People Are Poisoning Themselves and Their Own Children at Breakfast. Are You One of Them?

"The wise man should consider that health is the greatest of human blessings. Let food be your medicine." - Hippocrates

“He who takes medicine and neglects to diet wastes the skill of his doctors.”  ~Chinese Proverb  

"Health begins with what you eat." - Chinese Proverb 

Watch this video sent to me from my dear friend Linda Schrock Taylor. It's in Spanish, but you don't need to be able to speak Spanish to understand what this is all about. It is about Sugar in our diets and nasties that too much sugar causes, like diabetes.

I wake up everyday and I make breakfast for my wife and son. It is 90% raw vegetables and fruits. There is nothing processed in it at all. I also, when I awake, do work and check my e-mail and waste time on Facebook. I am appalled at how many people will post photos of their breakfast that consists of things like a stack of pancakes with syrup and whipped cream on top... Or they have photos of a breakfast of deep fried potatoes, waffles or french toast smothered in syrup along with processed orange juice. Don't forget the cup or three of coffee with two cubes of sugar in each, please.

Sorry, folks, but it kind of makes me sick to even think about eating like that. But don't think that I didn't eat that way too. I did. But now I know better. 

I have been reading recently that over 1 in 6 America kids are on some sort of drug regimen to control behavior in schools. In some states, I read that the schools are now allowed to give these sorts of mood controlling chemicals to unruly students. Madness! 

I firmly believe that American children suffer all sorts of ailments because of diet. Think about it, of course your kid is sick when he eats processed foods all the time. Of course he can't concentrate at school; his brain is fried with chemicals. Of course two Pop Tarts and a bowl of Captain Crunch are NOT a healthy and balanced diet no matter what the label on the box says (Extra Iron added!). There is no child who can function normally when eating junk all the time. 

Folks, eating junk food constantly is bad. The food doesn't go through you, it becomes you. You eat junk, you become junk. 

Folks, a breakfast of Sugary cereals, a sugar laden piece of toast or a Starbucks cinnamon roll is not a healthy breakfast, it is poison.

Everything is raw. Heavy raw veggie and fruits intake at every meal. Here, raw carrots, strawberries, tomatoes, cucumber, asparagus, lettuce (not pictured) cashews, oranges, grapes (peeled), blueberries, fresh grapefruit, bottled mineral water. My son eats like this three times a day. He will also have a little bit of rice once a day and some meat or fish. Never will he eat processed foods or fast food. (Read this! What timing! http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news%2Fhealth&id=8920784)

Health is important. Beef is a luxury. If you're going to eat beef, then eat the best quality grass fed beef. For Chicken? Buy chickens from real farms.

The best quality grass fed beef comes from New Zealand. USA beef is full of drugs and chemicals (and bovine growth hormones) and even banned in many nations! I've bought Australian beef that was reprocessed. So we don't buy that anymore.

(US Beef Industry Consumes 4/5 of All Antibiotics Produced in the USA read here.)

The economy and life are tough enough on our children without us giving them a lifetime of bad eating habits that will only pull them down mentally and physically. Let us stop this and start to make the small effort everyday to give our children eating habits that will help them to live healthy and prosperous lives!

I used to coach children's sports. I coached a kid's team that had 75% of the kids from homes without a father. The mothers did their best, but they had to work. The kids were usually on their own. I felt sorry for them so I tried to be their friend and their dad every Saturday at practice and at game time.

Since I did this, I got to know these kids pretty well. I could see how the kids mood and energy levels were different every time at practice. It was curious. One day a kid would be fine and seem like his head was clear; he'd be "with" us. The next time, he'd be bouncing off the walls and throwing the ball away constantly! It was strange! I'd ask them what they ate for breakfast... 

They'd tell me what they ate and it was then that I realized that there is a problem. Whenever the kids ate breakfast cereals, they couldn't concentrate. If they ate somewhat healthy, they were okay. I wondered what they'd be like if they really did eat a healthy breakfast? Heck, they'd probably all be supermen!

