Doing the best we can- the hummingbird challenge

So often I feel overwhelmed with what I see as unfixable problems.  There are a lot of things that I, on my own will never be able to fix.  But, like the hummingbird, I can do the best that I can.



This clip was from the documentary Dirt.  It was really interesting, and I think I could (and will) watch it over and over again.  It talks about what dirt is, and our relationship with it.  As we forget its importance, and allow it to become damaged, it stops nourishing us with healthy food.  I was talking to my aunt and she mentioned how her stepson wouldn't eat carrots for a long time after seeing our grandmother pull them out of the garden.  We've become so accustomed to seeing our food in neat little packages at the store that we've forgotten where food comes from.  In an effort to produce more to meet the endless demands of cheaper food, the quality of our soil has decreased as we pump pesticides and herbicides into it.  Our way of life is not sustainable, and eventually we will be forced to make changes.

I believe that God put us on the earth to learn and to grow.  Part of that growth and learning, is learning to be good stewards of the life around us.  That includes the dirt.

It's not practical for everyone to stop buying corn fed beed, or switch to organic foods.  However, like the hummingbird, even if we can't completely change how we eat, we can do what we can.  If that means growing our own garden, great!  If it means buying locally produced meats (Christensen's Family Farm in my side link sells grass fed beef and pork!), then do it!  If it means you switch one meal, or one meal more, each week from a meat based meal to a vegetarian one, it can make a difference (plus vegetarian meals are often cheaper).  If it means you find organic gardening and yard care solutions, great!

So my challenge to all five of you who read my blog, is be a hummingbird.  Find something you can do to put out the fire.  How will you respond to the hummingbird challenge?

Where to Get Milk?

As I've been researching meat and the sustainability and health issues surrounding the way most meats are "grown" currently, I've also been looking at milk. I read an article on webmd that was a study on children fed organic dairy products versus traditional dairy products, the study found that children who ONLY consumed organic dairy products had a much lower rate of asthma and allergies than children who at any amount of traditional dairy products in their diet. I'm not quite ready to switch to organic dairy entirely (and I think in the article, it wasn't just the organic label that was important, it was that the dairy cows were pastured, therefore healthier, and didn't need antibiotics- antibiotics being my biggest concern).

I've been doing some reading on milk and where it comes from. Costco organic milk is a "great deal" at nearly $3 per half gallon. Unfortunately, today I read this: wholesalers and major "organic" brands are continuing to sell milk and dairy products labeled as "USDA Organic, even though most or all of their milk is coming from factory farm feedlots where the animals have been brought in from conventional farms and are kept in intensive confinement, with little or no access to pasture.

The Organic Consumers Association is expanding its boycott of Horizon and Aurora organic dairy products to include five national "private label" organic milk brands supplied by Aurora, as well as two leading organic soy products, Silk and White Wave, owned by Horizon's parent company, Dean Foods...Aurora Organic supplies milk for several private label organic milk brands, including Costco's "Kirkland Signature," Safeway's "O" organics brand, High Meadows, Giant's "Natures Promise," and Wild Oats organic milk. Aurora Organic received a failing grade from the Cornucopia Institute's survey of organic dairies for its practice of intensive confinement of dairy cows. For pictures of Aurora Organic's operations, follow this link. The Cornucopia Institute recently blew the whistle on Aurora Organic's greenwashing and its bogus certification of animal welfare.

Additionally, its been revealed that much of the soy for Dean Food's White Wave tofu and Silk soymilk products are sourced abroad, primarily from Brazil and China. Environmental standards and workers' rights are routinely violated in these two countries.

Anyone know of sources for milk that comes from cows not treated with routine antibiotics? Costco was going to be my source for milk. I don't care about the organic label, I just haven't found any non-organic milk that meets my requirements.

It's making me tired.

UPDATE: I think we're going to go with Rosehill dairy. It's a local, small scale dairy, and I feel fairly comfortable with the way the cows are raised and fed, and with the quality of the milk.

