Et tu Wendy’s?

Black Bean Sliders
Picture by Walkingfox

 

Just as I was beginning a post this morning about a new product that makes my heart sing, bam the door slammed shut on me.

You see in my mail today, was a nifty story about a new Black Bean Burger being introduced at a select number of Wendy’s in Ohio.

But, regretfully when I started reading it, there was also a side story, that pointed to a quite unhappy situation.

It would seem that the about to become newest favorite eatery, Wendy’s, is embroiled in a mess over wages, with ugly insults being hurled, indicating that they may have participated in what amounts to slave labor with their employees.

Now, if the idea of a Black Bean Burger is new to you, please let me share this, my best friend at UCLA was married to the Manager of one of their top Campus eating places and he delighted in letting me know each week when he made them, knowing full well that I hated meat and loved this culinary treat.

I never did learn all of the ingredients of this delicious, decadent burger, but had been a huge fan of Black Beans for many years, so never cared a whole lot about what he put into them.

Moving to Florida basically closed the door on all of my favorite California vegetarian eating places, as I soon learned that they were not high on anyone’s totem pole here.

So, not willing to eat the Morning Star veggie burgers made with soy beans that have been processed with Hexane, a known carcinogen and pretty much a toxin/pesticide, I had given up hope.

That was until a few months ago, when shockingly I found a new Black Bean Burger from a previously unknown Company, at our local Wal-Mart.

Bringing it home was a challenge, as Walkingfox is not huge on doing without meat.

Surprise, he liked them and has become a fan, of sorts.

But being out on a shopping or other trip and hoping to find one was not to be, at least not here.

So, you can imagine my delight this morning seeing/reading this story about Wendy’s.

Joy quickly turned to sorrow, after reading that they are having similar salary and wages problems  with their employees as Waffle House is.

Right now the delectable Black Bean Burgers are only being tested in Ohio, near Wendy’s Corporate offices, but it looks like that may change quickly judging from the public responses to them.

Now if they can only get their employee/wages issues fixed, Wendy’s may yet become a new place to eat on the run.

And, if they don’t, then, as with Waffle House, we will not be dining there any time soon either.

So, dear Wendy’s, please treat your employees right, pay them right and this may after all, be only a rhetorical question, et tu Wendy’s?

 

Places to learn more:

Amid Call for Boycott, Concerns Rise That Eating at Wendy’s Supports Slave Labor

Why Wendy’s Vegan Black Bean Burger Isn’t Masquerading as Meat

Low Wage Workers Fast Food Forward Campaign

Worker wages: Wendy’s vs. Wal-Mart vs. Costco

Wendy’s “The Final Fast Food Hold-out”

Wendy’s salaries

 

No New Ideas Needed

A McDonald’s in Norway
Picture credit: Ken

 

It all started out innocently enough.

I was going through my email this morning and saw a new petition for McDonald’s.

This particular petition was about something that I personally have been nagging them about for years, or every single time that I went there, which by the way, in the past few years has been less and less.

I do not like meat or hamburgers and have repeatedly suggested to them that they might want to consider making some sort of meatless or veggie burger, as several of their competitors have already done.

Even better, to introduce a few Organic items!

Each and every time I was met with the same blank stare and ” ok, we will suggest it…”

In California, we who don’t like meat are not a minority, we are a strong group with many voices in high places, like the countless celebrities who also choose not to eat animals and love Organic Foods.

This petition was written by a woman in California who was asking a huge company, which at the present time is all over the news for its financial woes, to consider making a meatless burger.

The Company is cutting their Dollar meals, shuffling their vast menu, and has had a somewhat dismal showing for the past two years, many say.

They have had issues with China and meat and a variety of other embarrassing issues.

None has been very good for their image.

So, I was delighted to go and see this new petition and to absolutely sign it and support it.

However, when I got there, it seems that the desired numbers had already been reached.

Well, that’s very good news and there was also a letter from the author with suggestions for other things to do in support of the Petition and all the necessary details were included in it.

As I don’t do Twitter and wanted to go beyond just posting it on my FB page,  I  then, as suggested, called the company directly.

What happened next is the honest truth, you cannot make this stuff up.

I dialed the number, it rang and a pleasant computer asked me to make a choice of directions to be transferred to next.

I listened to all of the different choices and finally selected  ” suggest new ideas.”

This is the response, or answer that the computer gave me, I swear on my beloved Grandmother.

” I’m sorry, but McDonald’s does not accept any new ideas from anyone who does not work for the company.”

End quote!

Umm,  McDonald’s, I think I see the problem and why your sales and profits may be going down the proverbial drain.

You obviously do not listen, nor care what your customers think.

And you don’t want any ” new ideas “  from those who just happen to pay your salaries.

 

What Are You Eating?

A Fruit stall in a market in Barcelona, Spain.
Picture credit: Daderot.

 

Three items in my email this morning concerning healthy eating and food, need to be shared.

The first was about the ongoing battle with Monsanto, Kraft and their friends at DuPont and Pepsi, in their efforts to defeat the GMO labeling propositions in the upcoming elections.

These bullies are spending millions in the two states where it is once again, on the ballot.

It will take a miracle to defeat the kind of money that this monster company and their comrades in crime possess.

This type of legislation against GMO’s has been defeated in nearly every state where it has been on the ballot so far, with only Maine, Connecticut and Vermont actually succeeding to get it passed.

There is simply not enough opposition  money to fight these huge, powerful Corporations.

Consumers have repeatedly spoken out strongly about their feelings on GMO’s not being labeled, but it has fallen on deaf ears everywhere.

Why?

Because no one can afford or wants to have these Giants as their enemies.

These Companies know exactly where to put their money and have strong lobbyists and greedy politicians in their pockets.

