We Live in a Sick Society, Part 4....The Cure

Curing our Sick Society

In my own opinionated way, I have laid out what I think are some of the "illnesses" (real and/or figurative) our society suffers from.
The cure?
The cure is not an easy pill to swallow.
WE are the only ones that can effect a cure.

Step One:
Take responsibility for your own health.
That, by the way, is the ONLY step.
That means that if you are ingesting in any way anything you KNOW is unhealthy for you, STOP IT!
Smoking, drinking to excess, white sugars, too much fat, etc.
Shop as organically as possible. Garden, raise livestock for your table if you can. Buy local. Use baking soda and vinegar for cleaning whenever possible.Get as much plastic out of your home as possible.
Look into herbal medicine for everyday aches and pains. Avoid OTC medications as much as possible.
Exercise. Even if you have difficulty doing so, exercise at least a little. Then a little more, every day, do something physical.
Watch less t.v. Move your t.v. OUT of your bedroom! You'll sleep deeper and longer without it in there!
Question your doctor. Don't demand antibiotics for every sniffle! Always ask for treatment options that do NOT involve medication. If your doctor is the type to use his prescription pad at the drop of a hat...find a new doctor.
Eat more salads. Eat more vegetables. Try to have at least one or two vegetarian meals a week. Eat more whole grains.Eat more beans.
Cook from scratch all you can. Bake your own bread, make your own tortillas.
Pack your lunches for work. Pack your children's lunches for school. Better yet, if you are able, home school!
Cut your portion sizes.Get a water filter or water filter pitcher and drink more water.
Drive less, walk/bike more.
Read labels. I'll say that again...READ LABELS. Know what you are eating, what you are feeding your family, what you are cleaning with, etc.
Do all of the above for your children as well!
Give your kids healthy options for snacks. Involve them in gardening, take them to the Farmers Market with you, let them help in the kitchen. 

Make decisions with your wallet. DON'T buy Monsanto products. Try to stay away from the "big box" stores.
"Buy American" is not just good for country, it is good for your health. Other countries do not do the inspections and have the quality control we have in this country.
Again, check those labels! For example, many of the canned vegetables on Wal-Marts shelves are grown and canned in China.They use pesticides and herbicides not allowed in the US. Honey in many groceries is a "blend" of honey from several countries. Sometimes it contains HFCS. ONLY buy local honey! Much produce, meat, honey and fruits that come from South America are similarly suspect. Argentina and Brazil have allowed Monsanto to run agriculture in much of their countries, so many of the products from those countries are GMOs or have fed on GMO corn, wheat, etc.

I know, I know, it seems like a lot to do to reclaim your health.
But once you take the first few "baby steps", it becomes second nature. I have not completed all of the above myself, but I am working on it!
I read the labels. I avoid doctors, OTCs and chemical cleaners. I buy organic and/or local as much as I am able and we are in the process of banishing sugar from the house.
We garden, raise livestock and have home raised eggs, milk and meat.
I have just started getting rid of all the plastics and petroleum-based materials in our home...that's a VERY tough one, by the way!
Take a first step, even if it's a baby step.

Things Are Tough All Over

It's rough out there.
The economy has tanked. Not is going to tank or will soon tank, it HAS tanked.
The US has hit it's credit limit. Congress has 11 weeks to raise that limit or risk another recession/depression.
Read about it here
You know, when an average person hits their credit limit, the local bank or credit union tells them "Nope, no more. You have to pay off your debts---or at least put a substantial dent in them before we will even think about giving you more credit."
Apparently, governments do not operate the same way. They run up more and more bills and figure our children or grandchildren or great-grandchildren, etc. will be able to pay the bills.

Crops this year will not be the greatest. State wide droughts in some areas, state wide flooding in others have rendered a lot of cropland in the US useless or close to it this growing season.
Estimates I have read places the losses at astronomical levels.
1/5 of the rice crop (in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas), gone due to flooding.
Possible 1/4 of the this years wheat and corn crop gone.
Ranchers having to slaughter herds of cattle and flocks of sheep due to lack of hay to feed them and the high price of corn. Some of the big pig farms in the mid-west considering culling their herds...and some have already started.

