Eventually I would have to make a post about this topic, seeing my habitual skepticism regarding most modern research and pharmaceutical drugs. I usually have a huge veiny boner for the underdog, and I guess quite predictably - I support Naturopathy and dietary healing, similar (although not as fervently) to my support of organic and otherwise sustainable farming methods. I will try and step down from any bias I may have, and address a problem that annoys the shit out of me; I feel as though discourse on medicine has become the most roundabout, waste-of-time venture since fucking Nascar.
On one side of the ring we have conventional medicine, whose constant "quackwatch"-type bullshit likens a fucking witch hunt. They refuse to acknowledge that medicine existed longer than 400 years ago, and if anything isn't well documented in modern, recent research - its legitimacy is ultimately discredited. Admittedly, it makes sense that if you're raised to trust any piece of research released by a larger university or any government institution, so long as it doesn't radically question our status quo - then you'd more than likely be skeptical of anything that isn't widely published or categorized under popular opinion.
On the other side of the ring, we have practitioners of alternative medicine - mostly non confrontational, Californian pussies. Instead of openly being dicks (like those that support conventional medicine, who seem to dedicate their efforts into squelching their opposition), they're mostly quiet or only privately object. I guess this also can make sense, since they'd face public stigmitization. It's also pretty shitty that their stereotype is similar, if not worse, than that associated with the organic food movement. In short, plenty of them make jokes of themselves by being into spirituality, auras, and shit of the same ilk.
The problem: neither side trusts its opponent's sources; this isn't a case of not being on the same page, this is being in an entirely different book. I'm going to sound like a fucking simpleton trying to discuss philosophy, but I truly believe that both sides of nearly any argument contain worthwhile substance - I'm not into relativist bullshit, but I do believe that the nature of understanding is much more complex than how we attempt to oversimplify it with science. I think it's incredibly arrogant on humanity's part to sincerely believe it's capable of retrodiction, unbridled understanding, and authority over the natural world. Lately I've been reading a lot about permaculture and perrenials, and it's so fascinating to me - the prospects of emulating nature and its potentially higher productivity, even when compared against our modern chemicals and techniques. Like it says in a favorite song of mine, "Improv Culture Kill" by Policy of 3 (a New Jersey based emotive hardcore band from the early '90s):
"we celebrate the cultures that we kill, they are roadside tourist traps when they should be an insititution. And our science - that has poisoned us on the inside and the out, has created more fear than any vengeful, primitive god. And our science, which we accept so wholehearted, forces us to define what truly is a great mystery. We reach out, but we lack the embrace. We reach out, but there is no embrace to find."
There's no heart in our modern scientific world, and I believe both nature and our minds are the two most complex entities in existence - two things arguably forever more powerful and heartfelt than anything resulting from science and technology. I also believe that contrary to all those angsty, teenage, atheist Family Guy and Daily Show fans swearing religion is the bane of humanity - science itself has created more fear and death. Science and technology created our weapons of warfare, they created all the problems with our modern food system, they were the agents behind all the annual deaths caused by pharmaceuticals, they were the co-conspirators behind all our synthetic recreational drugs (or pharmaceuticals misused for recreation) and all the deaths and strife as a result of their sale, they've hurt our evolution (since our only "progress" still within sight, according to most people, is technological), caused more sedentary lifestyles, and built cultures around convenience and escapism. I'm not a primitivist thought, I believe some technology is beneficial - I don't believe in fucking nut and berry, hunter-gatherer shit. Sorry for sidetracking, I just wanted to get my opinion out there on such a sensitive matter; everybody acts as though I'm fucking their mother whenever I criticize our species' attempts at progress through scientific inquiry and technological fixes. The point I want to make, simply, is that science itself is a faith - one that's only more divided when lobbyists and corporations are involved in the funding of research, and when two opposing sides can make equally as convincing claims on nearly any matter.
Discourse on medicine has reserved its seat in the same arena as internet messageboard, "no u" bickering. Those on the side of alternative medicine will continually question the legitimacy of their opposition's sources - seeing as the majority of popular research is funded by corporations that directly profit from positive results and clever euphemism. On the other side, those associated with conventional medicine will continually question the legitimacy of their opposition's sources, since they don't receive massive funding or, in many cases, they're not released by popular publications or by the government.
Shit is so bananas. Nothing is accomplished. How about you all quit being dickheads, and why not settle on healthy diet and excercise? Well, the pharmaceutical industry seems to have the public convinced (through its heavy advertising) that they'd rather work a pill into their routine than completely change their lifestyle and diet. Convenience digs its claws into our culture's health once again. Conventional medicine fails to emphasize prevention, and many forms of alternative medicine thrive on unnecessary preventive methods. The dietary supplement industry also thrives on its consumers believing it's difficult to get all their nutrients through whole food sources, which isn't true; and the herbal supplement industry is full of plenty of companies that sell low quality products, and make it difficult to sift through all the shit for the diamonds!
Just have a healthy diet and live a happy, active lifestyle - learn to forage for herbs (as I intend to do) if you have access to them and they're applicable to your health situation. Food is your medicine, and medicine is your food. If you die shortlived, it's fine (which you probably will not if you maintain a healthy lifestyle). Quit trying to fight the inevitable and contributing to our overpopulation problem.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Entry #22: Supplementation
Sen. McCain and the Dietary Supplement Safety Act, S. 3002
My girlfriend recently showed me this link, and apparently tons of people are getting super defensive against this proposed legislation regarding supplements. Basically what the bill entails is that key components of DSHEA (Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act) be revised, namely supplements being considered food, rather than drugs, and evading the costs of pre-market research.
Honestly, I will give McCain the benefit of the doubt, and I believe he's sincere and well-intentioned with the proposed legislation - although I do contend that the bill has potential to become anything but beneficial to the consumer. McCain may have pharmaceutical lobbyists pulling his strings as plenty of people suggest, but honestly, he may just be thinking that the lack of regulation has led to a few lower quality products and mislabeling; however, it seems a bit contradictory for a Republican to push any bill that places potentially high fines or added restrictions on industry.
My predictions: the producers of herbal supplements would be hit the hardest, and the alternative medicine sector would be hard pressed to stay financially viable. The reason why, I assume, the producers of herbal and dietary supplements opted to be considered food products under DSHEA was so that they could cut their expenditures and therefor maximize their profits. This isn't a new concept, and the supplement industry isn't any worse than any other major industry; if they weren't required to foot the bill for pre-market research they could save tons of money, not to mention the research (at least for herbal supplements) would be slightly more difficult to pass off as legitimate in plain sight of AMA opposition. I don't think them opting out of pre-market research was a result of them "knowing" their products were faulty (as plenty of practitioners of conventional medicine would suggest), but it was them engaging in very common greed-driven practices: this is the #1 reason I believe capitalism works against public health, not only through lobbyists buying heavily biased research, but via industry curtailing its responsibilites to maximize its profits.
