Comments on: An Edible Quest http://www.boomercafe.com/2007/12/24/an-edible-quest/ The online magazine for baby boomers with active lifestyles Fri, 03 Feb 2012 02:06:05 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: We are What We Eat | David Henderson - author, journalist http://www.boomercafe.com/2007/12/24/an-edible-quest/#comment-2168 We are What We Eat | David Henderson - author, journalist Sun, 18 Jan 2009 20:46:36 +0000 http://boomercafe.com/2007/12/24/an-edible-quest/#comment-2168 [...] wrote about the hazards of corn syrup last December in my BoomerCafé piece, An Edible Quest. We are the only country in the world that has permitted proliferation of corn-based chemical [...] [...] wrote about the hazards of corn syrup last December in my BoomerCafé piece, An Edible Quest. We are the only country in the world that has permitted proliferation of corn-based chemical [...]

]]> By: As Baby Boomers … We Are What We Eat: BoomerCafé™ … it’s your place http://www.boomercafe.com/2007/12/24/an-edible-quest/#comment-964 As Baby Boomers … We Are What We Eat: BoomerCafé™ … it’s your place Sat, 09 Aug 2008 09:59:13 +0000 http://boomercafe.com/2007/12/24/an-edible-quest/#comment-964 [...] wrote about the hazards of corn syrup last December in my BoomerCafé piece, An Edible Quest. We are the only country in the world that has permitted proliferation of corn-based chemical [...] [...] wrote about the hazards of corn syrup last December in my BoomerCafé piece, An Edible Quest. We are the only country in the world that has permitted proliferation of corn-based chemical [...]

]]> By: Pat from Arlington http://www.boomercafe.com/2007/12/24/an-edible-quest/#comment-355 Pat from Arlington Wed, 02 Jan 2008 17:10:32 +0000 http://boomercafe.com/2007/12/24/an-edible-quest/#comment-355 Looks like the new chairman of the Arlington, VA, county board wants to encourage restaurants to ban the use of trans fats in foods http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/01/AR2008010101809.html?hpid=topnews. Great move! Looks like the new chairman of the Arlington, VA, county board wants to encourage restaurants to ban the use of trans fats in foods http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/01/AR2008010101809.html?hpid=topnews. Great move!

]]> By: Ron http://www.boomercafe.com/2007/12/24/an-edible-quest/#comment-329 Ron Fri, 28 Dec 2007 18:46:32 +0000 http://boomercafe.com/2007/12/24/an-edible-quest/#comment-329 Religion started when someone noticed that an intangible (we call it "belief" now) was eventually far, far stronger than anything tangible. Government started when someone noticed that "convincing" others to "believe" something and capitalizing on their resultant energy gathered more "profit" than any other method. Now America is caught in a world-wide struggle to destroy both of these concepts because they have proven corruptible even in the youngest of countries. The sliding collapse of effective culture has come from the belief in supremacy of "college education" or "university education" over common sense and actual knowledge (the most artificial of intelligence instead of natural and earned intelligence), chemical combinations of artificial foods, instead of the fully natural foods, and artificial structures of "information" instead of the natural determination and support of truths. These basic levels that support the rest of life have been turned into quagmires of disinformation, lies, "half-truths", and "lies by complete omission". The basic point of art that it should uplift the spirit (instead of just effect the psyche, whether positive or blantantly negative), the basic point of science that it should be truthful and in conformity with the laws of nature so its effect can be predicted from minute to cosmic levels, the basic point of government that it should help as many people as possible and hurt as few as possible (whatever the program or policy), the basic point that reason should be clear (and that fallacies are to be avoided as much as plague-infested rats, for fallacies of argument bring a far greater plague), all of these concepts have been abandoned in favor of hegemony in one form or another (wealth, political power, even international "influence"). We speak of "careers" and never consider the greatest "career"--being wise in our age. Youth spouts "instant catch-alls" that they have heard from dire manipulators and no chorus is heard from our institutions when those catch-alls are even openly fallacious arguments. "Winning" is all that counts, ignoring that we all "lose" eventually, and if only "winning" counts, the culture, the country, eveyone eventually loses very, very big. Rome learned--several times. Greece learned--several times. And we are learning what they learned and re-learned and re-learned. And the biggest lie is that we can't learn until we fail miserably as "everyone else before us has failed". Many have been told "you must die to live" and they were "human sacrifices" in dire religions. Must we come to this logical consequence before we turn away from lies and fallacies? Will we need national "contests to the death" before we realize life is not about watching others die, but about discovering more and more about the truths of life itself--the foods (science rears its beautiful head), the real and natural medicines (again, science), the real and natural joys (again, science, and...finally, actual ART)? Religion started when someone noticed that an intangible (we call it “belief” now) was eventually far, far stronger than anything tangible. Government started when someone noticed that “convincing” others to “believe” something and capitalizing on their resultant energy gathered more “profit” than any other method. Now America is caught in a world-wide struggle to destroy both of these concepts because they have proven corruptible even in the youngest of countries. The sliding collapse of effective culture has come from the belief in supremacy of “college education” or “university education” over common sense and actual knowledge (the most artificial of intelligence instead of natural and earned intelligence), chemical combinations of artificial foods, instead of the fully natural foods, and artificial structures of “information” instead of the natural determination and support of truths. These basic levels that support the rest of life have been turned into quagmires of disinformation, lies, “half-truths”, and “lies by complete omission”. The basic point of art that it should uplift the spirit (instead of just effect the psyche, whether positive or blantantly negative), the basic point of science that it should be truthful and in conformity with the laws of nature so its effect can be predicted from minute to cosmic levels, the basic point of government that it should help as many people as possible and hurt as few as possible (whatever the program or policy), the basic point that reason should be clear (and that fallacies are to be avoided as much as plague-infested rats, for fallacies of argument bring a far greater plague), all of these concepts have been abandoned in favor of hegemony in one form or another (wealth, political power, even international “influence”). We speak of “careers” and never consider the greatest “career”–being wise in our age. Youth spouts “instant catch-alls” that they have heard from dire manipulators and no chorus is heard from our institutions when those catch-alls are even openly fallacious arguments. “Winning” is all that counts, ignoring that we all “lose” eventually, and if only “winning” counts, the culture, the country, eveyone eventually loses very, very big. Rome learned–several times. Greece learned–several times. And we are learning what they learned and re-learned and re-learned. And the biggest lie is that we can’t learn until we fail miserably as “everyone else before us has failed”. Many have been told “you must die to live” and they were “human sacrifices” in dire religions. Must we come to this logical consequence before we turn away from lies and fallacies? Will we need national “contests to the death” before we realize life is not about watching others die, but about discovering more and more about the truths of life itself–the foods (science rears its beautiful head), the real and natural medicines (again, science), the real and natural joys (again, science, and…finally, actual ART)?