If you have the funds, get a freezer as I suspect the supermarkets will have a lot of meat specials in the next few months.
Add more rice, wheat and corn to your food storage if you have the funds.
Buy specials when and where you can and get that pressure canner and dehydrator going!
*******************************
There was a special at our supermarket last week on spinach...fresh and frozen!
I loaded up on both and we have been enjoying nice fresh salads and various spinach dishes.
Last night I fixed a Greek dinner and spinach was one of the stars of the meal...everyone loved the dish and asked for seconds...and thirds! Yes! Teenagers loving spinach!

Greek Spinach
***********
1 pound fresh spinach or 1 pack frozen--thawed out and drained til dry as possible
1 teaspoon minced garlic--or one clove minced
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 or 3 fresh mushrooms, sliced thin (optional--I had a few I got from the MUST SELL NOW! cart in the produce section...they were cheap and didn't look too bad)
Sesame seeds for garnish
Melt butter in pan, add olive oil and minced garlic and saute for about 2 to 3 minutes. Add spinach and mushrooms and cook, stirring often until fresh spinach is wilted or frozen spinach is heated through.
Put in serving bowl and sprinkle a teaspoon of sesame seeds on top for garnish
Serve hot.

Like I said, everyone loved it! It is such an easy recipe, too.

The Greek dinner I fixed was cheap and easy.
Home made pita bread ( Here's the recipe I use )
1/2 cup yogurt mixed with 1 cup diced up peeled cucumber
Home made feta cheese
Cous-cous
Shredded lettuce
Chopped artichoke hearts (I use canned ones I got on sale)
Greek beef in sauce ( I used about a pound of steak, cut in bite sized pieces, seared in butter, added 1/2 teaspoon of powdered cloves, 1 teaspoon onion powder,1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of lemon zest, pepper, garlic powder, a bit of salt, 3/4 cup water...cooked it in that --covered--for about a half hour, then added 1/2 cup water mixed with 2 tablespoons corn starch to thicken, stirred until thick, then served)
With the spinach it was a healthy and filling and tasty meal for all.
I know...no black olives...sigh. But they were jst not in the budget this month!
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I try to stretch our food budget as much as possible. I buy meat, veggies (fresh, frozen and canned), pasta, etc on sale as often as possible while still feeding the family healthy meals.
Dessert here is a rarity...and when I do serve dessert, it usually is fresh fruit or yogurt and fresh fruit.
Thank goodness for the goats and chickens! I haven't had to buy eggs in ages and the goats milk provides yogurt and sour cream and milk for drinking and baking. I have recently started making cheese and have successfully made feta cheese and a nice soft goat cheese that I enhanced with the addition of fresh herbs.
Going to try for ice cream this weekend, I think. I have not been able to make butter yet from goats milk, but am still trying!
We only use butter here. I simply hate the taste and texture of margarine *shudder*. Margarine is simply nasty!  That is one item on my shopping list I cannot compromise on! Before anyone gets ruffled about fat content, etc., I find that I use far less butter than most people use margarine. Butter has a better *mouth feel* as the food experts say, less is needed to give an intense taste and the natural fat (as opposed to the plastic tasting margarine)gives a silkier texture that is more satisfying. I am sure a lot of my readers have that *one item* they draw the line at, too! Heh-heh...my mom has one brand of sliced ham she will eat...and no other! She can tell a generic brand from *her* brand at 50 feet, lol!
********************************
One of my sons has been going through a rough patch and it weighs heavily on my heart.
He had a good job, but it was hurting his health.The stress was high and the hours were horribly long (80+ hours a week) and because he worked such a long schedule, most of his meals were of the *grab and go* variety. At age 30, he was having what the hospital was calling *heart events*. His blood pressure sky-rocketed and repeated visits to the doctor ended up with the doctor telling him that either he would have to quit, or face the very real probability of dying young from a heart attack. So, he quit the job and got the rest the doctor ordered, along with medication, exercise and a diet change. Thankfully, he is doing MUCH better. He dropped the weight the doctor told him to drop, his blood pressure dropped and dropped until it was hovering at the right levels (whew!).
That part was good.
But being without a job was bad.
He gave up and cut corners as much as humanly possible. He sold everything he had that was possible to sell. Still, he got behind on his car note, so, sadly, he took his car back to the bank.
Happily, he has now found a job...a job with normal hours, a lot less stress and a fairly okay (if lower) paycheck. He has gone back to school (local college with online courses) to get a degree so that his employment future will be brighter.
Some friends have been giving him a ride to work, but that ends in about a week.
This all leads to:
My son needs a bicycle.The bicycle would be used for him to get to and from work and to attend those classes where he is required to show up at the school.
He is a large guy (6 ft 10in), so a normal little Schwinn from Wal-Mart just won't work. He has found a bicycle and negotiated a price, but needs a little help.
I have emptied out my paltry bank account to help him out and he is still a little short.
If any of my readers has just $5 they can send him, it would be greatly appreciated.
Greg Moore
1331 Woodrow St
Shreveport, La 71103