Sugar Cereals

General Mills has announced that they will be Reducing Sugar, amounts in their cereals, the ones that we call "sugar cereal".

I suppose this is a good thing, but my feeling is that making junk food cereals slightly less junky isn't the answer to our health food woes. Especially not when it appears (I don't know for sure) that the sugar in the cereals is just being replaced by some sugar substitute (the article said it won't use artificial sweetners, but on the Doug Wright show, there was discussion on the cereals not being noticeably less sweet, with led the host to wonder if they'd be using a sugar derivative (which happens to have the happy side effect of diarhea)).

I buy my kids sugar cereals for camping trips. It's a special treat, it shouldn't be a breakfast food. Kids need foods that will fill them up and provide the nutrients and energy they need for the morning. When my kids eat sugar cereals, they're hungry again in an hour (and I don't think that's a problem stemming from just the sugar in the cereal, I think the cereals are so much air and very little else that they just don't fill kids up for long).

How about instead of trying to put a banana peel on a twinkie, we just eat the bananas.

Changing the way we live

I've been thinking a lot lately about why we do things the way we do. Why we buy the things we buy, and eat the things we eat. And why we're so hesitant to look at other options, and so quick to laugh and label different ideas as "crazy liberal ideas". Ideas can't hurt us, so why don't we do research and then accept or discount the ideas based on their actual merit?

I've been reading books like, In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan, and Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, and watching documentaries like Botany of Desire and Food Inc..

I gow a garden in the summer, and can as much food as possible for winter use. I raise chickens for eggs (if they'd start laying again), and I try to eat real food as much as possible, though we do still eat convenience foods more than I'd like.

I've been thinking more and more about living in a sustainable way, and the changes I would have to make are scary, but I think they're scary because we've grown up thinking that the way things are are the only way.

What do we do when we can't go to costco and buy a jumbo bag of frozen chicken breast? It sometimes feels easier to live in ignorance of where your food comes from, because once you've seen it, it's a lot harder to continue eating it.

I've joined the coupon craze, though mostly for non-food items since we don't eat a lot of the things there are coupons for (though I got a great deal on walnuts and butter and now have a nice supply in my freezer), but even for things like razors, I've had feelings of guilt for quite some time. I can get razors for free, but not the extra blades, so to never pay for razors we'd end up throwing away entire razors every time the blade goes dull. It's hard to balance the desire for a years supply of all things and still not be part of a rampant consumerism culture.

There are lots of things to think about, but in thinking about starting small, I'm researching how I can avoid eating commercialized meats. Being taught not to waste things, we'll finish up the bag of frozen chicken in the freezer over the next couple of months, and hopefully by then I'll have ideas on where to buy chicken that was raised in a sustainable way, that is healthy for me, for the farmers, and for the planet. I'll also look into the milk I buy and decide if I need to pay more for organic milk, and if that means that we'll be drinking less of it. And, if my chickens don't start laying again, I'll be looking into cruelty free eggs.

I know all of this sounds crazy to some people, but I feel strongly that we humans were placed on the earth to be wise stewards over all things, and I can't justify supporting companies that don't care if they're making us sick, or if their chicken farmers are developing allergies to antibiotics because of their overuse in the chickens, or workers on a killing floor who lose their fingernails to infections, or who care more about their bottom lines than about people dying from e coli poisoning.

UPDATE:

I'm adding links to locally grown/sustainable farms as I find them. The one I have so far is Christiansen's Hog Heaven, which sells heritage breed pigs all processed and delivered in little packages. We're ordering a whole pork and splitting it among family.

Pictures by A

A (my 5-year-old) saw the camera on the table (I had it out to photograph my groceries again- don't worry, I'm posting them on their own blog now), and decided to take some pictures. I was going to delete them until I saw the focus he put into them. It's an interesting glimpse into his little head.

Throw-Up Pot

He's been sick. (A few nights ago, he ran downstairs, got a pot, went back upstairs and threw up partly in the pot partly all over the bed- he doesn't get the concept of throwing up in the toilet).

Pinecones

This one seems kind of random to me.

