Real Food Nicole Falsetti
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Table of Contents • Dedication • Foreword • Introduction • Chapter I: What are we consuming? • Chapter II: What are we being told? • Chapter III: What are the benefits of organic farming? • Chapter IV: What are the inevitable health risks that come along with genetically modified foods? • Conclusion • Works Cited 3
This book is dedicated to my beloved mother that has taught me how to eat healthy through out my years of development. Mom, your hard work has payed off! I am finally interested in food health and the benefits of organic farming.
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Foreword I recollect the first time I was forced to try a brussels sprout. Yet, I also recollect the first time I was sent to the doctors due to a surprise allergic reaction. I remember the waiting room of the medical foundation, sprinkled with crying babies as I waited for the nurse to call my name while a vigorous knot twisted inside of my stomach. Once told to travel down the hallway to a patient room, I waited to hear of a complication that would soon alter my eating habits. I was diagnosed to be gluten and dairy intolerant, a bump in the road, on a somewhat smooth sailing life, thus far. Every since I was young, I have been sensitive to foods. As I have grown up, I have become more interested in changing my eating habits so that my diet is healthy, colorful, and nutritious. My curiosity has been spurred by my intolerance. I researched why my body was having the reactions it was to the gluten and dairy I ingested; I learned that gluten and dairy are natural inflammatories and humans were not, (initially) in the stages of evolution, meant to be eating these heavy foods. Yet, it was difficult for me to find foods to eat because it seemed that most foods had gluten in it. Even soy sauce has gluten in it. So, yes, I could not have Teriyaki Chicken, when it seemed supposedly painless. With my search in finding foods healthy and worth eating, I came about a desire to express to others my findings as well. Throughout the course of this book, I have laid out everything you need to know about healthy eating, and the food industry. I document the process of organic farming on a local East San Jose farm, called Veggielution. Veggielution is a non-profit farm started by San Jose State students, to educate and bring the community closer together. They do so, by hosting free cooking classes for mothers; they also have volunteers every Saturday, that come to the farm and learn how to harvest and farm their own farm fresh organic produce. Veggielution uses the facet of community, to inspire people to come volunteer on the farm. Volunteers are able to create and eat their own food, after a long day of hard work. Through this process, the community can more easily understand why organic farming is so valuable to the human and earth’s health. 5
Introduction
There are many peacocks that roam the grounds at Veggielution. The peacocks range in size and color. 6
Let us take a moment to analyze, food |food| noun any nutritious substance that people or animals eat or drink, or that plants absorb, in order to maintain life and growth: cans of cat food | baby foods. Now in this particular case, food can be anything “nutritious.” Americans have taken that term a little too close to heart when developing new food to fit the mass consumption rate. You are right, I did say “developing new food” and yes, you are also right, that does mean that it is man-made. Most of the food that we consume in our daily lives, from grocery stores or supermarkets, is created in science labs. These foods are genetically or chemically modified so that the expiration date lasts longer and the food becomes more durable for a longer period of time. Now, if this is sounding remotely unhealthy to you, then your hunch is correct. It is NOT healthy! American nutritionists have replaced real food with nutrition. The Western Diet, what our whole country consumes, supports stocking up on all whitestarch-empty carbohydrates and then taking vitamin supplements to justify the process. Yet, chemicals do not provide us with all of the necessary vitamins that natural, organic, REAL food supply us with. Although the Vitamin D and Omega 3 pills you take every morning to stay in mental and physical shape are beneficial when you are eating a colorful and organic diet, it is still better to consume real foods rather than to swallow a
capsule. Hippocrates, a wise philosopher, influenced and remains to influence, our medical field today. All doctors, before entering the medical field, are forced to take the Hippocratic oath, in which they swear that doctors should do no harm. The irony of our generation is the inability to fully see the wholesome teachings of Hippocrates. He once said, “Our food should be our medicine and our medicine should be our food.� ~ Hippocrates. But American society has developed a food so lethal that it is no longer our medicine but our enemy. The food we ingest causes chronic illnesses that medical drugs cannot cure. Studies have shown that the rise in the cancer rate is due to a lack of health awareness, particularly in food choices. One cannot fight a chronic disease that stemmed from a man-made chemical creation, with another medicated drug that is also engineered in a lab. Chemical preservatives are a dangerous element that American society abuses to the fullest degree. Organic farming attempts to fight against a pro-genetically modified takeover of the whole country. Veggielution, a local farm, works to educate the community of East San Jose in organic farming and cooking for a healthier lifestyle. The farm is all organic and uses no chemical fertilizers or genetically modified foods that could potentially harm the produce they sell. Veggielution creates a community in which, people are aware of the serious health crises that America faces today. Veggielution fosters a rare brand of education, spreading awareness among an urban, low income population about the dire consequences of eating genetically modified foods and the health benefits of organic farming.
