Francis Thicke, who ran unsuccessfully as Iowa’s Secretary of Agriculture. The election results provide some insights into how a variety of issues–like taxes and spending on education, for example–could go. But they tell us very little about how food issues might be decided.
We do have a few more clues than usual, though. One prime example comes out of Iowa. There, the race for agriculture secretary became something of a cause celebre among foodies, with Francis Thicke attracting endorsements and support from around the country (including this blog). The result? He was roundly defeated by a Big Ag guy who has heaped praise on the state’s wonderful egg industry (which has sickened many hundreds of people around the country with salmonella).
There was discussion following my previous post about new uncertainty created in Ohio, and the possibility the new governor, a big business guy, will support Big Ag, and resume the state’s notorious enforcement history against raw milk. Remember, the current State offensive against raw milk might be seen as having launched in March 2006, when Kentucky farmer Gary Oaks was forcibly detained and so intensively questioned in a Cincinnati parking lot by agents from four or five federal and state agencies that he collapsed from the stress and had to be hospitalized
The reality is that most people, including legislators and judges, are woefully uninformed about food issues. Iowa voters likely felt out of their league in committing to a new view of food, and so most went with the tried and, unfortunately, untrue–that being, leave food matters to the “experts,” the wonderful professionals at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and the masters many serve in Big Ag.
We have no idea how politicians stand on food and public health issues, likely because they have no idea. We have to make inferences, of the type in Ohio.
On the positive side, the fact that food issues are even being raised in election races is new, and hopefully the beginning of a trend. On the negative side, it’s clear we have a long way to go. And Big Ag would no doubt like to keep things that way, so it can foment fear and uncertainty as the occasion demands.
***
How does food processing affect thinking in the world of nutrition? It doesn’t, and that’s a big part of the food problem. Interesting assessment here.
?
Beyond avoiding processed foods,we need to understand how to identify foods grown on healthy soils.How can we tell if foods are mineral deficient?How can we tell the difference between energy dense and nutrient dense foods?
http://www.advancedideals.org/Web_Articles/Food%20&%20Mineral.pdf
chromotography is a good way to tell, both energetically and nutritionally, the quality of food (and other materials). While quantitative analysis isn't possible, using this technique one can really get a grasp of the depth and breadth of a substance….any substance.
While not generally accepted in conventional scientific circles…all one has to do is to see a number of chromos…ones from conventionally grown materials compared against others from 'unconventionally' grown materials. The difference is really striking and quite obvious.
I had the chance a few years ago to see dozens of sample prepared this way…with store bought milk and butter, conventionally grown produce and other crap food, compared to the products of a biodynamic farm. The difference was plain to see.
http://www.biodynamics.in/chrom.htm
The techniques are there….one must look hard to find them though.
If the various regulatory agencies such as the FDA have their way, it will be next to impossible for us to identify the foods we wish to consume.
http://www.healthiertalk.com/fda-banning-food-makers-telling-truth-about-gmo-content-2763
Ken Conrad
Mr. J. Ingvar Odegaard
I have observed that most of the higher brix fruits and vegetabes will simply dehydrate if left on the counter or in the fridge/cellar rather than rot. We don't buy from the growers whose produce rots in a few days.
This past summer was a very dissappointing one for strawberries. My usual strawberry grower didn't even make average brix this year and the strawberries would mould my the end of the day if not immediately put in the refridgerator. In pas years, the brix of that growers strawberries was in the "good" range on the brix chart. None of those went fuzzy by the end of the day. They tasted alot better too.
Sadly the one really good stone fruit grower stopped coming to the markets in my area.
We seem to have a generation that grew up on cardboard fruit and vegetables from the supermarket.
When my preferred grower offered samples of some truly wonderful O'Henry peaches, some of the people at the market complained that the flavour was "too strong"! Apparently they had never before tasted a well grown peach. It was too different for them.
Another woman wanted to know which peaches would be ripe in two weeks. She didn't want fruit that was ripe now. Go figure.
The other organic fruit growers (and the conventional growers) at my local FMs have really low brix readings on their fruit. And of course, that fruit is tasteless. I'm beginning to think that they may sell more tasteless fruit because that is what much of the general public is used to.
