You eat healthy... so is there still room for improvement?

Yesterday I got a call from my sister, Stephanie, who visited me last weekend for 5 days with her husband and 7 month old baby Ava.  She was proud to announce that she had gone home and cleaned out her whole kitchen, threw out the bad foods, and replaced them with healthy choices.  I was ecstatic! 

This is why I am so happy.  My sister is not unhealthy, she is not overweight, her children eat vegetables and she does generally all around better than many Americans on the Standard American Diet (SAD).  She doesn't drink soda, eat candy bars, or even eat fast food. She is the typical person that says to me I eat healthy, and truly believes that they do. This being said her 5 days staying with me opened her eyes to the many little changes you can make in your everyday life that when added up make a huge difference.  I guess what hit home most was the fact that this is your typical family trying to be healthy, but they lack the tools and education to make all the right decisions. 

Now I am not suggesting everyone go home and empty their kitchens and go buy all new food, but I am suggesting that Americans become educated on what are the right foods. We are not asking the right questions, we are not demanding the quality foods we deserve.  People are still drinking super-sized drinks. They are buying in to the ads that foods with commercials are actually as good for you as they say they are!  Do you see advertisements for an apple? No? Why?  Because a company can't make extra money on it unless they process it and stuff it in a box and put a label on it!

It is time we step back and take a look at our food system here in the USA, quit believing the BS the government is trying to shove down our throats with their FDA, large scale farming and mass produced GMO food.  Educate ourselves about what is good for us.  You don't have to change overnight, but start paying attention.  I know you can't stay with me for 5 days and radically change your views in a week so start small and let me help you!

What are some small steps you can do today to start making the shift?

• Share this with someone you care about, right now, and allow me to do my thing, each week.   
• Sign up for my Facebook page , where I share timely food issues and ask you occasionally to reach out to your congressman. Ask your friends to join me there as well.   
• Make a Green smoothie for yourself or a family member!  
• Contact me for a strategy session to begin a conversation about your journey! Schedule Strategy Session

California Right to Know Election Statement

I received this email about Prop 37 and thought it was a very positive outlook on a grim situation and wanted to share!

To all our Supporters,

We have so much to be proud of today. Every one of you should feel your place in history. We may have lost Prop 37 -- narrowly! -- but we will not be stopped. And when we win transparency in our food system, you will be able to say you were there on the front lines.  Please share our statement and our success today: http://www.carighttoknow.org/electionstatement

Yesterday, we showed that there is a food movement in the United States, and it is strong, vibrant and too powerful to stop. We always knew we were the underdogs, and the underdogs nearly took the day. Dirty money and dirty tactics may have won this skirmish, but they will not win the war.

Today, we are more than 4 million votes closer to knowing what’s in our food than when we started. This is a victory and a giant step forward. We are proud of our broad coalition of moms and dads, farmers, nurses, environmentalists, faith and labor leaders who did so much with so few resources to bring us to this point, and we will carry forward.
These results are also a reminder of the corrupting influence of huge multinational corporations on our electoral process. The world’s leading pesticide and junk food companies outspent Yes on 37 by more than 5 to 1, and beginning on October 1, spent about a million dollars a day on a hailstorm of false claims, misrepresentations and fear mongering over five simple words on a label. In the end, they spent enough money to hide the truth from the majority of voters. But the food manufacturers are on the wrong side of history; they should not fight their customers, but join them.           

Today is not the end of our campaign to secure our fundamental right to know what’s in our food. It is a strong beginning, and we thank the millions of Californians who stood with us. We are proud of our grassroots movement, our 10,000 hardworking volunteers, and the diverse coalition of health, faith, labor and consumer groups that stood with us. We will keep fighting for consumer choice, fairness and transparency in our food system.

And we will prevail.
To Victory!

The California Right to Know Campaign

Why Are Twinkies Cheaper Than Carrots?

There is a food war going on right now between the farmers and the government.  The 2012 Farm Bill which lays the groundwork for nearly $1 trillion in U.S. government spending over the next decade, will be debated next week in the Senate. Most of that spending goes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP -- still sometimes referred to as food stamps), and to subsidies and incentives for farmers.