There are many chickens that roam the grounds at Veggielution. There are various different types, including both males and females. Some are more colorful than others. 7
Veggielution is a non profit farm started by a group of college students from San Jose State. This project started as something very small. The founders never thought that it would grow to be this huge and profitable. All of the community and the staff are very proud of what Veggielution has become and how it continues to grow and prosper.
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Chapter I: What are we consuming? Food production has been a continuous issue throughout America’s development. The Populist and Progressive movements brought to America’s attention the corruption and filth of food production in the early 1900’s. Upton Sinclair, who wrote The Jungle in 1906, intended his revolting tract to focus attention on the plight of the workers in the big canning factories, but instead he appalled the public with his description of the disgustingly unsanitary food products. He illustrated the amount of rat feces and rotting meat that was packaged within the goods manufactured in meat industries and then delivered to the American public. The people responded in an uproar. Thereafter, strict regulations were enforced on meat industries for America’s sanitary and health needs. America has long since improved from this state of mind. Yet, we have progressed into another era of using science to alter foods for a higher yield. The American public is not yet fully aware of the chemical imbalances that companies are creating when they are genetically modifying our foods that we intake on a daily basis. Conventional farming depends on pesticides and plants resistant to these horrible chemicals. Amie Frisch, a co-founder of Veggielution, studied organic agriculture and farming and found that “GMO crops are designed so that farmers can apply more herbicides and pesticides without harming the crop. Although that effect goes away and you have to keep applying more and more of the chemicals as the pests get used to it, the pests have to get adjusted to that level of chemical. And so they are creating these superweeds and these super bugs that are resistant to all of these different chemicals. It is a game that we are never going to win”. A Consumers Union research team found 73 percent of conventionally grown foods and 90 percent of conventionally grown apples, peaches, pears, strawberries, and celery had pesticide residues, as This female goose stations herself at the water fountain at Vegcompared with only 23 percent of organically grown gielution. She guards the fountain because she sees her reflection and thinks that it is her male friend that passed away a year ago.
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samples. Where the same pesticide was found in both conventional and organic foods, the levels of the pesticide were significantly lower in the organic food (Singer). Scientists at the University of Washington tested the urine of children eating a conventional diet and children eating predominantly organic produce and found that these differences in pesticide levels are detectable in our bodies. Some of the children on a conventional diet had pesticide byproducts in their urine that indicated an intake of pesticides above the “negligible risk” level recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency’s guidelines (Singer). If young children are ingesting this amount of pesticide levels then how can we ensure
them to have a prolonged healthy life? More importantly, consuming produce that is seemingly “healthy” can actually cause huge health risks. In what ways does the American population benefit from these conventional styles of farming? The answer is they benefit marginally. In the past decade, there have been three years where Taco Bell has had a recurring outbreak of E.Coli. Taco Bell, assuredly, does not serve organic produce to their customers. It might be, that since they choose to use conventional farming, they have had to face the drastic consequences, including loss of business, unsatisfied customers, and 10
lawsuits. Taco Bell would never have had these issues had they been using organic produce. Due to using conventional farming, workers are instructed to wash the vegetables, particularly lettuce in this case, to avoid mass epidemics like E.Coli. Yet, some workers did not wash the vegetable thoroughly enough. In the E. Coli outbreak in 2006, Taco Bell restaurant outbreaks have been reported to CDC from 5 states: New Jersey (33), New York (22), Pennsylvania (13), Delaware (2), and South Carolina (1). Among these 71 ill persons, 53 (75%) were hospitalized and 8 (11%) developed a type of kidney failure called hemolytic-uremic syndrome (Marler). If this recurring issue is not a wake up call to the American population, that conventional foods are a hazard to our bodies, then more drastic measures are needed to educate the community. Conventional farming grows their crops on fertilizer that is chemically simplified soil. “Since the widespread 11
Veggielution is kid friendly and encourages education of organic farming through children educational programs held at Veggielution. This photo captures the top of a wire cage that contains hand painted benches from the children program.