I know it sounds awful asking this way, but he is at the end of his rope, I am at the end of mine and I can't help him anymore until the first of the month when the fella gets paid, and even then it is going to be tight around here. I just couldn't think of any thing else to do.
I figured that 5 bucks was not a lot to ask and if just 10 or 12 people respond, that would be enough to get Greg *over the hump*. If there is any excess funds, it won't go to waste, he'll put it towards his college courses.
Thanks to anyone that can help.
BTW, my son has no clue I am doing this...and will probably be annoyed at me when he finds out.
I guess I am just a mama that won't give up being a mama and fighting for my kids in any way I can.

Diet Can Prevent Diabetes, Heart Attacks and Cancer...

I have been thinking a lot about my health, my fellas health and the health of others I care for.
This morning I watched a great documentary...it is almost 2 hours long, but well worth the watch! I found it on Hulu. It is called Chow Down (just click on the name to go watch it!)
Watching that documentary has made me even more determined to get a good garden going this spring and providing healthy food for my family here.My fella (like most American men) is of the opinion that unless there is a juicy slab of meat on his plate, dinner has NOT been served! I am going to have to convince him and the kids that having a meatless meal is NOT torture! I do have them eating salads about twice to three times a week now, thank goodness. I probably won't be able to switch them completely to a meatless diet, but perhaps I can get them to view vegetables and fruit as friends and not enemies!
Just to open your eyes a bit more...think about this....the US is considered the richest, most powerful nation on earth, yet we are NOT the healthiest!
I ended up going to Wikipedia looking up diet, longevity, cultural diets and a slew of other food related topics and found this:

Rank by UN member state	Rank by entity	Entity	Overall life expectancy at birth	Male life expectancy at birth	Female life expectancy at birth
-	1	Macau	84.36	81.39	87.47
1	2	Andorra	82.51	80.33	84.84
2	3	Japan	82.12	78.8	85.62
3	4	Singapore	81.98	79.37	84.78
4	5	San Marino	81.97	78.53	85.72
-	6	Hong Kong	81.86	79.16	84.79
5	7	Australia	81.63	79.25	84.14
6	8	Canada	81.23	78.69	83.91
7	9	France (metropolitan)	80.98	77.79	84.33
8	10	Sweden	80.86	78.59	83.26
9	11	Switzerland	80.85	78.03	83.83
-	12	Guernsey	80.77	77.76	83.88
10	13	Israel	80.73	78.62	82.95
11	14	Iceland	80.67	78.53	82.9
	15	Anguilla	80.65	78.11	83.26
	16	Cayman Islands	80.44	77.2	83.72
	17	Bermuda	80.43	77.65	83.26
12	18	New Zealand	80.36	78.43	82.39
13	19	Italy	80.2	77.26	83.33
	20	Gibraltar	80.19	77.3	83.22
14	21	Monaco	80.09	76.3	84.09
15	22	Liechtenstein	80.06	76.59	83.53
16	23	Spain	80.05	76.74	83.57
17	24	Norway	79.95	77.29	82.74
	25	Jersey	79.75	77.23	82.46
18	26	Greece	79.66	77.11	82.37
19	27	Austria	79.5	76.6	82.56
	28	Faroe Islands	79.44	77	82.05
20	29	Malta	79.44	76.95	81.47
21	30	Netherlands	79.4	76.8	82.14
22	31	Luxembourg	79.33	76.07	82.81
23	32	Germany	79.26	76.26	82.42
24	33	Belgium	79.22	76.06	82.53
	34	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	79.07	76.69	81.57
	35	U.S. Virgin Islands	79.05	76.02	82.26
25	36	United Kingdom	79.01	76.52	81.63
26	37	Finland	78.97	75.48	82.61
27	38	Jordan	78.87	76.34	81.56
	39	Isle of Man	78.82	75.86	81.93
28	40	South Korea	78.72	77.45	82.22
	41	European Union	78.67	75.54	81.97
	42	Puerto Rico ( US)	78.53	74.85	82.39
29	43	Bosnia and Herzegovina	78.5	74.92	82.34
	44	Saint Helena	78.44	75.52	81.5
30	45	Cyprus	78.33	75.91	80.86
31	46	Denmark	78.3	75.96	80.78
32	47	Ireland	78.24	75.6	81.06
33	48	Portugal	78.21	74.95	81.69
	49	Wallis and Futuna	78.2	75.22	81.32
34	50	United States	78.11	75.65	80.69
35	51	Albania	77.96	75.28	80.89
	52	Taiwan	77.96	75.12	81.05
36	53	Kuwait	77.71	76.51	78.95
37	54	Costa Rica	77.58	74.96	80.34
38	55	Cuba	77.45	75.19	79.85
39	56	Chile	77.34	74.07	80.77
40	57	Libya	77.26	74.98	79.65
	58	British Virgin Islands	77.26	76.03	78.55
41	59	Panama	77.25	74.47	80.16
42	60	Slovenia	76.92	73.25	80.84
43	61	Czech Republic	76.81	73.54	80.28
44	62	Georgia	76.72	73.41	80.45
	63	French Polynesia ( France)	76.31	73.88	78.86
	64	Northern Mariana Islands ( US)	76.71	74.26	79.29
	65	Netherlands Antilles ( Netherlands)	76.65	74.03	79.09
45	66	Argentina	76.56	73.32	79.97
46	67	Saint Lucia	76.45	73.78	79.27
47	68	Uruguay	76.35	73.1	79.72
48	69	Saudi Arabia	76.3	74.23	78.48
49	75	Poland	76.28	73.12	79.44
50	70	United Arab Emirates	76.11	73.56	78.78
51	71	Mexico	76.06	73.25	79
52	72	Tunisia	75.78	73.98	77.7
53	73	Paraguay	75.77	73.19	78.49
