Read 'n' Seed 3: First quarter of "The Food Revolution"

I read pages 84 to 168 of, "The Food Revolution by John Robbin's and learned a lot of interesting information.

Main Topics
The main topics I learned about was: children eating unhealthy and contracts in schools with fast food companies/vending machines, the dairy industry making false advertises and making people believe milk cuts down the risk of osteoporosis. The book also talked about what is being most advertised in our economy is not necessarily healthy food choices, and lastly I learned about E coli.

Significant Things I learned/New Terminology

The average U.S. kid sees 1,000 ads each week that promotes eating unhealthy such as restaurants such as McDonald's and Taco Bell. Most kids that start eating unhealthy at an early age will eat unhealthy for the rest of their lives. More than 5,000 schools in the U.S. have contracts with fast food companies and supply vending machines. This only helps support bad habits and is not sending the right message about health to children. An interesting fact I read was that the amount spent annually by the dairy industry on milk ads is $190 million where as the amount spent on McDonald's advertising its products is $800 million. The amount spend annually by the National Cancer Institute promoting fruits and vegetables is $1 million. If the U.S. shifted more toward a plant based diet the majority of people would lead healthier lives, feel more energetic, and live longer.

I learned that the milk mustache commercials that promote milk to put the risk of osteoporosis is creating false information. There is no evidence according to the FDA that increased calcium intake from milk will lower the risk of osteoporosis. The Media called John Robbins, "the dairy industries public enemy number one" which is ironic because his father owned the largest ice cream company. John criticizes the dairy industry because they put ads out that are untrue and trick people into believing dairy products are necessary for a healthy diet. There was a study of more than 75,000 American nurses that found that women with the highest calcium consumption from dairy products actually had substantially more fractures than women who drank less milk.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 200 people in the United States officially become sick every day from E coli and several die. Ironically, undercooked meat is more likely to result in cancer. Ecol i bacteria can be found in up to 50% of the US cattle carcasses.

Implications of What I Read

What I read has a huge impact on Americans. People are not getting properly educated on certain foods such as dairy products and E coli. Also, there are way too many ads on T.V. promoting unhealthy eating. People need to get educated on foods and realize what is actually healthy for them opposed to what is not.