Bacon, Butter and Eggs! Did I mention BACON?

So after a rather lively debate on Facebook over who's Poop is going to hit which fan if the Government shuts down tonight, (I'm betting on the ReBoobicans and most of my friend are betting on the Damnocrats) I went into the kitchen to finish fixing (Yes I said fixing instead of making. Sue me. I'm from so far deep in the South that there may still be skirmishes going on between Union and Rebel troops.) my Wife's dinner which happens to be Chicken, Rice and Veggie Soup. As I was cutting up the chicken to go in the slow cooker, I was struck with how many of the things that we do to food today would have boggled the minds of my Mother and Grandmother.

We have been brainwashed by Big Business to believe that so much of what the previous generations did was dangerous, or unhealthy or downright stupid that we have truly started destroying many of aspects of food. I got this thought as I was taking the skin off the cooked chicken prior to putting in the pot. In this example, my Mother would have looked crazy at anyone who suggested she cut any edible piece of meat of any critter. Prolly would have beaned anyone with a frying pan if they tried to do it.

Of course, this is just what prompted the thoughts and not the best example. Since to much of the cholesterol stored in fatty tissue and skins can be bad for you, a little selective pruning is not such a bad idea. However it brings to mind a host of other sins that have been foisted off on us by Corporations in the guise of eating better.

Example the first is Margarine over Butter. Remember back when Margarine was first introduced as a healthy alternative to Butter. The argument was that the “Vegetable” oils were better for you than those mean old nasty cholesterol laden butter squares. People bought this line hook line and sinker so Margarine sales shot through the roof. Course many moons later, the general consensus among health care professionals is that Butter actually contains a whole bunch of healthy things in it and eating all of those heavily processed and adulterated oils is very bad for you. Who knew?

Example B is eggs. Yup for way to long everyone's favorite hen fruit was the bad guy. “Oh no don't eat that, it contains all sorts of bad cholesterol and other stuff.” That is how we got the heavily modified Egg Beaters type brands where they take the egg whites, mix them with god only knows what and process it till nothing really good remains. Now it turns out that eggs specifically the vilified yolks actually contains many beneficial elements especially the good cholesterol that is so important for our health. Again, eat a product that nature has been working on for millions of years or eat something that may have once seen the inside of a chicken, but has more to do with the lab. Seems like a no brainer huh?

Homesteading is making a rapid comeback in this country. People everywhere are bucking the propaganda and making and eating their own foods. From the backyards of the big cities to small farms back in my old stomping grounds, people are growing their own veggies, raising their own stock and eating all of the things that corporations have tried to turn us against. People aren't drinking milk drawn from heavily medicated cows, pasteurized to death with chemicals added to extend its shelf life and then shipped from God only knows where. Instead they are drinking milk produced right at home from cows and goats who are drug and chemical free. Big Agriculture has taken notice of this and is getting nervous. More and more “Health” codes are being passed to prevent Farmers from selling or trading their wares.

Have you noticed that the vast majority of health issues confronting the US have cropped up over the past few decades? Obesity is at ridiculous levels especially among children. High Cholesterol is at an all time high. Diabetes is at epidemic levels and so is heart disease. All of this directly corresponds to the introduction of all of the “better for you” processed foods. I always tell people that my family on both sides lived ridiculously long times with little to no real health care. They ate butter, eggs and meat with the skin on.

I would wager that almost every single health issue confronting us today can be traced to a combination of eating way to many processed foods and no where near enough exercise. Kids aren't fat because of some weird health bit. They are fat because they are fed foods with practically no nutritional value and they just sit around all day playing video games and talking on their phones. And these fat, unhealthy kids become fat unhealthy adults. Plain and simple.

Course you are welcome to believe and eat whatever you wish to. I cannot and would not stop you even if I could. I will just sit over here after riding my bike for four miles eating toast with Butter on it after enjoying a breakfast of bacon and eggs. Time will tell who lives longer.

Brew Long and Prosper