Out of the Mouth.....

You know that saying "out of the mouth of babes.............?" Yea, that one. Came to mind the other day helping a student with an assignment. He was convinced that with all our food safety controls nowadays - HACCP, BRC etc. that the incidence of food poisoning must be way down. Felt almost bad telling him the exact opposite was the case. The incidence has risen exponentially and this is without most people bothering to report.

Then I read an article published in the Daily Mail (yes they do sometimes have good, well-researched articles on food and health, even if they are atrocious at almost everything else) about why scientists think raw milk is one of the world's most dangerous foods. I always remember my grandmother saying "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing." I think in our modern world this really applies so much more. The fact is even with all our science, technology and knowledge we are still appallingly ignorant about so much to do with nutrition. It is only recently that scientists and medics are beginning to acknowledge that we were sold a pig in a poke about saturated fat being responsible for all coronary heart disease.

The fact is that raw milk produced from a well looked after and well fed dairy herd and refrigerated immediately after milking is good for you. Our ancestors drank it with far less technology than is available now and it did them no harm and probably did them a world of good. Do you know that the incidence of transmission of TB from raw milk is less than 1%? Now I'm not disputing that this may be due to increased surveillance and testing in our national herd but I really remain convinced that TB is a disease of poverty, malnutrition and bad hygiene and has little to do with milk.

The fact is that our food production has become highly mechanised and intensive. I rear free range pigs, who have acres to roam and I have never smelled pig. But, when a lorry drives down my road transporting intensively reared factory pigs the stench lingers for ages. I often wonder how meat from these poor animals can be healthy when they smell so bad.

I was told that potato (our food staple) is sprayed 7-9 times for blight and then finally with Roundup (a probable carcinogen according to the WHO) to kill the foliage before harvest. Wheat seed is soaked in Roundup before sowing to "eliminate" weeds.

And then people are laughed at when they say they are intolerant to gluten because when they remove it from their diet they feel better. The chances are that it is Roundup they are intolerant to. And removing gluten and let's face it - crap bread - makes them feel better. Replace this crap bread with real bread or sourdough and the chances are they will feel great. Sadly, the availability of real bread is abysmal in this country, especially in non-urban areas.

And then to cap it all, that old chesnut, we are living longer. Go back, look at the records or read this.
I don't ever remember hearing about Alzheimer's, autism, ADHD, or so much cancer in the very young when I was growing up or even as an adult, as now.

So what has changed? Why is there more food poisoning? Why are people saying they are intolerant to wheat and gluten? Why are there so many children with autism? Why is there so much cancer? Why are so many old and not so old being diagnosed with Alzheimer's/dementia?

Why are food and pharma companies now so massively profitable?

Why indeed.

As the Americans say "do the math"........

Dear Tesco 2

Dear Tesco,

I don't know why I'm bothering to write to you again but here goes.

Firstly, I am not a customer of yours. I gave up on you long since. I just pop in occasionally to buy Fever Tree tonic (shame you only stock the low calorie option.)

Yesterday I had to run in to get a wedding card. And as I was there I couldn't resist having a pooch. I was half thinking of getting some veg. I normally buy my veg from a "chemical free" grower (organic but just not registered) so I know what's in season at all times of the year. However, when I looked at the seasonal selection I couldn't believe my eyes.

A selection of French beans, mange tout, sprouting broccoli and baby corn from a range of countries including Egypt, India, Peru and Zimbabwe. There were more but I just can't remember.

Several things ran through my mind. Firstly, well they are providing a living for growers, pickers, packers and transporters in the relevant countries. That they (Tesco) can transport them half way around the globe, sell them relatively competitively and make a profit shows how little these people probably get for them.

But also these are not EU countries so they are not governed by EU legislation with respect to pesticide, insecticide, artificial fertiliser application. There is precious little residue testing at port of entry, here anyway as I discovered a few years ago. I wanted to get this information on fruit we were using in the bakery I managed and just came up time and time again against brick walls until finally, someone admitted to me they just don't have the financing.

So instead of giving Irish growers (governed by EU legislation) a living, we import vegetables that can very easily be grown here at this time of the year. In the depths of winter I can understand importing it. Why anyone would want to eat it is beyond me but that is their choice and modern consumerism.

