Hawaii Food News
Lots happening in the news recently:
→ Residents of Hawaii eat more fast food than any other state, averaging a whopping $609 per year. The census counts all take-out food, presumably including plate lunches, okazuyas, and other delicious options you just can't find in, say, Iowa.
→ Two bills are before the state legislature which would require better labeling of genetic crops and more information about where they are being grown. No surprise, but Big Ag is against them both, claiming, "a label would mislead consumers...[and] revealing the location of test sites would jeopardize the safety of staff and employees." I'm tentatively in favor of both. It's impossible to make informed decisions without information, eh.
→ Also in front of the legislature is a bill to ban aspartame in Hawaii. This one doesn't affect me much, as the only thing I (rarely) buy that would be affected is yogurt. I should switch to something without artificial sweeteners anyway.
→ Rounding out our legislative trifecta, council members on Oahu are considering regulations banning the use of plastic grocery bags. Up on the North Shore, the good folks at the Kokua Foundation are spearheading a grassroots efforts to minimize the use of plastics in the surf town Haleiwa. This doesn't have to be as painful as it sounds now that non-plastic (i.e. cornstarch) disposable bags are readily available.
→ Hawaii now has its first accredited coffee judge. We're not really sure how much weight to give this, as "taste is not considered when assigning coffee a grade in Hawaii." I'll pick my own coffee then, thanks.
→ Salmonella in ahi! It's only thirty cases around Oahu since October, so I figure my odds are pretty good. They can pry the poke from my cold, dead fingers. That's a risk I'm willing to take.
→ Shameless plug: there are still a few days left to enter your name in my raffle to win the new cookbook by Iron Chef Morimoto. Do it, you won't regret it!
→ Thank God this hasn't made it to the islands yet: Cheeseburger in a can!
→ Last but not least, Cheap Places to Eat in Oahu scooped the Advertiser, Star-Bulletin and KHON with a review on the newly opened Fat Greek.
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there's also this: http://stopstyrofoamhawaii.org/
an attempt to ban the use of styrofoam on hawaii, the use of which bugs me to no end! its amazing how much styrofoam waste must be generated in this state....2 bills (i think) on the table with the state to deal with this issue....can visit this site and fill in a simple letter to representatives -->its easy! do it!
I have been using canvas bags for every purchase I make for the last 5 or 6 years. It is not a big deal and I think it is a no-brainer. Ban all plastic bags in Hawaii. Hawaii is the most beautiful place and it needs our help to keep it that way! Also, do like the japanese and BRING YOUR OWN CHOPSTICKS.
Hey, just wanted to say thanks for linking to my site. Also, I agree with the whole banning plastic bags thing. I think everyone should pay for a canvas bag and use it always. However, every time I buy one it always breaks. They make them really weak.
Bills to Ban Aspartame in Hawaii, with New Mexico Efforts in the Background
Stephen Fox
I have focused recent years on creating through our Legislature a Nutrition Council with real powers to challenge FDA approved products, the most dangerous of which is the artificial sweetener, aspartame. Aspartame is found in 7000 food products, including Equal, sugarless gums, all of the Diet Sodas, and numerous children's medications. So what is the problem? If it is FDA approved, it must be OK, right?
Aspartame is metabolized as methanol, formaldehyde, aspartic acid, and phenylalanine, and these ingredients have increased ghastly
neurodegenerative illnesses since approval was forced in 1981 by Donald Rumsfeld as CEO of G.D. Searle, the patent holder, in one of the darkest and dirtiest chapters of the history of failures at the FDA. He forced the appointment of a crony, Dr. Arthur Hull Hayes, as FDA Commissioner, in exchange for agreeing to approve aspartame, despite 16 years of the FDA saying no, based on the obvious and rudimentary toxic biochemistry of its metabolized components.
[Google “Rumsfeld’s Bioweapon Legacy” to read more, as well as Googleable articles by H.J. Roberts (Internist), Russell Blaylock (Neurosurgeon) and Betty Martini, Founder of Mission Possible International. My own best article is "Resolving the Worsening Crisis at the FDA"]. Readers should watch the free online posting of SWEET MISERY, a documentary by a victim of aspartame
poisoning at Sound and Fury Productions.tv.
New Mexico State Senator Jerry Ortiz y Pino introduced bills to ban
aspartame but they were shot down by corporate lobbying, to the tune of several million dollars just to eviscerate some true consumer protection initiatives. New Mexico legislators drinking their diet sodas capitulated when corporate theories of federal pre-emption were advanced by lobbyists, along with pointed reminders about how much they and Coca Cola or Pepsi contributed to their campaigns.
Our efforts have shifted now to Hawaii, where activists have succeeded in getting bills to ban aspartame introduced, House Bill 2680 and Senate Bill 2506. The sponsors are strong two Senate Committee Chairs, Kalani English and Suzanne Chun-Oakland, and the Speaker of the House, Calvin Say, by request of Rep. Mele Carroll.
The first salvos for true consumer protection were recently fired on KHON-2, a conservative station and Fox Affiliate in which a predictable "dealarmist" Medical school professor absurdly said "a little bit won't hurt you." However, any sentient being knows that a whole lot of little bits of poison are cumulative and end up killing you, whether through cancer, heart disease, Multiple Sclerosis, etc.
The New Mexico bills were eviscerated by lobbyists representing Ajinomoto of Japan, the world's largest manufacturer of both aspartame and MSG, as well as their duped American corporate henchmen/partners-in-poisoning who use massive amounts of Aspartame, like Coca Cola, Pepsi, and Altria/Kraft Corporate Services. Even more will show up in Honolulu, probably to include Wrigley's Gum, all of whose products contain aspartame, even more dangerous
since gum releases poisons absorbed under the tongue, which go directly to the brain.
We attempt this in Hawaii to protect the health of Hawaiians; the
legislators recognize the merits and take it seriously. Perhaps seeing a few more victims of aspartame poisoning might wake up Hawaiians to the urgency of these bills.
I am happy to answer questions; you are welcome to print my email address.
Stephen Fox, Managing Editor of Santa Fe Sun News
Founder of New Millennium Fine Art in Santa Fe, NM:
stephen@santafefineart.com
website: unitednationsundersecretarygeneralfornutrition.org
505 983-2002
Wow Stephen, that's a lot of information. I'll be the first to admit I haven't studied this area thoroughly enough to be able to critically weigh everything you've said, but I'm in agreement that aspartame isn't good for you. Now that the bills have been deferred/killed by the legislature,the only real option in the short term appears to be informed consumption. We choose not to buy and consume products containing aspartame.