The article states:
"The McCain bill would change existing mandatory serious adverse reporting regulations, requiring minor adverse effects to be reported as well so that the FDA could arbitrarily pull supplements off the shelves or reclassify them as drugs. This immediate recall authority would be granted to the “Secretary upon determination,” that there is a “reasonable probability” that the product is “adulterated” or “misbranded.” Adulterated in this bill takes on a whole new expanded definition: “A dietary supplement which contains a new dietary ingredient shall be deemed adulterated under section 402(f) unless there is a history of use or other evidence of safety.” The development of new products that contain newly discovered nutritional components may be entirely quashed."
If the FDA could arbitrarily pull any supplement off the shelves, then nearly everything could eventually be pulled and be required extensive testing. Herbal supplements could be hit especially hard from this, and they'd slowly have to test each product before it could get its place back on a shelf. Funding would probably be difficult to come by, because the only herb that people give a fuck about testing is marijuana (I swear - the one herbal exception for practitioners of conventional medicine. I fucking wonder why, douchebags?). I'm probably sounding a bit like a fearmongerer at this moment, and it may not be that rough for the herbal supplement industry (which is growing at a steady rate annually) - but what about the dietary supplement industry? If the supplement industry overall is showing to be profitable, then the pharmaceutical industry may see their share of profits to be made in supplements and front the research bills where the less wealthy supplement industry falters and may be more hesitant to cover. If the pharmaceutical industry used its money to profit off of marketing dietary supplements and somehow overtook most small or medium sized producers of dietary supplements, then shit could get dire and lower quality products could get churned out at a quicker pace. I guess I see the pharmaceutical industry as a vulture, and it would more than likely swipe other industry's profits while they're vulnerable - since right now the supplement industry has steady grounding, and even then doesn't pose an enormous threat.
ps. I'm not a strong supporter of supplementation. I already said in a previous post that I'm more a supporter of getting all your nutrients through whole food sources, and healing through diet rather than Naturopathy. If supplements were as effective as whole food sources we wouldn't have to eat any shit at all, and I'd rather learn how to forage for herbs than take something in a pill form (especially when larger retailers try and sell mislabeld products or those in cellulose capsules). I still, however, see the supplement industry as more worthy of my support than the pharmaceutical industry - and any sort of legislation that in any way favors big business, notably the pharmaceutical industry, I will more than likely oppose.
My girlfriend recently showed me this link, and apparently tons of people are getting super defensive against this proposed legislation regarding supplements. Basically what the bill entails is that key components of DSHEA (Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act) be revised, namely supplements being considered food, rather than drugs, and evading the costs of pre-market research.
Honestly, I will give McCain the benefit of the doubt, and I believe he's sincere and well-intentioned with the proposed legislation - although I do contend that the bill has potential to become anything but beneficial to the consumer. McCain may have pharmaceutical lobbyists pulling his strings as plenty of people suggest, but honestly, he may just be thinking that the lack of regulation has led to a few lower quality products and mislabeling; however, it seems a bit contradictory for a Republican to push any bill that places potentially high fines or added restrictions on industry.
My predictions: the producers of herbal supplements would be hit the hardest, and the alternative medicine sector would be hard pressed to stay financially viable. The reason why, I assume, the producers of herbal and dietary supplements opted to be considered food products under DSHEA was so that they could cut their expenditures and therefor maximize their profits. This isn't a new concept, and the supplement industry isn't any worse than any other major industry; if they weren't required to foot the bill for pre-market research they could save tons of money, not to mention the research (at least for herbal supplements) would be slightly more difficult to pass off as legitimate in plain sight of AMA opposition. I don't think them opting out of pre-market research was a result of them "knowing" their products were faulty (as plenty of practitioners of conventional medicine would suggest), but it was them engaging in very common greed-driven practices: this is the #1 reason I believe capitalism works against public health, not only through lobbyists buying heavily biased research, but via industry curtailing its responsibilites to maximize its profits.
The article states:
"The McCain bill would change existing mandatory serious adverse reporting regulations, requiring minor adverse effects to be reported as well so that the FDA could arbitrarily pull supplements off the shelves or reclassify them as drugs. This immediate recall authority would be granted to the “Secretary upon determination,” that there is a “reasonable probability” that the product is “adulterated” or “misbranded.” Adulterated in this bill takes on a whole new expanded definition: “A dietary supplement which contains a new dietary ingredient shall be deemed adulterated under section 402(f) unless there is a history of use or other evidence of safety.” The development of new products that contain newly discovered nutritional components may be entirely quashed."
If the FDA could arbitrarily pull any supplement off the shelves, then nearly everything could eventually be pulled and be required extensive testing. Herbal supplements could be hit especially hard from this, and they'd slowly have to test each product before it could get its place back on a shelf. Funding would probably be difficult to come by, because the only herb that people give a fuck about testing is marijuana (I swear - the one herbal exception for practitioners of conventional medicine. I fucking wonder why, douchebags?). I'm probably sounding a bit like a fearmongerer at this moment, and it may not be that rough for the herbal supplement industry (which is growing at a steady rate annually) - but what about the dietary supplement industry? If the supplement industry overall is showing to be profitable, then the pharmaceutical industry may see their share of profits to be made in supplements and front the research bills where the less wealthy supplement industry falters and may be more hesitant to cover. If the pharmaceutical industry used its money to profit off of marketing dietary supplements and somehow overtook most small or medium sized producers of dietary supplements, then shit could get dire and lower quality products could get churned out at a quicker pace. I guess I see the pharmaceutical industry as a vulture, and it would more than likely swipe other industry's profits while they're vulnerable - since right now the supplement industry has steady grounding, and even then doesn't pose an enormous threat.
