Food Quality Becoming Lower Despite Technology Advances

December 3, 2012

* Part 1 *

Food Quality Becoming Lower Despite Technology Advances

Protect Your Health by knowing Your Foods

Interview with Food Quality Activist Carol Grieve
Sharon Kleyne Hour Power of Water, December 3, 2012
Sponsored by Nature's Tears® EyeMist® for Dry eye

To feed a rapidly growing world population, agricultural scientists are constantly developing new technologies, including genetic modification (GMO), to produce a greater a greater yield from less and less land. As a result, according to food and health activist Carol Grieve, food quality may be suffering. Grieve, and water advocate Sharon Kleyne, concur that the most practical way to make sure your food is nutritious and not just empty calories, is to proactively educate yourself about what you're eating and how it was produced.

Carol Grieve, a well known talk radio show host, food educator and food quality consultant, was interviewed by Sharon Kleyne on the Sharon Kleyne Hour Power of Water talk radio show on December 3, 2012. According to Grieve, she started out as a lifestyle coach but soon began noticing the overwhelming role of diet and nutrition in health and wellness. Diet, nutrition and food quality eventually became her passion.

Sharon Kleyne has long advocated proactive self-education to make sure your eyes, skin and body, and the foods you consume, are compatible with natural process. The Sharon Kleyne Hour Power of Water is sponsored by Nature's Tears® EyeMist®, which provides instant all-natural humidity to alleviate dry eye symptoms.

Early in the discussion, Sharon Kleyne observed that the Official US Government "Food Pyramid" (now called the "Food Plate"), does not include "one drop of water," even though water is the single most important nutrient to sustain life. According to Grieve, the Food Pyramid was originally created by industry to promote American agriculture (hence the inordinate focus on red meat and high-gluten processed grains).

Kleyne touched on the book Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease, by Caldwell Esselstyn. The book underscores the importance of diet in maintaining health - and how easy it is to fall into self-destructive eating habits. For heart health, Esselstyn recommends a vegan diet with no fats or oils whatsoever. Grieve' does not advocate a vegan diet (nor does she oppose it). She explains that some people (Eskimos, for example) have a much stronger genetic need for meat protein than other people.

Carol Grieve's greatest concern is genetically modified ("GMO") foods, whether animal or vegetable. She believes that genetic modification reduces nutritional quality by decreasing the natural genetic variation essential for plant health, adaptation and survival.

Genetically modified corn, for example, produces an extremely high yield than other corn, , is more disease resistant and less expensive, and may even taste better. However, due to legal issues, GMO corn is still mostly used as feed. The problem is that when consumed by livestock (chickens, for example) GMO corn can impact the quality of any meat produced.

There would be no issues with using GMO corn for ethanol except that corn is wind pollinated and GMO corn should not be allowed to accidentally pollinate with non-GMO corn grown for human consumption. Genetic modification is not the same as cross-breeding or hybridization in that hybridization takes advantage of existing natural genes while GMO creates new genes.

Grieve' was recently involved in a successful campaign in Colorado requiring producers to label genetically modified foods. A similar measure was defeated in California. Grieve' noted that GMO food material may be a hidden ingredient in many other foods. For example, corn starch and corn syrup.

The bottom line is that we need to read food labels, particularly ingredient labels, and know what all the listed additives are (such as "guar gum"), which ones are good for you, which are neutral, and which may not be good for you (nitrate and nitrite).

Sharon observed that she sees people reading food labels all the time. She noted that one of her "hobbies" is learning to select fresh produce. For example, if a carrot is split or slightly yellow, it may not be quite as nutritious as another carrot. That's why it's helpful to purchase whole carrots rather than pre-cut and pre-bagged carrots. Sharon also mentioned indoor gardening, which is not only nutritious, it teaches children to be aware of where their food comes from.

Grieve's website: www.foodintegritynow.org.

The Sharon Kleyne Hour Power of Water is broadcast live on Mondays, 10 a.m., PST/PDT. The syndicated radio talk show is heard on Voice America/World Talk Radio, Green Talk Network and Apple iTunes. Go to www.SharonKleyneHour.com for written summaries and on-demand podcast replays of al shows, including the October 1, 2012 interview with Bill Deane.

The Sharon Kleyne Hour Power of Water is sponsored by Nature's Tears® EyeMist® - all natural 100% water mist to instantly and conveniently sooth dry eyes.

© 2012 Bio-Logic Aqua Research (174)