Self Portrait

Little Brother

Bowl and Spoon, Used

Since he's been sick, we haven't been letting him eat as much as usual, so this bowl of applesauce was much wanted. He's feeling hungry, which is good, but he still isn't keeping food down.

Woods Cross Power Plant Update

Davis County Democrats Blog urges us to get involved to stop the West Bountiful Petcoke Plant

Zions bank is backing the project, so if you bank at zions, email Zions Bank CEO scott.anderson@zionsbank.com and let him know that if they support the petcoke plant in west bountiful you will take your business elsewhere.

If you look around on the site I linked to above, you'll find a page with a whole bunch of contact emails. Here's a direct link.

Clean air and healthy lungs are not something to sit back while things play out. Make your voice heard. This is our community, and every voice makes a difference.

There may be some things that our legislature can do to stop the petcoke plant as well, Rep. Roger Barrus is sponsoring a bill to put a moratorium in place that would give us two years before any new plants could be built, to buy us more time. Contact your representatives and encourage them to support Rep. Barrus' bill.

There's a Utah state code which says that the state government can't enact regulations more stringent than federal regulations, and the petcoke plant meets federal regulations, however Rep. Becky Edwards has found that the state can set higher standards if it is documented that the federal standards are not enough to protect the health of utahns.

South davis county has a higher incidence of asthma than anywhere else in Utah, if that's not a sign that federal standards aren't enough, I don't know what is.

Come to the state capital on Wednesday, February 25th at noon (come early, it should be crowded). There will be media there, bring your children, and show that we want higher standards of air quality. We want our children to be able to play outside, and breathe. We will not allow corporate interests to override our health interests.

Lemon and Honey

I think I've finally succumbed to the cold that my Mister has been enjoying all week. I'm beat. My nose is drippy. My throat hurts.  When I sneeze, I'm afraid my head is going to explode.  I'm beat (did I say that already).

When my toddler was sick I gave him/tried to make him drink warm water with lemon juice and honey in it. He was not impressed, but he should have been. One glass gets rid of the sore throat temporarily and almost makes me feel normal.

You'll have to play around to find out what your preferred lemon to honey to water ratio is. It tastes a little like a cough drop (was I the only one who ate cough drops like candy as a child?), and works really well.

I hear it works even better if you crush two garlic cloves and put them in the bottom of the mug (and chew them up when you're done drinking the tea- as much as I like garlic, I haven't been able to bring myself to try this yet, so if you do, let me know how it works).

Yoga Kids

I've been a little worried about my 5-year-old. He's very energetic, and doesn't have a good sense of where his body is in relation to other things (like my face, or the wall). In an attempt to help him learn some body awareness, I did a little online research and decided we should sign him up for karate or yoga. Until summer, we'll pass on the karate, and I invested in a set of 3 "Yoga Kids" DVD's. A picked the ABC one today, and we all did it, even CP (sort of).

I can't recommend the others since we haven't done them, although A is putting another disc in as I type (which must mean he really liked the other one), but we had a lot of fun with Yoga Kids ABC's- if anyone is interested in trying it out let me know!

(The funny thing- he keeps getting a wii remote out to use with his yoga (since he sees me do yoga on the wii fit).

Update on West Bountiful Power Plant

Update on Co-Gen Plant: City Disapproval May Be More Difficult than Originally Thought
Recently, I announced with some confidence that our zoning ordinances would not allow us to approve a co-gen plant adjacent to the Holly Oil Refinery. After further research I have discovered an old agreement that was signed with Holly before the city's most recent zoning ordinances were approved. The agreement allows Holly to build a co-gen plant as part of a larger upgrade of the facility.

While we have identified several strategies that we can use to prevent the construction of this plant, my initial statement that our zoning ordinance provided sufficient protection was inaccurate. I am confident that with the support of the Division of Air Quality and local State Legislators, we can prevent a co-gen plant from being built in West Bountiful.