Efforts to restrict SNAP spending to healthier foods have been fought bitterly, and successfully, by the junk food lobbies.  This HuffPost by John Robbins is so important that I am copying it and directing everyone to the article.  Please read!!!

Why Are Twinkies Cheaper Than Carrots?  

Why is Coca-Cola often more affordable than clean water? Why are candy bars and cigarettes often more readily available than fresh fruits and vegetables?

If you want to eat healthfully, you have to fight an uphill battle. Why are government subsidies pushing in the wrong direction?

Who would it hurt if we enacted policies that actually encouraged the foods that are healthiest for people and for our world? Who opposes the efforts to make it easier, rather than harder, for people to make healthy food choices?

Government Policy Consistently Favors Big Agribusiness

As I describe in my new book No Happy Cows, agrichemical companies, factory farms and junk food manufacturers are quite happy with things the way they are. Thanks to their lobbying clout, government policies consistently favor the financial interests of these special interests over public health, even though the result is trillions of dollars in additional health care expenses.

Here's an example: In just the last two years, 24 states have considered legislation that would place a tax on soft drinks. These "soda taxes" would discourage consumption of drinks high in sugar, thus reducing obesity and health care costs. And they would also raise money that could be used to subsidize healthier foods. But in every single state, the legislation has been defeated. PepsiCo Inc., the Coca-Cola Company, and the American Beverage Association have spent hundreds of millions of dollars to determine the outcome.

"In the political arena, one side is winning the war on child obesity," a new Reuters report on the food lobby begins. "The side with the fattest wallets."

The Center for Science in the Public Interest, perhaps the best-financed lobbying force for healthier food, spent about $70,000 lobbying last year -- roughly what those opposing stricter guidelines on sugary sodas in the U.S. spent every 13 hours.

Spending $1 Trillion on the Wrong Things

Next week, the U.S. Senate will begin floor debate on the 2012 Farm Bill, which lays the groundwork for nearly $1 trillion in U.S. government spending over the next decade. Most of that spending goes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP -- still sometimes referred to as food stamps), and to subsidies and incentives for farmers.

Efforts to restrict SNAP spending to healthier foods have been fought bitterly, and successfully, by the junk food lobbies.

Meanwhile, the current Senate proposal would give tens of billions of dollars in subsidies to Big Agribusiness, but would give next to nothing to programs benefiting the environment, organic food, nutrition, or small farmers. The food blog Civil Eats calls the proposal an "all-you-can-eat-buffet for the subsidy lobby."

In a national poll last year, 78 percent said making nutritious and healthy foods more affordable and accessible should be a top priority in the farm bill. But that's not what's on the table in this year's "agri-business as usual" farm bill.

Kari Hamerschlag, Senior Food and Agriculture Analyst for the Environmental Working Group, explains that the current proposal would actually "slash programs for conservation, nutrition, rural development and beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers."

For example, funding for research in organic farming would be cut to almost nothing, while corn growers, who have received $73.8 billion in subsidies in the last 15 years, would get even more now. Subsidized GMO corn is used to produce cheap high-fructose corn syrup, a substance that even Vice President Joe Biden says is more likely to kill an American than terrorism.

This heavily subsidized genetically modified corn is also fed to livestock in factory farms and feedlots -- at unfairly reduced prices.

"Factory farms pose a serious public health hazard, so why are they subsidized by public money?" asks Food Revolution Summit speaker Dr. Neal Barnard. "These facilities pump out high-fat, high-cholesterol meat products and often pollute waterways -- yet they also receive generous subsidies under the Farm Bill. We want Congress to stop rewarding facilities that endanger public health."

These subsidies aren't just costing U.S. taxpayers and enriching big agribusiness. They are also having a devastating impact on the health of tens of millions of people.    READ MORE

Want to learn how to eat healthy on a budget?  Get the most bang for your buck?  I can help you learn healthy habits that won't cost a fortune and you will save money in the long run with less doctor's bills and medications. Call me for a consultation at 561-578-9492 or email me at FitChicMelissa@gmail.com