ps. I'm not a strong supporter of supplementation. I already said in a previous post that I'm more a supporter of getting all your nutrients through whole food sources, and healing through diet rather than Naturopathy. If supplements were as effective as whole food sources we wouldn't have to eat any shit at all, and I'd rather learn how to forage for herbs than take something in a pill form (especially when larger retailers try and sell mislabeld products or those in cellulose capsules). I still, however, see the supplement industry as more worthy of my support than the pharmaceutical industry - and any sort of legislation that in any way favors big business, notably the pharmaceutical industry, I will more than likely oppose.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Entry #21: Breast Milk
So I just read an article earlier today about a chef who made his wife's breast milk into cheese:
here's the article
I personally think this shit rules; fuck all the noise from the armchair scientists who think this shit is unhealthy and has potential for disasterous results. Breast milk is healthy, has a perfect balance of aminos for human development, and doesn't have the same health risks as dairy milk. All the naysayers can back the fuck off; the comment about, "As for quality there is no comparison. You can control everything cows ingest and you can keep them producing milk all year," is nonsense. Most dairy cows probably have horrible diets, and it's not as though you can't control what humans eat - and chances are if the dude is a chef his wife probably has plenty of good, homecooked meals. I'm pretty surprised on the comments to this article - since so many of them are mildly opposed to dairy (or at least the idea behind it), most notably the dairy industry and its lobbyists. Honestly, I think it's gnarly as fuck; even though one isolated case in an unimportant, stupid fucking article hardly represents the general populace - I still see more and more people, including a few of the customers at my work, showing interest in local farming and the opinions of food activists. More progress can be made, but shit still makes me smile so huge on the inside whenever a customer mentions heading to a farmer's market or whenever somebody trash talks the dairy industry.
I'll eat cheese made from a woman's tit any fucking day of the week, as long as she has relatively healthy dietary habits and doesn't take any medication.
here's the article
I personally think this shit rules; fuck all the noise from the armchair scientists who think this shit is unhealthy and has potential for disasterous results. Breast milk is healthy, has a perfect balance of aminos for human development, and doesn't have the same health risks as dairy milk. All the naysayers can back the fuck off; the comment about, "As for quality there is no comparison. You can control everything cows ingest and you can keep them producing milk all year," is nonsense. Most dairy cows probably have horrible diets, and it's not as though you can't control what humans eat - and chances are if the dude is a chef his wife probably has plenty of good, homecooked meals. I'm pretty surprised on the comments to this article - since so many of them are mildly opposed to dairy (or at least the idea behind it), most notably the dairy industry and its lobbyists. Honestly, I think it's gnarly as fuck; even though one isolated case in an unimportant, stupid fucking article hardly represents the general populace - I still see more and more people, including a few of the customers at my work, showing interest in local farming and the opinions of food activists. More progress can be made, but shit still makes me smile so huge on the inside whenever a customer mentions heading to a farmer's market or whenever somebody trash talks the dairy industry.
I'll eat cheese made from a woman's tit any fucking day of the week, as long as she has relatively healthy dietary habits and doesn't take any medication.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Entry #20: Green Peppers
Green peppers are definitely the Bibbies or Kidds of the vegetable world: they consistently produce good results, yet they're not talked about too often and are almost taken for granted.
Green peppers are one vegetable I can easily pick up and eat without augmenting them in any way or adding any salt; even though they're still tasty without preparing them in any way, they undauntedly add to nearly anything that's normally cooked with them. Add green peppers to pizza? Fuck yeah. Add green peppers to beans and rice? Fuck yeah twice.
Recently I encountered possibly the meanest, most forward customer since I started working in produce. I had some indian lady ask me about peppers and their respective hotness - an area where I'm not too knowledgable; for the most part, I just stick to poblanos, habeneros, red chiles, and green peppers. I feel like I did an alright job, given my lack of knowledge. Of course she's looking for fucking anaheim peppers (the one pepper my store sells that I'm least familiar with) and poblanos (the ones on the floor were very questionable, overripe pieces of shit). Don't ask me what the fuck came over me, and why I was bitching to a customer, but I told her I wish I could give her the poblanos for a discounted price - but corporate policy prohibits me from placing anything out at a discounted price, especially when it's being sold directly to a customer or somebody I personally know. The fucking woman, she told me that I'm a bad worker! She said that a good worker would do whatever's necessary to sell the product at a reduced price and getting some sort of sale out of it, instead of throwing it away. It's pretty obvious I hate throwing shit away, especially when it's clearly still edible (just fuckheads won't buy it because it's beginning to gnarlify and less vibrant) - but I'd hate it even more if I got fired and was ultimately cockblocked from getting another produce job; I refuse to work at Wal-Mart, I'm not rehirable at Marcs, Trader Joe's and Nature's Bin are dickshits that never give me interviews, and I'm pretty sure most of the other grocers in my area require 2 or more years experience for their produce positions. Losing my job would be one of the most demoralizing things that could happen to me at the moment.
Just as a reminder: I can't put shit out at a reduced price. My workplace cares too much about upholding its reputation for quality. It's fucking stupid, but whatever. Customers need to quit begging me to give them shit for a reduced price, because as much as I wish I could - you're jeopardizing my job. I'm allowed to stuff banana bags, use dollar off stickers, and occassionally trim up two icebergs and put them out 2-for-1 on a styrofoam tray. There's not shit else that I can do.
So anyways, back to the green peppers. Now I'm going to bitch about my workplace again, somewhat. Of course the dickheads at corporate have no idea what they're doing and they're committing mass pepper genocide. Yes, they're ruining dozens of good peppers en masse: sending them to the fucking gas houses, gunning them down in trenches, and all that other shit Hitler did. The new layout has the peppers in a cooler much colder than their previous location, and a very dry cooler at that. The dry cold eventually causes the peppers to wrinkle at a faster rate, and although they're not technically spoiled - they're still more fragile and very much less likely to be bought. I would love to call the customers dumbasses or picky right now but I personally wouldn't buy a pepper wrinklier than my balls that caves in when I press it. Just a few nights ago I threw out about 10lbs of green peppers, green peppers that definitely would've been edible in the same timeframe if they weren't sped up to wrinkling.
This shit is heinous. Green peppers are dying, fuckholes.
Green peppers are one vegetable I can easily pick up and eat without augmenting them in any way or adding any salt; even though they're still tasty without preparing them in any way, they undauntedly add to nearly anything that's normally cooked with them. Add green peppers to pizza? Fuck yeah. Add green peppers to beans and rice? Fuck yeah twice.
