The main food supply shortages in Africa for example are primarily political.

Wow you can say it and not get it. Ignorance is bliss.

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Heard this one before?


How addictive is sugar?

... The idea that sugar is bad for our health is not new.

Forty years ago, a book written by British physiologist John Yudkin claimed that high sugar consumption was linked to heart disease.

“Quote: You can make dog poop taste good with enough sugar.” Prof Robert Lustig University of California

We know that sugar also causes tooth decay and that eating too much sugar-laden food can lead to a poor diet lacking in nutrients.

But some experts say that sugar has actually helped to fuel the obesity epidemic. ...


Diabetes UK Cymru: Condition 'could overwhelm NHS in Wales'

... Some 167,000 people are being treated for the disease in Wales, a 9.4% increase in two years. ...



And the response from the industry sponsored lobby group:

Sugar Nutrition UK, a research body which is funded by the sugar manufacturers, refutes the suggestion that sugar is toxic or addictive.

"Sweet treats are not toxic. Major expert committees have considered the evidence in regards to sugars and all of the diseases addressed by Lustig, and all have concluded that there is no evidence of any harm attributed to current sugar consumption levels."


Now where have we heard that sort of misinformation before?... Note also the use of (cheap) high fructose corn syrup in 'processed foods'...


For Gary-C: All a question of 'ignorance'?... Or lack of education?


All on our only planet,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

For Gary-C: All a question of 'ignorance'?... Or lack of education?

It shows itself when people wave their arms and say make it so.

Sure 50% of food is wasted. That doesn't mean we have enough to feed people. You forget transportation before it spoils. Oh wait, transportation is CO2 release.

Yeah, wave your arms and say make it so.

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Yeah, wave your arms and say make it so.

Are you making anything 'so' other than uselessly trolling and making self satisfying noises?


Awareness is a small start but still a positive start...

Only on this world,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

For Gary-C: All a question of 'ignorance'?... Or lack of education?

It shows itself when people wave their arms and say make it so.

Sure 50% of food is wasted. That doesn't mean we have enough to feed people. You forget transportation before it spoils. Oh wait, transportation is CO2 release.

Yeah, wave your arms and say make it so.

So who is showing a lack of education now.
One of the reasons that places like Africa are short of food is because they now grow crops for export. Usually thing that can only be grown at hot times of the year in northern climates. So that you can have strawberries etc in October, all shipped to you first class by carbon polluting aircraft.

People should make seasonal crops a treet, as in Strawberries at the time of Wimboldon, and not at Christmas.

“Quote: You can make dog poop taste good with enough sugar.” Prof Robert Lustig University of California

My 8 years in the US Air Force, I can attest that, That statmenet is not true. I dont know if some of the crap we ate was dog poop, But no amount of sugar would make it taste any better.

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[/quote]

Old James

If you require thing to taste sweet then try Stevia. Lots of online shops for it incl. Amazon.

sugar is disappearing from commercial foods. HFCS is much cheaper, and much more suspect in obesity issues. Sugar from genetically pure sugar cane? There
is very little in that which we call "food" for the masses.

Locally grown organics can save a lot on the carbon footprints, chemical pollution, nitrate runoffs, and has the side effect of tasting much better.

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Janice

One of the reasons that places like Africa are short of food is because they now grow crops for export.

Ah yes. Are the locals willing -- able -- to pay the same, for any crop, that the farmer makes by growing this crop for export? Again, you demonstrate that ignorance is bliss.

People should make seasonal crops a treet, as in Strawberries at the time of Wimboldon, and not at Christmas.

Wave your arms and say make it so.

---

One of the reasons that places like Africa are short of food is because they now grow crops for export.

Ah yes. Are the locals willing -- able -- to pay the same, for any crop, that the farmer makes by growing this crop for export? Again, you demonstrate that ignorance is bliss.

Again you fail to show any knowledge of some African countries, you have to think medival Europe, the land owner tells the farmer what to grow.

People should make seasonal crops a treet, as in Strawberries at the time of Wimboldon, and not at Christmas.

Wave your arms and say make it so.

Again you fail to show any knowledge of some African countries, you have to think medival Europe, the land owner tells the farmer what to grow.

The land owner is the farmer, or do you mean the field worker?

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Again you fail to show any knowledge of some African countries, you have to think medival Europe, the land owner tells the farmer what to grow.

The land owner is the farmer, or do you mean the field worker?

never heard of "tenant farmers"?

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Meanwhile, the obtuse thread troll has derailed the thread as usual... Can he really lead us into how goats are milked or not within evil religious extremism in Timbuktu?...


More on topic is what should or can be done about corporate profiteering and processed foods cost cutting killing their consumers with bad health from unhealthy products and unhealthy Marketing?...