I have a good friend that grows many different kinds of fruit.When I was young we picked fruit for him.He was upset that the growers that got the first fruit of each variety to market were the ones who sold their fruit.Consumers would buy some of that unripe fruit and since they didn't care for it they wouldn't buy any more.The growers that waited til the fruit was ripe couldn't find any buyers because the consumers had already had their peaches or whatever for the year.Ripe fruit is harder to ship without taking big losses.You have to go direct to the farm to get really ripe fruit.
There are many small farms within ~50 miles that come to our local markets. Most are able to offer riper produce than a grower who ships long distances. The farm that grows the lovely peaches now only sells apples and grapes in our area and takes the stone fruit further north to Berkeley. There are 10 farmers markets within 20 miles of my home. These seem to be dominated by the same three fruit farmers that have consistently low brix in their produce. If I want good local stone fruit in the summer, I have to drive an hour north or south to a different farmers market.
Raw cheese samples from Costco may be the cause of 25 people becoming ill with E.coli 0157:H7.
cp
The USDA answers your questions with their profoundly activist and pioneering new initiative…."Get to Know Your Farmer and Get to Know Your Food". If the USDA actually did get the initiative flying it would destroy the processors and rebuild Americas Farmers and their long lost connection to their consumers.
If you want to know the truth,…visit the farm and get to know the farmer….no tests are needed. Just talk to the farmer and look hard at his production conditions. The USDA has it dead on!!!
http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm232748.htm
It seems that John Sheehan has a real problem. His PMO standards have again failed him.
The Bravo Cheese recall is a PMO FDA recall not a CDFA or California raw milk recall. All of that raw milk that was and is used at Bravo to make their deliciuos cheeses come from dairies that follow the PMO and not CA raw milk standards.
I have screamed this from the highest mountian tops and I will say it once again.
THERE ARE TWO RAW MILKS IN AMERICA. One for People and One for the Pasteurizer.
The Bravo Ecol1 0157H7 recall raw cheese was PMO Federal Standard Raw Milk. It is not tested for pathogens and the standards are wide open for pathogens. That raw milk cheese is not required to be tested for pathogens under the PMO. It simply needs to be aged for 60 days. It would appear the CAFO Raw Milk Pathogens have started to be a little tougher….they now resist the "cheese aging pathogen killing paradigm" a belief long held by the FDA.
Bravo was an FDA PMO recall not a CA CDFA Raw Milk recall.
Do not mix up or confuse the "two kinds of raw milk".
When a raw milk producer produces raw milk for human consumption and must pass the less than 10 coliform test and must have zero pathogens and that raw milk is made into raw milk cheese….it can not be compared to PMO Class 4 CAFO Raw Milk that came from milk that was intended to be pasteurized and may very well contain pathogens.
Do we have any pictures or data on the source of Bravo cheese raw milk?? No we do not. This is the classic FDA PMO story.
One more thing…Our favorite food safety litigation cougar predator Marler is all over this and slobbering all over the insurance claim that will surely pay him very well. But do not forget….this raw milk and this cheese is a product of Mr. Sheehans blessed PMO and it is not Raw Milk intended for human consumption.
Bacteria change and resist…The FDA does not change and fails to progressively learn anything. If the FDA had looked at the data and statistics I gave them at the NCIMS in 2008, they perhaps would have learned something about dirty milk and the PMO and better standards for raw dairy products. The Bravo recall is actually music to the FDA's ears. It is just one more thing to confuse the public and damn raw milk….when it had nothing to do with clean safe tested raw milk in CA.
Marler must file suit against the FDA for their failure to separate "untested CAFO PMO raw milk" and its Class 4 use in Raw Milk Cheese production and "Raw Milk for Human Consumption" that is clean tested and pathogen free. Confusing the Two Raw Milks in America is politically expedient….but it is corrupt and a sure sign of trying to cover for PMO weakness and blame raw milk for yet another outbreak that had nothing to do with tested clean safe raw milk intended for people!!!