Recently I encountered possibly the meanest, most forward customer since I started working in produce. I had some indian lady ask me about peppers and their respective hotness - an area where I'm not too knowledgable; for the most part, I just stick to poblanos, habeneros, red chiles, and green peppers. I feel like I did an alright job, given my lack of knowledge. Of course she's looking for fucking anaheim peppers (the one pepper my store sells that I'm least familiar with) and poblanos (the ones on the floor were very questionable, overripe pieces of shit). Don't ask me what the fuck came over me, and why I was bitching to a customer, but I told her I wish I could give her the poblanos for a discounted price - but corporate policy prohibits me from placing anything out at a discounted price, especially when it's being sold directly to a customer or somebody I personally know. The fucking woman, she told me that I'm a bad worker! She said that a good worker would do whatever's necessary to sell the product at a reduced price and getting some sort of sale out of it, instead of throwing it away. It's pretty obvious I hate throwing shit away, especially when it's clearly still edible (just fuckheads won't buy it because it's beginning to gnarlify and less vibrant) - but I'd hate it even more if I got fired and was ultimately cockblocked from getting another produce job; I refuse to work at Wal-Mart, I'm not rehirable at Marcs, Trader Joe's and Nature's Bin are dickshits that never give me interviews, and I'm pretty sure most of the other grocers in my area require 2 or more years experience for their produce positions. Losing my job would be one of the most demoralizing things that could happen to me at the moment.
Just as a reminder: I can't put shit out at a reduced price. My workplace cares too much about upholding its reputation for quality. It's fucking stupid, but whatever. Customers need to quit begging me to give them shit for a reduced price, because as much as I wish I could - you're jeopardizing my job. I'm allowed to stuff banana bags, use dollar off stickers, and occassionally trim up two icebergs and put them out 2-for-1 on a styrofoam tray. There's not shit else that I can do.
So anyways, back to the green peppers. Now I'm going to bitch about my workplace again, somewhat. Of course the dickheads at corporate have no idea what they're doing and they're committing mass pepper genocide. Yes, they're ruining dozens of good peppers en masse: sending them to the fucking gas houses, gunning them down in trenches, and all that other shit Hitler did. The new layout has the peppers in a cooler much colder than their previous location, and a very dry cooler at that. The dry cold eventually causes the peppers to wrinkle at a faster rate, and although they're not technically spoiled - they're still more fragile and very much less likely to be bought. I would love to call the customers dumbasses or picky right now but I personally wouldn't buy a pepper wrinklier than my balls that caves in when I press it. Just a few nights ago I threw out about 10lbs of green peppers, green peppers that definitely would've been edible in the same timeframe if they weren't sped up to wrinkling.
This shit is heinous. Green peppers are dying, fuckholes.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Entry #19: Organic Food Pt.2
I'm just making this post because my efforts always seem futile. I feel like an armchair conspiracist, even though I'm not shouting anything too far astray from the mainstream from ontop of my online-soapboxes. It feels like I'm one of those Ron Paul Revolution, illuminati conspiracists shouting tons of regurgitated shit that nobody gives a fuck about, only backfiring and making them look like uptight, paranoid - or even pretentious - pricks. This is not the fucking case; in Entry #14, I cite Paul Roberts and Michael Pollan, both being top selling authors and very popular investigative journalists - not unverified online sources or youtube user speculations. They're not obscure sources, and they're not sources that require much digging. This is surface-level shit, fuckheads. They're certainly not my only sources of information, though, and they're certainly my most accessible - so don't get the sort of vibe that I'm limited to only their works, I just didn't feel like writing a fucking college essay for my entry and felt that those two sources alone could efficiently be utilized for my argument.
I'm glad to know that most people will just do a simple search on the FDA website, find something saying otherwise, and close the argument because further speculation would be "unscientific." Somehow a fucking branding iron gets heated up, and I get a big fucking "hippie" on my hairy white ass. The cheese-meter only begins to peak once the ad hominems start to get used; of course, since I support organic food that means I'm in the same category as soccer moms who drive Priuses and shops at Whole Foods. Genius. There's a fine art to stereotyping, one that I probably haven't been too keen on in any of my entries myself. The Prius driving, soccer moms who shop at Whole Foods isn't a very original, inventive, or otherwise clever stereotype, honestly; it could've very easily been expounded upon, and without such obvious choices. That's just like making fun of obese people with McDonalds jokes. The stereotype doesn't challenge me, it just pisses me off.
First off, I don't shop at Whole Foods. Whole Foods abandoned its buying local buying practices long ago and started building warehouses. Plenty of the produce from Whole Foods is from the same national industrial organic companies that you find at conventional grocers, just slightly fresher and with higher price tags. In my previous entry about organic food, I stated that I'd still rather support Whole Foods than Wal-Mart: I do not retract this statement. I wouldn't want to support Whole Foods for its produce, but rather for its specialty products and its treatment of workers. How workers are treated greatly affects where I shop. Even though Marcs is the cheapest grocer in northeast Ohio, I still avoid Marcs since I know the quality is poor (oftentimes they salvage leftovers from the Westside Market), their workplaces are anti-union, and the kids working in most of the departments (including produce) could give a shit less about what they're doing.
Whole Foods is definitely a step up from a conventional grocer, but please don't use it as a fucking representative for the organic movement (especially when I clearly state that I support organic and local, if possible). Whole Foods sells high quality products, and has a great selection for those with special dietary restrictions (vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, etc.), but it's not what I think the organic movement should be about. I strongly disagree with Whole Foods, Earthbound Farms, Stonyfield Farms, etc. - any company that thinks expanding organic food to an industrial level is the solution; it's a band-aid and definitely creates more discussion, but it's not what we should aspire to.
Secondly, don't use hybrid cars (especially those that are foreign made) to represent people who shop organic. When living in Tucson I occassionally went to this local food co-op, and it wasn't full of people who were wealthy and "sophisticated" enough to own hybrids. The stereotype of people who shop organic driving hybrids is entirely based off a small population of wealthy Hollywood types or middle agers who suddenly have an interest in their health. To that: fuck California for fucking up how people perceive organic food. I don't know a single person who owns a hybrid (not that I have anything against hybrids); I personally walk, ride my bike, and take the RTA to wherever I need to go. If I was going to get a car again for the rare instances when I need it, it would probably be the rustiest, cheapest piece of shit I could find - and I'd use it as little as often. However, I'd still make sure it's American made, fuckheads.
In conclusion, people don't know what the fuck they're talking about, and people do a really shitty and uncreative job at stereotyping. California has shaped the white, upper-middle class, health-conscious yuppie stereotype associated with organic food, and for that: fuck California. Best babes, weed, and burritos? Fuck you, I'll take a homely piece who can hold a conversation and appreciate the underprivileged, piss drunk alcoholics stumbling around and making funny shit happen (rather than eating doritos and sitting around in black lights listening to Bob Marley), and my European food. mmmm.
