How America Is Making the Whole World Fat and Unhealthy

March 19, 2012

Alter Net

By Alter Net

“No wonder the whole world is getting more unhealthy – they are eating like Americans.” –KTRN

It is hardly news that the United States faces epidemic health problems linked to poor diets. Nearly two out of every five Americans are obese. But according to a press release from the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Olivier de Schutter, “The West is now exporting diabetes and heart disease to developing countries, along with the processed foods that line the shelves of global supermarkets. By 2030, more than 5 million people will die each year before the age of 60 from non-communicable diseases linked to diets.”

De Schutter, whose work usually focuses on ending hunger, just published a new report saying, “The right to food cannot be reduced to a right not to starve. It is an inclusive right to an adequate diet providing all the nutritional elements an individual requires to live a healthy and active life, and the means to access them.” In other words, the right to a healthful diet must be included in the human right to food. And, as the unhealthy diets already common in the United States spread to poorer nations, so do the health problems associated with those diets. However, unlike wealthy nations, poorer nations are not equipped to deal with the health consequences via medicine, making preventable diet-related health problems more deadly.

While the poor around the world face hunger, for those who have enough to eat in non-industrialized nations, traditional diets are quite healthy. In Kenya, for example, peasant farmers subsist on a stiff corn porridge called ugali eaten with a variety of green vegetables, beans, and perhaps some pumpkin. Peasants in Bolivia may dine on potatoes, quinoa and other grains, corn, sweet potato, and other Andean roots and tubers. Mexicans combine corn tortillas and beans to provide complete protein. A Filipino family may eat pinakbet, a stew of local vegetables flavored with bagoong, a Filipino fish sauce.

In each and every case, traditional diets are made up of whole foods, including grains, beans, vegetables, fresh fruit, and perhaps some animal products. Wild plants that an American might dispose of as “weeds” are used to provide essential micronutrients, feed families during hard times, or serve as medicines. Often fermentation is used to preserve foods and increase their nutrition, as in the case of Kenya’s fermented porridge uji. Livestock enjoy diverse and natural diets, and meat is reserved for special occasions — perhaps a chicken to celebrate the arrival of a guest, a goat for Christmas, or a cow for a wedding.

But times are changing. Visit even the most far-flung rural part of each of these nations today, and you’ll find Coca-Cola advertising — and Coca-Cola — everywhere. Restaurants and stores in Africa display Coca-Cola-themed store signs while their menus are posted on Coca-Cola chalkboards and waiters wear red Cola-Cola aprons. In South America, you can buy a bottle of Coke out of your car window from a vendor dressed in red Coca-Cola-themed gear while you wait in traffic. If there’s anywhere on earth you cannot easily buy an ice-cold Coke, it’s Antarctica — although it’s very possible there are already shops selling ice-cold Coke there, too. And while other junk foods sold in each of these places may not be such recognizable global brands, they are equally detrimental to human health no matter which company makes them or how they are branded.

Click here for the full report.

Artificial Meat Not Without Health And Liberty Concerns

February 23, 2012

Activist Post

By Keelan Balderson

“This simple solution to concerns over meat and animal welfare is to become a vegetarian – problem solved.”  –KTRN

Although news that scientists are beginning to develop artificial meat might be considered a step in the right direction for animal welfare, the concept is not without potential health and liberty concerns.

Debate aside about whether eating meat is right or wrong, the fact is people do eat a lot of meat, some 275 million tons in 2007 [1]. The problem, however, is people are eating a lot of bad meat…cows raised on unnatural corn, instead of grass; animals locked in dark cages and pumped with steroids, instead of wandering around in the grass or mud; cloned animals instead of nature’s natural way. This has produced meat that is considerably higher in fat, considerably lower in nutrition, and an attitude considerably lacking in empathy.

A factory-farmed chicken in 2004 for example, contained more than twice as much fat as free range chicken in 1940 [2]. Farming has degenerated, not improved. On top of this we also have a food processing culture that takes this tortured sub-par meat and strips it even further of any healthy contents; mixing it with artificial flavors and preservatives, packing it with salt and sugar, until it’s no longer recognizable as the fresh food our grandparents once ate.

As the disastrous health effects of this frankenfood become more apparent, slowly we’re beginning to see a resurgence of good organic production methods. It’s a renaissance.

