"The real masters [in capitalism] are the consumers. They, by buying and by refraining from buying, decide who is to hold the capital and run the factories. "
During the time I lived in Japan, 2005-2007, Carrefour- the big French hypermarket, went bankrupt within a year of opening. The giant French retailer didn't understand something simple, the Japanese don't buy imported processed food. They buy from small shops with local producers and "made in Japan" products. And one more thing, food is so expensive that nothing is thrown away.
Furthermore, the Japanese approach food with a gesture of humility that has always impressed me, very different from what I saw in the western culture (something that I saw in the Comunist period at my grandparents' in the country side).
At the same time in the Japanese media there was another scandal, the Japanese government did not want to buy imported beef from America, despite pressure from US producers. The reason was to protect local Japanese producers, who produce very good quality but very expensive meat.
The lesson I've learned in Japan: Eat less (how much a Buddhist bowl fits) and high quality.
I can't believe how much the quality of food has changed for the bad and very bad in Romania. Bread is no longer bread, tomatoes and apples no longer taste like apples, and finding organic products in the capital is a real adventure. In the spring I went to Paris for a cultural event and there I realised how bad the food is in Romania. When I came back home I didn't feel like eating anything. In France, bread is NOT allowed by law to have additives. There are artisan bakeries on every street corner, and the dough is NOT allowed to be frozen, and bread is only made with sourdough.
But the country where people take the greatest care of their food is Japan. The Japanese spend most of their income on quality food and groceries. That's where I learned to never skimp on good quality food. Perhaps it's no coincidence that the Japanese are the longest-lived, and at 8o, I could barely keep up with them on mountain trails. It's clear that the big companies are shoving rubbish down our throats, otherwise how could they make colossal revenues year after year.
The Japanese have been a big influence on my eating habits, too.
I wonder if habits are being corrupted there, too. Decades ago a few of my Japanese students looked askance when they learned that I ate brown rice, instead of white rice. Peasants eat brown rice, they explained.
We've always taught our children to never skimp on high-quality fresh food. Food is your best medicine.
The problem is Barry that my child tells me that among his schoolmates I'm the only mother crazy about diet and healthy food. His classmates eat mostly junk food and my boy reproaches me, quite often, that I'm feeding him "goat food" -:(. Lately, I'm losing my temper badly....
We homeschooled until high school. By then their habits were ingrained.
Your son will appreciate what you are doing later, when he notices his peers suffering from emotional disturbances from poor eating and no emotional grounding.
I hope, Barry! I hope! The problem is that that I'm fighting on so many fronts in my community that I feel exhausted...I want to run, run away in Japan, perhaps, at my friends. Here's what my former International Relations boss cooked three days ago in Japan. I can't attach the picture -:(
Jus' saw this Barry an' wanted ta add in chorus, y'are what'cha eat! Eatin' "real" food is puttin' yer money where yer mouth is--supportin' local farmers. Green markets, food "clubs" an' other such are a fantastic way ta do battle against "fake food" an' "big ag" -- yer winnin' years an' savin' medi-cull expenses ta boot!
We've been Weston Price for over 20 years-- https://www.westonaprice.org/ (lotta good freebie info there for folks) an' I'll also recommend "realmilk.com" an' "https://www.eatwild.com/" for databases where ya kin find local raw milk & real food wherever ya live in the US
Some of the farmers we've been proud ta deal with over the years-- e.g Millers in Bird-in-Hand PA, Dutch Meadows (also in PA), an' Nolts--have been treated "turribly" by our corrupt USDA--targeted, forced ta destroy good clean food, charged with literally tens of thousands of $ in fines. Currently one is gettin' slammed with fees b/c they won't use (toxic) chorine on the meat surfaces---mind ya nobuddy has gotten ill. We don't need our food sprayed with chlorine (swimmin' pools are an'nuther issue--also bad fer ya but few have salt pools in the US...) Anyway, many don't know that even organic food prepped at USDA processin' facilities git sprayed with the stuff--not good! So all these persecuted farms are Amish but there's organic farmers (an' sellers of their products) that got equally outrageous treatment--fergettin' the name but about a decade ago there was one guy in CA that hadda food club that got shut down--over 400 people lost their source of "real food."
