomed to an acidic environment caused by the corn, then stay alive in the acidic human stomach and make us sick.  To top it off, grain-fed meat has up to NINE times the saturated fat than grass-fed meat. 

Read “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” or watch “Food, Inc.”, “King Corn” or “The Future of Food” to see what our food industry has become and what it’s doing to our country.  What has been the “norm” for decades is slowly coming to light as people realize what a danger feeding animals corn is.  More and more people are learning the truth, but unfortunately the average consumer doesn’t know and therefore relies on what they see to make their decisions.  Advertising grain-fed beef is telling your patrons that grain-fed beef is the best option and that you are proud to serve it.  This is irresponsible and certainly not in the best interest of your patrons or your company.  Because of the push to eat whole grains instead of refined ones, people associate “grain” with “healthy”-which is false!  When Sargento advertises their “real cheese”, it’s obvious that their real cheese is better than their competitor’s processed cheese product.  What are you saying your grain-fed beef is better than?  In this case, the grain-fed meat is the processed cheese and grass-fed is the natural. 

Customers (rightly or not) believe labels and advertising.  The food industry has taken money-making to a dangerous level that is destroying our health.  I’m certainly not asking Copeland’s to change the food industry.  I realize one letter probably won’t change how the company runs, or what it serves, but please stop advertising grain-fed beef as healthy and good!  That sign was a slap in the face to me and those of us who dedicate our lives to creating a healthier country.

Please contact me to inform me on what has been done to correct this.

Thank you for your time. 

Sincerely,

Alex Kenefic

A Glimpse of Hope

Ok, so someone pointed out to me that my blog is called, "the good, the bad...." and I havn't told any "good" stories. So here ya go...

I saw a mom today with her 4 day old premie. She was giving formula and had not tried to breastfeed at all. When I dug a little more, I found out that she really WANTED to breastfeed, she just had no one to help her! I had her go meet with one of our breastfeeding counselors, and an hour later, she had breastfed her baby, on both sides, and now wants to continute breastfeeding instead of formula! Moments like these are what make my days worth while.

Congratulations to all the moms that choose to give their babies the gift of breastfeeding :)

breastfeeding.com

what the CDC has to say

Food Revolution

I am sure most of you have heard of Jamie Oliver and his Food Revolution. Jamie is standing up for a great cause and if you agree you should visit his website and sign the petition. Jamie would like to take his petition to the White House to show the President and First lady how many people really care and ask for their support. This will take 10 seconds of your time! Take a stand and fight for our children! Just click the link below!!

(I support the Food Revolution. America's kids need better food at school and better health prospects. We need to keep cooking skills alive.)

Sign the Petition!

Babies For Sale

When mine and my husband's two cats had 6 kittens, we kept 2 and gave the rest away. Perfectly acceptable. When this lady came into my office with her 5 children and informed me that she just gave her newborn up for adoption....not really the same thing. I mean, I am all for adoption and giving your child a better life, but really? You kept FIVE and only gave away ONE?? I can't even put into words how messed up that is...

Some view their pets as children. This idea is NOT interchangable.

Stop Beating Your Children...In Public

For some reason, parents think it's a great idea to stand right outside my office door and either threaten to hit their child in the face with their shoe, or give them something to cry about... as if the 4 shots they just got weren't enough.

Today I heard a man yelling at what looked to be a 3 year old little boy. He said, "I don't care WHERE we are! Your about to get a WHOOPIN!" At this point I cracked my door and peaked out. After a few seconds passed the dad finally hit the child. I stepped out and told him, "Sir, you can not hit your children while you are in the Health Department." He told me, "I didn't hit him." I responded, "Sir, I just saw you." His response? "I didn't hit him, I thumped him."

Oh, you thumped him? Well in that case, I apologize...

Why Quick, Cheap Food Is Actually More Expensive

Great Article!

The odd paradox is that food insecurity--not knowing where the next meal is coming from or not having enough money to adequately feed your family--leads to obesity, diabetes and chronic disease

why quick cheap food is Actually More Expensive

This isn't the 7-11

Today a woman came in with her 4 year old to be recertified, which means we go through an entire diet history and assess how the child is doing. This is EXACTLY how the conversation started...

Me: "he doesn't have any sort of medical problems, right?"
Client: "Yeah, everything is fine, I just need beans."
Me: "ok, how much milk is he typically drinking?"
Client: "It varies"
Me: "well what about juice.
Client: "It Varies"
Me: "And water?"
Client: "It varies"

At some point she called me "sweetie" which is when I lost any respect for her that there may have been left.

You are here to get help. We offer foods to you for FREE, and nutrtition counseling that others pay hundreds of dollars for, for FREE. This is not the 7-11...Sweetie.

Damage Control

Third pregnancy at age 23...these people amaze me. She came in and sat down with her arms crossed and stared at me. Her boyfriend sat in the other chair, his blood clearly boiling. I knew right away if I wasn't careful, my office was about to turn into the WWE Smackdown. The following is a list of questions I asked Chyna based on the form she filled out, and the thoughtful asnwers she gave me in return...

Q: Are you taking any kind of vitamin?
A: uhhh NO.

Q: Do you really not eat ANY fruit?
A: No. Sometimes I'll eat 1 strawberry
Boyfriend: Yeah with CHOCOLATE!

Q: How much soda and sweet tea are you usually drinking?
A: like 1 or 2 sodas, and then I drink sweet tea all day.
Boyfriend rolls eyes and makes loud noise.

Q: Could you drink decafe tea instead?
A: God! They want like FIVE dollars more for that!!