Whole Foods is booming in America and moving to the UK. Major supermarkets are being forced to offer organic free-range alternatives. Communities are having grass-fed beef and organic vegetable boxes delivered from local farms. Things are starting to feel natural again, and with innovation of sustainable farming, or, more accurately, fine tuning of farming to the ecosystem, there’s no need to destroy the earth.

Take the Polyface method [3], where the natural instincts and digestive needs of the animals are combined to create an efficient system where the cows eat the grass, then the chickens are moved in to scratch the dung and peck at the dropped grains and new grass sprouts, then their dung fertilizes the soil, and the pigs plow the soil in to fertile compost. All of it in tune with nature.

Click here for the full report.

Whole Fraud: Exposing The Myth of So-Called ‘Natural’ Foods

February 14, 2012

Natural News

By Ronnie Cummins

On Jan. 31, organic and natural foods giant Whole Foods Market (WFM) once again attacked http://blog.wholefoodsmarket.com Organic Consumers Association, the nation’s leading watchdog on organic standards, as being too “hard-line” for insisting that retailers like WFM stop selling, or at least start labeling, billions of dollars worth of so-called “natural” foods in their stores – foods that are laced with unlabeled, hazardous genetically engineered (GE) ingredients.

WFM’s most recent attack on OCA predictably backfired, throwing gasoline on the fiery debate surrounding my previous essay “The Organic Elite Surrenders to Monsanto.” http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_22449.cfm In that essay, written in January 2011, I criticized WFM and several other well-known organic companies for their foolish (now hopefully repudiated) stance of espousing “co-existence” with the USDA and Monsanto, in exchange for minimal federal regulation of genetically engineered crops.

In subsequent articles OCA has called for an end to “organic infighting” http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_22499.cfm and for the organic industry, farmers, and consumers to join forces and pass laws or state ballot initiatives (like the current campaign in California) that would require mandatory labels on products containing genetically engineered ingredients, as well as to make it illegalhttp://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_24074.cfm to label or market GE-tainted foods as “natural” or “all natural.”

USDA Forces Whole Foods To Accept Monsanto

February 2, 2012

Eating Right Diet

By Dr. Robert Ciprian

“How could the USDA be supporting Monsanto?  Click here to read an article we posted today that will give you the answer.”  –KTRN

There has been a lot of confusion about what is going on with Monsanto corporation and Whole Foods Market. There are plenty of Whole Foods “haters” out there that are claiming that the company has been bought out by monsanto (not true, the companies are publicly traded so you can see for yourself) and that Whole Foods Market has agreed to use monsanto’s genetically modified foods.

Basically Genetically Modified (GM) foods are designed to resist monsanto’s pesticide “round up”. But in turn when you mess with mother nature bad things happen. To learn more about what GM foods are and why they are bad for your health look to my older post “Monsanto Buys Our Whole Foods” and to listen on Get Fit Now Radio click here.

The truth of what has happened lies with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Whole Foods has been part of an alliance that has been battling monsanto and regulation of GM foods for years. Monsanto is a very large company with deep pockets and a lot a lobbying power. They were able to fight out the issue much longer because they can afford it and they know that it is an investment because they are going to have a monopoly on certain seeds for crops in the US.

Click here for the full report.

USDA Forces Whole Foods To Accept Monsanto

February 2, 2012

Eating Right Diet

By Dr. Robert Ciprian

“How could the USDA be supporting Monsanto?  Click here to read an article we posted today that will give you the answer.”  –KTRN

There has been a lot of confusion about what is going on with Monsanto corporation and Whole Foods Market. There are plenty of Whole Foods “haters” out there that are claiming that the company has been bought out by monsanto (not true, the companies are publicly traded so you can see for yourself) and that Whole Foods Market has agreed to use monsanto’s genetically modified foods.

Basically Genetically Modified (GM) foods are designed to resist monsanto’s pesticide “round up”. But in turn when you mess with mother nature bad things happen. To learn more about what GM foods are and why they are bad for your health look to my older post “Monsanto Buys Our Whole Foods” and to listen on Get Fit Now Radio click here.

The truth of what has happened lies with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Whole Foods has been part of an alliance that has been battling monsanto and regulation of GM foods for years. Monsanto is a very large company with deep pockets and a lot a lobbying power. They were able to fight out the issue much longer because they can afford it and they know that it is an investment because they are going to have a monopoly on certain seeds for crops in the US.

Click here for the full report.

