Healthy Soil - Healthy Food - Healthy People
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Healthy Soil - Healthy Food - Healthy People |
As a general rule the less we tamper with fresh food, the more nutritious it remains.
Few of us have direct access to fresh products. The bulk of food most of us consume has been processed or treated in some way to enable it to withstand transport over considerable distances and storage over long periods of time. The food industry, under relentless pressure to supply safe food to mass markets, is constantly developing ways to combat food contamination (arising naturally from insects, pests and micro-organisms) and to preserve it I until it reaches the consumer It is also regularly looking for means to boost the way food looks and tastes through artificial additives and genetic modification. Follow the links below for extensive information on the methods that are being employed and why we, as consumers, should be wary of their possible impact on our health and the health of our planet.
Food irradiation
Food irradiation is a new technology which can kill many insects and pests which infest foods like grains, herbs and spices without appearing to infect them. It can also delay or stop normal ripening and decay processes so that foods can be stored for longer. In the process however it also destroys vitamins, essential fatty acids and other nutrients in food. According to Consumer international data currently 37 countries permit the use of irradiation and 25 actually use it. Food irradiation is on the global agenda. Very soon nations will be powerless I to turn irradiated food away from their shores. Find out why you should refuse to buy food which you know has been irradiated. The STOP FOOD IRRADIATION PROJECT (Organic Consumers Association) Consumers International The Public Citizen: The Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program
Food irradiation is on the global agenda. - Marietta Cassar
Added sugar has become an integral part of the constitution of most of the food stuff on our supermarket shelves. What types of sugar are there and how do our bodies process it? Is it necessary? What harm is it doing us? Can we do without it?
The Sugar Association Inc.
Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI)
America: Drowning in Sugar - a Press Release calling for Food Labels to Disclose Added Sugars
Where added sugar comes from
We cannot ignore the raging arguments over genetically engineered food - it is an irrevocable process which will touch all our lives. It is also a very complex issue laden with misconceptions and emotion. These links provide a starting point for understanding the facts and untangling the myths.
The Soil & Health Association of New Zealand Inc
If you have any comments, suggestions or insights you'd like to share on organic farming in general or our Persephone Project in particular please contact us. We'd especially love to hear from you if you've got any practical hints on growing healthy crops and controlling pests naturally.
We're also constantly in need of a helping hand in the field and with the packing on harvest days. Contact us if you can spare an hour or two - we'd love to meet you!