While we may be under the
impression that our system of government is here to protect us, the corporations
(and the politicians getting paychecks from them) do a fair job of making that that
task very difficult. This manner of “legislative capture” is manifesting itself
in a
host of ways far beyond those listed here. So I present to you these eight ways that big corporations
are poisoning our food supply and and water as well as Earth herself.
1. Sugary
Drinks, Diet Drinks are Addictive and Fattening:
Sugary drinks, especially soda, run rampant in the
U.S., with corporations shelling out millions to advertise to both children and
adults. Kids are taking in 7 trillion calories of sugar each year from
soda alone, with sodas making up 15-25% of the daily recommended caloric intake
for kids aged 2 to 19. Sugar-sweetened sodas can contain upwards of 200
calories per can, but even artificially sweetened drinks should not be
considered safe. Several studies show that artificial sweeteners
(like cancer-linked aspartame) can contribute to tooth decay,
obesity, kidney damage, and depression.
2. Bisphenol A and Other Chemicals in
Canned Goods:
BPA is a hormone disrupting chemical used
in canned goods and plastic bottles. The chemical, which is labeled
as “toxic” in other nations, had a chance to be banned of March 2012. In a move
that angered activists within the US and even internationally, the FDA ruled
against the ban.
This chemical has been linked to:
·
Obesity
·
Hyperactivity in girls
·
Infertility
·
Sterility
·
Breast cancer
·
Reproductive issues
·
Hastened puberty
·
Feminization in boys
·
Damaged arteries
3. Buying Out and Creating Organic
Companies:
You may not know this, but many organic companies are
actually owned and operated by major corporations like Coca-Cola or
Kellogg. Companies like Honest Tea and Odwalla may appeal to
health conscious shoppers, but they are actually owned by Coca-Cola. Another popular ‘health’ brand is Kashi, which is owned
by the Kellogg corporation. Some
products from these companies may be ‘100% organic’, but do you or can ou really
trust their labeling practices? Or perhaps more important, do you really want
to give support to the corporate producer?
Furthermore, these large corporations are buying out some of the
companies many natural-health advocates have grown to love. And this is just one
example: when New Chapter, a vitamin and supplement company offering
worthy products since 1892, was purchased by the mega-corporation of Proctor
& Gamble.
4. Antibiotics are Making People Obese:
These days, physicians are more than happy to
prescribe everyone with their antibiotics,but more often to just please the patient with any medical
solution (a placebo effect, if you will). But it could be setting us up
for lifelong obesity – at least that’s what some research has to say.
In addition to killing “bad” bacteria, antibioticsalso kill “good” bacteria in the gut, thereby
disrupting the digestion of food and even
in the long run. There’s also mounting evidence that antibiotics may be
promoting diabetes and metabolic syndrome—but not killing the cold and flu
viruses that parents think they are (antibiotics cannot kill viruses, only
bacteria).
5. Antibiotics
in Livestock are Promoting Bacterial Resistance:
In 2012, The
Guardian wrote about 150 scientists and 50 farmers—including a former
FDA commissioner—demanding that Congress regulate antibiotic use in livestock.
The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has even
blamed overuse of antibiotics for the global resistance to
antibiotics, which could make antibiotics futile against disease-causing
bacteria. And this is not even considering the other ill effects antibiotics
have on the animals we eat.
6. Supporting
Genetically Modified Foods and Herbicides:
If you are into organic foods and have been following
GM news, you know that the latest and greatest chance for GM labeling was with
California’s proposition 37. Needless to say, the bill was not passed, but Prop
37 did teach us a lot about the interest of various companies and mega
corporations. It was no surprise to see biotech giant Monsanto dish
out over $4 million to fight the bill, but some people were surprised
to see Naked Juice, Kashi, Cascadian Farm Organic, Honest Tea, and some others
on the side of anti-GM labeling. As mentioned above, many of these companies are owned
by corporations like Coca-Cola or General Mills. They all support GM food, are
anti-GM labeling, and subsequently support the use of herbicides and
pesticides. Pesticides that are being used in greater amounts each
day thanks to mutated insects that become resistant to Monsanto’s Roundup-ready
GM crops. According to numerous pieces of research, GM foods like Monsanto’s
corn have been implicated of contributing to cancer, weight gain,
organ disruption, tumor development and infertility in rats. Roundup—a
glyphosate-based herbicide— is to thank for contributing to water
pollution, resistant rootworms and superweeds, and environmental
devastation.
7. Herbicides
and Insecticides Contributing to Bee Colony Collapse:
Although technological products like cell phone towers
and cell phones are hurting the bee population, herbicides, insecticides and
pesticides brought to us by Bayer, Monsanto, and Dow AgroSciences appear to be
the main culprits. It has been shown time, and time again, that these chemicals
are ravaging these tiny insects that are essential
for agriculture purposes and pollinating food crops.
“…a document was leaked revealing that a bee-killing pesticide put in use by the EPA may be to blame [for the bee decline]. Adding to the controversy, more records have emerged showing that the USDA was fully aware of the pesticide’s threat to not only bees, but humans … Neonicotinoids, the particular type of pesticides used, are absorbed systemically into plants, including the pollen and nectar. Once the bees begin to pollinate, they also absorb the insecticide, and die.”
Neonicotinoids have been banned
in France and Germany, but not the United States, and again you can thank the
big and mega corporations for halting the ban from progressing past the draft
mode.
8. Factory
Farms Devastate Land and Sea:
If you purchase your meat from a grocery store instead
of a farmer’s market or co-op, it was probably raised in a factory farm. That’s
right a factory meant for the sole purpose of ‘raising’ animals for meat
purposes. Not only are these farms known
for extreme animal cruelty (which many undercover videos have gruesomely
pointed out), but they are also responsible for polluting the groundwater,
drinking water, and contributing to massive deforestation. And they have actually,
produced more than 100 times more waste products than the entire U.S.
population. For an example: The run-off
from these establishments as well as non-organic crops are contributing
to blooms and dead zones in coastal waters. Earlier this in 2016, a
scientific paper argued against the case of factory farms feeding the
world, but with the USDA and FDA deep in industrial farming’s pockets, publically
stated that it will take considerable time and effort before such a stude is
complete (decades) before we see any changes.
***
As always, stay safe!
-Bird
***
