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PA7KK > FOOD 17.07.04 11:18l 84 Lines 3495 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 30588_PI8APD
Read: GUEST DG6LAY
Subj: Do I eat food ?
Path: DB0FHN<DB0FOR<DB0SIF<DB0EA<DB0RES<ON0AR<PI8WFL<PI8APD
Sent: 040717/1102Z @:PI8APD.#GLD.NLD.EU #:30588 [Apeldoorn] FBB7.00g25
From: PA7KK@PI8APD.#GLD.NLD.EU
To : FOOD@WW
Hello eaters, which you all are.
Most saturdays I go to the local market to buy vegetables.
But it became very difficult to buy something that tastes.
The carrots in the 60's tasted sweet and had a strong taste,
the same with tomatoes, endive, haricots, red beet, curly kail,
red & green peppers, (paprika), peaches etc, etc. It all looks
good re. shape and colour. But the flavour after cooking is flat,
dull. If they would blindfold me, I really could say what I
would be eating after swallowing it.
Meat is shrinking because it contains a lot of water.
In "the old days" it did not. Also it is not that succulent anymore
after cooking.
The french cooks complain about it they cannot prepare a desent
meal anymore because the taste of vegetables became flat.
So this is not happening only here. The germans complained
about the dutch tomatoes which had no taste left. They called
them waterbombs, and they were right.
Then you hear, read and see about it that the majority of
species is altered. Farmers are invited to go to
meetings of companies who sell the seeds. They see moving
pictures of fields with crops that look very good.
Enormous yields per acre compared with conventional crops.
The insects, moulds and others things have lesser
negative effects. Some species are geneticly modified.
In Canada they eg grow rape plants to harvest rape seed.
(to make rape oil) The farmers buy seeds from companies
like Monsanto, Syngenta or Cargill. They offer seeds that can
withstand eg Round-Up that kills all weeds in the field.
The farmers who still grow regular old seeds complain about
modified seed contaminating their fields. Because of this in
Canada conventional rape seed in not available anymore as it
is all contaminated. The man who eats it, like me, was never
asked if he likes it.
In Holland for the last 20 years the consumer bought lesser
vegetables. In a city nearby, where 120.000 people live,
only two specialized vegetable shops survived.
But in the UK some time ago I saw this old man who was still
growing his own vegetables and fruits. He never had bought
seeds from the 1950's on. He always kept some seeds for the
next year. These plants have not a big yield but taste good,
the way it should. Also in the UK is a society founded
that gathers and preserves the old seeds. Members can
buy them and are asked to grow the vegetables and send
back seeds to the society. I was glad to hear about it,
as in this way the source to normal food is not cut off.
If all the normal seeds would be gone, it's all over.
Food is important to me. Some time ago I some a discussion
in the USA on tv between senators and the man who governs
the FED. The senators were worried about the EU. The EU demands
that on food packages, clearly is written if it contains
modified ingredients. This would dampen sales. The governor
said in Europe they have something with food, it's part of
their culture... I was baffled to hear that. I never
experienced eating as a part of my culture. Good food
one simply needs.
The seed production is in the hands of only a handfull of
companies. They sell food and pesticides as a total package to
the farmers. Farmers like yield and I realize a farmer
has no contact with the consumer. The consumer is far away
from his world. For him yield is important. When people
buy lesser of his products he perhaps has no idea why.
Strange world we live in.
73's - Henry PA7KK
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