Thursday, August 26, 2010

Letter written by my friend and coworker Alex Kenefic, a MUST read

To Whom It May Concern,

I recently visited your location in Baton Rouge, La.  The food was fine, the service was fine.  I’m writing about an advertisement on our table.  This advertisement was for the Grade A USDA Prime Grain-fed Beef that Copeland’s offers.  I had to read it twice to make sure it was actually advertising GRAIN-fed Beef!  Granted, I’m glad I saw that so I knew not to order the steak (although that’s what I really wanted, since it was my birthday).  My hope is that this advertisement was printed and distributed by people who don’t know what that implies.

Grain=corn.  Cows did not evolve to eat corn; they evolved to eat grass and hay.  Eating corn makes them sick and kills them slowly before they’re slaughtered early.  Eating corn greatly lowers the pH level in their stomach creating an environment too acidic for them to live.  After more than a few months on corn, their stomach ulcers are to the point of needing treatment, or they’ll die.  This acidic environment is also the reason why E. coli is dangerous when we eat it.  The bacteria become accustomed to an acidic environment caused by the corn, then stay alive in the acidic human stomach and make us sick.  To top it off, grain-fed meat has up to NINE times the saturated fat than grass-fed meat. 

Read “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” or watch “Food, Inc.”, “King Corn” or “The Future of Food” to see what our food industry has become and what it’s doing to our country.  What has been the “norm” for decades is slowly coming to light as people realize what a danger feeding animals corn is.  More and more people are learning the truth, but unfortunately the average consumer doesn’t know and therefore relies on what they see to make their decisions.  Advertising grain-fed beef is telling your patrons that grain-fed beef is the best option and that you are proud to serve it.  This is irresponsible and certainly not in the best interest of your patrons or your company.  Because of the push to eat whole grains instead of refined ones, people associate “grain” with “healthy”-which is false!  When Sargento advertises their “real cheese”, it’s obvious that their real cheese is better than their competitor’s processed cheese product.  What are you saying your grain-fed beef is better than?  In this case, the grain-fed meat is the processed cheese and grass-fed is the natural. 

Customers (rightly or not) believe labels and advertising.  The food industry has taken money-making to a dangerous level that is destroying our health.  I’m certainly not asking Copeland’s to change the food industry.  I realize one letter probably won’t change how the company runs, or what it serves, but please stop advertising grain-fed beef as healthy and good!  That sign was a slap in the face to me and those of us who dedicate our lives to creating a healthier country.

Please contact me to inform me on what has been done to correct this.
Thank you for your time. 

Sincerely,

Alex Kenefic

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

A Glimpse of Hope

Ok, so someone pointed out to me that my blog is called, "the good, the bad...." and I havn't told any "good" stories. So here ya go...

I saw a mom today with her 4 day old premie. She was giving formula and had not tried to breastfeed at all. When I dug a little more, I found out that she really WANTED to breastfeed, she just had no one to help her! I had her go meet with one of our breastfeeding counselors, and an hour later, she had breastfed her baby, on both sides, and now wants to continute breastfeeding instead of formula! Moments like these are what make my days worth while.

Congratulations to all the moms that choose to give their babies the gift of breastfeeding :)

breastfeeding.com

what the CDC has to say

Food Revolution

I am sure most of you have heard of Jamie Oliver and his Food Revolution. Jamie is standing up for a great cause and if you agree you should visit his website and sign the petition. Jamie would like to take his petition to the White House to show the President and First lady how many people really care and ask for their support. This will take 10 seconds of your time! Take a stand and fight for our children! Just click the link below!!

(I support the Food Revolution. America's kids need better food at school and better health prospects. We need to keep cooking skills alive.)

Sign the Petition!

Babies For Sale

When mine and my husband's two cats had 6 kittens, we kept 2 and gave the rest away. Perfectly acceptable. When this lady came into my office with her 5 children and informed me that she just gave her newborn up for adoption....not really the same thing. I mean, I am all for adoption and giving your child a better life, but really? You kept FIVE and only gave away ONE?? I can't even put into words how messed up that is...

Some view their pets as children. This idea is NOT interchangable.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Stop Beating Your Children...In Public

For some reason, parents think it's a great idea to stand right outside my office door and either threaten to hit their child in the face with their shoe, or give them something to cry about... as if the 4 shots they just got weren't enough.

Today I heard a man yelling at what looked to be a 3 year old little boy. He said, "I don't care WHERE we are! Your about to get a WHOOPIN!" At this point I cracked my door and peaked out. After a few seconds passed the dad finally hit the child. I stepped out and told him, "Sir, you can not hit your children while you are in the Health Department." He told me, "I didn't hit him." I responded, "Sir, I just saw you." His response? "I didn't hit him, I thumped him."

Oh, you thumped him? Well in that case, I apologize...

Why Quick, Cheap Food Is Actually More Expensive

Great Article!

The odd paradox is that food insecurity--not knowing where the next meal is coming from or not having enough money to adequately feed your family--leads to obesity, diabetes and chronic disease

why quick cheap food is Actually More Expensive

This isn't the 7-11

Today a woman came in with her 4 year old to be recertified, which means we go through an entire diet history and assess how the child is doing. This is EXACTLY how the conversation started...

Me: "he doesn't have any sort of medical problems, right?"
Client: "Yeah, everything is fine, I just need beans."
Me: "ok, how much milk is he typically drinking?"
Client: "It varies"
Me: "well what about juice.
Client: "It Varies"
Me: "And water?"
Client: "It varies"

At some point she called me "sweetie" which is when I lost any respect for her that there may have been left.

You are here to get help. We offer foods to you for FREE, and nutrtition counseling that others pay hundreds of dollars for, for FREE. This is not the 7-11...Sweetie.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Damage Control

Third pregnancy at age 23...these people amaze me. She came in and sat down with her arms crossed and stared at me. Her boyfriend sat in the other chair, his blood clearly boiling. I knew right away if I wasn't careful, my office was about to turn into the WWE Smackdown. The following is a list of questions I asked Chyna based on the form she filled out, and the thoughtful asnwers she gave me in return...

Q: Are you taking any kind of vitamin?
A: uhhh NO.

Q: Do you really not eat ANY fruit?
A: No. Sometimes I'll eat 1 strawberry
Boyfriend: Yeah with CHOCOLATE!

Q: How much soda and sweet tea are you usually drinking?
A: like 1 or 2 sodas, and then I drink sweet tea all day.
Boyfriend rolls eyes and makes loud noise.

Q: Could you drink decafe tea instead?
A: God! They want like FIVE dollars more for that!!

Q: Do you drink water at all?
A: (extremly disguisted face)... NO! That's so nasty, you might as well just swallow your own spit!

During this entire time this delightful couple was bantering back and forth, mostly bc the boyfriend was angry that she wasn't taking care of herself while she was pregnant..and didn't seem to care one bit.

My only advice is to the boyfriend. RUN! Fast! No but seriously... run

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Flash Back

18 year old girl today who is:

pregnant
has 2 other children
and married...

I didn't know it was 1940