We've sold out...

to the notion that GDP is more important that anything else - even our children's health. What will it take for sanity to return?

THANK YOU

THANK YOU for posting on this topic. Environmental toxification is a huge issue and needs to be brought to light!

Yet we are living longer....

I have no background in these issues but there does seem to be a few inconsistencies. We are told our water, air and earth are being poisoned yet our life expectancies continue to lengthen. Is this because we have better tools to fight diseases or are we actually getting healthier? Presumably fewer industrial accidents and a less physically taxing work environment contributes to the increased life expectancy but probably does not constitute the entire difference.

It also seems that each generation is taller and larger than the previous one. Is this because we have better food in spite of the chemical pollution? Could it be that earlier puberty is related to healthier and larger young girls? It would be interesting to hear comments on these questions from someone who has a background on the topic.

The bigger children are

The bigger children are mainly the result of tons of growth hormones and steroids pumped into the meat of animals in the animal factories and feedyards, lapped up not only in their homes, but especially in the fast food joints.

People have no idea what they're putting into chickens, pigs and cattle, but they lap up that adulterated meat and pay the consequences in obesity, diabetes, cancers, etc. now virtual epidemics.

But, according to our economists and politicians, this is "efficiency" and "cheap food"

Ed Deak.

ED DEAK

North Korean men are 4 inches shorter than South Korean Men. Does that mean that South Korea uses more growth hormones in meat?

In the 1800's, American men were about 3 inches taller than Dutch men. Now Dutch men, the tallest people in Europe, are 3 inches taller than American men. Does that also mean that the Dutch use more hormones in their meat than Americans?

You can bet that some

You can bet that some countries are using more. I've been in this business since 1948, organic since 1979.

Our calves get no shots, but there's no market for organic, so we have to sell them at the sales. They're being pumped full of growth chemicals as they're loaded on the buyers' trucks, then, there was an article in the Western Producer some years ago, where they followed some animals from feedlot to feedlot and every time they were moved , the whole process was repeated, until some calves received 5-6 times the recommended dosages.

There are no controls, or inspections, it is up to the feedlots what and how much they're putting into them to make them fat and get more profits.

Then on top of it, they're fed with grains to put stinking yellow tallow into the meat the North American public has become addicted to. If your meat is dripping fat onto the barbecue, that's the reason.

Some years ago we ran out of beef and couldn't get a butchering date. We bought beef in every supermarket and butcher shop in Williams Lake and it all ended up in the garbage. We couldn't eat the junk.

Ed Deak.

"Lies, damned lies and statistics"

... are almost as bad as coffee-klatch anecdotes.
But here's a link to some other points of view on early-onset menarche:
http://www.mum.org/menarage.htm

Cancers are many different diseases with different aetiologies; some are congenital, a few viral or even dietary. Different cancers affect different age groups in different countries at different times. But mostly cancers arise as we age.

At the beginning of the 1900s, stomach cancer was among the most common and now it's almost unheard of - except in Japan. http://www.nature.com/bjc/press_releases/p_r_jan04_6601511.html

But in 1900 TB was the no.1 killer.

So here's some better news:
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045(03)01260-9/fulltext
Neuroblastoma is disappearing in Canada because of dietary folate. Other strategies will work for other cancers.

'Average life expectancy' increases as infant mortality drops ; survive your first few years on earth, avoid accidental death, war, murder and suicide, treat infections quickly - voilà ! four-score-and-ten years are yours for the frittering.

Sustainability

Recently there has been a lot of talk about Global Warming and Climate Change. These are worthy of a lot of thought and action but they are only the beginning of the process to take care of the environment. We must remember plants, as well as animals and people, are part of the environment.
We need to be concerned about environmental alteration, not just climate change. We must be concerned about all pollutants, not just green house gases (GHG’s.) No chemicals should be used unless they are studied and tested for damage to animals, plants and the environment. These studies must be made public.
Three things we all need are housing, food and energy. We must get these without damaging the environment too much. Any activity we do will alter the environment. We must be able to get these in such a way so all forms of life can continue to live. We must become sustainable in obtaining all of these three things. We may want more things than the big 3 but sustainability is the key. If we are not sustainable in these, then we will run out of them and we may perish.
To reduce energy wrt food, we should use local foods as much as possible. We must grow them without harmful chemicals. BC and Canada should be self-sufficient wrt food. We may import food from other places but at no net cost to the environment.