]]> By: Horse Badorties http://www.boomercafe.com/2007/12/24/an-edible-quest/#comment-320 Horse Badorties Thu, 27 Dec 2007 04:33:14 +0000 http://boomercafe.com/2007/12/24/an-edible-quest/#comment-320 re: The answer is complex – advertising, lobbying, and complacency. We are brainwashed by advertising. Okay, so here's the deal. Back in the twenties the permanant government worked with the best social scientists of the day and figured out the formula for managing an unruly, fairly unsophisticated populace so the would cause no trouble, especially in the times of red scares. One of their strategies was the development of a massive entertainment effort that was designed to keep the population constantly amused. The other prong was public relations and advertising both developed in the 20s, to create a vast consumer army. Worked pretty good, I'd say. One time I heard a guy on a radio talk show speaking about the overall blueprint that was develped back then and he said there was even documentaton on it. The host just hung up on him..the substabdard food, the lousy tv, the seventy basketball channels on cable, the computer-designed portion of frozen food meals. its all of a piece to keep you distracted and passive..Seems to work also. I wouldn't be surprised if the guvment wasn't behind the rapid development and genaral affordability of large screen tvs, a quantum leap in mass distraction. Only connect. Anti conspiracy types, take your best shot. and dio you notice the sugar you get in little packets has no sweetness? re:

The answer is complex – advertising, lobbying, and complacency. We are brainwashed by advertising.

Okay, so here’s the deal. Back in the twenties the permanant government worked with the best social scientists of the day and figured out the formula for managing an unruly, fairly unsophisticated populace so the would cause no trouble, especially in the times of red scares. One of their strategies was the development of a massive entertainment effort that was designed to keep the population constantly amused. The other prong was public relations and advertising both developed in the 20s, to create a vast consumer army. Worked pretty good, I’d say. One time I heard a guy on a radio talk show speaking about the overall blueprint that was develped back then and he said there was even documentaton on it. The host just hung up on him..the substabdard food, the lousy tv, the seventy basketball channels on cable, the computer-designed portion of frozen food meals. its all of a piece to keep you distracted and passive..Seems to work also. I wouldn’t be surprised if the guvment wasn’t behind the rapid development and genaral affordability of large screen tvs, a quantum leap in mass distraction. Only connect. Anti conspiracy types, take your best shot. and dio you notice the sugar you get in little packets has no sweetness?