All in our only one world,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Again you fail to show any knowledge of some African countries, you have to think medival Europe, the land owner tells the farmer what to grow.

The land owner is the farmer, or do you mean the field worker?

never heard of "tenant farmers"?

Just like the BLM, gives a permit to "farm" cattle on grassland. Is this different than giving free rent to a on site manager?

In any case all a tangent to the fact that the most profitable crop will be grown, not necessarily what will feed the locals.

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Again you fail to show any knowledge of some African countries, you have to think medival Europe, the land owner tells the farmer what to grow.

The land owner is the farmer, or do you mean the field worker?

The land owner is frequently NOT a farmer. In some countries it will be a corrupt politician or one of his family. And in some cases the land owner will be an international organisation, that tells the farmer what it wants grown on its land.

And there has also been some questioning of whether the Fair Trade movement is actually fair. Although it offers a minimum price, in times of high prices the farmers get a lower price.

Again you fail to show any knowledge of some African countries, you have to think medival Europe, the land owner tells the farmer what to grow.

The land owner is the farmer, or do you mean the field worker?

The land owner is frequently NOT a farmer. In some countries it will be a corrupt politician or one of his family. And in some cases the land owner will be an international organisation, that tells the farmer what it wants grown on its land.

Is the person who dictates what is to be grown the farmer? Or is that only the field worker or manager?

The title is irrelevant. The person who makes this decision is going to seek to maximize profit. That is the relevant thing to the discussion at hand about why GM, pesticides, etc., are going to be used. Other than the field workers getting enough food to work efficiently the farmer does not care about the locals and if the farmer is a corporation/government because of his fiduciary duty he is legally bound not to care. Anything to increase the monetary return per acre per reporting period.

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... legally bound not to care. ...

And your solution to the sinking ship, NOT involving nuking everything, is?


All on our only planet,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Again you fail to show any knowledge of some African countries, you have to think medival Europe, the land owner tells the farmer what to grow.

The land owner is the farmer, or do you mean the field worker?

The land owner is frequently NOT a farmer. In some countries it will be a corrupt politician or one of his family. And in some cases the land owner will be an international organisation, that tells the farmer what it wants grown on its land.

Is the person who dictates what is to be grown the farmer? Or is that only the field worker or manager?

The title is irrelevant. The person who makes this decision is going to seek to maximize profit. That is the relevant thing to the discussion at hand about why GM, pesticides, etc., are going to be used. Other than the field workers getting enough food to work efficiently the farmer does not care about the locals and if the farmer is a corporation/government because of his fiduciary duty he is legally bound not to care. Anything to increase the monetary return per acre per reporting period.

There are many farmers here locally that would take great offense to this. Not all farms are owned by corporations. Many take great pride in producing QUALITY food, as naturally as possible. This also can produce higher prices.

Perhaps banning corporate farms would be a reasonable measure though. In fact banning all major corporations might be a good long term goal. They obviously can not be trusted.

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Janice

Can we ban unhealthy food from our children?

Or would better education to undo the mis-education from addictive tastes and powerful Marketing be workable?

At the moment, the fast food industry does appear to be using unsavory tactics that are more akin to hungry hyenas surrounding their prey...


Wales' top doctor proposes fast food ban near schools

Wales' chief medical officer has suggested banning fast food outlets near schools.


All on our only planet,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Some interesting comment and notes:


Safety concerns emerge over horse DNA in supermarket beef

... "All we know is it is not a beefburger. What is it? We don't know. Why was it picked up in Ireland and not the UK, and how long has it been going on? Until we know what the source is of the 'horse' or 'something derived from horse' that has been found in the beef products, we cannot be sure there is no food safety risk."

Campbell is the chief public analyst for West Yorkshire and a leading expert on the quality of meat. He will carry out some of the testing as the official investigation into the horsemeat scandal develops. ...

... raw materials could be coming from slaughterhouses that were not approved for processing meat for human consumption, or from unfit horses destined for the knacker's yard but which had instead ended up in the human food chain.

There could also be risks around residues of medicines used for sick animals but not considered safe for the human food chain...


Let's talk horse sense about food

... How you respond to the horsemeat burger story will depend upon who you are...

... you have to look to the hard, unemotional logic of economics. It is about the global commodity that food has become and it is about the way the British supermarkets have consolidated power in the market place to deal with that commoditisation. None of these things made last week's headline-grabber inevitable. But they did make it seriously likely and there will be other scandals like it in years to come unless the major retailers change their ways. ...


That second article could almost have been written by a more eloquent incarnation of our well loved GC from these forums... All from the horse's mouth?

All on our only planet,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)