54	74	Brunei	75.74	73.52	78.07
55	76	Dominica	75.55	72.61	78.64
	77	Turks and Caicos Islands	75.42	73.12	77.83
56	78	Slovakia	75.4	71.47	79.53
57	79	Croatia	75.35	71.72	79.18
58	80	Qatar	75.35	71.66	77.14
59	81	Ecuador	75.3	72.37	78.37
	82	Aruba ( Netherlands)	75.28	72.25	78.38
60	83	Bahrain	75.16	72.64	77.76
61	84	Sri Lanka	75.14	73.08	77.28
	85	New Caledonia ( France)	74.98	71.99	78.12
62	86	Lithuania	74.9	69.98	80.1
63	87	Antigua and Barbuda	74.76	72.81	76.81
64	88	Macedonia	74.68	72.18	77.38
	89	West Bank	74.54	72.54	76.65
	90	Cook Islands	74.22	71.46	77.13
65	91	Oman	74.16	71.87	76.55
66	92	Algeria	74.02	72.35	75.77
67	93	Mauritius	74	70.53	77.65
68	94	Maldives	73.97	71.78	76.28
69	95	Barbados	73.94	71.65	76.26
70	96	Serbia	73.9	71.09	76.89
71	97	Suriname	73.73	71	76.65
	98	American Samoa ( US)	73.72	70.8	76.82
72	99	Dominican Republic	73.7	71.88	75.6
73	100	Solomon Islands	73.69	71.14	76.37
74	101	Lebanon	73.66	71.15	76.31
75	102	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	73.65	71.82	75.54
76	103	Venezuela	73.61	70.54	76.83
77	104	Jamaica	73.53	71.83	75.3
78	105	People's Republic of China	73.47	71.61	75.52
79	106	Hungary	73.44	69.27	77.87
	107	Gaza Strip	73.42	71.82	75.12
80	108	Malaysia	73.29	70.56	76.21
81	109	Saint Kitts and Nevis	73.2	70.33	76.25
82	110	Thailand	73.1	70.77	75.55
83	111	Bulgaria	73.09	69.48	76.91
84	112	Seychelles	73.02	68.33	77.85
85	113	Estonia	72.82	67.45	78.53
86	114	Colombia	72.81	68.98	76.76
	115	Montserrat	72.76	74.74	70.68
87	116	Armenia	72.68	69.06	76.81
88	117	Romania	72.45	68.95	76.16
89	118	El Salvador	72.33	68.72	76.11
90	119	Latvia	72.15	66.98	77.59
91	120	Egypt	72.12	69.56	74.81
92	121	Brazil	71.99	68.43	75.73
93	122	Turkey	71.96	70.12	73.89
94	123	Uzbekistan	71.96	68.95	75.15
95	124	Samoa	71.86	69.03	74.84
96	125	Morocco	71.8	69.42	74.3
97	126	Cape Verde	71.61	68.27	75.05
98	127	Vietnam	71.58	68.78	74.57
99	128	Nicaragua	71.5	69.35	73.75
100	129	Palau	71.22	68.08	74.54
101	130	Marshall Islands	71.19	69.15	73.34
102	131	Syria	71.19	69.8	72.68
103	132	Iran	71.14	69.65	72.72
104	133	Philippines	71.09	68.17	74.15
105	134	Federated States of Micronesia	70.94	69.06	72.93
106	135	Trinidad and Tobago	70.86	67.98	73.82
107	136	Moldova	70.8	67.1	74.71
108	137	Indonesia	70.76	68.26	73.38
109	138	Peru	70.74	68.33	68.88
110	139	Fiji	70.73	68.18	73.41
111	140	Tonga	70.73	68.18	73.41
112	141	Belarus	70.63	64.95	76.67
113	142	Guatemala	70.29	68.49	72.19
	143	Greenland ( Denmark)	70.07	67.44	72.85
114	144	Iraq	69.94	68.6	71.34
115	145	India	69.89	67.46	72.61
116	146	Kyrgyzstan	69.43	65.43	73.64
117	147	Honduras	69.4	67.86	71.02
118	148	Tuvalu	69.29	66.99	71.7
119	149	São Tomé and Príncipe	68.32	66.65	70.04
120	150	Ukraine	68.25	62.37	74.5