If a kid cannot concentrate at basketball when he is running around having fun with friends because he didn't eat right, how in the heck can anyone expect that he could do well in school sitting in a boring classroom where he has to be silent and pay attention? Especially is he had a sugar high from eating a high fructose corn syrup laced breakfast?

Things are tough enough for kids (and life is long and difficult) that they need all the breaks and advantages they can get! They need to begin to have a life whereby raw vegetables and fruits are at least 90% of their eating habits!

Don't believe me? Well here's a free first chapter written by some dietitians with doctorates on the benefits of raw food; The Live Food Factor.

I know mom and dad are busy, but preparing raw foods three meals a day is cheaper and, actually, faster (cut a lot at once and use Tupperware)... Also you'll save money in the long run on medical bills.

This just in from Yahoo! News: Yet another study confirms what people have been saying for ages: Stop drinking diet soda. Like, right now. Drinking just one 12-ounce can of an artificially sweetened fizzy drink per week can increase your risk of Type 2 diabetes by 33 percent, French researchers found, and given that most people don't stop at a single weekly serving, your real risk for diabetes could actually be much higher. http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/study-diet-soda-increases-risk-diabetes-why-still-192600358.html

Folks, your child's health (and yours) begins with what you eat (and drink).

Let food be thy medicine, thy medicine shall be thy food.- Hippocrates

The doctor of the future will give no medication, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, diet and in the cause and prevention of disease. - Thomas A Edison

* NOTE: We also don't have a TV so my child can focus on important things like reading and music and sports.... TV is brain damage and a huge waste of time - and that has zero to do with content. TV is a displacement of time. Time is the only non-renewable resource!

Thanks to my dear friend and the most excellent teacher, Ms. Linda Schrock Taylor

Irradiated Beef Shows Japanese Government Incompetence

It seems the biggest ruckus about Fukushima is the contaminated hay that has been fed to cattle all around Japan.


Reuters reports:

Turmoil caused by the recent detection of cesium contamination of beef shipped from Fukushima Prefecture, home to the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, is spreading to hurt producers of high-quality beef in other parts of the country. With cattle shipments and bidding suspended or canceled due to people's fears over the contaminated beef, livestock farms and related firms worry they may be forced out of business. Since radioactive cesium above the government-designated limit was detected in beef cattle from Fukushima at a Tokyo slaughterhouse on July 8, it has been discovered that cattle possibly fed with contaminated straw have been transported across the country, except for Okinawa Prefecture.

I don't really have much to say about this excepting that this is once again proof of incompetent Japanese government.

Many might claim that this is proof that the situation at Fukushima is out of control and the government must do something about it... In fact, I gather that's what the vast majority of people think.

Well, I would like to point out something that seems missing from the conversation and ask dear reader a question:

Folks, think about this: That these animals were fed tainted hay is not proof of a situation growing out of control at all. This is only proof of government incompetence. This hay was harvested and feed to animals as feed. This is a past event. Not a current or future one. That this hay wasn't destroyed is proof that the government is unable to act and think proactively and, in any case, it is, undoubtedly, proof and another example of government incompetence.

Now, here's my question: Everyone knows how this event happened and the chain of events that lead to it. Consider that along with the government being unable to anticipate obvious problems, then how in the world would anyone in their right mind want that same government to nationalize TEPCO and take over the crippled nuclear power plants?

Now, that would be madness and would most definitely precede many future problems. It astounds me that so many people express opinions of such a nature

Don't people seem to realize the huge contradiction in their own thinking?

"Whenever you find that you are on the side of the majority, it is time to reform." - Mark Twain

How to Detect Radioactive Beef in Japan

This particular blog post is a public service to people, especially English speaking people, living in Japan who wish to detect, simply, radioactive beef. This a very simple post on how to protect your family and care for their health by using some tips on food safety.


Specifically, I want to talk to you about how to detect tainted beef from Fukushima.


But first, a few tips about produce. Many farms use pesticides and insecticides on produce to protect it from bugs and disease. I strongly suggest washing off all fruits and vegetables well before consuming. I also strongly suggest peeling the skin off of any produce whenever possible before consuming. Even if you don't eat the rinds on some fruits (like melons) you should still wash them before cutting as bacteria on the skin could wind up on the knife as you cut into the fruit. 