Bravo Cheese is deliciuos and produced just 40 miles from OPDC. I wish them all the best and a speedy recovery of ill consumers. I also hope that the doctors treating these patients do NOT GIVE ANTIBIOTICS. It is contraindicated by new national pediatric standards. Anti biotics can kill those with Ecoli. Recovery is usually fairly quick using supportive care, watchfull waiting and no antibiotic treatments. If you want HUS give antibiotics…you will get a raging case of it.
Mark
If I was Mr. Borsma ( owner of Bravo Cheese ), I would immediately visit each and every sickened consumer and ask them their story. What has been reported by the FDA could very well be a far fetched distorted version of the truth. It could very well be that most of these illnesses are simply positive fecal pathogen tests and not real hospitalizations with serious complications. Also the stories tend to change and get worse when Marler gets ahold of the patient….
Get their first, show compassion and find out the real truth and document it with a camera and take very good notes. You will be negotiating with Marler at a table soon enough and you need accurate truth on your side….not some Marler version concocked to scare the suits and way-to-tight ties off of insurance executives and settlement negotiators.
You may find their is a completely different story out there. "Get to Know Your Farmer and Get to Know Your Food" also applies….where… "Get to Know the Truth and Get to Know the Patient" applies as well.
Mark
Mark
The below are the facts taken from the mediations letters used in the lawsuits. Medical records were used to back up all information.
http://www.marlerblog.com/uploads/file/LAUREN%20HERZOG.pdf
http://www.marlerblog.com/uploads/file/CHRISTOPHER%20MARTIN.pdf
You stated that you visited Lauren Herzog on September 25. You never visited Chris. Lauren entered the hospital on September 10th and Chris on September 7th. You visited Lauren after she had been in the hospital for 15 days.
Below are the descriptions of the kids the week prior to your visit. Im not sure what you would have wanted to take pictures of. The kids suffering? Lauren was quite agitated on September 25th 2006. I wonder if that was a result of your compassionate visit.
Lauren Herzog September 20-26
For the next week, Lauren was on somewhat of a roller coaster. Her stomach pain would ease, and she could nibble on crackers or sip broth without nausea or vomiting. But BUN and creatinine levels would be high, then drop and bounce up again. There was worsening hemolytic anemia, and pancreatitis remained a serous problem.
Lauren continued to endure dialysis nearly every day. The first positive signs of recovery occurred on September 20 when Lauren voided a small amount of urine; not yet measured by the nurse. Two days later, she voided 70cc of urine, a triumph, so dialysis was withheld the following day. But by September 24, her BUN and creatinine levels had increased, likely due to the absence of dialysis the day before, so treatment was resumed. Very slowly, with several ups and downs, Laurens anemia was resolving, but other problems remained, and new difficulties cropped up.
For instance, Lauren weight went up to a high of 3.8q kg, (or nearly 84 pounds) on September 23 and her face appeared swollen. Several times a day she had to be given Hydralazine for spikes in blood pressure. On September 24, she awoke feeling anxious and found to be hypertensive. Accordingly, she was being treated with Vasotec, which was administered in a new peripheral IV catheter inserted in her right hand. As her anemia improved, her ongoing pancreatitis was evidenced by the persisted elevation of amylase and lipase levels.
Although Lauren generally remained in good spirits throughout her ordeal, she sometimes felt overwhelmed by the pain and discomfort, and the relentless nausea and vomiting. She was reported to be very agitated whenever her blood pressure was taken. During a hemodialysis session on September 25, she was noted to be initially cranky and crying, but then stoically tolerated the hours-long procedure.
On September 27, given the overall clinical improvement in Laurens condition, Dr. Culter gave the green light to moving Lauren to a regular pediatric unit.
Chris Martin September 19-25
Early in the morning on September 19, test indicated worsening congestive heart failure and kidney function. He was also running a 102.4 temperature, continued to be anemic, and continued to have an elevated heart rate. He had hemodialysis in the afternoon, along with a blood transfusion during the four-hour procedure.
