The more I read about pet food; the more I learn about human food and how the two are connected; which in turn brings me to the power and politics behind what we eat…and, more importantly three simple things you and I can do to make positive  changes! 

This story does not have a pretty beginning and is scary…however, I’ve fond that facing my fear does something amazing; I find myself feeling confident and strong. I love this kind of experience and keep coming back for more! So hang onto your hat and join me in facing some ugly and distasteful things that go on with our food. Think of it as ‘life and death’! And, we get be the hero of the story.

Ever wonder where dead animals go? Probably not. I didn’t until I started looking at why some pet foods were being recalled. I decided to be brave and go deep into the ‘why’. Don’t bury your head. We can get through this together and I promise there is a ray of hope at the end.

The classified ad read:

Help Wanted: person to operate bobcat mini-dozer; loading ‘raw material’ into a 10-foot-deep stainless-steel pit; operate giant auger-grinder.

Looking for work? Does this sound like your kind of job? You discover at the bottom of this ‘stainless-steel pit, a giant auger-grinder begins to turn and you hear popping bones and squeezing flesh. This is a gruesome nightmare! Who does this kind of job? I’ve been trying to find out the job title for the person who does this job. In one recent article I read these jobs are held by: Bandanna-masked men; undocumented workers from Mexico doing a dirty job that no one else wants to do. I wonder where these jobs are, what kind of pay …and where these ‘raw materials’ come from.

Rendering Plants and what’s Cooking?

Rendering plants are like huge kitchens. What do they ‘cook up’? The stainless steel pot contains; dead animals, slaughterhouse wastes, supermarket rejects, pesticides via poisoned livestock, euthanasia drugs that were given to pets; some dead animals have flea collars containing organophosphate insecticide, fish oil laced with bootleg DDT, insecticide Dursban in the form of cattle insecticide patch, other chemicals leaked from antibiotics in livestock, heavy metals from pet ID tag and surgical pins and needles: all go into the ‘stainless steel pot’. The mixture then goes into various products’ known as recycled meat, bone meal, and animal fat.

Check your pet food label; you’re sure to find listed; bone meal, animal fat or animal-by-products! At least the pet food gives us a hint of what’s in the package; human food on the other hand has no such labeling.

What ‘rendering plants’ cook up is sold as a source of protein and other nutrients in the diets of dairy animals, poultry, swine, pet foods, cattle feed, and sheep feed. Did you get that? These are animals we and our pets consume in some manner on a daily basis.

Is there any wonder why cancer is so rampant in our nation?! Why are we poisoning ourselves? Is this an accident? People keep asking where does cancer come from? The answer is simple…the poison is in every morsel of food we consume! Why do we elect governing officials who let poison of this magnitude into our food? What USDA regulations are in place for Rendering Plants? Who the heck is enforcing these regulations? Rendering Plant regulations should be intricate, detailed and insure clean and safe products…after all the products they render go into the animals we eat!

Power and Politics: No Getting Around Them!

In a letter to the Animal Feed Rule Hearing of the Food and Drug Administration from The United Stated Poultry and Egg Assocition; Vice President of Research and Technical Programs, Charles W. Beard says,

“Because there is no scientific basis for the exclusion of rendering poultry products from any animal feed because of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), we urge that such restrictions not be considered, regardless of the policies adopted in Europe. Such a prohibition would have a significant negative economic impact on the poultry industry.”

Straight from the horses mouth, I mean chickens mouth; “Such a prohibition would have a significant negative economic impact on the poultry industry.” What’s the predominate concern of the United States Poultry and Egg Association? As always the bottom line! MONEY before Human Health!

European (EU) Community has created regulations;

“The EU integrated approach to food safety aims to assure a high level of food safety, animal health, animal welfare and plant health within the European Union through coherent farm-to-table measures and adequate monitoring, while ensuring the effective functioning of the internal market.”

Question: Why aren’t we saying doing the same?  Why do we govern as if the potential risks do not matter? Are we not as important as European citizens? Who is watching our for our best interest?  Why should their be the slightest risk to our well being? For me, any risk is not acceptable. Humans have a great trust. To steward the planet. Each individual has this responsibility…and, we must govern ourselves so we can be up to the task. There should be no poison in our food. We need too need an ‘integrated approach to food safety’ or, we could simply talk to our neighbors!  Seems they have a leg or two up on us.

‘Significant negative economic impact’ would not be a gage by which we determine what guidelines and regulations we assign:  Habitat and Environment would be our gage. We deserve ‘a high level of food safety, animal health, animal welfare and plant health within our country through coherent farm-to-table measures and adequate monitoring, while ensuring the effective functioning of the internal market.”

We need audacious leaders to carry out our demands! And, indeed, every ones life is at stake. There are those (I call them Big Boys) who have manipulated our cultural society to their advantage. I understand. I like to go out and buy shinny new things as well…however, I’m not inclined to keep ‘bite off my nose to spite my face’!  You only have to look at yourself and your family to see the details of their frolic.

• 36 million deaths each year are caused by noncommunicable diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and chronic lung diseases. This is almost two-thirds of the estimated
• 56 million deaths each year worldwide.

These guys are keeping a keen eye on the bottom money line and would have you believe ‘cancer’ in people and animals are a natural occurrence or an accident!

“The real truth of the matter is, as you and I know, that a financial element in the larger centers has owned the government since the days of Andrew Jackson.” “In politics nothing happens by accident; if it happens, you can be sure we planned it that way.”

-President Franklin Roosevelt

It may sound presumptuous, however when I began connecting the dots; discovering what’s up with the pet food industry; which brought me to look at what’s going into human food…well, I can’t believe the poison! It’s going into every aspect of our food system. Is this an accident? When you look deeply into societies sustenance and find it is being poisoned, well, I can’t stop there. I want to know the whole truth…and how we can change what’s happening?

How We Can Change What Is Happening

• Take time to learn about the candidates running for office. Question them about your concerns.
• Vote with your dollars. Buy locally sustainable food. Organic when possible.
• Take personal responsibility for becoming a steward to the planet. Educate your self and act on the knowledge you uncover.

Happy Trails!

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