- Jul 25, 2002
- 10,053
- 0
- 71
Threat or Menace . . . you decide . . .
WARNING - This is a really long read, so if you don't have a half hour or so to spend reading & comprehending the story, just mosey on down the road a piece, y'all hear . . .
<From the Fort Worth Weekly>
Bring me a heaping bowl of Mercury & I'll wash it down with Rocket Fuel . . .
<Mini-Clip/Teaser>
I stare at my plate. Grilled fish is the main attraction ? no fatty sauces, cholesterol-laden ribs, or potentially mad-cow-carrying beef for me. I?ve skipped the smothered fries and gone with steamed broccoli. Fresh green salad is sprinkled with toasted croutons and drizzled with vinaigrette. The glass glistens full of water and lemon, not sugary soda.
The restaurant?s white tablecloths and wood paneling are squeaky clean ? heck, all the patrons are wearing shoes and there?s nary a mustard smear on the servers? tunics. Even the dessert cart is nowhere in sight. What ? other than the eventual check at the end of the meal ? could possibly be unhealthy here?
Unfortunately, as I learned in the course of researching this story, the answer is: plenty. Despite USDA grading, FDA guidance, state environmental rules, city health inspectors, and consumer groups, the truth is that eating ? whether at a restaurant or in the comfort of your own home ? is a surprisingly risky business these days.
Start with the fish. Let?s hope it didn?t come from Texas waters ? or from ocean waters, either, unless you have an appetite for brain-damaging methyl mercury. Was the broccoli field fertilized with hazardous mining wastes? I have no way of knowing. The fresh green leaf lettuce? Probably has rocket fuel running through its leafy veins. Croutons? To make them crunchy and last longer, they?re baked with heart-choking transfats. The water in my glass? Fortunately, it doesn?t come from the Midwest, where weedkillers have contaminated the water supply of more than seven million people. Or from California, where a banned pesticide contaminates the tap water of another million people. But my drink might just contain common, cell-damaging byproducts of chlorination, including a powerful cancer-causing chemical known as Mutagen X. No kidding.
Unless your diet is totally and utterly organic ? so you know what you?re eating, where it was grown, how it was raised, what it was nourished on, watered with, fattened with, and cooked in ? it?s increasingly hard to keep toxins off your plate and out of your body. Even then, some chemical residues have become so ubiquitous that there?s no avoiding them. In the 21st century, it seems, the last century?s ?better living through chemistry? mantra is coming back to bite us.
WARNING - This is a really long read, so if you don't have a half hour or so to spend reading & comprehending the story, just mosey on down the road a piece, y'all hear . . .
<From the Fort Worth Weekly>
Bring me a heaping bowl of Mercury & I'll wash it down with Rocket Fuel . . .
<Mini-Clip/Teaser>
I stare at my plate. Grilled fish is the main attraction ? no fatty sauces, cholesterol-laden ribs, or potentially mad-cow-carrying beef for me. I?ve skipped the smothered fries and gone with steamed broccoli. Fresh green salad is sprinkled with toasted croutons and drizzled with vinaigrette. The glass glistens full of water and lemon, not sugary soda.
The restaurant?s white tablecloths and wood paneling are squeaky clean ? heck, all the patrons are wearing shoes and there?s nary a mustard smear on the servers? tunics. Even the dessert cart is nowhere in sight. What ? other than the eventual check at the end of the meal ? could possibly be unhealthy here?
Unfortunately, as I learned in the course of researching this story, the answer is: plenty. Despite USDA grading, FDA guidance, state environmental rules, city health inspectors, and consumer groups, the truth is that eating ? whether at a restaurant or in the comfort of your own home ? is a surprisingly risky business these days.
Start with the fish. Let?s hope it didn?t come from Texas waters ? or from ocean waters, either, unless you have an appetite for brain-damaging methyl mercury. Was the broccoli field fertilized with hazardous mining wastes? I have no way of knowing. The fresh green leaf lettuce? Probably has rocket fuel running through its leafy veins. Croutons? To make them crunchy and last longer, they?re baked with heart-choking transfats. The water in my glass? Fortunately, it doesn?t come from the Midwest, where weedkillers have contaminated the water supply of more than seven million people. Or from California, where a banned pesticide contaminates the tap water of another million people. But my drink might just contain common, cell-damaging byproducts of chlorination, including a powerful cancer-causing chemical known as Mutagen X. No kidding.
Unless your diet is totally and utterly organic ? so you know what you?re eating, where it was grown, how it was raised, what it was nourished on, watered with, fattened with, and cooked in ? it?s increasingly hard to keep toxins off your plate and out of your body. Even then, some chemical residues have become so ubiquitous that there?s no avoiding them. In the 21st century, it seems, the last century?s ?better living through chemistry? mantra is coming back to bite us.
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