Mayor James Behunin

Doesn't look good. It may be too late for contacting anyone but the West Bountiful Mayor: Mayor James Behunin jbehunin@gmail.com

Although I think it would be good to email all the other people on the list to tell them how stupid you think they are. Look outside. What in the world are they thinking? It makes me want to swear. This morning when I was at my 2nd grader's school, they announced that it was "another bad air day today" and told the kids with asthma or allergies to stay indoors and the rest of the kids to "not run around or breathe deeply while outside" (I told my son to stay inside- maybe he can avoid asthma or allergies?).

Statement on Proposed Plant by West Bountiful Mayor, James Behunin

Recently, many residents have expressed concern about a co-generation plant that has been proposed for a site next to the Holly Oil Refinery in West Bountiful. The facility would use the waste bi-products of the oil refining process to fuel what has been described as a "co-generation" power plant. Some are concerned that the plant would increase air pollution in the area.

The proposed plant was first brought to our attention over a year ago. Individuals representing a firm wishing to build the plant presented a set of conceptual drawings to the city. Wendell Wild, the Mayor and a few members of the city council reviewed the plans and raised several concerns. The most serious concern is the site's location. It was proposed for a site that is zoned for residential and commercial use. A co-generation plant was not a permitted use at the proposed location. An additional concern is that the city has worked closely with Holly Oil to preserve a buffer zone around the oil refinery. To build a power plant in the buffer zone would go against all of our efforts to surround the refinery with a beautiful, landscaped open area. Because no request for a building permit has been submitted, the city has not taken formal action to approve or deny the proposed project.

More recently, we have heard rumors that the Utah Department of Environmental Quality has granted preliminary approval for the construction of such a plant. In response, a group of physicians have begun to organize a public campaign against the project. They even predicted that the construction of the plant will increase the number of local deaths due to respiratory illness. Naturally, some of our residents have become alarmed by such statements. However, residents need to know that it is a top priority for the Mayor and Council to protect the health, safety and welfare of the city's residents. We simply will not permit the construction of a facility that would threaten the health of our citizens.

If you haven't already, take a minute to contact Mayor Behunin to let him know you support his stance against the proposed power plant, and encourage him to continue to keep it out of our community.

Email: jbehunin@gmail.com; Phone: 801-560-3944

I enjoy clean air.

This time of year it should be especially obvious that it would be irresponsible to allow even more pollution. For our health, and the health of our children, lets all take a few minutes to write/call/email and let the powers that be know that we don't want more pollution.

From Utah Mom's for Clean Air:
Here are Five things you can do to help stop the proposed Petroleum Coke plant in West Bountiful:

1. Attend the Division of Air Quality Public Hearing, Tues., Jan. 13, 6:30 pm
DEQ Auditorium (Room 101), 168 N. 1950 W., SLC
Show your support by voicing your opinion or just showing up.
(If you need help formulating your ideas, communications Ph.D.student
Brenden Kendall is happy to help. Email: brenden.kendell@gmail.com.)
It is critical that we fill the auditorium to show the depth of public concern.

2. 2. Submit your comments to the John Jenks at the Division of Air Quality by Jan. 15, 2009.
Email: jjenks@utah.gov.

3. 3. Write or call Gov. Hunstman and your state legislators stating your opposition to the petcoke plant.

Locate your legislator on the interactive map for Utah House seats. and the interactive map for Utah Senate seats.

Send correspondence to the Governor at
Governor John Huntsman, Jr.
Utah State Capitol Complex
350 North State Street, Suite 200
P. O. Box 142220
Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-2220
801-538-1000
800-705-2464
Gov. Huntsman's Email form

4. 4. Send an email to Mayor James Behunin of West Bountiful: jbehunin@gmail.com. Even if you don't live in West Bountiful, pollutants from this proposed plant will affect you if you live along the Wasatch Front and he needs to hear from you.

5. 5. Write a letter to the editor to one or more local newspaper(s).
Like coal, petroleum coke is not a clean source of energy. We need to be investing in clean, renewable energy, such as wind, solar and geothermal, all plentiful in Utah.

