USDA SAYS SHUT UP AND EAT YOUR FRANKENRICE

The USDA has finally reacted to the contamination of the U.S. rice
supply by an unapproved, genetically engineered variety of rice
created by the Bayer Corporation. Three weeks ago, it was discovered
that Bayer's mutant rice, gene-spliced to survive heavy doses of a
powerful herbicide called glufosinate, had contaminated U.S. long
grain rice stocks. The USDA admitted it had "no idea" how extensive
the contamination was. Meanwhile Japan has banned all U.S. rice
imports, while the EU is rejecting U.S. imports that test positive
for contamination. The rice industry has been in a state of upheaval,
with rumors of a massive market recall spreading across the country.
This week, the USDA announcd its plan of action: instead of recalling
this illegal, and potentially unsafe rice, it is working with Bayer to
fast-track the approval process. "Illegal, potentially hazardous rice
in grain bins, on supermarket shelves, in cereal, beer, baby foods,
and all rice products. It should be a no-brainer. Recall this stuff
to make sure no one eats it," said Joseph Mendelson, Legal Director
of the Center for Food Safety. "Instead, USDA plans to rush through
'market approval' of a genetically engineered rice that Bayer itself
decided was unfit for commerce. Why? To free Bayer from liability."

Learn more: http://www.organicconsumers.org/2006/article_2159.cfm

This is a global crisis because all GMO foods can contaminate natural
species, even organic crops. It is long past time to organize
effectively to protect our heritage and the future.

Eat Up! Man Lives to 112 on Sausages and Waffles

George Johnson, considered California's oldest living person at 112 and the state's last surviving World War I veteran, had experts shaking their heads over his junk food diet.

"He had terrible bad habits. He had a diet largely of sausages and waffles," Dr. L. Stephen Coles, founder of the Gerontology Research Group at the University of California, Los Angeles, said Friday.

Johnson was 5 foot 7 and 140 pounds when he died on Wednesday of pneumonia in Richmond, California.

Hmm... were they really bad habits? What kind of waffles and sausages were they? Eggos and Jimmy Dean? Or did he cook them from scratch? Did someone cook for him? Did he eat slowly and enjoy his food? What was his attitude toward life? Did he eat with people he liked? Did he say grace before eating? I think it's unlikely he lived to 112 by shoveling loveless food in his mouth alone in front of a television. Maybe it's not so important what he ate but how he ate...

Man lives to 112 despite sausage-and-waffles diet
George Johnson, 112; Oldest Californian Was Thought to Be Its Last World War I Vet

Also...
Intestinal Tapeworm in the New York Times!
In Northeast Thailand, a Cuisine Based on Bugs

In Northeast Thailand, a Cuisine Based on Bugs

Interesting NY Times article on eating bugs.

Crunchiness and sogginess are, respectively, the most and least desirable physical attributes of any food I eat. These rankings informed my selection, which included a bag each of everything except the large brown water beetles. Apart from its huge, squishy-looking midsection, the shiny blue-black scorpion presented more crunchy bits than the crickets or grasshoppers. I randomly picked a four-inch candidate, pulled off its legs, tail and claws, took a deep breath, shoved the lot in my mouth and started chewing.

Read the whole article at NYTimes.com

Dog Meat Soup

A prescription in traditional Chinese medicated diet. Ingredients: dog meat 1500g, seasonings in proper amount. Preparation: cut the meat into cubes, stew them in water with aniseed, tangerine peel, common fennel fruit, cinnamon bark, tsaoko, fresh ginger and salt, until they are thoroughly done. Administration: The meat is for eating and the soup for drinking. Functions: warming and reinforcing the functions of the lung, spleen and kidney. Indications: cold-deficiency of the spleen and the kidney, epigastric and abdominal distention, cold and pain of the loins and knees, light-colored urine, frequent urination, declination of sexual function, deficiency of both lung and spleen, asthma of insufficiency type, chronic cough, etc.

-From Chinese-English Dictionary of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 1996