Dear diary,
Today I watched yet another documentary about the harmfulness of consuming meat and meat byproducts. It is called The Meat Lobby and it was a new release today on my FoodMatters streaming app. By the way, I was literally pissed off after watching only the first 5 minutes of this film. I hope it makes you angry too because if you are angry you are more likely to be open to change.
I think a fire has been lit under me when it comes to attaining as much information as I can about the risks of eating these harmful products. Seeing a family member with cancer will change a person. I hope that by trying to further spread the word, even if I only get through to one other person, I might have saved someone from going down a dark hole caused by a lifetime of bad choices.
Here are some highlights from the film that stuck with me. I have also cited some facts to further back up its claims:
-French studies show you can turn on cancer cells from eating processed meats that contain the additive sodium nitrate (E 250). The use of E250 in pork, is literally just so that the ham will be pink in color. If pork products are only injected with salt, they will turn grey when cooked and therefore be less aesthetically pleasing to consumers. So the demand for processed deli ham to appear pink in color is literally causing colon and rectal cancer to be one of the most deadliest cancers in Europe; and in the US it ranks 3rd in most new cases, and only 2nd to lung cancer in deaths. To see the complete US rankings of cancer types according to the NIH click here. Then click here to review how the US government Code of Federal Regulations clearly states that it is ok to have traces of E250 in consumable products. And finally click here to check out one of many stories links the two together.
-A resent study in France showed that after a control group ate a diet heavy in process pork products, pre-cancer cells were founds inside the host. They took fecal samples from the participants and mixed heathy human cells into the sample. Those cells showed signs of turning pre-cancerous within a half an hour of being in contact with the digested pork in the fecal sample. The nitrites that are injected in the pork, react with the meat proteins, transforming them into nitrosamines which cause human cells to turn cancerous.
-In 1970, the use of sodium nitrate (E250), was going to be banned in the USA after a large-scale study requested by the government found that nitrates caused cancer in rats but the big meat companies spoke up. The meat counsel showed that their profits would fall if nitrites were banned (because no one wants to eat ham that isn’t pink but they would rather eat un-natural pork instead) and cause great heart ships to those companies involved, so the government backed down. Then to seal the deal, in 1980 when Reagan took office, he appointed the president of American Meat Institute into government office. I have literally been doomed since I was born…. every study going forward was figuratively thrown in the trash.
-Susan Preston-Martin did a study on hot dogs and childhood cancers in the early 80’s (here is a sample of that study). She found the same correlations that many others before her had found and were silenced. Kraft Foods, the owners of Oscar Myer hot dogs, looked to its owners Phillip Morris (until 2008), to protect them. Phillip Morris protected Oscar Myer the same way they protected their own tobacco products. Phillip Moris created “doubt” in order to keep hot dogs on the plates of American’s.
-Many unethical scientists play along with the meat institutes because they get funding from them. They get paid behind closed doors from these lobbyist to make what seems to be truth out of lies.
-David Klurfeld is the head of the US Department of Agriculture. Klurfeld has attempted to debunk credible research that the World Cancer Research Fund found on the correlation that nitrates were linked to causing cancers. He was funded by the meat industry to do this. Why would I want to believe him? Just shows how the government is in bed with the highest bidder at all times. How can you give an unbiased report on anything when you are sleeping with the enemy?
-Tyson makes over 41 billion a year. They make this money by providing affordable, yet deadly meat products to the masses. In my opinion, they are the equivalent Philip Morris by knowingly providing such horrible products.
-There are over 800 substances that are banned by the state of California. Products that contain these substances cannot be sold there or need to be clearly labeled. Surprisingly (or not really) nitrites are not included on this list. The lobbyist have made sure of that. All the studies and peer reviews, that the state of California requires for substances to stay off that list, have been provided by scientist that are working in some way with the meat industries. I’ve visited CA many times and noticed these labels and thought they were crazy. Now I feel differently and wish that more and more states, and the government, would adopt such strict rules and oh yeah, include the damn nitrites!
These were just a few great points this documentary reported. Most of them I already had an idea about but I am still surprised by how deep our government is in bed with the meat and dairy counsels. It makes me sick. It makes me want to move. We are supposed to be the greatest country in the world but our government is literally allowing big business to poison its people.
Do the research for yourself. The truth is out there.
~a MAD, american, Vegan