Worries over food contamination and massive recalls occasionally sweep regions of the nation. A couple major contaminants are E. coli and salmonella. Where do these originate? Salmonella’s place of origin, animal guts. From the gut of an animal it passes through fecal matter then excreted and potentially pollutes surrounding areas including plants growing areas. This contamination adds to the total costs of animal processing (refer to The Pig or the Apple?).
E. Coli are useful bacteria in animal guts. Some however can cause harm. Those harmful bacteria, since inside animals, once again have to be excreted. The same result, plants get contaminated and create illness in humans. Adding cost to healthcare and product recalls.
Risks are ever present in animal meat and eggs as well. Under-cooked or raw meat is not advisably edible. Ever hear a family member say “don’t use that knife until you clean it” after cutting meat? When was the last time you cut an orange and worried about contaminants or cleaning it before moving on to cutting celery? Consider cutting plants a time saver! A simple solution to these contamination occurrences in commercial produce sectors and at home; drastically reduce or eliminate animal processing on a large scale. This allows for hunting and self processing if you feel the absolute need to consume animal product.
-Wheeler
Plant Based Strength 
Kyle,
I like the content and have a couple of questions. ill only ask one now and wait and see if any other bloggers decide to ask something close to the other.
Where, in your educated opinion, is the best place to buy organic fruits and vegtables?
I ask this question because of the increasing amount of bulk food products that are genetically modified to increase harvest yeilds and shelf life. Quality plant based foods seem to be more difficult to find than ever.
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Cliff,
Thanks for the inquiry. Firstly, consider what most large scale GMO agriculture are used for; oil and feeding commercial animals. So if you want to avoid GMO products avoid commercially processed animal products and oils. Be mindful of labels as well if you do not shop the perimeter of the grocery store (processed foods in boxes/bags/cans are in the middle, produce and whole foods are on placed around the outside perimeter). There are different organic certification companies and to my knowledge there are regulations but I do not believe they are nationally uniform.
In regards to the organic option check with the local farmers market (http://kokomofarmersmarket.com/) and ask questions. Arrive with the intention of creating dialogue with farmers so you can leave with knowledge and produce. Ask family members or friends if they are interested in growing a garden. One thing to consider; do not be afraid of buying produce because there is an increase in commercial GMO products, like mentioned above most are for animals (a different battle). Organic is not absolutely necessary if you cannot afford it but if you are determined to buy strictly organic each grocery should have a section of organic produce. There are also specialty stores that accommodate strictly organic products.
Science behind GMO is to optimize farming and harvesting. That means plants are resistant to certain things; for example the FDA approved apples to be modified to reduce bruising and claim to be no less valuable nutrient wise, yet to be determined. Some of these modified food occurrences may be inevitable as modern agriculture keeps moving forward. I would prefer to buy a batch of apples with a few having flaws (non-GMO) as imperfection is part of life. I do not know the effects of long-term consumption of GMO foods and I don’t believe those studies exist yet.
In conclusion GMO is a hot topic for debate in the world of nutrition and research. This is a relatively new and booming science. The ideal situation in my opinion would be:
• Keep animal feed farms isolated and separated from adjacent (non-GMO) fields
• Transparent labeling
• Non-bias third party studies on nutrient profiles of foods
• Keep GMO studies in the lab until comprehensively tested for long-term effects
• My hope is this type of manipulation will eventually lead to ending world hunger without any negative effects on human health or the environment
-Wheeler
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