I'm glad to know that most people will just do a simple search on the FDA website, find something saying otherwise, and close the argument because further speculation would be "unscientific." Somehow a fucking branding iron gets heated up, and I get a big fucking "hippie" on my hairy white ass. The cheese-meter only begins to peak once the ad hominems start to get used; of course, since I support organic food that means I'm in the same category as soccer moms who drive Priuses and shops at Whole Foods. Genius. There's a fine art to stereotyping, one that I probably haven't been too keen on in any of my entries myself. The Prius driving, soccer moms who shop at Whole Foods isn't a very original, inventive, or otherwise clever stereotype, honestly; it could've very easily been expounded upon, and without such obvious choices. That's just like making fun of obese people with McDonalds jokes. The stereotype doesn't challenge me, it just pisses me off.
First off, I don't shop at Whole Foods. Whole Foods abandoned its buying local buying practices long ago and started building warehouses. Plenty of the produce from Whole Foods is from the same national industrial organic companies that you find at conventional grocers, just slightly fresher and with higher price tags. In my previous entry about organic food, I stated that I'd still rather support Whole Foods than Wal-Mart: I do not retract this statement. I wouldn't want to support Whole Foods for its produce, but rather for its specialty products and its treatment of workers. How workers are treated greatly affects where I shop. Even though Marcs is the cheapest grocer in northeast Ohio, I still avoid Marcs since I know the quality is poor (oftentimes they salvage leftovers from the Westside Market), their workplaces are anti-union, and the kids working in most of the departments (including produce) could give a shit less about what they're doing.
Whole Foods is definitely a step up from a conventional grocer, but please don't use it as a fucking representative for the organic movement (especially when I clearly state that I support organic and local, if possible). Whole Foods sells high quality products, and has a great selection for those with special dietary restrictions (vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, etc.), but it's not what I think the organic movement should be about. I strongly disagree with Whole Foods, Earthbound Farms, Stonyfield Farms, etc. - any company that thinks expanding organic food to an industrial level is the solution; it's a band-aid and definitely creates more discussion, but it's not what we should aspire to.
Secondly, don't use hybrid cars (especially those that are foreign made) to represent people who shop organic. When living in Tucson I occassionally went to this local food co-op, and it wasn't full of people who were wealthy and "sophisticated" enough to own hybrids. The stereotype of people who shop organic driving hybrids is entirely based off a small population of wealthy Hollywood types or middle agers who suddenly have an interest in their health. To that: fuck California for fucking up how people perceive organic food. I don't know a single person who owns a hybrid (not that I have anything against hybrids); I personally walk, ride my bike, and take the RTA to wherever I need to go. If I was going to get a car again for the rare instances when I need it, it would probably be the rustiest, cheapest piece of shit I could find - and I'd use it as little as often. However, I'd still make sure it's American made, fuckheads.
In conclusion, people don't know what the fuck they're talking about, and people do a really shitty and uncreative job at stereotyping. California has shaped the white, upper-middle class, health-conscious yuppie stereotype associated with organic food, and for that: fuck California. Best babes, weed, and burritos? Fuck you, I'll take a homely piece who can hold a conversation and appreciate the underprivileged, piss drunk alcoholics stumbling around and making funny shit happen (rather than eating doritos and sitting around in black lights listening to Bob Marley), and my European food. mmmm.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Entry #18: Pet Food Politics
This entry will be my first book review entry; every time I read a book from now on I plan on writing an entry as a review, and I plan on bringing up a few topical issues from said book. Pet Food Politics by Marion Nestle exceeded my expectations. Upon buying the book, I was expecting the themes to be things like corruption in the pet food sector, euthanized cats/dogs in pet food, poor labeling, etc. To my surprise, the book wasn't dedicated to any of these topic per se, and its theme was the pet food recalls of 2007.Even though the material wasn't along the same lines as what I expected, much of the snippets of information presented were actually quite relevant to our human food system. I place Marion Nestle in high esteem, and much of my initial interest in food politics and nutrition was the result of two books: The Crazy Makers by Carol Simmonachi, and Food Politics by Marion Nestle. These were the first two books to ignite my interest, and since then I've finished 3 other books (and started reading numerous others) and watched multiple documentaries on the broad subject of "food politics." Nestle's Food Politics made me challenge many of my eating habits and loyalties, and was the basis for novel interests and hobbies of mine - ones I regret not caring about while I was still younger and in school.
The humor is, when I was working as a produce guy for the same grocer in another town about 2 years back, all the controversy discussed in this book was still fresh. I remember when we first had to place a country of origin tag on every single fruit and vegetable, and I remember getting pissed the fuck off wondering why people cared so much (assuming American products probably weren't any better quality-wise). Honestly, even as a supporter of the locavore movement, I still get fucking pissed when people bitch about shit coming from China or Mexico. The ways they express their distrust usually comes off as xenophobic, or very red scare-esque. I don't look at China as some "commie pinkie" threat, intentionally contaminating its exports; even after reading this book, I just see China as a country with many regulation issues and with many of its industries trying to cut costs and corners wherever possible. If America lacked any firm regulation, I could see the same sort of food safety scares and contamination issues occurring domestically (with how often industries cheat their customers).
One way Food Politics really challenged my beliefs was by making me question my support of herbal and dietary supplementation. In Food Politics, Nestle told of how the supplement industry opted to be considered food, rather than medicine, so it wouldn't be subjected to the same harsh regulation and pre-market testing. I don't think Nestle's aim was to make a total rejection of the supplement industry, but she was moreso trying to explain the events that lead to food products that make health claims. It was tough for me to accept the idea that many herbal and dietary supplements are "frauds," and because of a lack of regulation, products are usually poor quality and the parts in the ingredients could be recalibrated to their cheapest possible arrangements. Now I would have to try and do research or ask a reliable source what companies sell legitimate and trustworthy products. My faith in Naturopathy dwindled, and I started to place much of my support into healing through diet and nutrition from whole food sources. If possible, though, I would still love to take a course on foraging herbs in the wild (one is offerred at the Midwest Native Skills Institute).
Even after reading Food Politics, I still didn't trust pharmaceutical companies any more than I did the herbal supplement industry. Much of the pre-market research is funded by companies that manufacture the product being tested. Although I'm sure many people would still debate that comment, I'm not about to make any of my other arguments at full length in this entry nor address this particular argument. I'm just stating that I have a general distrust of pharmaceuticals, and they're the convenient quick-fixes that Americans demand in all sectors of their lives. It's obviously much easier to factor in a few daily pills into your routine than change your entire lifestyle and diet; it's just lazy, and prevention should reign over the treatment of symptoms. In Food Politics, I saw Nestle as being an opponent of herbal supplements, and therefor through dichotomous thinking - she could be assumed a member of the other camp, the pharmaceutical industry.
