Tracing the evolution of the human diet from our earliest ancestors can lead to a better understanding of human adaptation in the past. It may also offer clues to the origin of many health problems we currently face, such as obesity and chronic disease. This fascinating series of talks focuses on the changing diets of our ancestors and what role these dietary transitions played in the evolution of humans. Leslie C. Aiello (Wenner-Gren Foundation) begins with An Overview of Diet and Evolution, followed by Richard Wrangham (Harvard Univ) on Fire, Starch, Meat, and Honey, Steven Leigh (Univ of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) on Diets and Microbes in Primates. – Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny.
Jeffrey Smith, Executive Director-Institute for Responsible Technology, leading spokesperson on the health dangers of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), author of the books “Seeds of Deception: Exposing Industry and Government Lies about the Safety of the Genetically Engineered Foods You’re Eating” and “Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods.” Genetically modified crops are all the rage these days – and have taken over the agriculture industries of many countries. But just how dangerous are genetically modified crops – and do we really need to be relying so heavily on them? (23 August 2012).
“Outrageous! That’s what you’ll say over and over again when you read how the biotechnology companies have manipulated the government, our food, and the media, and put an entire generation at risk.”
—Ben Cohen (of Ben and Jerry’s)
“This is a brilliant book which combines shrewd dissection of the true nature of GM technology, a devastating critique of the health and environmental hazards of GM crops, and scarifying examples of the manipulation of both science and the media by the biotech industry… What is so exciting about this book is that it is no dry text of scientific exegesis—it positively fizzes with the human drama of the cabals and conspiracies behind the scenes… It is meticulously documented and powerfully written, somewhere between a documentary and a thriller.”
—From the UK Edition forward by Michael Meacher, former UK environment minister
“Clear, profound, and unerringly accurate… If you care about the future of life on this dear planet… this is the book to get.”
—John Robbins, Author, The Food Revolution and Diet For A New America
“The revelations in this book are being made public at a pivotal time in the global GM debate, and could tip the scales against the biotech industry. The evidence in the book refutes U.S. science and safety claims, and undermines the basis of their WTO challenge.”
—Andrew Kimbrell, director of the Center for Food Safety
[1] “What people are saying about Seeds of Deception, the world’s best-selling book critical of genetically engineered food:” Seeds of Deception. http://www.seedsofdeception.com/.
Earlier this year, Australia’s Today Tonight’s East Coast anchor Matt White presented a special report on meat glue,[1] another amazing product that has already revolutionised the way we live and die, while eating our way to an early grave.
Last year, attorney at American food poisoning lawyers of Marler Clark, Zach Mallove reported on the EU’s ban: on ‘May 20, [2010,] the European Parliament voted to ban bovine and porcine thrombin used as an additive to bind separate pieces of meat together into one piece. According to European Union lawmakers, the additives, which are commonly called “meat glue,” have no proven benefits” and create products that “carry an unacceptably high risk of misleading consumers” instead. Another consideration EU lawmakers considered was the higher risk of bacterial infection in meat products created with thrombin, due to the larger surface area of meat and the cold bonding process that is used. The decision not to authorize meat glue as an additive rejects an earlier European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) positive safety opinion on the use of ‘meat glue’ in 2005. Meat glue is an enzyme composed of thrombin and fibrogen, obtained from blood plasma. It can be used by the meat industry as a food additive for reconstituting fresh meat to create a product of desirable size and form. The method can also be applied to poultry, fish and seafood’.[2] So, banned in the EU but apparently not in Australia, the U.S. or Asia . . . Mallove adds ominously that “[s]ome lawmakers stressed that meat glue had been declared safe and was already used in some countries”.[3] According to the Colloids for Life Blog, “meat glue is widely used” by American and Australian meat manufacturers.[4]
