New Chapter Inc., (ANOTHER SELL OUT), takes the money and runs

What a shame and what a disappointment! I'm fed up and sick and tired of another, once proud, true optimum health promoting, pure sourced ingredient, health and wellness company selling out to a mega  corporation, (Proctor & Gamble), who's focus is to first purchase and then castrate said business into a shell of its former self for one reason and one reason only, PROFIT. I'm not so naive to think, someone who has the ability and fortitude to start, run and make successful a business doesn't have a price he or she would sell it at. What's beyond troubling and the head shaking is WHOM you sell it to. That's the horribly disappointing, spineless, gutless issue here. To "Inform" our readers , P&G's largest stock holder is The Vanguard Group. Vanguard is also one of the largest stockholders in Monsanto Corp. If your not up to date on Monsanto, (tough not to be in this business), do yourself a favor and Google them and you'll  quickly come to understand what they are all about and how they conduct business. Here is what really happens when a mega corp like P&G buys a once great brand like New Chapter. The  focus, heart, foundation, and resources that were once the mantra of  the company are now gone and instead goes towards the marketing and market expansion of the products. The new owners will dilute, diminish, and devour, the products into an unrecognizable, cheap, mass produced, clone of its former self while continuing to try and market it as the top quality product it once was. The new mantra then takes over; increase margins = filled bank accounts = happy board members. I have recommended New Chapter products for years to our customers, friends, and family alike because of all the right ways they went about building and running their business. That's all history now because of this recent transaction with P& G. Not that it might matter  in the grand scheme of things, but I will never spend another penny of my hard earned money on any New Chapter product and will never recommend them to another human being. If there is still one way to let your voice be heard in this country, it's with your spending habits and your word of mouth, be it positive or negative. That, after all, is indeed the principle of it all, no?
 It's always a sad, sad day for the health and wellness industry when this type of commerce cannibalism transpires. To you, Paul and Barbi Schulick may I say I'm indeed very sorry and sad to see this happen to New Chapter. It didn't have to, it never has to. No one begrudges you making a nice retirement for you and yours, but you didn't have to go to bed with those who could give two shits about health and wellness and what it truly means to be proactive with your health instead of reactive. To those of us who helped to put you in the position to be able to SELL OUT, I think you owed more than this outcome. Congrats and sleep well.  

The Golden Arches: The Ultimate Fast Food Oxymoron

Hi All, I realize it has been a December Alaskan night since my last post but I have made it a priority to now keep this blog active, relevent and informative with regards to the world of health and wellness as seen from the eyes of an average, passionate, connected consumer.Thanks for checking us out and our hope always is that you become more informed, passionate and connected right along with us as you read each post we bring you.
                                               There couldn't be a better way to jump back into blogworld than to comment on what The Golden Arches are up to these days. Recently in our local paper, The Allentown Morning Call dated 07/26/11, a national article titled "Mc Donald's shift bears fruit" was published, and in it, Mc Donalds new focus on "healthier" menu choices was highlighted as a new fast food industry standard. Where does any proactive healthy person even begin to comment? First and foremost to even hold  Mc Donalds up as some sort of twisted nutritional sounding board for the rest of the take out, fast food world is beyond hilarious. A Mc Donalds spokeswoman, Danya Proud, is actually quoted in the article as stating, evidently with a straight face, "We know we're a leader and we know we need to be part of the solution but we can't be looked at as providing the only solution". Solution?? No offense Miss Proud, but if you think anyone in this country truly interested in eating REAL FOOD for  optimum health and wellness looks towards Mickey D's for guidance,  and a partial solution to the out of control obesity epidemic and  other health related food issues , please reboot! To look at a fast food megalopolis, who is at least part of the cause of these entrenched, home grown problems, as a start of a solution to said problems defies logic. Its akin to looking for the answer to world peace at a terrorist training camp! Please, as a reader, don't under estimate this statement or toss it aside as too radical a thought. To call or label anything a fast food franchise serves, a "real food", is an insult to true real food and the dedicated, small, sustainable farmers who grow, raise and bring it to us. "Real Food", health promoting and enhancing food, is grown, raised and brought to our tables, free from: pesticides, herbicides, synthetic chemicals, factory farm raised practices, pasteurization, homogenization, being deep fried in rancid oils, containing oxidized fats, being grain fed, and containing high fructose corn syrup, period! "Real Food" is not what Mc Donalds and the rest of the fast food world is about folks, no matter how many changes they make to their menus, who is selling it to you, and how they try to spin and market it to you. Fast food contains and consists of all the things mentioned above  and in the world of "Real Food" it is looked upon and considered as serious as a terrorist attack on the health and wellness of us all! It is responsible for causing or at least helping to cause much harm and ill health to each and everyone of you who regularly purchase and consume these foods. The fact that Mc Donalds is the take out/fast food leader worldwide should tell you exactly why we are in the shape we are in, in this country. A related story out of London has Mc Donalds boastfully announcing it will be opening the largest fast food restaurant in the world, in London, just in time for the 2012 Olympic Games. It's stats are the following, 2 floors, 32,000 square feet of retail space, 1500 seats and they anticipate serving 1.7 million people or1 out of every 5 total meals served during the Games in London. This being the largest gathering of the finest trained and most talented amateur athletes in the world, does anyone see the irony of this farce all in the name of T.V. ad revenue and corporate greed? The Fast Food giants need to stop trying to hide its true colors, which happens to be serving and selling cheap, unhealthy, over processed, dead food. This false, feeble attempt to paint themselves as a path to "part of the solution" for healthy eating is the ultimate oxymoron in  the world of food and drink. Mickey D's and  the rest of their kind need to just continue doing what they are comfortable and very good at, contributing to what's wrong with food and drink in this country and please leave the sincere and passionate work of educating and guiding us to real food and its health giving benefits to those who truly have led by example. The Michael Pollans, Andrew Weils, Marion Nestles, Jordan Rubins, Mike Adams and Nina Plancks of the world. Pure and simple, as a person you truly are what you eat, and as a restaurant you are what you serve and sell! Really think about that before you walk under the golden arches next time you crave a Happy Meal!          