However, upon reading Pet Food Politics, I realized Marion Nestle isn't nearly so predictable. In Chapter 19, she discusses the problems with the FDA being too short staffed, underfunded, and being assigned too many tasks. She reintroduces the events with the supplement and tobacco industries mentioned in Food Politics, and states that:
"[...]under pressure from industries outraged at the FDA's attempts to regulate these substances as drugs, systematically reduced the FDA's resources at the same time as it greatly increased the agency's responsibilities. These actions crippled the FDA's ability to protect the food supply as well as carry out its other mandated functions. The resulting disarray is best seen in the FDA's present inability to act quickly and decisively on questions about the safety of prescription drugs." (Pet Food Politics, Marion Nestle, p.147)
Ah-ha. So now the FDA was disliked by the tobacco and supplement industries (for trying to enact harsher regulation and pre-market testing), had less support, and had way too many tasks to effectively handle (between regulating produce, fish, supplements, tobacco, and pharmaceutical drugs). Not only does the FDA have to give just cause to research herbals and dietary supplements being marketed after they're often already for sale, but it doesn't have the time and resources to decisively oversee the research being presented for proposed prescription drugs (at least that's what I got out of the information). The one final sentence in the passage I quoted alone makes me assume that Nestle is at least skeptical of some of the prescription and pharmaceutical drugs being marketed.
Again, Marion Nestle challenges another belief or habit of mine in Pet Food Politics: wheat-gluten, or seitan. As a vegetarian who's actively trying to eat/drink less non-organic soy, now I have to question and research the source of any wheat-gluten or seitan that I eat. The 2007 pet food recall highlighted in Pet Food Politics was the result of wheat-gluten imported from China that had been adulterated by melamine and cyanuric acid (which together form crystals that can clog up the kidneys of animals). Incase you're unfamiliar:
"Melamine and cyanuric acid are 'non-protein' sources of nitrogen; they are not amino acids, the building blocks of protein. But when added to animal feed, the chemicals make the feed appear to contain large amounts of protein whether it does or not. [...] The point of all this is that adding a non-protein source of nitrogen like melamine or cyanuric acid to a farm feed boosts its apparent - but not real - protein content." (Pet Food Politics, Marion Nestle, pp.70-71)
Not to disregard the health of my pets, or anyone else's pets, but I am now legitimately a bit frightened for my own health whenever I eat any wheat-gluten or seitan. Although there's probably a bit more inspection when it's planned to be in a human's food source, I still buy imported wheat-gluten mock meat products from Asian markets. Hopefully because of this book I'll be a bit more cautious with my own diet, and any pets I may have in the future with my girlfriend.
With this book, Marion Nestle gives me plenty of new information without a boring voice. She makes me question myself, and she ultimately teaches me lessons in caution and food safety.
9.3/10
Friday, March 5, 2010
Entry #17: Cabbage
Cabbage fucking rules, and it's not just my inner European speaking (well, maybe it is). Cabbage is so fucking cheap, and haluski is easily one of the tastiest dishes ever for its simplicity. Today my work was raising money for Harvest For Hunger (charity shit) and was selling 2 pierogies, a serving of haluski, and a coca cola for $2. Honestly, it was well worth the $2, but I felt like I ate a fucking stick of butter like an popsicle. I felt like a fat fuckhead all day. Honestly, I have no complaints about customers in this post; I've been pretty dry in my customer well of hostility. That Italian woman who recommended the dandelion greens a few weeks ago asked my ethnicity, and when I told her I was Hungarian and Polish she said something like, "well, so you're only used to eating cabbage then?" Pretty dick move; forgive her, she gave me good advice. I'm proud of being a fucking honkie (descendent of Hungarian laborers). Cleveland is probably one of the most "honkie" cities in the United States, since it's always had such a huge Hungarian population and was once a blossoming industrial city. I'm not proud of being "white," but I am proud of being Hungarian. Fuck it. Don't mistake my "honkie" pride as some racist, white pride, KKK, redneck, country rebel type shit.
For those who don't know, now you know. Haluski is a fancier term for cabbage and noodles. I'm unsure of whether there's a definitive difference between the two, but it still irks me when people refer to haluski as "cabbage and noodles" or when people refer to kolaches as "pastries." It sounds like uncultured, bullshit oversimplification to me.
So obviously green cabbage rules, but so does red cabbage, napa cabbage, broccoli and brussel sprouts (also members of the cabbage family). Today was so busy with fucking customers that I was hardly able to keep the produce floor in decent shape for the short while I was alone. Every second I had a customer ask me a question. Here's something that pisses me off: when customers ask where shit is that's not even in my fucking department. Yes, this entire store is my fucking responsibility; when I'm not stocking bananas, I'm stocking every single goddamn grocery aisle and punching the aluminum shit out of Dr.Doom. Real talk: I don't know shit about the floral department, I can't unlock wine coolers for you, and I don't know where the marmalade and angel food cakes are (try the fucking bakery, where else could it be?). Do people think that I've worked every other department, or do people expect me to come into my workplace unpaid to study what shit resides down each aisle? I can't tell anybody precise numbers; just look. If your life is so inconvenienced because you can't search a grocery store for some (more than likely obvious) item that's probably listed on a sign above its aisle, then you truly are a lazy dickhead.
Back onto the topic of cabbage: today at my work it was so busy that not only my department was wiped, but so was the salad bar. There was barely any spinach left, and no salad blends (only romaine). Instead, I just had tons of red cabbage. Totally irrelevant, but read my fucking blog anyway. Care about my pointless fucking life, please. Let me get indulgence from feeling self important. I forgot how good red cabbage was, even uncooked.
I also want to know what the hell I'm doing wrong with brussel sprouts, and why I can never make them taste as good as my work does. If I had regular readers, I would ask for recommendations on how to prepare brussel sprouts - because when I get them from my workplace's hot food bar, they're one of my favorite foods I've ever had. Fuck kids for not understanding the delicacy that is brussel sprouts; so many kids are just raised on fucking Kraft, Manwich, and baby formula. Fuck baby formulas; don't feed your children that shit. Kids are so accustomed to sodium and fat, and that's why they typically have such a strong distate for more flavorful vegetables. Sodium, fat, and sugar were nature's rewards, not the base of a meal. Not to mention their dads are usually shithead "meat and potato" men that push their dietary habits onto their children. No wonder kids are always such insensitive and hyper fuckheads. Watch this lecture about how nutrition influences behavior. The main culprits are preservatives (like yellow #5 and sodium benzoate), potatoes, corn, dairy, and high sugar (or sugar substitute) diets: shit that nearly every American kid is guilty of indulging in regularly.
nutrition and behavior aspartame (lecture)
For those who don't know, now you know. Haluski is a fancier term for cabbage and noodles. I'm unsure of whether there's a definitive difference between the two, but it still irks me when people refer to haluski as "cabbage and noodles" or when people refer to kolaches as "pastries." It sounds like uncultured, bullshit oversimplification to me.