Consolidated Energy says their plant will contribute just a little more pollution, but it is time to draw the line and reduce the pollutants in the air we breathe. The pollution from this plant would be the equivalent to putting 10,000 additional cars on the road.

The one million pounds of pollution from this plant will permeate the Salt Lake Valley for the next 50 years. The heavy metals from its smokestack will land on every carpet, counter top, playground, garden, and swimming pool and end up on the hands of every child.

This plant is especially dangerous to our children because of the many tons of toxic chemicals and heavy metals called "HAPs" (Hazardous Air Pollutants) that will be emitted. Even the Utah Department of Environmental Quality that is preparing to approve the permit admits that no amount of exposure to HAPs is safe. Even trace amounts of HAPs can cause genetic damage, cancer, brain damage, and metabolic and reproductive diseases. The unborn are the most at risk.

This plant is not needed to keep your lights on. Rocky Mountain Power has not asked for this plant and you may not even receive any of its electricity. While your family's health will be put at risk, you will receive no benefit or compensation.

More pollution in the Salt Lake Valley has a negative economic impact. It discourages new business, stifles existing businesses like tourism, and hurts your property values.

The pet coke will be imported from other states. The plant will collect this refinery by-product from throughout the West for incineration here.

Hey, I know her!

My college roommate Charlotte was on 20/20 this past friday, talking about an eating disorder that has been labeled Orthorexia. Charlotte talks about her experience with the film crew Here. And you can watch the 20/20 clips Here.

What foods don't you eat?

My friend Charlotte commented on the RIP post and made me think of what foods I eat, and what foods I am trying to avoid.

I have started buying nitrate free deli meat, since I'm uncomfortable with my kids eating so much lunch meat. It's harder to find, and our regular grocery store doesn't carry any. If I say I'm not eating meat with nitrates/nitrites in it, I'm also going to have to stop eating ham, hot dogs, and who knows what else.

The other thing that I've decided really grosses me out is jello. I LOVE jello. Especially red jello with bananas and raspberries inside and cool whip on top ala my granny (who died a few years ago). Gelatin just sounds nasty though. Thankfully, my sister found some vegan gelatin, and made some for us at a family party last year. It was a little runnier than granny's but didn't have the "ew gross" factor.

So what foods don't you eat, and why not?

(My mister loves it when I decide that "we're" not eating certain things anymore. He doesn't know about hot dogs yet. Sorry Mister. Maybe I'll be able to find some that both taste good and are nitrate free....)

BPA and Fear Mongering

I somehow missed the original hubub over BPA or Bisphenol A, and have continued as with my previous two children, to feed my baby with bottles that could cause cancer.

Part of me figures, my other kids drank from those bottles and they're fine, this is just fear mongering, trying to get consumers to toss all their plastic stuff and go shopping for "safer" products. The other part of me wonders if I should join in and go buy some glass baby bottles.

From the things I have read, it seems that putting boiling water in the bottles, microwaving them, and washing them in the dishwasher are what we should be most concerned about, although I can't find anything that says whether the plastic continues to leach the chemical after one washing/microwaving, or if it just leaches at a higher level while it is hot. If that is the case, it seems like it would be fine to just stop microwaving the formula in the bottle (which I know I'm not supposed to do anyway).

I found an interesting article called Truth and Rumors Muddy Plastics Debate and it says that in the rat research, the rats are injected with BPA, which our bodies would deal with very differently than the way we would absorb the chemical, which makes me think it's not a big deal for adults. The article also says that in infants and fetuses, because their bodies don't metabolize things the same was as an adult, it didn't make a difference if baby rats or rat fetuses were injected with BPA or if they swallowed it, it was equally harmful.

I guess the good news is that my baby just turned one, and really shouldn't be drinking from bottles anymore anyway, so I just have to make sure his cups are safe and we're good to go

Until the next scare.

Another reason to not drink soda...

Drinking Cola Now Could Hurt Women Later
Visit The Health Section
Reporting
Molly Hughes
DENVER (CBS4) ― The cola you drink today could come back to haunt you decades from now. That's the message doctors are trying to get out to young women who confess to a cola compulsion.