I am lucky I have the choice to buy my fruit and vegetables grown locally. Lucky too that I can buy "organic" cheaper than most supermarkets and green grocers. But I wonder does the average customer care? When I pointed it out to the Tesco employee, he told me he had never noticed before but he would pass it on.

Then as I walked away, he said "for all the good it will do."

Tesco, you are losing market share hand over fist to the German discounters. They stock loads more Irish products including fruit and vegetables. Maybe you should take a walk down their aisles?

My J1

I have been thinking about my J1 experience over 30 years ago a lot in the last 24 hours. The tragic events in Berkeley really got me. But when I read that article in the New York Times I was just furious. I expect shoddy journalism from the British red tops. Ironically, for once the Daily Mail wrote a very considered piece.

I flew out to California on a J1 in June 1982. I was lucky I had a job before I left in the Los Angeles Arboretum. I was studying for a degree in agriculture in UCD, specialising in landscape horticulture. Normally students on this course did their year out after their second year and in Ireland. I managed to convince the dean to allow me to do mine after my first year, in California. He had obvious misgivings. The flora was hugely different from here for one not to mention the climate.

I was lucky that my mother's brother, my uncle Frank lived near Newport Beach and I was able to base myself there for a few days to get my bearings. Uncle Frank was a urologist and had a very impressive house in Corona del Mar. I remember lounging in the hot tub in his garden looking out over the twinkling lights of Newport Beach whilst sipping wine. A far cry from Ireland and from the accommodation I would ultimately acquire. My uncle convinced my poor dad that I would need a car and not only a car, a new car and dad succumbed. I was bought a brand new Mitsubishi Colt. I had barely passed my driving test in Costa Mesa before this. My lovely uncle Frank had taken on the task of teaching me to drive.

So armed with said car I moved up the coast to Pasadena and to my first apartment. I began my job in Los Angeles Arboretum as an intern. I worked here for three months and then somehow managed to acquire another job in the San Diego Zoo. I packed up my little Colt and headed off to work in the zoo for three months. When I say the zoo. I was actually in the landscape department for the zoo. I still got to have loads of contact with the animals. I really loved San Diego and to this day I can still taste the blue cheese salad dressing in The Spot pizza restaurant in La Jolla.

I then moved to my next post, the American equivalent of The National Trust, a house and garden run and managed by them called Filoli. I packed up the Colt and drove the thousands of kilometers alone to where they had arranged for me to stay. A place called Woodside, just south of San Francisco and Silicon Valley where I was put up free of charge by a lovely family called Schillings, members of the Trust who were willing to accommodate an intern in return for a bit of gardening and pool cleaning (lounging). The Schillings were a German American family who had made their fortune selling spice. They were the Schwarz of the Americas. My life there consisted of being called for a G&T before dinner in the dining room where Tracey, Mrs Schilling served the best home cooked and grown food. August, Mr Schilling used walk me around the garden telling me stories and talking about his life. They even put up two of my friends who came out looking for work. I think they missed their family who had by this stage all grown up and left home. They loved the company we provided. I kept in touch with them for years after but sadly Tracey died and I lost contact afterwards.

My point in writing this is that although I was probably a pioneer (very few students went as far as California in those days), I learned so much. I became independent. I learned how to drive, how to manage on a budget, paying rent, telephone, management fees. I learned how to navigate, driving the length of California alone. I learned the importance of time keeping and being reliable. The Americans were sticklers for time. And I learned to be a decent, responsible human. I left every apartment as clean if not cleaner than I got it. I payed my bills. I worked my hours. But, I partied. I lay on the beach on my days off. I ate great food. I got fat. I lost my virginity.

I came home eventually having prolonged my J1 into just over a year and (against my better judgement) I finished my degree and I graduated and began my career in England.

The J1 students who died were just starting out. They didn't even get to finish their experience. They will never get to live their life and write a post like this. Thousands, hundreds of thousands of students have gone out to America on a J1 and had the time and experience of their life. A few bad apples have given the vast majority of the rest a bad name.

Rest in Peace those who died.