So obviously green cabbage rules, but so does red cabbage, napa cabbage, broccoli and brussel sprouts (also members of the cabbage family). Today was so busy with fucking customers that I was hardly able to keep the produce floor in decent shape for the short while I was alone. Every second I had a customer ask me a question. Here's something that pisses me off: when customers ask where shit is that's not even in my fucking department. Yes, this entire store is my fucking responsibility; when I'm not stocking bananas, I'm stocking every single goddamn grocery aisle and punching the aluminum shit out of Dr.Doom. Real talk: I don't know shit about the floral department, I can't unlock wine coolers for you, and I don't know where the marmalade and angel food cakes are (try the fucking bakery, where else could it be?). Do people think that I've worked every other department, or do people expect me to come into my workplace unpaid to study what shit resides down each aisle? I can't tell anybody precise numbers; just look. If your life is so inconvenienced because you can't search a grocery store for some (more than likely obvious) item that's probably listed on a sign above its aisle, then you truly are a lazy dickhead.
Back onto the topic of cabbage: today at my work it was so busy that not only my department was wiped, but so was the salad bar. There was barely any spinach left, and no salad blends (only romaine). Instead, I just had tons of red cabbage. Totally irrelevant, but read my fucking blog anyway. Care about my pointless fucking life, please. Let me get indulgence from feeling self important. I forgot how good red cabbage was, even uncooked.
I also want to know what the hell I'm doing wrong with brussel sprouts, and why I can never make them taste as good as my work does. If I had regular readers, I would ask for recommendations on how to prepare brussel sprouts - because when I get them from my workplace's hot food bar, they're one of my favorite foods I've ever had. Fuck kids for not understanding the delicacy that is brussel sprouts; so many kids are just raised on fucking Kraft, Manwich, and baby formula. Fuck baby formulas; don't feed your children that shit. Kids are so accustomed to sodium and fat, and that's why they typically have such a strong distate for more flavorful vegetables. Sodium, fat, and sugar were nature's rewards, not the base of a meal. Not to mention their dads are usually shithead "meat and potato" men that push their dietary habits onto their children. No wonder kids are always such insensitive and hyper fuckheads. Watch this lecture about how nutrition influences behavior. The main culprits are preservatives (like yellow #5 and sodium benzoate), potatoes, corn, dairy, and high sugar (or sugar substitute) diets: shit that nearly every American kid is guilty of indulging in regularly.
nutrition and behavior aspartame (lecture)
Monday, March 1, 2010
Entry #16: Penn and Teller
Penn and Teller are definitely top tier douchebags. They essentially do what I'm doing in my blog (try and present contrary information using tons of profanity and an angry demeanor), but they fall into the categories of corporate interest and pro-technology stances. They're perfect entry-level jerking material for all of those nerdy kids nationwide who major in engineering, thinking their net life worth is defined by their income and our only progress humanity can still achieve is through technology and science. These are the asshats I would send to gas chambers - after I have them engineer more potent gas chambers with which to suffocate themselves. Oftentimes these are the same people who fall under the "predictable atheist" category mentioned in my entry about Family Guy. One of my coworkers tries to tell me that Penn and Teller try their best to have professionals represent both sides of the argument, which is totally untrue. In their episode about organic food they interview some fucking inarticulate hippies outside of a grocery store, and in their episode about Wal-Mart they interview some dickheads who make t-shirts. Of course they also interviewed a higher-up member of Green Peace and the mind behind the High Cost of Low Price movie - but Penn and Teller still try their hardest to make their opposition look as moronic as possible by also presenting the least reputable, least professional sources possible for the side they're against.
I could discuss their episode about organic food, but I already made my entry about organic food, so instead I'm going to talk about their episode about Wal-Mart - which made me want to punch my monitor on numerous occasions. The entire episode panned out like one huge advertisement for Wal-Mart, and reeked of sponsorship and corporate funding. The information was blatantly biased, especially in regards to Wal-Mart employees' payroll.
Let me remind you that they said in their episode the average hourly wage for a full-time Wal-Mart employee is $10.51/hour. First of all, I don't have any statistics or numbers available in front of me - but how many employees are full-time at Wal-Mart compared to their part-time employees? How often do they hire in new employees at full-time? Isn't it common fucking knowledge that Wal-Mart avoids giving full time employment, because in some cases that means they're also entitled to give certain benefits? I know my workplace is hardly Wal-Mart, and I'd safely assume it's a much better work environment - but my employer doesn't hire in any new employees at full-time, unless they're filling a specialized position or they're in a supervisement position. How many of those full-time employees at Wal-Mart, then, have been at the store for years, have trained positions or have supervisement positions that naturally pay more? This is hardly an accurate portrayal of the sort of income they offer.
For a comparison, let's talk about Ford Motor Company. Ford Motor Company is a huge employer for northeastern Ohio, and if you're living in any suburb of Medina or Cuyahoga counties you more than likely know at least one person who works at Ford, or has a relative who does. My dad, for example, has been working at Ford as an electrician for around 15 years. Previous to working at Ford my dad worked at TRW, and when he was first hired at Ford he doubled his hourly wage. Nowadays my dad currently makes over $30/hour, and he always refers to himself as a "dinosaur," because similar positions are becoming fewer and fewer.
Ford is going through a financial crisis at the moment, and every couple months it offers its employees a "buyout" opportunity - where they take a small annual income and paid tuition for a few years in place of their position with the company. When employees take these buyouts they hire new people to fill those positions, but they nearly cut the expected hourly wage in half. Positions that previously paid $17/hour are now being filled for $8.50/hour. Eight fucking fifty for a factory job, and a highly labor intensive one at that!
If we were to use Penn and Teller's bullshit acquisition of statistics and we calculated the average income for those employed with Ford Motor Company, those employees with more seniority would hugely inflate the statistic - not to mention they don't accurately represent what you'd expect if you were a new hire at Ford, even once you reach your maximum hourly rates. The statistic is only full of more shit if the majority of those being polled are nearly all employees with more seniority or trained positions - which is more than likely the case if you're compiling information on people who are employed full-time at Wal-Mart. Their statistics should be based off of part-time employees, their average starting wages, and their maximum salary caps.