Eric Schlosser’s somewhat mistitled book Fast Food Nation (2001) details in great depth the state of the American meatpacking industry and how the need for increased profit reduces safety concerns, leading to unsafe meat products being used all over the U.S. Now, the addition of meat glue to the already hazardous recipe for carnivorous diets can only mean that meat-eaters are getting a really raw deal . . . The South African website Food Stuff, reports that in ‘the United States, meat glue is most commonly sold under the label Activa TG, which is manufactured and marketed by the Japanese food and pharmaceutical giant Ajinomoto. The company, whose name translates as “the essence of taste”, also credits itself with the discovery of umami — a taste described most simply as savoury — and is the world’s largest manufacturer of monosodium glutamate, or MSG. Ajinomoto operates in over 23 nations worldwide, where it widely markets several versions of the meat glue, each one modified for a specific type of flesh or protein, including fish, red meat, and even dairy. Long used in cheap, reconstituted meat products like chicken nuggets, the enzyme first showed up on a swanky menu in 2004 when chef Heston Blumenthal made a “mackerel invertebrate” by de-boning a fish and gluing it back together. Blumenthal owns the Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire, England, which some critics consider the best restaurant in the world. Since then, the binding agent has been championed by other chefs attracted to such gastronomic trickery, like Dufresne, and Grant Achatz at Chicago’s restaurant Alinea, who was once called the “love child of Julia Child and Einstein.” Meat glue is now so popular that Ajinomoto is considering offering smaller-sized, more consumer-friendly packaging for home cooks. While Ajinomoto declined a request to release specific sales figures for meat glue, the company did acknowledge a rapid uptick in sales’.[5] How long before Ajinomoto lobbyists will be able to tear down the walls of EU Regulations???
Ajinomoto’s account executive for Canada and much of the United States Guy Tinay declared, “The business is increasing every year significantly”.[6] And Willy Dufresne, “cook” at the swanky New York establishment WD-50 even stated that “Meat glue makes us better chefs”.[7] With Ajinomoto’s money and high-profile chef’s endorsements, one cannot but wonder about the obduracy of EU bureaucracy . . .
[1] I would like to thank the Facebooker Advocatefor Savingdogs for bringing this item to my attention.
In partnership with the Pulitzer Center and National Geographic, the NewsHour explores how the composition of our society is changing as the world population reaches 7 billion people. Hari Sreenivasan has the details (27 Oct 2011).
Does the increasing human population of the earth create problems??? Does the continuous growth of humanity represent a sustainable strategy for tackling climate change and resource scarcity??? Here is comedian Doug Stanhope telling us why he thinks the world is going to hell in a handbasket.
And putting his money where his mouth is, Stanhope created ‘www.savingbristol.com, a web site dedicated to raising money to pay for an abortion for Bristol Palin, daughter of staunchly pro-life Alaskan governor and Republican Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin’ on 11 September 2008, declaring “Rather than sit back and impotently bemoan Bristol’s tragic, lonely circumstance, it is time for us — the silent majority — to unite behind this poor, imprisoned woman and save her from both a tyrannical household as well as the horrible nightmare of a forced childbirth”. On the site, Stanhope pledged: “Even if you cannot take my offer, I will still use my money or money donated through this page to pay for at least one abortion for a disadvantaged teenage girl each year for the rest of my life in the name of your mother. And in my will, I shall have a good portion of my estate turned into the Sarah J. Palin Abortion Fund that will help girls from all walks of life from destroying their lives and our natural resources by having children”. Now this initiative is run through the Lilith Fund, a Texas-based organization dedicated to helping women pay for abortions if they are unable to afford them themselves, lilithfund.org.[1]
Turkey hosted the UN developing nations conference last May. Leaders from the worlds’ Least Developed Countries gathered . . . in Turkey, with the objective of helping millions live more abundant lives. Participants agreed on a ten-year development plan that would reduce by half the current 48 countries where the annual income is less than US$745 per person. Toward this goal, developed countries are being asked to grant total debt relief as well as to curb military spending, to fund peaceful development endeavours instead (May 2011).