BC and Canada should be self sufficient and sustainable in energy as well. We have to look at how we are going to get our energy. We must do a complete and thorough study of all ways we can generate energy, whether it be hydro, coal, solar, geothermal, wind, nuclear, wood, biofuels, gas or any other source of energy. All methods must be examined and these results must be public. Only after such a study can we use an energy source. We must do this so our energy sources are sustainable and not harmful to the environment.
For example, with the Site C Dam project, we would look at the need, if any, the costs to the environment, people displaced, farmland lost, water use downstream and the generation of energy without producing GHG’s.
No undertaking such as mining, housing developments, highways, etc. can be done without an environmental and sustainability analysis. We must be careful not to remove too many plants or trees, as we need them to absorb CO2 from the atmosphere. Other wastes must be recycled rather than thrown into landfills or oceans. Recycling must become a major activity in our sustainable culture.

We must develop a national and provincial energy and food plans so we can look forward and know we can have a healthy life for future generations.

North........I fully agree

North........I fully agree and have been working toward the highest degree of self sufficiency most of our lives. It has paid off big, now in our 80s.

Self sufficiency from the personal, local etc. levels in overlapping circles, cooperating with each other, is the best and only way for human and economic survival, but it won't happen under the present economic system, designed for the destruction of others and the environment under the idiotic name and concept of "competitive equilibrium", plus the existing so called "free trade" treaties, blackmailing and punishing people against logical thinking and actions.

By the way, how can an equilibrium be competitive at the same time?

Shows the kind of crap being taught in our universities as economics, yet people and politicians fall for it ???

Ed Deak.

Excellent start ...

to your 5-part series. I look forward to reading every word.

Let's not panic

This article raises some excellent points, but there are also some things that are troubling to me. Are cancer rates increasing? Or are we seeing an increase in cancer due to better detection methods and observing more cancers becuase people are living longer (and therefore increasing their chance of getting cancer)? I think that humans as a species have always had the capapbility of living to great age, but in the past we rarely achieved this due to lack of medical care and approporate nutrition and housing (life used to be a lot harder than it is today - and we also have access to antibiotics which has made a huge difference in the number of people that can make it to "old age").
I try to limit the number of "chemicals" my kids/myself are exposed to, but then I have to look at my father who is approaching age 65, and has smoked at least a pack a day of cigarettes since he was age 16 - how is it that he is still alive (and, despite a heavy cough, relativlty health)?
I agree that there should be more regulation concening ingredients. Why shouldn't consumers know exactly what they are buying? I called AirWick recently to ask if their air freshener contains phthatlates, and they told me over the phone (after taking down all kinds of information like my phone number, address etc) that it was "proprietary information" and I couldn't find out. Why not?
Also, the early puberty rates are troubling. I find it interesting that the Breast Cancer Fund is concerned with endocrince disruptors and the link to breast cancer rates, and yet it seems that many commercial products aimed at women (lipstick, perfume, nail polish) are being marketed as PINK (in support of breast cancer) to the very community that should perhpas be avioding those products - many of which have been shown to contain all number of hormone disrupting chemicals.

Living Longer? Questioning Growth Hormones?

People better read this article and get angry cause its only the tip of the iceberg what's really being experimented on us. Why is the writers child getting her period earlier (and mens sperm counts at an all time low). Could it be the BPA in all our food plastic containers, water bottles, aluminum cans and glass bottles which acts as an estrogen? Could the constant chemtrails causing respiratory illnesses come into play?

We are only living longer cause the formula they use to come up with the age statistic has been changed. Abortions, child deaths etc. do not count anymore.

We as people better stop drinking the fluoride water and realize humanity is under attack. You may be laughing at my comment but go watch the CBC Documentary "The Disappearing Male" then watch the CBC news piece that shows males are obsolete and they can grow human sperm in a Pee-tree dish. Are we seriously gonna sit here as humans and watch humanity get wiped out. The new swine,bird,asian flu hybrid is a commin' (made by humans in a lab, check the WHO statements) and we are just sitting like docile sheep at a slaughter. When do we get mad and start to fight for what's right?