Our kiddos have been raised on raw milk (da best!), grassfed beef, pastured chicken, deep orange eggs--all in NYC (now that we left NYShitty we're findin' real food in the boonies...ironically it's HARDER tho!). But agreed, real food is really the only thing we should be callin' food--it's nourishin' in all senses (we say bee-u-tee ful...also cuz of the bees that make sure our fruits an' veggies are plentiful). Processed junk (even mass packaged grocery food) ain't really food. Not da bugz neither (we don't keep kosher but there's good reason BUGS & shellfish -- they are RELATED!--are off the menu in kashrut--the chiton destroys the gut--same as what's in shrimp shells--don't eat that shell! or the tail with the shell on it!) Many don't know JUST how dastardly the WEFfers plan is as destroyed guts mean destroyed immune systems (what "zey" vant!)
Roundin' up my support fer this important message I'm puttin' in a few cheers fer nose ta tail eatin'--
all them organ meats is good fer what ails ya! (livers, gizzards, even tripe!) an' it supports my frugal grannie's "waste not want not" adage (even woiks for those kosher!--an' btw the BEST broth is made with chicken feet!)
1. re Shrimp--git just wild (not farmed b/c antibiotics), avoid from the Gulf (oil spills! clean-up toxins--yup, still), best is from Argentina (wild, natch) or Pacific (Alaskan pink)... SO... ya know ya cain't eat shellfish if yer kosher--this isn't jus' cuz shrimp are bottom feeders, it's also b/c all shellfish exoskeletons have gut-bustin' chiton in 'em. Bad stuff! So the way it's written (an' mind ya an orthodox pal explained this ta me so I just git the generalities...) is that nuttin' that crawls is kosher to eat--so sure, that includes bugs. (The dystopian future of eatin' the bugz eliminates all chews that keep kosher...so nu? if Nazi Schwab sets the menu joos doin't eat? only half-jokin' here but it's a biblical /kashrut thing for REAL). So chiton messes up the gut, destroys the linin'--an' chiton is in all shellfish shells (crabs too) AND insect "carapaces" -- same/same. So my guess is back in the day it was hard ta de-shell stuff good enuf an' if ya et some shell--you'd done yerself harm (I have a theory some of the old kashrut laws were also for safety)... Anywhoo.. today, you often'll see shrimp served (or frozen) with "tail on" an' most folks think, oh it's thin--crisped up it's not bad to eat... but nope, don't eat it! Soft shell crabs too--eat the inside, not the outside--chiton! Animals (chickens fer example) have a way ta digest chiton an' turn it inta protein--we human bans do not! So... my bet is someone in the Levant figgered that out thus makin' a law against it--either way, don't eat da bugs or the shells!
2. If ya know yer farmer you kin make sure they ain't usin' marigold in the feed -- but you'd only find that in "grocery pastured" not in local Amish (or similar, whatever ya got where ya live). We know all our Amish farmers personally as they'd deliver ta the city (in fact, we still git our eggs from PA by post as cain't find soy-free pastured locally...tho' we git most of our eats local...) -- So we know what's in the feed (never git reactions from their eggs but have reacted badly ta even organic "regular" ones...) Soy's bad anyway fer the poultry as it changes the Omega profile (more 6, less 3 in the yolks).
Best way ta be safe is ta know yer farmer -- an' ask! The more orange the better. But also, in Spring the youngest layers / pullets will have paler egg yolks--that's cuz they haven't figgered out yet how ta eat more BUGS (ha ha) Yup, the bugs humans cannot digest--chickens do... swimmin'ly! kinda ironic what makes the boids thrive is anathema to our own systems...
Marigolds are good as a natch'ral pesky-cide tho'--plant 'em in yer garden, don't eat 'em!
Great article thanks Barry. I am blessed to live in a very isolated rural farming community in New Zealand. We grow mostly all our own vegetables and fruit. For meat, l shoot wild deer and goats. For a protein change, we trade labour for lamb and beef with local farmers. A neighbour supplies us with raw milk and fresh eggs. It is a fulfilling and rewarding lifestyle.