Q: Do you drink water at all?
A: (extremly disguisted face)... NO! That's so nasty, you might as well just swallow your own spit!

During this entire time this delightful couple was bantering back and forth, mostly bc the boyfriend was angry that she wasn't taking care of herself while she was pregnant..and didn't seem to care one bit.

My only advice is to the boyfriend. RUN! Fast! No but seriously... run

Flash Back

18 year old girl today who is:

pregnant

has 2 other children

and married...

I didn't know it was 1940

Taco Hell

So no clients today due to staff meeting. But no worries! One of my co-workers shared something just as entertaining. Apparently she was there once when UPS delivered the ground beef to Taco Bell... which is kind of disturbing in itself... and on the package it read, "Grade D, But Edible."

So thank you Taco bell for caring about your customers SO much that you scrape the crap from the bottom of the barrel so they will never have to go without those fancy tacos.


USDA (grading)

USDA (meat facts)

Wait, babies need to eat??

Today a mother with a 6 month old baby came to talk with me for an "infant assessment." I took a complete dietary intake for a typical 24 hours for this baby. So what is this baby eating? 1-2 8oz bottles of formula....are you looking for the rest? Yeah me too. NO Food and only 8-16oz of formula! How this baby is still alive I may never know.

Babies are people too- FEED THEM!


6 month old feeding schedule

A word from the Experts

Two Generations of Stupidity

14, yes fourteen year old girl today came in with her 2 week old baby. Tells me her DOCTOR told her to give the baby water...cause that's believable. So this baby is getting 3 8oz bottles of water a day. My first thought, this is why babies shouldn't be having babies. Ok so she doesn't know why the doctor told her this but says he explained it to her mother, who is in the lobby. So I go out to find grandma, and grandma has an attitude I'm pretty sure she brought just for me. Grandma tells me this, "OH no, I am giving her water because I WANT to! Water is good for babies!" Is that right? Now I'm not sure what her definition of "good is" but last time i checked, that much water can kill a baby. I explained to her what water intoxication is and how easy it is for a baby to get this. What response do I get... She looks at me with this face that says **** you, then says, "FINE, I won't give her any water." Gee I'm so sorry it is such an inconvenience for you to make sure you don't kill your grandchild.

Ending Thought: This is why stupid people shouldn't have babies.


Infant Water Intoxication: todaysparent

One more word on water

Only EIGHT

A couple months ago I had a 17 year old pregnant girl in my office. She had marked on the questionnaire that she drinks soda. It's typical that I will ask how much they are drinking each day, and it's normally 1-3 cups...... This girl looked me in the eyes, cool as could be and said, ... "like 19 bottles, but now since I'm pregnant only 8."

oh ok good. Well your probably ONLY going to develop gestational Diabetes.


Diabetes & Soda

Hygiene is a Four Letter Word?

There are 3 main smells that permeate from the WIC office on a regular basis...

1. Cigarette smoke- why does your 2 year old reek of cigarettes?
2. Cat urine- I don't care if your used to it, I'm not. Clean that litter box much? Didn't think so.
3. Body Odor- Don't pretend like you can't smell your own BO, If I can smell you across the room, I know you can smell yourself.

So Please, smoke outside, take a shower, and for God's sake...or at least mine, put on deodorant.

The blonde girl with glasses

After I finished counceling this woman about her son for a good 20 minutes, I sent her out to the lobby to fill out a short survey. She turned it in to one of the clerks and said, "Here, the lady with the blonde hair and glasses gave me this." I have dark brown hair and do not wear glasses.

Someone's IQ is clearly off the charts.

Bacon has no Carbs, Suprise!

A couple months ago I was working in another WIC clinic when I saw this pregnant lady. She said she had been on a "low-carb" diet for a while and had lost a good amount of weight. When I attempted to explain to her that she would need to put this diet on hold while she was pregnant, she insisted on telling me her whole life story, along with showing me serveral different pictures of herself from over the years as well as a few different drivers liscence pictures of herself at different weights. Needless to say I got way more than I had bargained for. An hour later, when she finally stopped rambling, I sent her up to get her checks from the clerk, who ironically was on some sort of "high-carb" diet. I then heard the woman tell the clerk, "You probably don't know this, but bacon has no carbs!"

Look out for this woman's book..."How I lost 200 Pounds Eating Bacon"
(I'd check in the fiction section)

Bottomless Pit? I think not...

A few weeks ago I had a mom and dad tell me that they were concerned about their baby because every time he would drink a bottle, he would vomit. The dad says to me, "you know, like reflux."Valid concern thus far. I see infants with mild to severe reflux on a weekly basis.  Now an infant his age should be getting between 24 and 32 ounces of formula per day. Come to find out, they are giving him about 90 ounces of formula a day. Umm... hello? Your baby is not a bottomless pit. Only so much goes in before it starts coming back out, by any means necessary. But wait! It gets better! Positive that their baby had reflux, they informed me that they started putting baby cereal in all of these formula bottles to "keep it down." When I told them that their baby in fact did not have reflux, but that they were overfeeding him, they looked at me with blank stares.

And the Obesity epidemic is passed on to another generation. Congratulations parents.


Feeding your baby

Here we go...

It's a slow day in WIC today with all the usual suspects.

1. A mom who is giving her 5 month old sweet tea, in a bottle, every day.

2. A doctor who told one of my moms that she should give her 2 month old fruits and veggies.

3. A 3 year old with rotting teeth, who's mom had NO idea it was from the 6 cups of juice a day.

4. And the pregnant lady who thinks breastfeeding is going to hurt and make her boobs sag.