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adoption of chemical fertilizers in the 1950’s, the nutritional quality of produce in America has declined substantially, according to figures gathered by the USDA, which has tracked the nutrient content of various crops since then. Some researchers blame this decline on the condition of the soil; others cite the tendency of modern plant breeding, which has consistently selected industrial characteristics such as yield rather than nutritional quality” (Pollan). Diego Ortiz, a local farm hand at Veggielution, described the impact that fertilizers have on the produce we eat in our daily lives. Diego explained that the most important part of healthy produce is fertilizer, conventional farming changes “the structure of the food; conventional farming has to give the crops other nutrients that aren’t already in the ground. A lot of times these foods are planted in places that have been depleted of nutrients for so long. There is no sustainable practice as far as replenishing the nutrients when it comes to reproducing these kind of things. The amount of input and money that goes into producing the food is by far more expensive than any organic input whether it is sunlight, or some organic fertilizer”. Diego works to instruct the farm volunteers on farming techniques so that Veggielution produces the highest quality produce for their consumers. By using the most environmentally sound fertilizer, and planting where the earth’s soil is rich in nutrients, Veggielution is able to create strong and healthy produce that will benefit the community. Conventional farming is not created for quality of food; rather it is created for quantity and shelf life.
Chapter II: What are we being told? Food is something that all Americans share as a common interest. Consumers in America are being told how to eat, what to eat, and when the best time is to eat. Many people shift their diets around rejecting foods and eating only certain foods that will “guarantee” them to lose weight. America seems to have a certain obsession with food. But America also has a certain obsession with fear. Fear is what drives all consumers to listen to marketers and commercials that steer them to a particular obsession. The advertisers for major food companies have marketed nutritionism in replacement of real food. “ Nutritionism supplies the ultimate justification for processing food by implying that with a judicious application of food science, fake foods can be made even more nutritious than the real thing” (Pollan). Consumers are able to buy synthetic foods that have a list of ingredients with a bunch of “nutritional” and “natural” vitamins and minerals added to make the food more “healthy”. Michael Pollan states in his book, In Defense of Food, that “Nutritionism might be the best thing ever to happen to the food industry, which historically has labored under the limits to growth imposed by a population of eaters that isn’t expanding nearly as fast as the food makers need it to if they are to satisfy the expectations of Wall Street” (Pollan). Big corporate money backs up the food industry by funneling money into any given area
Veggielutions inside greenhouses grow many plants that need extra moisture to grow and survive in California climates. Veggielution has agricultural produce that range from many different varieties.
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that is the most profitable, yet may not be the most beneficial to our health. Diego Ortiz at Veggielution, when asked what he thought about the benefits of organic food over genetically modified foods, he replied “genetically modified foods are changed because the aesthetics of the food are made to be more appealing so that people will buy them. It is more of a capitalistic nature. You are not going to look at our foods that have slight discolorations and think our crops to have the same appearances, but in the end you know that without all of those chemical inputs there is nothing better than what mother nature gives you”. In fact, as this might come as common knowledge to you, most people do not view produce within supermarkets this way. There have been serious measures taken throughout the country to stamp out this food injustice and spread awareness on this particular issue. Prop 37 was a recent ballot that was declined by California. It required the labeling of food sold to consumers made from plants or animals with genetic material changed in specified ways. It prohibited marketing such food, or other processed food, as “natural” (Voter Guide). “There is a lot of money invested in California agriculture, and it is hard to deny that genetically modified foods are sold and produced and eaten by the majority of Californians. That is undeniably, an overlying consciousness. People are afraid of change and conforming to newer and brighter ideas. The whole sense that something is going to
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Veggielution not only inspires many volunteers about organic farming through education but also through the beauty of the farm.
change really scared people in California” stated Diego Ortiz. Like any other facet of life, food is something that is hard for people to change within habit. Yet, when farmers have attempted to stick up for themselves against the big corporate evils of genetically modified foods, including Monsanto, DuPont, and Syngenta, the farmers’ business are taken away from them by the powerful and mighty corporations for threatening their largely undemocratic system. “Anyone doubting Monsanto’s obsession with control can just ask just ask the thousands of farmers who have been sued and spied upon for alleged “seed piracy” – at least 2,391 farmers in 19 states through 2006, according to Monsanto website documents obtained by the Washington, DC-based Center for Food Safety (CFS). A report by CFS, using company records, found that “Monsanto has an annual budget of $10 million dollars and a staff of 75 devoted solely to investigating and prosecuting farmers” (Cook). Not to mention, that Monsanto controls virtually all aspects of sustenance. “Far from abstract, the genetic and proprietary control of our diets by a handful of companies (Monsanto, DuPont, and Syngenta combined own an astounding 47 percent of the global seed market) directly robs consumers and farmers of the most basic right to choose what they will eat and grow. The entire concept of creating and selling patented GM seeds is based on proprietary corporate control: The seeds are nonreplenishing and must be purchased anew each Veggielution is seen to be home for many people that come to the farm, ranging from many ethnicities, professions, ages and cultures.