I actually believe that the real food movement is one of those issues that can bridge gaps between people whose political views are vastly different. I grow a lot of my vegetables and I think it’s in my DNA to do so. My maternal grandfather ran a raw dairy farm in Okemah OK. He grew all the food his cows were fed, right there on the farm. When the Dustbowl hit, because he adhered to old fashioned farming techniques, the Dustbowl ended at the boundaries of his 485 acres. The farm was like Ireland in the middle of a wasteland. He had to shut down the farm for seven years. After all, raw dairies depend on local markets. Back then, there was no one talking about organic or sustainable because that’s how it was done. Unfortunately, a lot of neighbors were sold on USDA’s policies and they didn’t fare as well. I remember his raw milk. It was delicious. I’m going to add a greenhouse this year, I think. I support local farmers markets for what I don’t produce.
But there is no doubt in my mind that real food is a movement that has broad support and can be a rallying point for many.
Wow, Carol. Your story is so inspiring. 100% as RFK Jr is proving such issues can bridge gaps.
Yet there is such profound ignorance about how food is sustainably grown, what produces health and how the government's policies are anti-health. that I often despair. Thanks for the optimistic note at the end of the day!
The fastest and most permanent weigh loss I’ve had recently is more than 40 pounds by not eating ANY processed foods. I was fed up with wearing last nights dinner. So fruits, vegetables, salmon and grass-fed beef. You don’t need any weight-loss drugs. You need common sense. Thank you for the inspiration to take charge of my own life, Dr B.
Speaking of what Ludwig von Mises said:
"The real masters [in capitalism] are the consumers. They, by buying and by refraining from buying, decide who is to hold the capital and run the factories. "
During the time I lived in Japan, 2005-2007, Carrefour- the big French hypermarket, went bankrupt within a year of opening. The giant French retailer didn't understand something simple, the Japanese don't buy imported processed food. They buy from small shops with local producers and "made in Japan" products. And one more thing, food is so expensive that nothing is thrown away.
Furthermore, the Japanese approach food with a gesture of humility that has always impressed me, very different from what I saw in the western culture (something that I saw in the Comunist period at my grandparents' in the country side).
At the same time in the Japanese media there was another scandal, the Japanese government did not want to buy imported beef from America, despite pressure from US producers. The reason was to protect local Japanese producers, who produce very good quality but very expensive meat.
The lesson I've learned in Japan: Eat less (how much a Buddhist bowl fits) and high quality.
That's a great story and a reminder how much power Americans have too if they change their habits.
I can't believe how much the quality of food has changed for the bad and very bad in Romania. Bread is no longer bread, tomatoes and apples no longer taste like apples, and finding organic products in the capital is a real adventure. In the spring I went to Paris for a cultural event and there I realised how bad the food is in Romania. When I came back home I didn't feel like eating anything. In France, bread is NOT allowed by law to have additives. There are artisan bakeries on every street corner, and the dough is NOT allowed to be frozen, and bread is only made with sourdough.
But the country where people take the greatest care of their food is Japan. The Japanese spend most of their income on quality food and groceries. That's where I learned to never skimp on good quality food. Perhaps it's no coincidence that the Japanese are the longest-lived, and at 8o, I could barely keep up with them on mountain trails. It's clear that the big companies are shoving rubbish down our throats, otherwise how could they make colossal revenues year after year.
The Japanese have been a big influence on my eating habits, too.
I wonder if habits are being corrupted there, too. Decades ago a few of my Japanese students looked askance when they learned that I ate brown rice, instead of white rice. Peasants eat brown rice, they explained.
We've always taught our children to never skimp on high-quality fresh food. Food is your best medicine.
The problem is Barry that my child tells me that among his schoolmates I'm the only mother crazy about diet and healthy food. His classmates eat mostly junk food and my boy reproaches me, quite often, that I'm feeding him "goat food" -:(. Lately, I'm losing my temper badly....
We homeschooled until high school. By then their habits were ingrained.
Your son will appreciate what you are doing later, when he notices his peers suffering from emotional disturbances from poor eating and no emotional grounding.
