Full Circle Child Blog

I recently visited a facility where hundreds of pigs are contained.  It was a disgusting site and the smell was horrid.  They had virtually no room to move, no access to the outside, and poor ventilation.  This looked like the perfect breeding ground for viruses. If one of these pigs got sick, it appears the virus or bacteria would spread very quick.  The shift from animals being raised humanely and hygienically on small family farms to most of our pork coming from CAFOs and factory farms could be partly to blame for the swine flu pandemic.  Combine this with the fact that these pigs (as well as other animals raised for food) are routinely pumped full of antibiotics, decreasing their resistance to infections and the mutation of viruses, and you have a public health situation that has been coming and perhaps will only get worse.

 According to the media, our options in dealing with this information range from getting vaccinated, staying home, not eating pork; to doing absolutely nothing but washing our hands.  Propaganda is rampant with people selling kits to protect your family from the deadly swine flu and pharmaceutical corporations gearing up to inject millions of citizens with UNTESTED vaccines.  This is unbelievable considering the fact that the swine hasn’t killed nearly the amount of people worldwide as the seasonal flu kills each year in the U.S.!

Why aren’t people talking about the reason this is happening and how we must change our industrial food system?  We need to care about where our food comes from, not only our produce, but food animals.  We cannot support legislation and corporations that confine animals and pump them full of antibiotics, steroids, etc. and expect that our health will not suffer as well!  Think about it–you are what you eat.

If you want to protect yourself and your family from swine flu or any of the viruses and diseases that aren’t in the media spotlight right now, educate yourself about the food you eat.  Buy meat and dairy products from local farms, preferably grass-fed or organic.  Support current legislation to cut down on the use of antibiotics in animals. 

Dr. Mercola has a must-read special report about the pandemic at http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/04/29/Swine-Flu.aspx

Read my blog about the media before you believe everything they tell you.

As another McDonald’s goes up in my community, I find myself fantasizing about plowing my car through it (when no workers are present, of course).  Like Kathy Bates in the movie Fried Green Tomatoes when she repeatedly rams a younger woman’s car in a parking lot, I would surely feel satisfaction afterwards, imagining the countless number of children I had saved from a quick, greasy, “happy” meal.  Of course, reality sets in and I realize that McDonald’s wouldn’t suffer if one building was wrecked just as they aren’t doing any less business since I vowed never to eat at one again.  And those children’s parents wouldn’t go home and cook a nutritious dinner because that restaurant had been destroyed either. 

Why single out McDonald’s?  There are other fast food chains that are just as unhealthy, but when it comes to clever marketing directly to children, outright lies about nutrition, and setting the standard for oversized, highly processed, fat-laden products which can hardly pass for food, Mickey D’s is number one!  I made the decision long ago to never eat McDonald’s again and rarely eat fast food at all.  I have no problem driving by fast food places in search of a healthier alternative or giving my kids one of the many snacks usually stashed in the car to sustain them on the road.  I try to keep my opinions to myself when I see a toddler at the park eating french fries or mystery nuggets or apples drenched in high fructose corn syrup.  Parents are becoming wiser and people are realizing that our eating habits are one of the main reasons (probably number one) why our children have numerous health problems including obesity, allergies, even diabetes.  Less people will be getting dinner from a drive-up window soon, right?  Then McDonald’s did something that no company which sells food with ingredients that are detrimental to a child’s health should be allowed to do; marketing directly to children, they had a sticker put on my child’s shirt at school telling him to eat there for dinner to help benefit the school PTA.  Talk about clever marketing!  Now I am the mean mom who doesn’t support the PTA.  

Why is the fast food industry more prevelant today with our supposed vast knowledge of health and nutrition?  Why do more American children eat fast food meals than ever before, giving powerful corporations like McDonald’s an ever-expanding customer base?  Todays’ children generally have bigger homes, expensive electronics, and better educational opportunities.  Parents have the advantage of being able to provide more for their children financially, but we also have more collective knowledge at our disposal.  With the click of the mouse we can find nutritional information, and yet our children are more nutrient-deficient than past generations.  This is where we have failed as a society.  Not only are we leaving the next generation with the burden of dealing with climate change and the federal deficit, but we are destroying their health as well.