In a solemn voice, Turkish President Abdullah Gül stated: “I declare open the 4th United Nations conference on the least developed countries”.[1] Last year, I coined the phrase pseudo-Ottoman to describe Turkey’s new, self-confident posture on the world stage and it seems that hosting this event in Istanbul was more than just a fortuitous act. Dr. Abdiweli Ali, deputy prime minister of Somalia, expressed Turkey’s not-so hidden agenda behind hosting this event: “Least developed countries need a guide, a mentor, a patron that speaks on their behalf. Turkey is taking that role”.[2] In my piece, I declared rather boldly: “Rather than attempting to establish Turkish hegemony in the region, Davutoğlu’s pseudo-Ottoman foreign policy aims at integrating the erstwhile Ottoman hinterland into the mainstream of Turkish politics today. Turkey’s foreign minister is trying to shine a light on regions and areas previously located in the darkness beyond Turkish recognition and comprehension”.[3] Turkey’s desire to become the third world’s champion is clearly something completely new and totally beyond the experience of Turkish movers and shakers of yesteryear. Dr. Abdiweli Ali was not shy about expressing his enthusiasm for Turkey’s new station in the world: “I am a great admirer of Turkey and [an] admirer of Ottoman civilization. Turkey is strategically located between South and the North, between Asia and Europe. We think Turkey lays a service to fill that gap”.[4]
Last year, Turkey appeared to be at the forefront of countries sending aid to flood-stricken Pakistan: ‘18 million Turkish liras (TL) has been collected in bank accounts within the scope of an aid campaign aiming at helping flood-hit Pakistan, doubling the previous number, [the] Prime Ministry said on Wednesday [25 August 2010]. A statement by Natural Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate of [the] Prime Ministry said that as of Wednesday, 15.8 million TL, 474,491 U.S. dollars and 667,547 euros have been collected in three separate bank accounts opened within the scope of a circular signed by the Turkish prime minister’.[5] By late September 2010, Turkish donations to Pakistan had reached a staggering 183.9 million Turkish Liras, in addition to ‘244 tons of relief support that included vaccines, medicine, medical stuff’.[6] At the moment, the drought in east Africa is another issue that occupies Turkey’s leadership: ‘Donations have reached 40 million Turkish Lira (nearly $22.5 million) in [an] aid campaign launched by Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs [or Diyanet] to help African people suffering from severe shortage of food and water’.[7] As such, this crisis has provided Turkey’s Directorate for Religious Affairs (Diyanet) with an incredible opportunity to improve its image at home as well as abroad. The Diyanet official Zeki Sayar said that “donations have so far reached 40 million TL in the aid campaign launched by our directorate, the Turkish Religious Foundation [Diyanet Vakfı] and the Turkish relief agency Red Crescent [Kızılay] to help dr[o]ught-hit African nations. Our target is to reach 100 million TL by the end of the Ramadan Feast [, 29 August 2011]. Africa lives through the worst [drought] of the last six decades. Millions of people face death because of famine. Our people rushed to African people’s assistance. Muslim people’s holy month of Ramadan has a great impact on the aid campaign. Ramadan is the month of solidarity among people”.[8]
And in an effort to show the world that Turkey means business, the Prime Minister and his wily Foreign Minister are planning to go to Somalia in person. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan gave a speech on Wednesday, 10 August: “We will [be] prepared to help in Somalia [even] if we were the only ones helping the famine victims”. At the speech for his party, the AKP, ‘Erdoğan said he was going to visit Somalia with Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, also accompanied by their families throughout the visit’.[9] Turkey’s pseudo-Ottoman leadership will be going on a family outing to witness first-hand how Turkish benevolence is saving lives in the face of deadly famine and disease killing indiscriminately. The pro-government English-language Turkish daily Today’s Zaman adds that the ‘Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency (TİKA) Chairman Serdar Çam has announced plans to open a new coordination office in Somalia, while he noted [that] Turkey was poised to help further by [aiding] Somalia become a stronger player in the fields of international trade, the economy, agriculture and industry. As the first humanitarian aid gathered by the combined efforts of TİKA, other government institutions and private enterprise landed earlier this week in famine-stricken Somalia [as well], Çam and aid teams led by Turkish Red Crescent Society (Kızılay) General Manager Ömer Taşlı visited refugee camps on Tuesday [, 9 August] to deliver aid packages to the Somalis, the Anatolia news agency reported . . . Çam said that the people of Somalia needed peace and comfort before the state can reach all its citizens and take care of their needs’.