I hope, Barry! I hope! The problem is that that I'm fighting on so many fronts in my community that I feel exhausted...I want to run, run away in Japan, perhaps, at my friends. Here's what my former International Relations boss cooked three days ago in Japan. I can't attach the picture -:(
I'm sorry you feel bereft of support. That is very hard.
Jus' saw this Barry an' wanted ta add in chorus, y'are what'cha eat! Eatin' "real" food is puttin' yer money where yer mouth is--supportin' local farmers. Green markets, food "clubs" an' other such are a fantastic way ta do battle against "fake food" an' "big ag" -- yer winnin' years an' savin' medi-cull expenses ta boot!
We've been Weston Price for over 20 years-- https://www.westonaprice.org/ (lotta good freebie info there for folks) an' I'll also recommend "realmilk.com" an' "https://www.eatwild.com/" for databases where ya kin find local raw milk & real food wherever ya live in the US
Some of the farmers we've been proud ta deal with over the years-- e.g Millers in Bird-in-Hand PA, Dutch Meadows (also in PA), an' Nolts--have been treated "turribly" by our corrupt USDA--targeted, forced ta destroy good clean food, charged with literally tens of thousands of $ in fines. Currently one is gettin' slammed with fees b/c they won't use (toxic) chorine on the meat surfaces---mind ya nobuddy has gotten ill. We don't need our food sprayed with chlorine (swimmin' pools are an'nuther issue--also bad fer ya but few have salt pools in the US...) Anyway, many don't know that even organic food prepped at USDA processin' facilities git sprayed with the stuff--not good! So all these persecuted farms are Amish but there's organic farmers (an' sellers of their products) that got equally outrageous treatment--fergettin' the name but about a decade ago there was one guy in CA that hadda food club that got shut down--over 400 people lost their source of "real food."
Our kiddos have been raised on raw milk (da best!), grassfed beef, pastured chicken, deep orange eggs--all in NYC (now that we left NYShitty we're findin' real food in the boonies...ironically it's HARDER tho!). But agreed, real food is really the only thing we should be callin' food--it's nourishin' in all senses (we say bee-u-tee ful...also cuz of the bees that make sure our fruits an' veggies are plentiful). Processed junk (even mass packaged grocery food) ain't really food. Not da bugz neither (we don't keep kosher but there's good reason BUGS & shellfish -- they are RELATED!--are off the menu in kashrut--the chiton destroys the gut--same as what's in shrimp shells--don't eat that shell! or the tail with the shell on it!) Many don't know JUST how dastardly the WEFfers plan is as destroyed guts mean destroyed immune systems (what "zey" vant!)
Roundin' up my support fer this important message I'm puttin' in a few cheers fer nose ta tail eatin'--
all them organ meats is good fer what ails ya! (livers, gizzards, even tripe!) an' it supports my frugal grannie's "waste not want not" adage (even woiks for those kosher!--an' btw the BEST broth is made with chicken feet!)
Here's a bit on "offally good" eatin'!
https://thcsofdaisymoses.substack.com/p/offally-good-cookin-to-stay-strong?
Thank you for the great list of resources, Daisy.
You're right, Gut health is essential!
Can you say more about shrimp and shellfish?
And yes, orange yolks are a sign of a chicken being pastured. I hear though that can be faked too by marigolds in the feed.
my pleasure Barry!
