Sue Wrote:
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> You make some good points. I agree that more
> exercise and less drugging would help people keep
> from getting obese; but food and the environment
> are also critical factors, especially the kinds of
> foods that are high in carbs and low in nutrients.
> Most of the food sold in my school gives me a
> shudder, and some of it is loaded with caffeine
> and high fructose corn syrup and trans-fatty
> acids. The chips and fried foods are really
> scary.

If you wanna talk school cafeteria food, that's a whole different story...There's been a lot of news coverage around here concerning how much high fat, high carb, low nutrient food kids are being taught to eat. Remember when the Reagan administration decided ketchup was a vegetable?? When I was in college, we forced our food service company to begin making low calorie veggies and offering more fresh fruit and veggies. They need to do that with elementary schools. And kids should be out playing, not sitting in front of machines all day...

>
> What I was objecting to ab ove was what I thought
> was, for you, an uncharacteristic and completely
> unfounded and logically fallacious conclusion
> about someone's mental health based on his
> rhetoric.

I think his tone was borderline hysterical. He may have been aiming for humor, but IMO he failed. Rhetoric is not a bad measure of someone's overall mental health. Psychologists use it all the time, one way or another. This is just one example from this author. Without others, it may be premature to judge; however, based on this, he does come across as a guy with problems.


Also, not everything he said was all
> that exaggerated. Many supermarkets are toxic and
> they sell very bad products. It's good for people
> to become more aware of these things, and humor
> and a little exaggeration can perhaps make an
> impact where serious demogoguery might not.

Maybe it's where one lives. I've lived in 3 different states, and I have been quite happy with the supermarkets that I've dealt with all my life. Around here, our stores often buy local produce when it's available. All food is labled as to its source. We know if fruit or veggies are domestic or imported (and from where). Our fish is checked -- wild or farm raised, and fish is tested for PCB, mercury, etc. One store won't even grind pork or veal in store anymore because they are cautious about e. coli. Our stores are clean, and I haven't got sick on food from them that I prepare myself. I can't say the same for some restaurants!


> Also, I don't think any mention was made that
> cooking was a bad thing. By processed, I meant
> the stuff they put in food to preserve it, color
> it, sweeten it, punch it up, or pad it out.

As I said, you don't have to buy that stuff. I buy unsweetend yogurt and add my own honey and fruit. It's much less sweet and I like the taste better. Preservatives are not all toxic; some have been around for years. Food coloring, too, is not all bad. This guy was complaining about celery being chopped in the store -- if that's over processing, I'm sorry, but he's nuts!


> And a couple of questions. What kind of organic
> food makes people sick? Also, are all gm foods
> bad?

I don't know about GM foods. I don't think we know enough to know what we're doing. That's an area I'd like to see more regulated or even eliminated. I got awfully sick a couple of years ago when I was using soy milk. I didn't realize what was going on with soy. I like tofu, but I don't eat that much of it. Soy milk, I won't touch.