How Can You Help The Unemployed?

October 6th, 2011

AOL Jobs

By: Wendy Powell

The unemployment rate is holding firm; companies continue their refusal to hire the unemployed. We wonder what more a nation of desperate job seekers can endure. They are terrified and we can all become a member of that class of people, the unemployed.

The broad assumption is that if job candidates are unemployed, they must be damaged goods. Companies think, they wouldn’t have been laid off if they had added value to their company; They weren’t part of the cream of the crop who survived. Think again, companies are desperate for survival. Banks aren’t lending, companies can’t expand, government is regulating, and companies are eliminating positions that include highly paid, and imminently qualified individuals they unfortunately could not afford to retain.

And many candidates have been in the Catch 22 of applying for jobs while still employed when they are fearful of being laid off. Their employer finds their resume on a job site and they are let go for lack of dedication.

Many look to Washington to create jobs. The reality is that government can create a business friendly environment for companies to thrive and hire. Now we are talking and we need to shout it in the communities, streets, and businesses, that there are unemployed people that need us and we need them. Businesses cannot forget that they need American consumers to buy their products and services.

One monumental and creative idea: Starbucks CEO, Howard Schultz’s well-publicized call to companies to withhold contributions to political campaigns and support jobs is gaining strength. Spend the money earmarked for political campaigns on employees and hiring issues, he says:

“The only way to break this cycle of fear is to break it. The only way to get the country’s economic circulatory system flowing again is to start pumping lifeblood through it,” he wrote. “That is why we today issue a second pledge. Our companies are going to hire. We are going to accelerate growth, employment, and investment in jobs.”

Stunning idea that he now has over 100 companies and over 21,000 of individuals following suit. There are over 3,000 pledges to hire and it’s growing by the day. Supporters include AOL, J. Crew, Hasbro, PepsiCo, Whole Foods, J.C. Penney.

I am intrigued and I am watching. We can’t forget that we are a nation that is motivated by money. Money talks and money works. There are millions of dollars in political contributions that vanish into thin air. We will be watching to see the promised investment in jobs and people. If the Political Action Committees of Unions would follow suit with a refund of some of the dues money to their members used for political contributions, now we are talking about putting money in peoples’ pockets.

Here is the connection to the unemployed: You refuse to consider unemployed candidates, you won’t get my business and my money. Find out who is refusing to hire the unemployed and make informed decisions about your future purchasing power. Due to the public scrutiny, many are refraining from the bold posting of “You must be currently employed to apply for this position.”, a clear and deliberate violation of the principles of bonafide occupational qualifications: qualifications that make sense considering the required competencies of the position.

People are desperate. Should “unemployed” be a protected class of people? Opinions swing wildly about this topic. In fact, many Americans think this is already a protected class. We have never dealt with this problem before, but we haven’t had a contemporary problem of this magnitude with jobs either. The unemployment rate is holding at 9.1 percent, 14 million Americans with no movement since April, 2011.

Now, it has gotten to such a feverish pitch that there is proposed legislation in Washington, The Fair Employment Act of 2011, that would add unemployment status to the protected class list of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Protected under this proposed legislation are individuals actively looking for unemployment during the most recent 4 week period and currently available for unemployment.

This bill, introduced and being deliberated in the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, is not expected to gain momentum but the mere fact that this bill needed introduction is a stunner. We never would have fathomed that we would need this type of protection.

If this legislation or some facsimile becomes law, how would the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, (EEOC) handle the title wave of new complaints from job candidates who assume they were rejected solely based on the proposed new category of a protected class? Job candidates, could apply for multiple jobs and file appeals based on the lack of consideration. For employers, the cost of litigation would be unmanageable and considerable. The result?; it is likely to be less hiring and more fear of EEOC claims.

Since June 1, it has already been illegal to eliminate unemployed job seekers in New Jersey. There is similar proposed legislation in New York,

An incentive for the unemployed has been introduced as part of President Obama’s new Job Initiative. Proposed is a new $8 billion program that contains incentives similar to the little known HIRE Act of 2010. Under this proposed plan, hiring employers would get up to $4,000 tax credit for hiring unemployed candidates who have been out of work for six or more months. Opponents on both sides of the political coin claim that this incentive does little for the long-term unemployed, and considering the limited success of the HIRE Act, employers likely won’t take heed of the benefits.

There are limited statistics about the success of the HIRE Act for comparison. The HIRE Act was discontinued in early 2011.

