Here are 12 facts about food that you may or may not want to know, but you really should be aware of. This comes from The Ecologist magazine that is published in the UK and the information was taken from a book called The Little Book of Shocking Food Facts by Craig Holden Feinberg and Dale Petersen.
I knew that artificial sweeteners were bad for us but did not realize that aspartame once ingested converts to formaldehyde, a toxic and carcinogenic substance that then accumulates in the liver, kidneys and brain.
Globally there are 3 million cases of acute pesticide poisoning each year resulting in 220,000 deaths. So the next time that you have a conversation about organic vs. commercially grown food, or are trying to decide if organics are worth the cost, keep this in mind. These chemicals do more than just kill weeds and insects, they are making us sick, destroying our topsoil and creating polluted runoff water that in turn is creating dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico, and other waterways.
The news is not all bad. In 2006 purchases for FairTrade certified products increased 42% from 2005. This benefited over 7 million people in developing countries…our dollars do make a difference for positive or negative change.
These are just three of the “facts” from the magazine and the book. If you would like to learn more you can order a copy of the book from your local Independent bookstore at the link below. And keep in mind, if the statistics quoted are regarding the UK you can bet it is worse in the US.