The next news item was about the myriad of foods that are still being sold everywhere, that contain the rubber mat additive azodicarbonamide, that was recently dumped by Sub Way after being outed and ashamed by a tenacious Blogger who exposed them.

But, yikes there are hundreds more food products still out there that have it in them and few know it.

Please check out this list below and refuse to buy their product until the rubber mats are removed.

Also, please do tell the individual Companies and the stores why you are refusing to buy it as well.

Strength in numbers!

And last but definitely, not least by any means, is a lengthy report on something very close to my heart.

Can your diet really fight and or defeat cancer?

After reading this story about this man and his work, I was thrilled.

The thinking of this brilliant scientist, T. Colin Campbell, is something that I have strongly believed in for many years and I concur with nearly 100 % of this conclusions.

As with Dr. Campbell, I also believe that the consumption of animals is a very bad thing, for them and for us.

This retired professor of nutritional biochemistry at Cornell, has devoted his entire life to finding the healthiest ways to eat.

His work was at first widely praised, but then as bottom lines were being threatened by his accurate findings, those who had previously soundly supported and admired him, fell away.

This man will not back down, he knows what is at stake.

If you would like to explore the possibility of starting yourself and your loved ones on a new path,  away from a life of unhealthy eating, won’t you please read the story?

If for no other reason, than to perhaps consider a healthier alternative to a meat based diet.

Better yet, ask  yourself this question: what are you eating?

 

Places to learn more:

In GMO Labeling Initiative Fight, Those Against Are Spending All the Money

500 Foods That Contain a Chemical Found in Yoga Mats

Can Cancer Be Prevented—And Even Cured—Through Diet? This Scientist Is Convinced It Can

 

Awful Additives!

Eucheuma denticulatumor or  Carrageenan
Picture credit:  Wikipedia –  Stina Tano

 

This is an Organic Blog, so why do I want to talk to you about additives you may wonder?

Here’s why.

Harmful, even dangerous additives are being added to our foods claiming to be Organic and few of us truly know the affects that they may have our bodies.

Because I have such a wide genetic background that includes Native American, I think, my reactions or over reactions, to chemicals and food additives, may be likely just in a small minority of humans?

Yesterday I had, what I was hoping would become a new favorite: Spinach Garlic Pizza by Di Gorno.

There were so many claims on the box about how natural it was, but waking up this morning with, “the headache,” that always accompanies one of the “awful additives” that I am affected by, I knew the answer before I even read the ingredient label.

Sure enough, about half way down the list, was the dreaded word I did not want to find:  Carrageenan.

I was in a hurry last night and much to my regret, did not read the label on this new product.

Idiot!

If this word, this additive, is new to you, please read on.

The first time that I became aware of this food additive and its ugly affects on me, was several years ago.

There was a story on the morning news about a new additive that people were having nasty reactions to.

From that point on, I searched for it in every product.

Please keep in mind two things when scanning your labels from now on.

This product is made from a sea weed, much of it coming from Asia, where nuclear meltdowns are now becoming increasingly all too common.

This product is allowed in VEGETARIAN  hot dogs!

Carrageenan  is a cheap thickener, or filler, used in so many products now, you may need a score card to keep track.

The very definition of it, explains why I have so much trouble with it:

“Carageenan is a linear sulphated polysaccharides that are extracted from red edible seaweeds” – Wikipedia

I am highly allergic to  sulfur,  think Penicillin!

Predominantly it is used in ice cream products and anything that has a sauce, after that it is difficult to list all of them.

There are thousands, it is, OMG, even in our shampoo and toothpaste!

The reaction to it for me, is always the same, a nasty miserable headache, stomach pain and well you know……

One new-found affect recently discovered, is “brain fog,” or feeling just slightly off and not knowing why.

The other additive that I want to talk about is  maltodextrin.

It preceded Carrageenan in my life and was just as debilitating, with nearly identical affects and reactions.

I had just begun to feel like I had conquered the demon and BAM, they started putting Carrageenan in everything.

So, back to square one for label reading.

Many years before either of these two were a part of my life, I found that I had terrible reactions to MSG.

I will not expand on this product because most people are already quite aware of its deleterious effects.

But back to the beginning of this story.

It is very disturbing to me and hopefully to you as well, that Carrageenan can be added to Organic products.

The very definition of Organic is to give the consumer a feeling of safety in a chosen product.

But if the FDA and whoever else has allowed this to happen, is green lighting Carrageenan in Organics, when it clearly does not belong there, what else are they letting slide in?

As always, read your labels and let those who control everything that we eat and use in this country, especially the FDA, know how you feel about this kind of behavior.

If you don’t think that we have a huge effect on bad Company practices, remember the Bread at Sub Way that was being made with rubber mat materials?

They stopped doing this and now even proudly claim and announce in their commercials that azodicarbonamide is no longer used.

This was, although completely denied by Sub Way, the direct result of a massive, hugely successful Blogging Campaign to expose it, by one very determined woman, who would not back down.

God Bless her tenacity, her temerity!

We are, as we should be, in control of what we buy in this Country and we need to send the message loud and clear to all those who make and approve these awful additives to be included in our food.

“In the U.S., carrageenan is allowed under FDA regulations”  –  Wikipedia

 

Places to learn more:

Carrageenan – Wikipedia

Dr. Andrew Weil talks about Carrageenan

The Natural Ingredient You Should Ban From Your Diet

Shopping Guide to Avoiding Organic Foods with Carrageenan

Maltodextrin

Sulfur – Wikipedia

Subway Bread Made With Yoga Mat and Shoe Rubber Time to Remove 

Uncovering Hidden Food Allergies & Food Sensitivities

Carrageenan what? Beware of this ingredient