why do we hate on sugar? a rant of epic proportions.

I absolutely find the commercials about high fructose corn syrup ridiculous. Everytime I see one, I become filled with irritation. Way to simplify a complex topic to push your agenda. As if corn isn't relied on for EVERYTHING in our diets, let's encourage people to believe the only thing questionable about using corn syrup is it's nutritional value. These commercials go something like this:

Man: It has corn syrup... you know what they say about that...
Woman: That its made from corn? and that it's perfectly safe when enjoyed in moderation! and that it is nutritional equal to sugar!
(Man happily chomps down on the popsicle, having been convinced that it is okay!)

Hmm... funded by the Corn Refiners of America... they have no bias... do they? Well, I'll be sure to trust them. I cannot claim to be corn syrup free, but I certainly don't think it is wise for me to injest it "in moderation." Whatever that means. It is nearly impossible to enjoy a "moderate" intake when 90% of sweet foods are laced with the stuff.

If you want sugar, you need to eat natural sugar. I realize there is some social issues related to cane sugar harvest--don't get me wrong, but limit your consumption to start with and we can mitigate a lot of these issues.

Sugar substitutes, while proven to be okay at normal levels of intake, are illogical in this day of organic produce. Hailed as healthier than sugar... is it really? I just feel incredibly awkward about diving into something that is made out entirely out of chemicals (Splenda is not actually made from sugar, they got sued for that, in case you didn't know).

Kevin used to use these quite a bit to curb the diabetic high blood sugar response, but I hate them (taste and synthetic chemicals), and now, they only appear in his diet cola.... not that I ever had to fight him on this. He just never bought any since we moved.

I guess this may sound hipcritical since I don't live a life devoid of chemical influence, but I'm trying to cut it down (see Cleaner Cleaners), and a few extra calories hardly seems worth the risk of eating chemicals.

I'm wary of corn. This is part of the reason I don't eat meat anymore. You look around and see fields and fields of corn, but have you every stopped to think how bizarre it is to have all that corn that humans never eat. In case you didn't know, those corn fields grow flint corn NOT sweet corn. Flint corn is just ground up and used as animal feed to bulk up our animals quickly so they can be slaughtered for profit.

The reason I stopped eating meat has very little to do with animal rights (as much as I'd love to claim animals shouldn't be eaten, I can't) and more to do with the environmental impacts their production has. We have come to eat a disproportionately large amount of meat, so at the very least, we should cut down the amount of mass produced meats we eat (beef, chicken, turkey, etc). The idea that it "isn't a main dish without meat in it" is ludicrious.

I'm not preaching about vegetarianism, it isn't for everyone--it was very easy for me because I rarely ate meat anyway. But, everyone should consider eating less meat (2-3x a week? 1x a day? whatever you can do), hunting for their own meat, eating organic meat, or locally raised so you can make sure your personal philosphy aligns with the producers.

Which leads me to genetic engineering... commonly hailed as the cure to world hunger. Yes, my tomatoes last a few more days, and we can grow corn in tighter rows to increae yield per acre. Curing world hunger isn't a matter of quantity. There is more than enough food produced to feed the world.... it is a matter of equity and availablity. The poor don't get food because the rich hog it all or make it inaccessible to them. So, we can engineer all the nutritionally enriched rice we want, but really the question is why is anyone eating a diet of rice and rice alone?

Ethanol introduces a slew of new problems. Hailed as the cure to our fuel problems--at least for awhile... we might be realizing the flaws in our logic. This further adds to hunger problems. More and more farmers are switching from food crops to grow corn because the Ethanol business has increased the price of corn so dramatically. As a result, the amount of food production will eventually decrease to a point where we won't have enough for everyone... just something to think about.

I realize I simplified many complex topics ala Corn Refiners of America; however, these are my personal thoughts, not something I'm throwing on the TV to boost business or convince people to trust my product. There is a myriad of sides and considerations for all these topics. The best you can do is research topics that matter to you and find where your concerns lie and stay true to what you believe. If you aren't worried about Splenda, fine. If you thing GMOs aren't petrifying, go for it.

--end rant--