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season, eliminating the time-honored farmer tradition of saving and re-using seeds” (Cook). If you are thinking to yourself at this time, that what you have read on boxes or packaged foods is all bogus, then yes, you are right. The whole system is corrupt because of big corporations. Chemical companies do not make it any easier on the progressives in our era, when under the radar, many chemical companies funneled huge sums of money into commercials to convince voters to vote “No on Prop 37.” If the ballot would have passed, chemical companies would have lost money to the consumers who used to purchase conventionally grown food. Although Prop 37 was not passed in California, it spread an overall awareness to California about the dangers and risks conventionally grown food bring. Amie Frisch, when asked how she felt about the decline of Prop 37, responded, “I was disappointed that California voted no. I was excited though about how close it was. A lot of people learned about the issue and it was not that far away from being a yes. I think that it is very encouraging at the same time as being disappointing. Perhaps, the next effort, the next ballot, will be able to succeed based on the strategies of the campaign learned this time. At least our county did vote yes on it overall”. Amie Frisch and all of Veggielution help to inspire people within the community of East San Jose to focus on eating healthy through organic produce. They do so, by hosting free cooking classes for moms who want to learn a more positive and healthier
lifestyle. They also educate the community members that volunteer to work on the farm, on organic agriculture and produce. Through this, Veggielution is helping to spread awareness on the beneficial process of organic farming.
Chickens at Veggielution add another depth to the beautifulness of the farm and the atmosphere. 19
Chapter III: What are the benefits of Organic Farming? Although so many people know about organic produce being an option, why is it that they refuse to listen? More importantly, why is it that so many people follow what they are being told by the media? The reason is because science backs up conventional farming with the old and outdated theory that organic agriculture does not produce a high enough yield. Yet that is not the case! “Organic agriculture is the quickest, most efficient, most cost-effective and fairest way to feed the world� (Leu). Meaning, all of those lies that the corrupted chemical corporations are feeding to the public are not true. If farmers are able to create a high enough yield so it fits the mass consumption rate through organic farming, why is conventional farming still so popular? “Sustainability means taking care of the resources that are taking care of your system. When you grow plants you deplete nutrients in the soil and you cannot just continuously plant and plant the same things or a variety of the things on the same land and expect it to produce for as long at a productive rate. The genetically modified foods are designed to feed more on those chemical inputs
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Veggielution is located on Emma Prusch farm in East San Jose. It draws from all different gene pools of San Jose and the bay area. and take less out of the soil because they are getting so much from the fertilizer”, stated Diego Ortiz. Genetically modified foods have fake nutrients added to substitute for the loss of natural vitamins and minerals that we absorb when eating REAL food. When eating conventionally grown produce, we have not only gained fake nutrients that are hard on your system, but also lost electrolytes and the whole array of other real nutrients your body needs to be healthy. “Soils rich in organic matter produce more nutritious food. Recently a handful of well-controlled comparisons of crops grown organically and conventionally have found appreciably higher levels of antioxidants, flavonoids, vitamins, and other nutrients in several of the organic crops” (Pollan). Organic food is not produced for the physical appeal so that a consumer will buy it at a supermarket, but it is produced for the rich and flavorful taste of a real and healthy crop. Although organic produce is good for the human body, it is also really good for the earth and the earth’s soil. Genetically modified foods put the environment in harms way by depleting the soil of its nutrients. Veggielution and many other organic farms, work to keep their farm healthy. More importantly, they work to keep their workers even healthier. Amie Frische, explained to me that apart from the organic cost, and the personal health cost, there is also the cost to our environment and the farm workers health. Farm workers that do conventional
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farming have about a six times higher cancer rate than the rest of the population. These people are exposed to these chemicals really personally and bring these products home to their kids, I see that as a much more measurable health risk. The environmental damage can run off and go into streams contaminating water, for a lot of communities that is a really big issue as well. Veggielution ensures all of their volunteers, that come to work on the farm, that they are not in harms way. This farm provides a sustainable and safe way in which they plant and harvest produce to give to the surrounding community. It is in this way, that volunteers are able to feel closely connected to their community. Amie Frisch explained to me that Veggielution was a farm where everybody was welcome and that Veggielution brings “the community on the east side, in addition to all of San Jose, together because at the farm we have this really diverse cross section of everybody in San Jose. We have these low income families from around the farm. We have tech companies, engineers, and retired people. We have people of all ages, that cut across many ethnic levels. It is a group of people that never would have any chance to interact. Here, people are interacting over this common thing: the food we eat everyday. It is something that everyone has in common. We all eat everyday. Food is something very powerful to connect over because it also goes deep into our cultures and who we are. When people are here having conversations, sharing food, sharing reci
pes and different food traditions, I think it is really powerful and draws everybody closer together�. Organic farming creates environments like Veggielution, in which communities become closer knit. Whereas conventional farming consists of workers laboring under poor conditions, that are exposed to harmful chemicals. I will let you be the judge of which surrounding sounds the most enticing.