Visit any mall food court on any given day and you will have no difficulty finding women who admit they drink more cola than they probably should. They call themselves cola fans, cola aficionados and cola addicts.

They like the taste, they like the fizz and they like the caffeine. And their habit can add up.

Drink four colas a day and by the end of the week, you will have tallied a grand total of 28 high phosphorous, high acid, caffeine-laden drinks.

But University of Colorado Medical School's Dr. Michael McDermott points out that all this cola could come back to haunt young drinkers.

"It very well might. And at that point," McDermott adds, "It's too late."

An estimated 10 million Americans have osteoporosis -- a disease where bones become fragile and break easily. Usually, we think of the disease as one afflicting elderly women, but it can begin decades earlier when we drink colas.

The phosphorous which makes the cola fizzy stimulates a hormone that pulls calcium out of bone. The cola is acidic and our bodies seek calcium to offset the acid. Finally, the caffeine in the cola takes that leached-out calcium and sends it out of our body in our urine.

"Sodas in excess probably promotes significant bone loss over a lifetime," warns McDermott.

But how do you define excess? A 2006 Tufts University Study showed that women who drank four or more colas a week had lower bone mineral density in their hips.

By the time today's young women hit middle age, they will find themselves at University Hospital getting a bone scan with Deborah Johnson.

"It's time to check these old bones out," said Deborah as the scanner quickly and painlessly passed over her body. And now that she knows more about the connection between cola an osteoporosis she's planning to cut out all cola from her diet.

"Not even one!" she laughs.

What is it really about?

I was talking to a friend about SB 267, which would do away with Ralph Becker's domestic registry. She said it's about defending marriage and standing up for families, because our families are failing, and are causing society to fail.

I agree that we have some real problems in our society, and I believe many of those problems come from homes where children are not getting all the things they need to become healthy, productive members of society*. There's just been something that didn't sit right with me and I couldn't figure out what until today.

"Standing up for marriage" and "Defending Marriage" are terms I associate with the LDS church. My church. I believe it was Elder Oaks who said that sexual intimacy outside of marriage is a sin. It doesn't matter if it is homosexual activity or heterosexual activity, it's the same seriousness sin-wise. The thing that gets me is that with SB 267, and anything else like it that I have ever heard talked about, the justification for it is that we can't allow homosexuals to have too many rights. Granted, this bill would affect unmarried heterosexual couples as well, but no one talks about that, leading me to think that the main reason the bill is brought up at all is because people are scared or grossed out or whatever by homosexuality.

If we're so concerned about legislating morality, lets at least be consistent.

Or we could follow Jesus' example of love and compassion. In our rush to deny rights to anyone different than ourselves, we're missing out on an opportunity to make sure that more families and more children are protected. From the Tribune article: Melanie Schertz, who insures her ailing mother under the city's adult-designee provision, said the Legislature should not have the right to determine what constitutes a "family."
"If they're going after this because a few gay people get benefits," she said, "they're not seeing the whole picture."

*I've heard that decent health coverage helps children become healthy productive members of society, regardless of the sexual preference of their parents...

Consumerism

This time of year I always think I have too much "stuff". This year, it's epsecially sad that I think I have too much "stuff", since the majority of my "stuff" is packed away in boxes waiting to be able to move into new "stuff" (aka "new house").

My Mr. and I are having a contest to see how long we can go without spending any money. It's proving to be difficult though, since yesterday we had to go buy a new bike helmet to replace the one that santa brought our 3-year-old (the one who apparently does not have a 3-year-old sized head). I don't count that since we returned something first.

Today we have to buy some trim to finish up a bit of molding in our old house that is still unfinished (anyone want to buy a house with some minor finish work to do on the trim?).

It seems never ending, this need to acquire more stuff. In my need to compartmentalize things, I'm temped to stop buying anything made in China. That accomplishes two things- less chance of lead in our "stuff" and stops supporting a country which is still (I believe) the worlds top polluter. It's hard to have principles like that when you have children. Sorry kids, no more matchbox cars for you, they're made in china. Sorry kids, you'll have to play with these crude wooden cars that I fashioned out of old twigs. That doesn't sound so bad to me, but my kids are having a hard time not buying into whatever commercial they see on TV (maybe we need a TV made out of twigs).