Can we make a connection between the qualifications of the currently employed and those unemployed due to economic slowdown? Are we not incumbent to hire the most qualified candidate based on our selection criteria? Nonetheless, employers are leaving themselves vulnerable to prove no connection between irrelevant qualifications and the protected classes. That is the law.

The ethics of this problem are monumental. We already know that it is legal to eliminate a sector of society from consideration as long as they are not a protected class. But we need to ask, “Is a business ethical that eliminates the very group of people who need to be gainfully employed to turn around this desperate economy and buy their products?”

Employers need to think about their reputation in the marketplace. If they will not consider a whole sector of qualified individuals, their market share may diminish. Word travels fast and if potential employees stop purchasing or doing business with their companies, they will suffer economically. Employers are not untouchable. They may become part of that unfortunate mass called the unemployed. It happens every day.

In a heartbeat, any of us can become that unemployed job candidate. President Harry S. Truman said ” It’s a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it’s a depression when you lose your own.” Any one of us can be plunged into that category including the hiring managers who won’t consider the unemployed. We are all in this together Americans.

Click here for the full report from AOL Jobs

The Kevin Trudeau Show: 8-25-11

Today, Kevin explains how attitude makes all the difference and gives you an example of loser mentality. Plus, find out how vodka can be used as a natural remedy!

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A Prime Example of the “Loser Mentality”

August 25th, 2011

Gawker.com

By: Seth Abromavitch

Late Friday afternoon, an employee of the Whole Foods Market in Toronto sent this epic resignation letter to the entire company. It’s an alternatingly amusing, enlightening, and occasionally infuriating read—but a good read, nonetheless.

The letter begins with a point-by-point evisceration of the grocery chain’s carefully calibrated image as an earth-and-body-friendly, organic foods paradise. Likening the chain to “a faux hippy Wal-Mart,” our disgruntled bulk foods buyer accuses the company of constantly mistreating and underpaying their employees. (Like Wal-Mart and Target, this corporate retailer is staunchly anti-union, though stores do offer American employees affordable health care.)

But for every compelling point our writer makes, there’s one that hurts his credibility. For example, on the subject of promptness, he writes, “Oh, you actually think being 20 minutes late matters?” Yes, actually, I do. Then the employee gets deeply personal, calling out individual co-workers by name, and devotes a paragraph to each in which he details exactly what he thinks their problem is. It’s all utterly uncalled for, but also pretty hilarious.

So yeah, he’s a dick, but you could probably have figured that with his choice of opening quote — or his choice to open with a quote at all. Here’s the letter. All names have been redacted, and certain boring passages about wholesale prune purchasing have been omitted for your own good. And I’ll throw this out to Whole Foods employees — is there a quinoa of truth to what he’s saying? Email me.

“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”

Dear Whole Foods Market,

My experience at Whole Foods was like an increasingly sped up fall down a really long hill. That got rockier with every metre. And eventually, just really spiky … With fire, acid and Nickleback music. I was hired about five or six years ago. I appreciated and respected what the company said it’s philosophies were at that time. The “core values” essentially. However, it didn’t take long to realize what complete and utter bullshit they are:

• Oh, you don’t recycle properly? (Caring about our communities and our environment)
• Oh, you throw out enough food to feed a lot of hungry university students. (Caring about our communities and our environment)
• Oh, you’re asking me to put latex gloves on the sales floor so customers can throw a pair out for every handful of gummy bears they take? (Caring about our communities and our environment)
• Oh, you’ve installed massive television screens all over the store, sucking up energy and polluting the environment with tacky advertisements. (Caring about our communities and our environment, Supporting team member happiness and excellence)
• Oh, you waste an absurd amount of energy, ink and paper in your offices for useless bureaucratic nonsense. (Caring about our communities and our environment, Supporting team member happiness and excellence, )
• Oh, you just write off 10-20% of the product that you buy for your bulk department because the bins look nice. (Caring about our communities and our environment).
• Oh, you sometimes intentionally order too much just to guarantee a full shelf, knowing full well the product will most likely be thrown out? (Caring about our communities and our environment)
• Oh, you don’t actually audit or evaluate each product you sell? (Caring about our communities and our environment, We sell the highest quality natural and organic products available)
• Oh, you force team members to come in to work, on their day off, once a month, at 7 in the morning, knowing a lot of them live an hour away and the TTC isn’t completely running that early in the morning and then force feed them useless updates on the company and embarrassingly artificial pep talks ([Redacted] once compared Whole Foods Market to religion… had to throw that in there. That was definitely a “Did she really just say that moment.”)? (Supporting team member happiness and excellence, Caring about our communities and our environment)/
• Oh, you buy poorly made, ugly t-shirts for your employees that will just be thrown in the trash and pretend they’re gifts when they’re really just advertising tools? (Supporting team member happiness and excellence, Caring about our communities and our environment)
• Oh, the food here is really quite awful on average? Almost everything that prepared foods makes is terrible. The pizza used to be pretty good but the slices have shrunk, the toppings are sparser and it’s usually extremely overcooked. The sandwiches are the stuff of nightmares. (It’s amazing what advertising can make people think. It can even trick their senses.) (We sell the highest quality natural and organic products available)
• Oh, you let some customers abuse your employees and then actually reward the customers for their behaviour and then trample on the integrity and honour of your abused employees? (Supporting team member happiness and excellence)
• Oh, you practice discrimination by offering “healthier” employees better discounts? And you think having different rules for new smoker employees versus old smoker employees is a good idea? (Supporting team member happiness and excellence)
• Oh, you purchase products from Israel (Or any distant country) if they’re slightly cheaper than local alternatives? (Caring about our communities and our environment)
• Oh, you’ve somehow created the worst computer program I’ve ever used to run your entire buying system? IRMA is some Windows 95 era stuff, guys. I could design a significantly better interface in 30 minutes on a pad of paper. I know several students who could create a superior program in their spare time. Was someone actually hired to create that thing? Was it the Realplayer dudes? Even Captain Picard couldn’t facepalm hard enough to express the amount of failure in that… that, thing… (Supporting team member happiness and excellence)
• Oh, you push employees into greater responsibilities without compensation? Often having them essentially do all the work of a higher position without the pay? (Supporting team member happiness and excellence)
• Oh, you ambush employee’s using two managers when you want to write someone up? No warning. No representation. All reasons and excuses fall on deaf ears. (Supporting team member happiness and excellence)
• Oh, you’d rather attempt to create some sort of fake “culture” with signs and forced meeting than let it happen naturally by letting employees socialize lightly as they work? (Supporting team member happiness and excellence)
• Oh, you like to manage “systems” instead of people? You don’t hold critical thinking and discretion in high regard? You encourage blindly following rules? I.e., no recourse in challenging write ups. Employees given cold shoulder when they attempt anything like this. (Supporting team member happiness and excellence)
• Oh, you want us to politely call and let you know if we’ll be late… but you’ll still write us up when we arrive? Kind of a dick move, guys. (Supporting team member happiness and excellence)
• Oh, you actually think being 20 minutes late matters? You know Whole Foods Market is just a grocery store, right? (Supporting team member happiness and excellence)
• Oh, you don’t believe inflation exists? Cost of living raises aren’t given here? (Supporting team member happiness and excellence)

I notice a trend… Honestly, I could go on and on and fill out the details but since most people will just dismiss this email I should probably not put too much effort into it. I should have kept a blog…

Now the employees have lost a lot of their former power and the store is being sucked into some centralized monster. Quality is being thrown out in favour of the people at the top having to do a little less work. Competition is being destroyed and you’re not even pushing that many healthy products. Every second endcap is potato chips or pop or some sort of salt filled snack (Promoting the health of our stakeholders through healthy eating education). A lot of the stuff in Whole Body doesn’t even work or has absolutely no credible evidence to back any claims up. You’re kind a faux hippy Wal-Mart now. Great. Job.

Dear [REDACTED],
How you haven’t been fired by now is a massive mystery to, not just me, but many people. You probably belong in a psychiatric ward. If you didn’t have such a constant negative impact on everyone around you I might just feel sorry for you. BUT, you’ve hurt too many people. You create a hostile work environment with your flashes of insane anger and passive (I hesitate to use the word passive…) aggressive behavior. Please, just leave and piss all over the patio at [REDACTED]‘s again. Maybe [REDACTED] will help this time. Her childish, two-faced personality suits you quite well. The fact that you still have a job is also a massive failure by your department’s leaders as well. I’d be ashamed of being such push-overs who refuse to support good people if I were them. Quite ashamed.