Because his condition had stabilized overnight, on the morning of September 20, Mudit Mathur, MD, PCC specialist, instructed nurses to being to wean Chris from the ventilator. It was good news, but also the start of a long, difficult process. It took nearly twelve hours for the various medications to wear off before the breathing tube could be removed, and Chris arms could finally be removed from the restraints. With Chris anxious about getting he tubes out, his mother , father and grandmother bent over him all day, waging a battle to keep from pulling out the tubes prematurely. Meanwhile, Dr. Mathur was concerned about the extent of abdominal distention, and so ordered an x-ray. When reviewed, the x-rays revealed a complete bowel obstruction. Later in the evening, following hemodialysis, Chris was finally extubated and removed fro the ventilator.
For Tony and Mary, it had been five day of waiting, worry, and fear. Would or could their sons body ever recover? What kind of permanent damage had been done? It was difficult for hem to watch Chris during dialysis, because he would become more alert and conscious as the medications washed out of his system. During each session, he would try to struggle up, straining to lift his head and torso from the bed, arching his body forward until his restrained hands limited his ascent. Each time his parents tried to calm him, asking him to lie back down, and soothingly attempted to reassure him that everything would be fine.
During these five days, Mary met Melissa Herzog in the hospital waiting room. Melissas daughter, Laure, like Chris, was being treated at Loma Linda for HUS that had developed as a result of an E.coli infection. Both children had spent the Labor Day weekend drinking raw milk from Organic Pastures Dairy.
Thursday, September 21
Removing Chris from the ventilator turned out to be a mixed blessing. He could not speak because his throat was swollen and required medication to reduce the swelling. One of his lungs was partially collapsed, so he now wore a tightly fitted BiPaP mask over his mouth and nose that forced oxygen deep into his lungs. The mask would easily become misaligned, and then emit a loud burping sound and vibrate harshly against his face.. It constantly had to be readjusted.
For the next three days, the Martins watched their son continue to suffer. He would snap awake for a deep sleep, and then look around wildly with fear, completely disoriented. He tried to pull the mask off, scratching his face. While his parents tried to explain that the mask was helping him, and that it would be removed as soon as he could breathe on his own, Chris was beginning to react angrily.
The results of blood and urine tests continued to show renal failure. No tests were needed however to see that Chris scrotum was grotesquely swollen. A bedside abdominal ultrasound suggested his gallbladder was not inflamed. When Gerald Gollin, MD, a general surgeon, arrived to examine Chris with respect to his increasingly swollen abdomen, he concluded that, because his condition was stable, and there was no vomiting, there was no immediate need for an operation. A hemodialysis session began a 1:40 PM and ended a 5:15 PM.
Later that day, the Martins leaned that Dole baby spinach had been implicated in the widespread E.coli outbreak. Chris had not eaten this brand, so spinach was ruled out as the source of his infection.
Friday, September 22
Melissa Herzog left an ecstatic message on Marys cell phone at 9:00 AM. Her daughter had produced urine! And if Lauren could pee, so could Chris, she happily predicted, both mothers knowing that urination was a sign that the kidneys were finally starting to recover. Mary also knew that it generally took ten days to two weeks from the time a child is diagnosed with HUS for the kidneys to begin working again. Today was day eleven fro Chris and he was far from being out to the woods yet, and not producing any urine.
Results of early morning test showed worsening renal failure despite daily dialysis. When Dr. Muther made his rounds at 7:00 AM, Chris blood pressure, heart and respiratory rates were all elevated. X-rays done at 8:00 AM showed dilated loops of bowels, which the radiologist attributed to intestinal blockage caused by infection. The X-rays also revealed low lung volumes, with a collapsed lung and possibly pneumonia.
Following the days dialysis, a physical therapist examined Chris. They talked about the much-hated BiPap mask, which led to Chris being allowed to switch that mask on and off with a regular oxygen mask throughout the day. Later, Chris woke with a start, saw all the tube inserted in is body and shouted, Someone get a doctor! In the view of his parents, he was having a difficult time understanding what was going on after ten days of narcotics.
That night, at about 10:30 PM, Tony was asleep at the Ronald McDonald House across the street from the hospital, while Mary visited with a friend in the waiting room. Chris Uncle Greg, who had been with him in his room, burst into the waiting room with the news that Chris had finally urinated. The nurse reported that Chris had voided about 500 ccs of urine onto the bed. Mary ran into the room, where everyone was grinning. Mary broke down crying, thinking the worst of the entire horrific ordeal was over. Chris was not going to have permanent renal failure, or so she then believed.