]]> By: Mike from Indiana http://www.boomercafe.com/2007/12/24/an-edible-quest/#comment-313 Mike from Indiana Wed, 26 Dec 2007 20:59:46 +0000 http://boomercafe.com/2007/12/24/an-edible-quest/#comment-313 I'm a boomer scout ('42) and I've got some points to make: 1)DYODD: Read labels, be a "consulting physician" in your own case, and do the research so widely available for your cases/causes. 2)Network, ask where to stay, where to eat, what to eat from the people you trust 3)Get/keep competence; get/keep confidence. 4)Act like other people are watching; act like the Tribal Elder you are. 5)Be supportive, encouraging, and a person of good will. Share the wealth. 6)Buy, fix, and eat organic foods and cut back your portions. 7)Exercise as soon as you get out of bed (you won't need coffee to wake up). 8) Think continuing education. 9) Manage your own mind. 10)Be well and do good. You're in charge now. I’m a boomer scout (’42) and I’ve got some points to make: 1)DYODD: Read labels, be a “consulting physician” in your own case, and do the research so widely available for your cases/causes. 2)Network, ask where to stay, where to eat, what to eat from the people you trust 3)Get/keep competence; get/keep confidence. 4)Act like other people are watching; act like the Tribal Elder you are. 5)Be supportive, encouraging, and a person of good will. Share the wealth. 6)Buy, fix, and eat organic foods and cut back your portions. 7)Exercise as soon as you get out of bed (you won’t need coffee to wake up). 8) Think continuing education. 9) Manage your own mind. 10)Be well and do good. You’re in charge now.

]]> By: Mike Petrie http://www.boomercafe.com/2007/12/24/an-edible-quest/#comment-312 Mike Petrie Wed, 26 Dec 2007 18:39:16 +0000 http://boomercafe.com/2007/12/24/an-edible-quest/#comment-312 It was a German scientist named Normann Wilhelm who developed hydrogenation: a process for converting liquid fatty acids into solids. This spawned a dangerous byproduct, something that previously existed in nature in only very small amounts, called trans-fats. Alarms about trans-fats were first raised in the early 1980s, when studies showed they raised cholesterol in lab animals. It took until 2006 for the FDA to begin requiring manufacturers to list amounts of tans-fatty acid contents contained in their products. Several local governments, including New York and Philadelphia, have since jumped on the bandwagon, banning trans-fat use in restaurants. And many restaurants, fast food outlets, and food manufacturers have “voluntarily” shifted away from trans-fat usage for fear of lawsuits by plaintiffs whose health has been adversely affected by consumption of such products. (e.g. Within days of being sued under California’s Consumer Protection Law in 2003, Kraft Foods announced it would be “voluntarily” reducing the use of trans-fats in their Oreo cookies – so three cheers for the lawyers doing more to protect us than our elected leaders by forcing healthy change through consumer protection litigation!) But shouldn’t we smart, overly-educated Baby Boomers know better than to eat such garbage? Apparently not. There are countless representative cases wherein smart people unknowingly, or perhaps ambivalently, consumed harmful products, unaware they were doing so. Perhaps in naive reliance that our government must be watching out for us. In the case of Hoyte vs.Yum!Brands,Inc., filed in June of 2006 in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, the plaintiff was a retired medical doctor from Maryland who alleged he unknowingly consumed food fried in trans-fats at KFC restaurants. The good news is that, by October 2006, KFC announced that it was switching to fat free oils in all of its 5,500 restaurants. Again, three cheers for the lawyers! But, why is it that change only seems to come about by using the court system as a cudgel? Isn’t the government supposed to be protecting its citizenry? Isn’t the government supposed to be protecting us from harmful products? As long as big business continues to lobby and contribute to the American political machinery, I doubt we will see much meaningful legislation curtailing the use of high fructose corn oils, high concentrations of salt, or other harmful products until forced to do so in the courts. I’m not sure I would go so far as to characterize the government as overtly “lying” to us, as David Henderson alleges in his article (though, we certainly have been mislead into believing our government was protecting us). But, clearly, we must be ever vigilante for our own safety and that of our children. It was a German scientist named Normann Wilhelm who developed hydrogenation: a process for converting liquid fatty acids into solids. This spawned a dangerous byproduct, something that previously existed in nature in only very small amounts, called trans-fats. Alarms about trans-fats were first raised in the early 1980s, when studies showed they raised cholesterol in lab animals. It took until 2006 for the FDA to begin requiring manufacturers to list amounts of tans-fatty acid contents contained in their products. Several local governments, including New York and Philadelphia, have since jumped on the bandwagon, banning trans-fat use in restaurants. And many restaurants, fast food outlets, and food manufacturers have “voluntarily” shifted away from trans-fat usage for fear of lawsuits by plaintiffs whose health has been adversely affected by consumption of such products. (e.g. Within days of being sued under California’s Consumer Protection Law in 2003, Kraft Foods announced it would be “voluntarily” reducing the use of trans-fats in their Oreo cookies – so three cheers for the lawyers doing more to protect us than our elected leaders by forcing healthy change through consumer protection litigation!)