Dear [REDACTED],
I don’t think you could calm down enough and become a happy, tolerable person if you were to do yoga in a hot spring while high on ecstasy. Daily. For the rest of your life. Just wouldn’t happen. I haven’t met a single person working under you or who has worked under you who doesn’t loath the way you treat people. Your job doesn’t matter AT ALL. Get over it, relax and start treating people with a shred of respect. Chances are, you’ll improve a lot of lives. Possibly even your own. I do have a suspicion that you’re a sociopath though. Especially now, after seeing your reaction to you-know-who’s hospital visit. If that is the case, this was futile. May I suggest some acting classes? You’re not very good at pretending to be a complete, emotional, sincere human being.

Dear [REDACTED],
You win a lot of awards in my book. Best at being a chauvinist. Least likely to realize he’s about to walk into someone. Just another sign that shows how inconsiderate and egocentric you are. Or, if you do realize you’re plowing through people… well, I won’t get into that… Best at ruining the entire meat department vicinity by blasting terrible music. Do you ever think about the people around you? By the way, how did you manage to spit on the back hallway’s floor with your head so far up your ass? I guess I can at least forgive you for never learning employee’s names because of that. It’s probably difficult to hear up there.

For the love of god, learn to respect women. You have no idea how insulting and aggravating it is to be around someone who is so condescending to all the women you work with. Stop calling them “mamma” don’t refer to them as “beautiful”… for christs sake, just keep all pet names off the table. You are NOT complimenting women, you are being open about not knowing knowing their names, and lazy enough to not read a name-tag. Lazy, or you are just that self centered? You have no clue. Take notice of people around you. If you are dumping work on them without real communication we are going to think you are a dick. Take the holiday table for example. You have nothing to do with it, take credit for it and can barely remember the people who run it so smoothly. Who do you think you are?

Dear [REDACTED],
You confuse the hell out of me. Sometimes you seem like a reasonable person and then sometimes you refuse to support your employees and in some cases even treat them quite terribly. Unfortunately, you’ve been hanging out mostly in Terrible Person territory lately. You’re not welcome there! [REDACTED] owns it. You show little to no support for your team members and turn everything into a boy’s club. You rant and bitch and moan to the wrong people, because it always get back to the people you rant and bitch and moan about. Quit rolling your eyes and let people speak. You might actually like and understand more of your employees this way. Respect your employees and the precious time that they are giving up to work for you. Perhaps take some time yourself and relearn the core values you are supposed to hold so dear. Stop taking your personal life out on everyone and have some compassion for the team members you disregard so much.

Dear [REDACTED],
Your dot idea was a really, really stupid idea. Try to learn how an operation works before trying to “fix” it. All of your suggestions so far have been outdated, time consuming, poorly thought out nonsense. You aren’t impressing anyone or increasing your chances of moving up in the company with these terrible attempts at seeming proactive and full of “ideas.” You’re just frustrating to work with. Also, I think you should stand a little further back from people when you talk to them.

Dear [REDACTED],
We get it, we get it. You go to the gym. Nobody is impressed. In fact we all just laugh at your inferiority complex.

Dear [REDACTED],
Stop being such a cowardly weiner, hiding behind your emails and that awful hallway grin. Try communicating with people under you. Face to face when it’s possible. If you’re overworked you need help. Especially if your lack of time is affecting other people’s jobs and the store/company.

Dear [REDACTED]/[REDACTED]/Anyone else who visits our store,
Do you guys realize that the store NEVER looks as good as it does when you arrive? When word spreads that you’re coming to inspect the store almost every team leader begins running around like Brampton teens on PCP. They whip their employees into a frenzy. They sweep anything under the bed that they think you won’t like. They attempt to make the store look like nobody ever shops there. This stops us and them from doing actual productive work which in turn impacts sales and creates a lot of pointless stress. Then you arrive, hand out your almighty advice. The team leaders grovel at your feet and follow your advice. Then you leave and they put everything back the way it was. Undo a lot of what you suggested. Oh, I’m sure there are things happening that I don’t see. But you really do waste a lot of time. Even making our efforts regressive sometimes. Meanwhile, if I’m awesomely efficient at my job and take a moment to chat with a fellow employee, I’m bitched at. Seems to me a costly double standard.