I guess we do what we can, but I have to say that the best gift any of my sons received for christmas was the small wooden saw that my dad made (with my 3-year-old helping) the day after christmas.

H.R. 676

The United States National Health Insurance Act establishes a unique American national universal health insurance program. The bill would create a publicly financed, privately delivered health care system that uses the already existing Medicare program by expanding and improving it to all U.S. residents, and all residents living in U.S. territories. The goal of the legislation is to ensure that all Americans will have access, guaranteed by law, to the highest quality and most cost effective health care services regardless of their employment, income, or health care status. With over 45-75 million uninsured Americans, and another 50 million who are under- insured, the time has come to change our inefficient and costly fragmented non- health care system.

Who is Eligible

Every person living or visiting in the United States and the U.S. Territories would receive a United States National Health Insurance Card and ID number once they enroll at the appropriate location. Social Security numbers may not be used when assigning ID cards.

Health Care Services Covered

This program will cover all medically necessary services, including primary care, inpatient care, outpatient care, emergency care, prescription drugs, durable medical equipment, long term care, mental health services, dentistry, eye care, chiropractic, and substance abuse treatment. Patients have their choice of physicians, providers, hospitals, clinics, and practices. No co-pays or deductibles are permissible under this act.


Here's a link to the full bill: H.R.676

Contact your representatives and ask them why they don't support health care for all.

If you'd like to, please sign the petition at HealthCare-Now.org in support of H.R. 676

Lets go eat school lunch, e-coli is on the menu...

This story from the Chicago Tribune appeared in the Trib this morning.

WASHINGTON — One federal inspector calls it the "E. coli loophole." Another says, "Nobody would buy it if they knew." The officials are referring to the little-discussed fact that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has deemed it acceptable for meat companies to cook and sell meat on which E. coli, a bacterium that can sicken and even kill humans, is found during processing. The "E. coli loophole" affects millions of pounds of beef each year that tests positive for the presence of E. coli O157:H7, a particularly virulent strain of the bacterium. The agency allows companies to put this E. coli-positive meat in a special category—"cook only."

...Some cooked beef products end up in the National School Lunch Program, which is administered by the USDA. The agency bought 2.8 million pounds of cooked beef in 2006, according to USDA records.

A One-Issue-Voter

In the last presidential election, I know many people who voted based on one or two issues: Abortion and Same Sex Marriage.

Those were the driving factors behind choosing who to vote for. It seems that strategy really hasn't done much for us. I'm proposing a new one-issue.

Health Care.

Here's a letter I sent to my governor, senators and congressman.

I have been watching my health insurance premiums go up, as the level of service goes down. I watch friends who find out they have illnesses and are told they are no longer covered by insurance because their condition was preexistent (even though they had never had symptoms or been treated before).

People seem to think any sort of socialized medical care is evil, but what is truly evil is the system we have now, where people are going bankrupt because of medical bills, or people are suffering or dying because they can't afford treatment and CEO's are getting rich.

I don't have a problem with people making money doing their jobs, but when CEO's of insurance companies are making millions and those who the insurance is supposed to help are struggling to get the care they need, something is wrong.

Health care has to change. I'm at a loss as to what I personally can do about it, so I'm writing to everyone who represents ME in our government to tell them that access to quality health care for everyone is my number one issue. Too many voters in Utah have made abortion and same sex marriage their number one issues, those things are diversions from issues that we should really be working on.

If you want my vote in the next election, I expect something radical to make sure that all Utahns are taken care of.

I've been laughed at for suggesting we do something here like what Canada has. People can say what they want, but it works there, it should be able to work here too. We should be able to take care of each other. It sickens me that in Utah, a state where we pride ourselves on caring for the least of those among us, that we continue to go about business as usual, and let people slip through the cracks. If we don't see it happening, life is fine, right?