It as also around this time that the Martin family learned that Organic Pastures milk had been recalled because of its contamination with E.coli 0157:H7. Even more troubling, the dairy had been shut down.
Saturday, September 23
The day began with the results of lab test that showed worsening renal insufficiency and hemolytic anemia. This news was a blow to the family given the euphoria that had attended Chris producing urine the day before. And so it was with glum but stoic acceptance that Mary and Tony cared for Chris as he once more received dialysis and a blood transfusion.
Later that day, Chris urinated for the second time. But as is often the case with HUS, it was a step forward and a stop back. That evening, for the first time since he was admitted to the hospital, Chris cried and told his parent s he wanted to go home. Mary and Ton recall that heir hearts broke. As they watched him cry, they were stricken by how this medical nightmare was emotionally devastating their son. This was day seventeen in the hospital. It was thus a blessing perhaps that they had no idea that there would be 39 days to go.
Sunday, September 24
Chris urinated for the third and fourth time, and also had a bowel movement. Despite these somewhat good sign, his BUN and creatinine levels had both risen. During dialysis, the catheter repeatedly clogged so Chris was sedated while a new one was placed. When Chris awoke following the procedure he angrily demanded of the doctor, What is this place? He was very tired of being hurt.
Monday, September 25
Chris got out of bed for the first time and sat in a chair for three or four minutes to watch movies. He was so weak that his body shook with the effort, and he moved like a very old man. His parents recall watching him with aching hearts.
His BUN and cratinine levels, at 81 and 3.5, continued to indicate renal insufficiency, although Chris continued to void small amounts of urine. The overall assessment of his clinical condition was decidedly mixed, but with a few more positive signs:
severe hemolytic uremic syndrome, with evidence of acute polyuric renal failure, resolving pancreatitis, improved microangiopathic hemolytic anemia, complete resolution of thrombocytopenia,, improving respiratory function and pleural effusions and resolving bowel obstruction.
Not terribly good news, but not all bad either.
Mark opened my eyes up with his discussion above of raw cheeses being made from milk sources destined for pasteurization. I used to buy raw milk cheese from Whole Foods and UNFI coop, but after I found out the two brands of raw cheese available there, Organic Valley and Mt. Sterling, both heat treated their milk, I stopped buying their raw milk cheese. I never gave any thought that raw cheese might be made from PMO milk.
http://nutritiondata.self.com/topics/processing
http://www.theatlantic.com/food/archive/2010/11/how-ultra-processed-foods-are-killing-us/65614/
http://www.mypyramid.gov/downloads/results/results_2000_18.pdf
The pyramid says to consume low fat or no fat foods…many nutrients require fats for optimal absorption. Greens are a good example, toss that bacon in for flavoring and you absorb more of the nutrients.
My point that I was trying to make is this….
When CDFA informed me about the recall and sick kids. They said that six kids were critically ill in ICU's and that they thought they were going to die. They put me into shock and would not tell who or where the kids were. I had to find them myself and it was hard to do that.
What I actually found was simply not the CDFA story at all. Their had been two children sickened to the point of required hospitalization and when I immediately went to visit them, I found out that they were not in ICU and that their illnesses had passed the critical stage. They had been given antibiotics which is contraindicated by current medical standards for ecoli treatment.
Most importantly….I found out that one of the kids had never been found to have Ecoli 0157 when the other did….I even found out that the two kids had documented consumption of spinach. I found out that none of the OPDC products consumed by either of the kids was found to have a pathogen.
That is my point….the CDFA story and the real story were on different planets.
Check the data….find the truth. Reaching out and showing compassion is always important. So be it if it is not recieved perfectly….it is a sincere effort to show some concern. That is human and if that is some thing important to you then you should do it. When Odwalla juice killed Anna in Colorado in fall of 1996, the leadership at Odwalla ( Greg Steltenpolh and others ) sat in that hospital with the parents and showed compassion. Those parents did not sue. I am sure that their were many mutual tears.
Sometimes the truth and reality is distorted to meet political or litigation agendas.
Distortions and missing truth can not be a foundation for anything.
Mark
http://cheesesociety.org:80/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=299