Consider checking some of the “stats” and “facts” used in your in store education. They’re often faulty logic, myths, misconceptions and lies used by so-called “environmentalists”. I agree we’re currently destroying our environment and I’m quite liberal and all for natural living. But evidence and credible sources very often disagree with the propaganda spouted to us at Whole Foods. It’s just a little too extreme and biased sometimes which I believe just discredits the environmentalist movement in general, sadly.

Dear everyone else,
As I’ve said above a few times: you work at a grocery store. Go ahead and relax. Also, Whole Foods will try to make you feel like they are doing you a huge favour by employing you. It’s really a mutual agreement or transaction. Don’t fall for the guilt trips. Call in sick if you need to, etc.. There are laws in place to stop them from taking advantage of you. And if you’re thinking “This is just the way it is. Suck it up!”. You’re the biggest part of the problem. I’m afraid we can’t be friends.

Just enjoy life. It’s pretty short, you know?

Good luck,
[REDACTED]

Click here for the full report from Gawker

Whole Foods Admits Its Organic Foods Contain Genetically Modified Ingredients

June 7th, 2011

Natural News

By: Tara Green

Genetically modified foods have become so ubiquitous in the US that even the grocery store ‘Whole Foods’ now admits it cannot keep biotech foods off its shelves. A representative for the corporation acknowledged in May of 2011 that the realities of the marketplace have forced a shift in the company’s previous no-GMO’s policy.

Joe Dickson, quality standards coordinator for Whole Foods Markets, notes that GMO’s dominate the market, especially for corn, soy and canola crops from which ingredients in most processed foods are derived. “Until there’s federal government mandated labeling of GMO ingredients, there’s no way to tell if packaged products contain GMO ingredients,” Dickson said. “Our approach is to work in the spirit of partnership with our suppliers … to encourage them to take active steps to avoid GMO ingredients.”

In spite of public skepticism about GMO foods, the FDA has backed Monsanto and other corporations, declaring that modified foods do not require special labeling letting consumers know they are eating Frankenfoods. This is in contract to the European Union, where public concern over health issues resulted in a moratorium on GMO’s. Many European countries, including France, Germany, Greece, Austria and Luxembourg have banned genetically modified foods, while other countries in the EU permit their sale only when products include clear labels of GMO ingredients.

Whole Foods’ recent admission proves how successful the biotech companies have been in their efforts to replace foods unadulterated by hormones with Frankenfoods. The fact that one of the best-known purveyors of natural foods has decided to throw in the towel rather than holding the line against biotech foods means consumers will have fewer places to go in their quest to buy non-genetically engineered foods.

Jeffrey Smith points out in his book Seeds of Deception, the biotech industry has co-opted the watchdog agencies of the federal government and sought to silence critics in the media and the scientific community who question sloppy science which they use to “prove” the safety of Frankenfoods. Natural News readers should read Smith’s book to understand the efforts Monsanto and others have gone to — including smear campaigns and threats against those who seek to present other points of views and the theft of research materials contradicting their biotech claims that Frankenfoods are completely safe.

Even the long-standing EU “zero-tolerance” policy on biotech foods has shown signs of cracking in the past few months, as the Union considers lifting import restrictions which formerly kept US-grown GMO’s from being sold in Europe. As reported on Natural News late last year, the forbidden information which surfaced through Wikileaks included documents revealing that the US government has conspired with the biotech companies to pressure European countries on the issue of genetically engineered foods.

Move past the propaganda put forth by Monsanto and their government lapdog agencies by educating yourself on the dangers of GMO’s both on this website and in Jeffrey Smith’s books and website. Try to keep your diet Frankenfood-free by finding a local food coop whose “quality standards” do not involve caving in to the biotech companies.

Click here for the full report from Natural News

This Drink Is Just As Dangerous As Soda

May 10th, 2011

DrAxe.com

By: Dr. Axe

Most of us know about the health dangers associated with consuming soda. From empty calories to actually compromising the body’s ability to stay healthy and fight off disease, soda is a well known health culprit. But there’s another drink on the market that many of us unknowingly not only consume, but give abundantly to our kids!

So what is this dangerous drink that the average American child consumes more than forty liters of annually? Fruit juice! Yes, that’s right, the fruit juice you’re giving your child may be doing more harm to their developing bodies than any good at all.

The United States, as well as most other Western nations, look to fruit juice as a healthy drink option for children. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. Fruit juice is not a healthy drink choice for your child for a number of reasons I want to explore with you here.