Am I alone in my hatred for this corporate giant?    

   Looking back on the 2008 elections, it is clear that media bias and propaganda played a huge role.  Not only does the corporate agenda influence politics, it also affects most of the health information we receive.  The drug (pharmaceutical) companies have extraordinary resources at their disposal, including the media.  After watching the commercials throughout your favorite TV program, you may be convinced that you have symptoms of at least one or two medical problems, requiring the prescription drugs conveniently advertised.  The U.S. and New Zealand are the only two industrialized nations where this “direct-to-consumer” advertising is legal.  These companies also make billions of dollars in profits each year.  Like the oil companies, they continue to profit even in this economy. 

   Now consider this: In 1983, the U.S. media was run by fifty corporations.  By 2004, only six corporations owned our media!  Ironically, there are some obvious connections to the pharmaceutical industry, such as the fact that Thomas H. Glocer, CEO of Reuters (the world’s primary source of news) is also a director of Merck & Co., Inc., a global pharmaceutical company.  Don’t assume that the “experts” on TV have your family’s best interests in mind.  Like the rest of the corporate world, they have one goal; money.  Drug manufacturers even pay broadcast journalists, including Aaron Brown and Walter Cronkite, to host “news” programs.

   In 2001, John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton of the Center for Media and Democracy, co-authored the book Trust Us, We’re Experts, exposing the truth behind the media and PR industries.  They reveal how PR campaigns influence public opinion and deceive consumers into believing what their corporate sponsors desire.  So much for truthful, unbiased reporting!  This is where the internet comes in as another way to find many independent news sources.  Be sure to review information from several reliable sources, especially when it comes to the health of your family.   Health and environmental hazrds have been suppressed and continue to be today.  See my articles about BPA, growth hormones, high fructose corn syrup, GMO foods, and more.  

Sources:  Dr. Mercola (mercola.com), Tate Metro Media, Detroit Metro Times

   This question has been thrown around so much for so long that we don’t even think about the meaning anymore.  Whether you are a stay-at-home mom or working mom, you know that the politically correct answer is yes.  The idea that we can “have it all” has been shoved down our throats and become part of our collective “supermom” subconscience.  As the daughters and grand-daughters of the American feminist movement, how could we possibly say that we are entitled to anything less than “having it all”?  

   We need to re-examine the question and analyze its meaning.  When we hear the phrase “Can we have it all?” it is implied that in order to have it all, one must do it all.  Herein lies the problem.  As a mother, “doing it all” means that no longer is it enough to raise children and manage a household, we must also be capable of running a business or working at least a forty hour week outside of the home, and maintain our sex appeal.  
  

   This idea that women are not good enough or are not complete without stretching themselves in fifty directions at once, is a terrible misconception that needs to come to end.  A mother who devotes herself to staying at home to nurture her children deserves respect and support from those around her.  It is a difficult job that offers no vacation time, monetary benefit or much appreciation.  At the same time, mothers who must work or choose to work outside of the home, also deserve respect and support because it is tough to find a balance between nurturing your own ambitions and your children.
  

   As women we are highly capable of accomplishing what we set out to do.  However, the first step in finding balance and doing the best at whatever we choose to do, is establishing our own priorities and defining for ourselves just what “having it all” means.  When we discover what we really need and want on an individual level, we discover that perhaps we can have it all!
     

Yesterday was an unusually beautiful January day with the sun shining and temperatures reaching over 60 degrees!  We spent much of the day outside, visiting a park, the woods, and our backyard.  At several points, I became aware of my mind wandering away from the moment, focusing on work and other projects that needed my attention.  I had to turn off those voices and focus on being in the moment with my family.  I think many of us deal with these voices and feelings that we should constantly be multi-tasking and “accomplishing” something.  How do you handle it when these “voices” take over?