I could discuss their episode about organic food, but I already made my entry about organic food, so instead I'm going to talk about their episode about Wal-Mart - which made me want to punch my monitor on numerous occasions. The entire episode panned out like one huge advertisement for Wal-Mart, and reeked of sponsorship and corporate funding. The information was blatantly biased, especially in regards to Wal-Mart employees' payroll.
Let me remind you that they said in their episode the average hourly wage for a full-time Wal-Mart employee is $10.51/hour. First of all, I don't have any statistics or numbers available in front of me - but how many employees are full-time at Wal-Mart compared to their part-time employees? How often do they hire in new employees at full-time? Isn't it common fucking knowledge that Wal-Mart avoids giving full time employment, because in some cases that means they're also entitled to give certain benefits? I know my workplace is hardly Wal-Mart, and I'd safely assume it's a much better work environment - but my employer doesn't hire in any new employees at full-time, unless they're filling a specialized position or they're in a supervisement position. How many of those full-time employees at Wal-Mart, then, have been at the store for years, have trained positions or have supervisement positions that naturally pay more? This is hardly an accurate portrayal of the sort of income they offer.
For a comparison, let's talk about Ford Motor Company. Ford Motor Company is a huge employer for northeastern Ohio, and if you're living in any suburb of Medina or Cuyahoga counties you more than likely know at least one person who works at Ford, or has a relative who does. My dad, for example, has been working at Ford as an electrician for around 15 years. Previous to working at Ford my dad worked at TRW, and when he was first hired at Ford he doubled his hourly wage. Nowadays my dad currently makes over $30/hour, and he always refers to himself as a "dinosaur," because similar positions are becoming fewer and fewer.
Ford is going through a financial crisis at the moment, and every couple months it offers its employees a "buyout" opportunity - where they take a small annual income and paid tuition for a few years in place of their position with the company. When employees take these buyouts they hire new people to fill those positions, but they nearly cut the expected hourly wage in half. Positions that previously paid $17/hour are now being filled for $8.50/hour. Eight fucking fifty for a factory job, and a highly labor intensive one at that!
If we were to use Penn and Teller's bullshit acquisition of statistics and we calculated the average income for those employed with Ford Motor Company, those employees with more seniority would hugely inflate the statistic - not to mention they don't accurately represent what you'd expect if you were a new hire at Ford, even once you reach your maximum hourly rates. The statistic is only full of more shit if the majority of those being polled are nearly all employees with more seniority or trained positions - which is more than likely the case if you're compiling information on people who are employed full-time at Wal-Mart. Their statistics should be based off of part-time employees, their average starting wages, and their maximum salary caps.
Later in the episode, Penn and Teller actually say that we should fucking tear down the downtown areas in cities to build Wal-Marts?! What kind of bullshit is this? They blame politicians and special interest groups for rejecting proposals to build Wal-Marts in their towns, and say something to the extent of "who are the fuck are you to say what's right," or some other relativist shit along the same line. Well, I won't be dodgy in what I'm about to say: most people are fucking morons. Consumers drive the economy, sure, I can accept that as fact. I would go even further and say that workers drive the economy, because it's their paychecks that ultimately pump money into bullshit companies to come out with newer, improved bullshit products that we usually don't need. If the consumers are going to be dickheads and drive 20 miles away to buy all their products at a big box retailer I don't want my quality of life to be hurt in the process. I'll gladly support family businesses and get artisan and high quality products at higher prices, but I'll just be a bit more responsible with my money and not buy too many items outside of necessity. However, if your support of Wal-Mart is going to drive my downtown area out of business and hurt my quality of life, I hope you choke on a chicken McNugget so I can visit your gravestone to personally dig up your grave and fornicate your dead corpse with a broomstick, and then smash in your fucking rotten head with a baseball bat. "Who the fuck are you," Penn and Teller? You're obviously some dickheads who assume that the general population knows what the fuck it's doing, that's why you're making a tv show to uncover all the "bullshit" it supposedly believes.
I want to support quality products, not mass produced shit that's outsourced and sold at non-union workplaces. It would be nice if I could go into a store and its workers actually made the products they're selling, so if I have any personal questions, complaints, or recommendations they could give me relevant fucking information and not redirect me to some other motherfucker or tell me they're unsure.
You know what else really pisses me off? Anti-union fuckheads. My union ensures me a minimum number of hours, and even though it's only 14 hours it's still better than nothing. At one point I worked at Target (and later got fired), and they would schedule me for one day a week sometimes, or they would give me 6 or 7 hours split amongst 3 days. A few friends of mine have worked at Blockbuster, and they had similar issues. One friend of mine actually wasn't scheduled a whole week straight while at Blockbuster. How the fuck are you supposed to do anything, or even make the radical claim that you even have a job if you're only working one or two fucking days a week? How about when I was working at Little Caesars and I would go entire shifts without a single, quantifiable break? My union also offers optical and dental insurance, and minor health insurance for its full-time employees. One of the coolest things about having a union is you're not a total bitch, and unless you're caught stealing your workplace doesn't want to bother with going through all the paperwork and proving just cause behind firing an employee. When I was working at Chipotle I got fired for not reaching the ringing standard at the cash register; I was fucking shaking half the time I working there - I felt so much stress and tension trying to reach that ringing standard. Hey, I just got fired instead of them actually trying to help me improve my speed, calm myself down or give any pointers. You're a motherfucking manager, not a taskmaster. Manage me, tell me how to perform my job and help my performance, not sit idly by and to criticize me and laugh at my attempts. A few of my friends have worked at UPS and FedEX factories, on the otherhand, and been able to get away with nearly anything without getting fired. In my opinion, this is the way things should be. Nobody should be fired unless they're totally unmanagable, they constantly don't show up without calling, they openly quit their job, or they're caught stealing. It's true it can create lazier workers, but it creates less stressful environments for its employees who are the driving bodies of our economy - without their wages paying for bullshit they don't need, capitalism would stop existing. I will gladly pay more money to give workers higher wages, and I will gladly give $8 out of my paycheck to ensure a few benefits, job security, and a floor for my hours.
Maybe the goal of most of these anti-union employers is to make their workers unhappy, so they spend more money on the entertainment industry?
As a closing thought, anybody who is anti-union is fucking worthless and they should be fed their own shit from a trough, since they're already accustomed to low-quality products.
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