Let’s first begin with taking a look at the Western world’s dangerous addiction to sugars, specifically fructose.

Are You Feeding A Fructose Addiction in Your Child or Self?

We hear about high fructose corn syrup and how it’s an unhealthy (and unnecessary) food ingredient in many of our processed and refined foods. In fact, it’s a challenge to find a boxed, bagged, or otherwise processed food product in the supermarket that doesn’t contain high fructose corn syrup. From the obvious pancake syrups to the less obvious fruit juices, fruit chews, and cereals, high fructose corn syrup is found in abundance in processed foods.

In fact, I challenge you to take a trip to your local supermarket and try to find at least five foods that don’t have high fructose corn syrup on the label. You may think, “Dr. Axe, that doesn’t really seem that challenging. I’m sure I can do that.”

But seriously, try to do this and see what you find. Although eventually you’ll probably be able to find a few products without high fructose corn syrup it will really help to open your eyes to just how many products contain this dangerous additive. (On a side note, I’d wager that unless you’re in the fresh produce section or organic aisle, those foods that don’t contain high fructose corn syrup contain other ingredients like hydrogenated oils that are equally harmful to your health.)

So what’s the big deal with not just high fructose corn syrup but fructose in general in the foods we consume on a daily basis?

Fructose is a naturally occurring, simple sugar found in certain ripe fruits, a few root vegetables, and honey. So if it’s all natural, then what’s the problem you want to know?

Well first of all, when fructose is found naturally in whole foods such as fruits and root vegetables it comes with fibers, enzymes, antioxidants, minerals, vitamins, and other important nutrients that help the body to properly assimilate the fructose. However, even too much of these whole food sources of fructose can present a problem, particularly in certain groups of people who are more sensitive to sugar than others.

Today’s typical Western diet involves an extremely high consumption of sugar, particularly fructose, mostly from highly processed food sources not whole food sources. Research clearly is showing a link between sugar (fructose) consumption serious health problems.

Diets High in Sugar can Lead to:

Obesity
Hypertension
Diabetes
Certain chronic diseases
Kidney problems
Weakened immune system
Hyperactivity (particularly in children)
Certain mineral deficiencies
Many more health issues

Obesity, hypertension, diabetes, mineral deficiencies, and a weakened immune system open the door to a host of chronic diseases and health issues. If I listed all the adverse health conditions that research shows are associated with a diet high in sugar it would take up several pages. But there’s simply no denying it, mounds of evidence shows clearly that a diet high in fructose, which is sugar, encourages serious health issues in both children and adults.

One of the most alarming revelations on sugar in the body is that the consumption of fructose elevates uric acid levels. The chief of the Division of Kidney Disease and Hypertension at the University of Colorado, Dr. Richard Johnson, has been involved in extensive research into fructose, uric acid levels, and overall health. He urges the public to re-consider their consumption of fructose to stabilize their uric acid levels.

According to his research there seems to be a strong link between fructose consumption and increased uric acid levels; there also is an undeniable connection between uric acid levels, toxicity from fructose, and cardiovascular disease.

Americans Consume a Whopping 150+ Pounds of Sugar on Average per Year

According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Americans consume an average of between 150 to 170 pounds of sugar annually. That’s a lot of sugar – in fact, that’s way too much sugar to consume and not fall victim to any number of health issues.

It’s vital that you take a serious look at your own sugar consumption and that of your family. Remember in the beginning of this article when I mentioned fruit juice being as harmful as soda? It really is and if you’re drinking it and giving it to your family on a regular basis you should re-evaluate this product as a healthy drink choice as it simply is not.

Dr. Johnson has spent years researching the dangerous health impacts of consuming too much sugar. He urges the American people to save their lives, and heath, by eliminating fructose from their diets. I am doing the same.

Too much sugar from any source, whole foods or processed foods, is simply a bad idea. We must learn to live and eat with balance. Of course eating a whole food, such as an apple, is far superior to consuming apple juice. However it’s vital to keep track of just how much fructose you and your loved ones are consuming per day.

We forget that sugars are found abundantly in fruits and some vegetables. This sugar intake coupled with fructose from processed foods is what creates the scary, deadly statistic of annual sugar consumption in America. If you suffer from any form of insulin resistance it’s even more vital to cut back on your total intake of fructose.

Take a look at the following chart to see just how much fructose comes along with some popular whole fruits.

Click here for the full report from DrAxe.com

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