Here are more great tips on washing produce properly. 


Now, onto that controversial tainted beef from Fukushima. Pay careful attention as I will now demonstrate to you how to detect this beef product - or any other tainted product - easily and simply when shopping at stores in Japan. 


This is not exactly rocket science.


Any reputable dealer in Japan will list where any product is produced clearly on the product label. It is how the free market works in Japan. All stores list origin of products. If they don't, customers don't shop there. 


You must, though, be able to at least read some basic kanji. 


Here are some examples. Notice circled areas:

Asparagus from Akita prefecture

Beef from Aomori prefecture

Corn on the cob from Chiba prefecture

Cucumbers from Fukushima prefecture. What!? Yep. That's

what it says. I saw a lady buy some too. Me? No. I bought

the cucumbers from Akita... 

Hokkaido prefecture beef

Ibaraki prefecture beef...Oops! I mean Tochigi

prefecture! Thanks to Jimbo sensei!

Nagano mini-tomatoes... I could go on and on...

But why? I think you get the idea here.

If you ever see a product at a grocery store or a restaurant and it doesn't list origin of ingredients (good restaurants will specify where produce or meats and fish are you) and you want to know, ask. 

This is the kanji for Fukushima. 

If you are concerned about food safety, don't buy it if it has this on the label. I don't. 

That's it. Just ask. Or read what the information says.


It's pretty simple.


---------


Important! Recently, the huge retailer Costco had beef at astoundingly low prices here in Japan. Fine. But the beef in question, at the store that I am referring to (Kawasaki Costco), did not list origin on the rack. That is strange! When asked where the beef came from the store clerk whispered, "Fukushima."


Caveat Emptor. Let the buyer beware!


Let also the buyer learn to read and write at least second grade level Japanese if they live here. 


And that's how to detect Fukushima beef.


Told you it wasn't rocket science.


For more excellent updates on Fukushima, see Marc Sheffner's Accurate Maps blog: http://www.sheffnersweb.net/blogs/accuratemaps/

Radiation, Fukushima Facts and Blogger Frustration

Being a blogger is so frustrating... I guess it comes with the territory... 


At the top of this blog, it says, This blog is about "ALL THINGS ABOUT THE MEDIA, MARKETING AND JAPAN..."

I want to write about Japan and the media and marketing as, good bloggers are supposed to write about their expertise. It is the death-knell of any blogger to go off on subjects that they are not expert in. 

I consider myself an expert on mass media, Japan in particular. 

Surprisingly, this blog never was about nuclear power nor Fukushima. I only wrote about Fukushima when it concerned mass media sensationalism or media reporting. I wrote lots of those....

Especially when idiots said stuff like, "A large chunk of Japan will be  uninhabitable." 

Laughable...

Even so, people still attack my former comments on the prophets of doom. 

Here's one that just makes me want to pull my hair out:

You seem to have gone very quiet about the radiation and how safe we are in Japan since the beef story hit? You have no comment about such a big issue? Are we all still safe living with this risk? You think beef will be the last of it? It is amazing how much faith people have here in the authorities ability to manage such an enormous and complex situation. How they try to show support for the region by buying food that will now damage the thing they were trying to support. Is it not obvious that there is contamination and food safety issues relating to the release of radiation in the region??

I responded:

Anonymous! I've written about this much. I am not a radiation expert. I am a media expert. I have written that I wanted to stop writing about Fukushima. When I wrote about (Fukushima) I wrote about media and sensationalism. I don't eat beef - (Mad-cow, chemicals, hormones, etc. that will kill you)... I've even written that if you want factual information on the Fukushima disaster, go to the right of my blog to recommended blog and go to EX-SKF blog and/or Alexander Higgins blog. 

As I've said 100 times, living in Fukushima area near the plants are not... What do you mean, "(Is it safe) Here in Japan?" Do you mean, Okinawa? Nagoya? Osaka? From the information available, Tokyo is safe. The radiation levels are listed at the top of this blog everyday. See for yourself.