Local East San Jose residents check out the farm and its beautiful surroundings.
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Chapter IV: What are the inevitable health risks that come along with genetically modified foods? In addition to all that has been said, genetically modified foods are creations that will eventually destroy our continent and our own evolutionary race. The Western Diet is what all of our country eats. A group of doctors in the early twentieth century, “observed that wherever in the world people gave up their traditional way of eating and adopted the Western diet, there soon followed a predictable series of Western diseases, including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer” (Pollan). The point that I am trying to make is that if the Western diet is not beneficial to any culture that adopts it, then who are we to be so ignorant and assume that our way of eating is the best way? The same effects can be shown in genetically modified produce. The International Journal of Modern Sciences ran a study on the effects of Monsanto’s genetically modified corn in which they found very scary effects on the human body. The “effects were mostly concentrated in kidney and liver function, the two major diet detoxification organs, but in detail differed with each GM type. In addition, some effects on heart, adrenal, spleen and blood cells were also frequently noted. We therefore 26
conclude that our data strongly suggests that these GM maize varieties induce a state of hepatorenal toxicity....These substances have never before been an integral part of the human or animal diet and therefore their health consequences for those who consume them, especially over long time periods are currently unknown” (Goldstein). To me, this was very shocking because the produce you are consuming, that is supposedly beneficial to your health, is actually damaging every system in your body. Veggielution teaches volunteers on the farm the benefits of organic farming and the scary danger that can haunt your body after intaking genetically modified produce.
Veggielution has endless lush fields of yellow flowers.
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Conclusion The real secret to healthy living is to eat REAL food. As Michael Pollan puts it, in his book, In Defense of Food, do not eat anything that your grandmother would not recognize as food. Many people do not realize the corruption and greed that the food industry has, and they most definitely do not realize that what they hear in commercials or advertisements are not true. The reality is, that all of the genetically modified foods are made for capitalistic profit not for human welfare. Organic farmers make their food for their consumer’s satisfaction and personal health, not for a capitalistic profit. That is why Veggielution is so closely admired in the East San Jose community. Veggielution works to inspire, educate, and create a closely knit community where everyone feels safe, healthy, and fulfilled. As a community and country as a whole, our food must prosper so that we can as well.
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“It is really heartwarming to hear that this place under a freeway, can remind so many people that come from so many different parts of the world, of home.� - Amy Frische 31
Works Cited “California General Election.” Proposition 37. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2013. Cook, Christopher. “Control over Your Food: Why Monsanto’s GM Seeds Are Undemocratic.” The Christian Science Monitor. The Christian Science Monitor, 23 Feb. 2011. Web. 19 Mar. 2013. Frische, Amie. Personal interview. 16 Mar. 2013. Goldstein, Katherine. “Monsanto’s GMO Corn Linked To Organ Failure, Study Reveals.” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 12 Jan. 2010. Web. 21 Mar. 2013. Leu, Andre. “Organic Agriculture Can Feed the World.” Opposing Viewpoints. N.p., 2008. Web. 8 Feb. 2013. Marler, Bill. “Three Taco Bell Ingredient Outbreaks in Ten Years.” Food Poison Journal. N.p., 8 Aug. 2010. Web. 15 Mar. 2013. “Organic Food.” Opposing Viewpoints. Cengage Learning, 2013. Web. 8 Feb. 2013. Ortiz, Diego. Personal interview. 9 Feb. 2013. Pollan, Michael. In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto. New York: Penguin, 2008. Print. Singer, Peter, and Jim Mason. “Organically Produced Food Improves Human, Animal, and Environmental Health.” Opposing Viewpoints. N.p., 2008. Web. 8 Feb. 2013. 32
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