1. re Shrimp--git just wild (not farmed b/c antibiotics), avoid from the Gulf (oil spills! clean-up toxins--yup, still), best is from Argentina (wild, natch) or Pacific (Alaskan pink)... SO... ya know ya cain't eat shellfish if yer kosher--this isn't jus' cuz shrimp are bottom feeders, it's also b/c all shellfish exoskeletons have gut-bustin' chiton in 'em. Bad stuff! So the way it's written (an' mind ya an orthodox pal explained this ta me so I just git the generalities...) is that nuttin' that crawls is kosher to eat--so sure, that includes bugs. (The dystopian future of eatin' the bugz eliminates all chews that keep kosher...so nu? if Nazi Schwab sets the menu joos doin't eat? only half-jokin' here but it's a biblical /kashrut thing for REAL). So chiton messes up the gut, destroys the linin'--an' chiton is in all shellfish shells (crabs too) AND insect "carapaces" -- same/same. So my guess is back in the day it was hard ta de-shell stuff good enuf an' if ya et some shell--you'd done yerself harm (I have a theory some of the old kashrut laws were also for safety)... Anywhoo.. today, you often'll see shrimp served (or frozen) with "tail on" an' most folks think, oh it's thin--crisped up it's not bad to eat... but nope, don't eat it! Soft shell crabs too--eat the inside, not the outside--chiton! Animals (chickens fer example) have a way ta digest chiton an' turn it inta protein--we human bans do not! So... my bet is someone in the Levant figgered that out thus makin' a law against it--either way, don't eat da bugs or the shells!
2. If ya know yer farmer you kin make sure they ain't usin' marigold in the feed -- but you'd only find that in "grocery pastured" not in local Amish (or similar, whatever ya got where ya live). We know all our Amish farmers personally as they'd deliver ta the city (in fact, we still git our eggs from PA by post as cain't find soy-free pastured locally...tho' we git most of our eats local...) -- So we know what's in the feed (never git reactions from their eggs but have reacted badly ta even organic "regular" ones...) Soy's bad anyway fer the poultry as it changes the Omega profile (more 6, less 3 in the yolks).
Best way ta be safe is ta know yer farmer -- an' ask! The more orange the better. But also, in Spring the youngest layers / pullets will have paler egg yolks--that's cuz they haven't figgered out yet how ta eat more BUGS (ha ha) Yup, the bugs humans cannot digest--chickens do... swimmin'ly! kinda ironic what makes the boids thrive is anathema to our own systems...
Marigolds are good as a natch'ral pesky-cide tho'--plant 'em in yer garden, don't eat 'em!
We are in your debt, Daisy. Thank you for the wealth of information!
my pleasure! may you an' all yer readers share the bountiful gift of good food (an' good comp'ny)--a veritable cornucopia!
Great article thanks Barry. I am blessed to live in a very isolated rural farming community in New Zealand. We grow mostly all our own vegetables and fruit. For meat, l shoot wild deer and goats. For a protein change, we trade labour for lamb and beef with local farmers. A neighbour supplies us with raw milk and fresh eggs. It is a fulfilling and rewarding lifestyle.
Your testimony is inspiring, John. Thank you!
I actually believe that the real food movement is one of those issues that can bridge gaps between people whose political views are vastly different. I grow a lot of my vegetables and I think it’s in my DNA to do so. My maternal grandfather ran a raw dairy farm in Okemah OK. He grew all the food his cows were fed, right there on the farm. When the Dustbowl hit, because he adhered to old fashioned farming techniques, the Dustbowl ended at the boundaries of his 485 acres. The farm was like Ireland in the middle of a wasteland. He had to shut down the farm for seven years. After all, raw dairies depend on local markets. Back then, there was no one talking about organic or sustainable because that’s how it was done. Unfortunately, a lot of neighbors were sold on USDA’s policies and they didn’t fare as well. I remember his raw milk. It was delicious. I’m going to add a greenhouse this year, I think. I support local farmers markets for what I don’t produce.
But there is no doubt in my mind that real food is a movement that has broad support and can be a rallying point for many.
Excellent post, Barry!
Wow, Carol. Your story is so inspiring. 100% as RFK Jr is proving such issues can bridge gaps.
Yet there is such profound ignorance about how food is sustainably grown, what produces health and how the government's policies are anti-health. that I often despair. Thanks for the optimistic note at the end of the day!
Yea, I love every time that RFK Jr focuses on farmers.
The fastest and most permanent weigh loss I’ve had recently is more than 40 pounds by not eating ANY processed foods. I was fed up with wearing last nights dinner. So fruits, vegetables, salmon and grass-fed beef. You don’t need any weight-loss drugs. You need common sense. Thank you for the inspiration to take charge of my own life, Dr B.
Thank you for the kind note.
If more people ate how you do, health care costs would plummet.
"ANY" is the key word. If it not in the house, you stop thinking about it.