[10] Çam even told the Anatolia news agency that “[a]s a society that feels deeply for the pain Somalis are going through, particularly in this holy month of Ramadan, we [, as representatives of the Republic of Turkey] are here to deliver food aid to the country and make sure it reaches people even in the farthest corners of the land”.[11]
Last year’s disaster in Pakistan somehow managed to stay off the world’s television screens, as floods are slow disasters that gradually rise up and cause destruction and mayhem in slow-motion. But, famine, on the other hand, appears like much more a media-friendly calamity, offering the opportunity to beam horrendous pictures of starving mothers and babies across the world, with a glimmer of hope in the background in the shape of Turkish Red Crescent flag perhaps??? In early August, the President of the Turkish Kızılay (The Red Crescent) Tekin Küçükali stated publicly that Turkey would send ships and planes carrying aid to Somalia.[12]
And on top of all that pseudo-Ottoman effort to bring relief to the starving Muslim nation of Somalia, ‘at Turkey’s instigation’, the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) convened an emergency session ‘to discuss the crisis in Somalia, [which] has ended with the agreement of the 57 member countries on concrete steps for action to help the famine-stricken country’.[13] The OIC released a final statement on Wednesday, 17 August, which read that “we have decided to form a task force composed of Kazakhstan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Senegal and the OIC Secretariat-General”, “In order to closely follow the situation in the horn of Africa, particularly in Somalia, and to take measures as necessary”.[14]
Turkey’s efforts to persuade Syrian President Assad to halt his bloody crackdown on protestors and other hapless civilians has not yielded a lot of success. The European news broadcaster EuroNews reported on Thursday, 18 August, that Assad declared he had terminated his campaign . . . but the reality on the ground in Syria is still very far from clear. An Adjunct Professor, American University’s School of International Service Dr. Josef Olmert summarised that “Bashar Assad promised the UN General Secretary just yesterday [Wednesday, 17 August] that his security forces are out of the main cities of Syria. Hours later more Syrian civilians were murdered by “their” army. The same happened after the visit of Turkey’s Foreign Minister in Damascus. Bashar promised to have the army out of Hama, but in reality the massacre continued unabated”.[15] Maybe concentrating on Somalia will bring Turkey some much-deserved international recognition after all . . . . Over the past months Turkey has tried to mediate between Israel and the Palestinians, between Iran and the rest of the world, between Syria and Israel, and following the outbreak of the Arab Awakening, the state founded by Mustafa Kemal was quick to present itself as a future role-model for Arab nation states yearning for freedom and democracy . . . Egypt, Yemen, Libya, and Syria have all continued their course without taking any account of the Turkish road to prosperity, so that the Turkish humanitarian intervention in the Horn of Africa might just prove to do the trick and turn Turkey into an international player of some importance . . . Or, will the world decide that starving Africans are not their main concern after all and lavish her attention on other, more pressing issues such as the U.S. downgrade, the looming Euro crisis, and next year’s American elections??? Will Turkey turn out to be the “guide, [the] mentor, [the] patron” the Third World needs to get out of poverty and into prosperity???
The United Nations says famine has spread to three new regions in southern and central Somalia. Interview with Nii Akuetteh, an African affairs analyst in Washington, DC.
Meat Glue: Sticky yet Tasty Stuff
Earlier this year, Australia’s Today Tonight’s East Coast anchor Matt White presented a special report on meat glue,[1] another amazing product that has already revolutionised the way we live and die, while eating our way to an early grave.