121	151	Belize	68.2	66.44	70.05
122	152	Kazakhstan	67.87	62.58	73.47
123	153	Turkmenistan	67.87	64.94	70.95
124	154	Mongolia	67.65	65.23	70.19
125	155	East Timor	67.27	64.92	69.75
126	156	Bolivia	66.89	64.2	69.72
127	157	Guyana	66.68	64.09	69.4
128	158	Azerbaijan	66.66	62.53	71.34
-	-	World	66.57	64.52	68.76
129	159	Papua New Guinea	66.34	64.08	68.72
130	160	Bhutan	66.13	65.33	66.97
131	161	Russia	66.03	59.33	73.14
132	162	Grenada	65.95	64.06	67.85
133	163	The Bahamas	65.78	62.63	68.98
134	164	Nepal	65.46	64.3	66.67
135	165	Tajikistan	65.33	62.29	68.52
136	166	Pakistan	64.49	63.4	65.64
137	167	Nauru	64.2	60.58	68.01
138	168	Vanuatu	63.98	62.37	65.66
139	169	North Korea	63.81	61.23	66.53
140	170	Comoros	63.47	61.07	65.94
141	171	Burma	63.39	61.17	65.74
142	172	Yemen	63.27	61.3	65.33
143	173	Kiribati	63.22	60.14	66.45
	174	Mayotte ( France)	62.91	60.65	65.24
144	175	Madagascar	62.89	60.93	64.91
145	176	Cambodia	62.1	60.03	64.27
146	177	Botswana	61.85	61.72	61.99
147	178	Eritrea	61.78	59.71	63.9
148	179	Equatorial Guinea	61.61	60.71	62.54
149	180	Haiti	60.78	59.13	62.48
150	181	Mauritania	60.37	58.22	62.59
151	182	Bangladesh	60.25	57.57	63.03
152	183	Ghana	59.85	58.98	60.75
153	184	Benin	59	57.83	60.23
154	185	Senegal	59	57.12	60.93
155	186	Togo	58.69	56.56	60.88
156	187	Kenya	57.86	57.49	58.24
157	188	Guinea	57.09	55.63	58.6
158	189	Laos	56.68	54.56	58.9
159	190	Côte d'Ivoire	55.45	54.64	56.28
160	191	Ethiopia	55.41	52.92	57.97
161	192	The Gambia	55.35	53.43	57.34
162	193	Democratic Republic of the Congo	54.36	52.58	56.2
	194	Western Sahara	54.32	52	56.73
163	195	Republic of the Congo	54.15	52.9	55.43
164	196	Cameroon	53.69	52.89	54.52
165	197	Gabon	53.11	52.19	54.05
166	198	Burkina Faso	52.95	51.04	54.91
167	199	Uganda	52.72	51.66	53.81
168	200	Niger	52.6	51.39	53.85
169	201	Burundi	52.09	51.2	53.01
170	202	Tanzania	52.01	50.56	53.51
171	203	Sudan	51.42	50.49	52.4
172	204	Namibia	51.24	51.61	50.86
173	205	Rwanda	50.52	49.25	51.83
174	206	Mali	50.35	48.38	52.38
175	207	Somalia	49.63	47.78	51.53
176	208	South Africa	48.98	49.81	48.13
177	209	Guinea-Bissau	47.9	46.07	49.79
178	210	Chad	47.7	46.67	48.77
179	211	Nigeria	46.94	46.16	47.76
180	212	Zimbabwe	45.77	46.36	45.16
181	213	Afghanistan	44.64	44.47	44.81
182	214	Central African Republic	44.47	44.4	44.54
183	215	Malawi	43.82	44.07	43.57
184	216	Djibouti	43.37	41.89	44.89
185	217	Liberia	41.84	40.71	43
186	218	Sierra Leone	41.24	38.92	43.64
187	219	Mozambique	41.18	41.83	40.53
188	220	Lesotho	40.38	41.18	39.54
189	221	Zambia	38.63	38.53	38.73
190	222	Angola	38.2	37.24	39.22
191	223	Swaziland	31.88	31.62	32.15

Did you happen to see where the United States was on that chart?

We are NOT Number 1!