But shouldn’t we smart, overly-educated Baby Boomers know better than to eat such garbage? Apparently not. There are countless representative cases wherein smart people unknowingly, or perhaps ambivalently, consumed harmful products, unaware they were doing so. Perhaps in naive reliance that our government must be watching out for us. In the case of Hoyte vs.Yum!Brands,Inc., filed in June of 2006 in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, the plaintiff was a retired medical doctor from Maryland who alleged he unknowingly consumed food fried in trans-fats at KFC restaurants. The good news is that, by October 2006, KFC announced that it was switching to fat free oils in all of its 5,500 restaurants. Again, three cheers for the lawyers!

But, why is it that change only seems to come about by using the court system as a cudgel? Isn’t the government supposed to be protecting its citizenry? Isn’t the government supposed to be protecting us from harmful products? As long as big business continues to lobby and contribute to the American political machinery, I doubt we will see much meaningful legislation curtailing the use of high fructose corn oils, high concentrations of salt, or other harmful products until forced to do so in the courts. I’m not sure I would go so far as to characterize the government as overtly “lying” to us, as David Henderson alleges in his article (though, we certainly have been mislead into believing our government was protecting us). But, clearly, we must be ever vigilante for our own safety and that of our children.

]]> By: John Smith http://www.boomercafe.com/2007/12/24/an-edible-quest/#comment-310 John Smith Wed, 26 Dec 2007 18:26:27 +0000 http://boomercafe.com/2007/12/24/an-edible-quest/#comment-310 boomers stop whining and realize that no one is forcing you to drink cheap cornsyruped coke or poopy salmon. You went there and expected to have a good dinner FOR CHEAP. YOu can bet YOUR BOOMER BOTTOM DOLLAR that the food you admire elsewhere COSTS TWICE AS MUCH. boomers stop whining and realize that no one is forcing you to drink cheap cornsyruped coke or poopy salmon. You went there and expected to have a good dinner FOR CHEAP. YOu can bet YOUR BOOMER BOTTOM DOLLAR that the food you admire elsewhere COSTS TWICE AS MUCH.

]]> By: moo http://www.boomercafe.com/2007/12/24/an-edible-quest/#comment-307 moo Wed, 26 Dec 2007 05:28:15 +0000 http://boomercafe.com/2007/12/24/an-edible-quest/#comment-307 Martin dude... grow the F up. The mistake we boomers made was having so many of you GenY brats, and then spoiling you. Get a life dude - go DO something. You've got a problem with Social Security or whatever.... just deal with it. Martin dude… grow the F up. The mistake we boomers made was having so many of you GenY brats, and then spoiling you. Get a life dude – go DO something. You’ve got a problem with Social Security or whatever…. just deal with it.

]]> By: Stugee1 http://www.boomercafe.com/2007/12/24/an-edible-quest/#comment-306 Stugee1 Wed, 26 Dec 2007 04:37:00 +0000 http://boomercafe.com/2007/12/24/an-edible-quest/#comment-306 Boomers seem to have an inherent distrust of free markets and want the government to "fix everything". After being weaned on "Brave New World" and "1984", we seem destined to create similar societies in our continuing quest to make sure that everyone does what we believe is right. Take you knowledge and encourage kindred souls not to buy the products you decry as unhealthy. Businesses can only make money if people buy their products. If you are unsuccessful in your attempts, you can still live your own lifestyle and educate your children as to what you believe. But, don't fall back on what has become the "boomer creed" - litigation and more government control. Boomers seem to have an inherent distrust of free markets and want the government to “fix everything”. After being weaned on “Brave New World” and “1984″, we seem destined to create similar societies in our continuing quest to make sure that everyone does what we believe is right.

Take you knowledge and encourage kindred souls not to buy the products you decry as unhealthy. Businesses can only make money if people buy their products.

If you are unsuccessful in your attempts, you can still live your own lifestyle and educate your children as to what you believe. But, don’t fall back on what has become the “boomer creed” – litigation and more government control.

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