Eating beef from Fukushima is probably not (safe). I don't know. When we get a sensationalist story about how radioactive cows are killing "everyone who eats a burger or at McDonalds," I will probably have a comment. 


I've written several times that I want to stop writing about anything to do with Fukushima. Here is the post where I tried to send people to other blogs who need information on facts about Fukushima:

Need Facts on Fukushima Disaster?

I added a link on my blog to this: http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/

Japanese kid who writes well and his English is awesome! Factual reporting on Fukushima... Often makes my blog posts look stupid. Good stuff. Never ventures into conjecture or sensationalism.

I've also linked to my recommended posts a site run by my friend, Alexander Higgins. http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/ and to an excellent blog by Marc Shaffner: http://www.sheffnersweb.net/blogs/accuratemaps/ 

Anyhow, no. I have no intention of writing about anything that has to do with eating beef. In my, opinion, beef is not healthy - in some cases unsafe - to eat anyway. It is too expensive. We don't eat the stuff. Used to. Mad Cow disease finished us off on that... Never really were big beef fans anyway... 

Like I said, though, if some clown comes out in the mass media and starts making wild claims along the lines of "Fukushima beef is irradiating our food supply and 20,000 McDonald's customers are going to die from eating it!" I will write about it...

But, I would write, if only to say that eating McDonald's food regularly will probably kill a hell of a lot more people than the meat from a thousand cows from Fukushima will.

I've gone silent on this? Yes. 

Arnie Gundersen said that "20,000 people were going to die from Fukushima." 

Yawn! 

Many say that Fukushima is much worse than Chernobyl...

Here's fun fact for you about Chernobyl from Wikipedia: At Chernobyl, 237 people suffered from acute radiation sickness soon after the accident, of whom 31 died within the first three months.

Here's a fun fact for you about Fukushima: Total number of people reported to have acute radiation sickness from Fukushima; 0 (zero). Total deaths from Fukushima nuclear accident in first four + months; 0 (zero). Total number of affected cows; almost 1500.

Very bad news for the cows who will be destroyed.

Fukushima: You'd think that foreigners in this country would bother

to learn how to read second-grade kanji... You'd think wrong.

Afraid of irradiated beef? Don't eat beef... 

Also, here's another hint.... Learn to read and write basic Japanese. At ALL grocery stores in Japan they list where produce is from. If it says 福島　(Fukushima) and you are worried about it. Then don't buy it and don't eat it.

Simple. Problem solved. 


UPDATE: on Fukushima from Business Insider: Fukushima Stabilized. 


UPDATE TWO: The worst thing so far about this tainted beef is that 240 school children were fed it it Yamagata. Now there' some kids parents who, if I were them, I'd be screaming bloody murder!


Yamagata Shimbun Newspaper (7/20/2011) reports:

Concerning the beef from the cows from Asakawa-machi in Fukushima Prefecture that were fed with the rice hay that contained the high level of radioactive cesium, Sakata City (in Yamagata Prefecture) announced on July 19 that 3 nursery schools in the city purchased the beef in late April, and total 290 children and teachers ate the meat in school lunches.

According to Sakata City, the three nursery schools purchased the meat from the same food grocer in the city. The meat was cooked into "hashed beef" dish and served as lunch. 240 children and 50 teachers and administrators ate 20 to 40 grams per person.

The food grocer alerted the nursery schools . Sakata City traced the history of the meat, and confirmed that the meat that was delivered to the three nursery schools came from the Yokohama City Central Wholesale Meat Market, and the cow had come from Asakawa-machi in Fukushima Prefecture.The city notified the parents of children at these nursery schools on July 19, and decided not to use beef in school lunches until the safety is assured.  

NOTE: If you are worried about the government not testing and checking our food. All I can wonder is why in the world after all the recent deaths from food in the west does anyone in the west complain of Japanese government incompetence concerning beef. Just Google search "2010 food deaths" and you'll find 5,000 people die in the USA from tainted food every year and 40,000 die from eating junk food... The USDA doesn't test USA produced milk for radiation. Read here. That the government is incompetent is a foregone conclusion. Why anyone wants that same government to take over the nuclear power plants is beyond comprehension.