Corn Refiners Run Ads for High Fructose Corn Syrup - BITTER

So I saw the following commercial on television the other day:

I was completely blown away. An organization called the Corn Refiners Associations is trying to combat all the negative press given to High Fructose Corn Syrup by attempting to convince people that not only is it safe for our kids, but that you just might be a moron if you believe otherwise. I did provide a link above to their website above, but be warned. It is a propaganda machine, hard at work. 

The woman in the ad says that HFCS is fine in moderation. I offer anyone reading this blog a challenge. Go into your pantry and/or refrigerator and start scanning the labels of the food items you have for some variation on high fructose corn syrup. I'll warn you. You are going to find it a lot. I'll give you 2 items that surprised me the most: Ketchup and Bread. And then it made perfect sense to me why kids love to dip everything in ketchup. There is a secret sweetener in there. 

Because corn is subsidized by the government, it supplanted sugar as the sweetener of choice by manufacturers. The problem is, it is HYPER processed and your body does not digest it anywhere near as easily as regular sugar. You may have noticed things like "cane soda" or even bottles of "blue agave" sweetener in your local supermarket. These are products made from either sugar cane or other natural sugars. Even these should be consumed in moderation, but they are far more natural than the typical HFCS product.

Unless you completely control your diet and make everything you eat at home, you are going to consume some high fructose corn sugar. To that extent, it's really not going to be a problem. However, I personally have started scrutinizing the labels of almost all the foods I buy from the supermarket, especially for my kids. One of the best brands is Annie's Homegrown, which has lots of great products that don't contain HFCS. They carry it at ShopRite, Whole Foods, and even Amazon.com. Yes, they make ketchup too.

If you want to learn a bit more about the food industry and how corn (and most industrially processed food products) is killing us, I highly recommend reading Michael Pollan's, "In Defense of Food" and "The Omnivore's Dilemma".

Corn Refiners Associations, you get a BITTER.

If you want a little more information, Consumer Reports did a write up on this ad as well.

Natural by Nature Grass Fed Milk - BETTER

Natural by Nature is a provider of grass fed dairy products, based near Lancaster, PA. 

Earlier this year, I read Michael Pollan's "In Defense of Food" and it really changed the way I thought about food. I already buy a lot of organic foods, but in case you didn't know, the "organic" label on a lot of products means less every day.  Standards are being relaxed and products that are less than 100% organic can still be certified organic. The same goes for the statement, "No Hormones or Antibiotics". It really doesn't mean anything as even animals like cows who are given antibiotics do not typically get milked during this time anyway.

The expression goes, "You are what you eat." Well, apparently we are what we eat ate too. And the basic food fed to most animals these days is completely unnatural. Unless you see, "grass fed", the odds are that the source of the product you are about to buy is eating corn. It is this unnatural diet that typically leads to common illness in animals requiring the use of hormones and antibiotics. Animals that feed on grass are healthy and contain more of the things humans actually need than corn fed ones.

From the Natural by Nature website: "Cows are meant to eat grass, not grain. Pastured cows are healthier and less stressed. At NDP, we strive to make fresh pasture the main diet for our cows. Our farmers own and operate small family farms in Lancaster County, PA. Together they form LOFCO, the Lancaster Organic Farmers Cooperative, which is committed to producing organic, grass-fed milk."

In addition, Natural by Nature milk is not UHT (Ultra High Temperature) Pastuerized. It is pastuerized at a high enough temperature to kill off anything harmful, but not high enough to kill everything good too. Most organic milks by companies like Horizon may seem really good on the shelf but we're still talking about grain fed cows and nutrient deprived milk.

On top of the health benefits, I can honestly say that the Natural by Nature milk (whole) is some of the best tasting milk I've ever had. It makes me feel good to drink it. Maybe its the principle of the thing that makes it taste so good but I really don't care. I'll pay the premium price (about $4.99 for a half gallon) and know that I'm buying the best for me, my family, and the environment.

If you live in Northeast New Jersey and would like to try this milk, visit Farm Fresh Dairy for home delivery. Yes, that right.  You can have the milkman bring it to you.

Natural by Nature gets a very big BETTER.