Last year, attorney at American food poisoning lawyers of Marler Clark, Zach Mallove reported on the EU’s ban: on ‘May 20, [2010,] the European Parliament voted to ban bovine and porcine thrombin used as an additive to bind separate pieces of meat together into one piece. According to European Union lawmakers, the additives, which are commonly called “meat glue,” have no proven benefits” and create products that “carry an unacceptably high risk of misleading consumers” instead. Another consideration EU lawmakers considered was the higher risk of bacterial infection in meat products created with thrombin, due to the larger surface area of meat and the cold bonding process that is used. The decision not to authorize meat glue as an additive rejects an earlier European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) positive safety opinion on the use of ‘meat glue’ in 2005. Meat glue is an enzyme composed of thrombin and fibrogen, obtained from blood plasma. It can be used by the meat industry as a food additive for reconstituting fresh meat to create a product of desirable size and form. The method can also be applied to poultry, fish and seafood’.[2] So, banned in the EU but apparently not in Australia, the U.S. or Asia . . . Mallove adds ominously that “[s]ome lawmakers stressed that meat glue had been declared safe and was already used in some countries”.[3] According to the Colloids for Life Blog, “meat glue is widely used” by American and Australian meat manufacturers.[4]
Eric Schlosser’s somewhat mistitled book Fast Food Nation (2001) details in great depth the state of the American meatpacking industry and how the need for increased profit reduces safety concerns, leading to unsafe meat products being used all over the U.S. Now, the addition of meat glue to the already hazardous recipe for carnivorous diets can only mean that meat-eaters are getting a really raw deal . . . The South African website Food Stuff, reports that in ‘the United States, meat glue is most commonly sold under the label Activa TG, which is manufactured and marketed by the Japanese food and pharmaceutical giant Ajinomoto. The company, whose name translates as “the essence of taste”, also credits itself with the discovery of umami — a taste described most simply as savoury — and is the world’s largest manufacturer of monosodium glutamate, or MSG. Ajinomoto operates in over 23 nations worldwide, where it widely markets several versions of the meat glue, each one modified for a specific type of flesh or protein, including fish, red meat, and even dairy. Long used in cheap, reconstituted meat products like chicken nuggets, the enzyme first showed up on a swanky menu in 2004 when chef Heston Blumenthal made a “mackerel invertebrate” by de-boning a fish and gluing it back together. Blumenthal owns the Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire, England, which some critics consider the best restaurant in the world. Since then, the binding agent has been championed by other chefs attracted to such gastronomic trickery, like Dufresne, and Grant Achatz at Chicago’s restaurant Alinea, who was once called the “love child of Julia Child and Einstein.” Meat glue is now so popular that Ajinomoto is considering offering smaller-sized, more consumer-friendly packaging for home cooks. While Ajinomoto declined a request to release specific sales figures for meat glue, the company did acknowledge a rapid uptick in sales’.[5] How long before Ajinomoto lobbyists will be able to tear down the walls of EU Regulations???
Ajinomoto’s account executive for Canada and much of the United States Guy Tinay declared, “The business is increasing every year significantly”.[6] And Willy Dufresne, “cook” at the swanky New York establishment WD-50 even stated that “Meat glue makes us better chefs”.[7] With Ajinomoto’s money and high-profile chef’s endorsements, one cannot but wonder about the obduracy of EU bureaucracy . . .
[1] I would like to thank the Facebooker Advocatefor Savingdogs for bringing this item to my attention.
[2] Zach Mallove, “EU Bans ‘Meat Glue’” Food Safety News (24 May 2010). http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2010/05/eu-bans-meat-glue/.
[3] Zach Mallove, “EU Bans ‘Meat Glue’”.
[4] “How Much Meat Glue Are You Eating?” Colloids for Life (15 April 2011). http://blog.colloidsforlife.com/food-nutrition/meat-glue/.
[5] “The rise of meat glue” Food Stuff (30 June 2011). http://foodstuffsa.co.za/index.php/food-trends-mainmenu-119/food-trends-2011/1219-the-rise-of-meat-glue.
[6] “The rise of meat glue”.
[7] “The rise of meat glue”.
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Americana, Capitalism, Current Affairs, EU, Europe, Famine, Food Safety, Health, Nature, Political Commentary, Propaganda, Uncategorized