Is your bed making you sick?

I know, just what we need, another question about what is healthy or unhealthy for us. But ponder this before you say I don't care. Infants and toddlers spend 1/2 their lives sleeping, teenagers and adults 1/3 of their days in La La Land. So logic asks, shouldn't your place of slumber not only be comfortable but also as healthy for you as possible? The answer of course is yes. The problem is most don't give a second thought as to how safe and healthy their bed is because of complacency and our lazy willingness to trust those that manufacture, regulate and sell all products we consumers need. Try this on for size, nearly all baby mattresses manufactured today contain polyurethane foam, vinyl (PVC), Phthalates, chemical fire retardants, and an extensive list of added industrial chemicals. Phthalates are a group of those man made chemicals known to affect a child's developing endocrine (known as hormonal) system. They may also cause asthma, allergies and can even add to the development of some forms of cancer. These chemicals are so hazardous they have been banned in many countries around the world. Bromine, another hazard in the man made chemical world we wallow, is mainly used as a fire retardent in mattresses  and exposure to it can predispose sleepers to diseases of the prostate, thyroid, and breast. Polyurethane foam is used in most mattresses because it is cheap,( as are most things that are bad and unhealthy for you), lightweight, strong and durable. This foam then off gases and decomposes over time releasing deadly and carcinogenic vapors. Many other synthetic, fire retardant, petroleum based products, toxic glues, stains and coatings are used in the manufacturing of  mattresses  and no one studies the effects these substances have on our endocrine, immune, reproductive and central nervous systems singularly and most importantly synergistically. NO studies here in the U.S.  NONE!!  Studies done in New Zealand, Britain and Germany showing the negative effects of these products used have been ignored by the American Medical community. If that doesn't send an SOS through your immune system you better check your pulse or try reciting your ABC's because my guess is your not capable of remembering them. Years ago mattresses weren't made with this toxic soup of ingredients but because of recent history and our governments requirements to make mattresses resist open flames and resistant to a dropped, lit cigarette they are soaked in this soup of chemicals of which the harm they possibly cause is completely ignored and unstudied. What does one do to remedy this you ask? Look towards replacing these mattresses, (especially your crib mattresses), with healthier, non toxic choices such as organic cotton, wool, or natural latex (if there is no allergy). If that is not conducive to your balanced checkbook at least look into using organic cotton or wool toppers and pads which help shield the sleeper from the negatives effects of our modern U.S. sleep systems. As always the idea here is to present the info, inform, and urge you to become proactive not reactive. Complacency has no place in a healthy, long life no matter how hard they try to market it, sell it, and lull you to sleep.
Best of Health and a PFL,
Sean      

Do you want cheap or do you want your health?

That sounds like a pretty simple question to answer, doesn't it? Don't kid yourself though, most of us are answering cheap! Speak to any economist, any business owner who has succeeded OR failed, or any board member of a major corporation and they will all tell you that in order to survive, succeed, thrive and then create change in this world, it takes the almighty dollar, peso, euro, franc, or my matchbox for your cats eye marble. Your decision to spend where, when and on what speaks volumes in this world no matter if your living pay check to pay check or you have your own wine cellar in the basement. The very cool thing is it doesn't matter which "class" you list yourself under, that decision is equally as important no matter where you fall. Ultimately this country rises and falls, trends appear and fade, and businesses large and small alike thrive or fail based on the decisions you make with your currency of choice. Here in the states the focus by all in the business of doing business has been to make cheap appear to be cool, chic, logical, a necessity and most of all the place to spend your money. Do any of these ring a bell? Bogo, Blue light special, generic, buy more pay less, all fast food franchises,The Dollar Stores, Aldi, Walmart, Kmart,  coupons, subsidies and on and on and on... If we continue to spend for quantity instead of quality, especially when it comes to our food and drink, we are doomed to live a life of out of control degenerative disease,  and generation upon generation of children not out living their parents. Anyone who has listened to me from high a top my soapbox has heard me say that the most important thing we do everyday as human beings lies in the decision of what to put in our mouths to chew, swallow and assimilate. All else in life revolves around that decision. Decide on that cheap, corporate boardroom, bottom line side of food and drink and it won't matter a hill of beans what college degree you have, the size of your 401K, how many friends you have on facebook, or what neighborhood you call home. You won't live long enough to enjoy those trappings of life. Can cheap, ( or less expensive for my PC readers), one day live side by side with quality? Sure, if we start supporting things like sustainability, certified organic, locally grown, nourishing, pro active not reactive living, third party politics, community activism, and a contrarian view of life. We as a people have been dumbed down as a nation by those in charge to make you believe you don't have to think or hold close these qualities in order to live, eat, drink, consume, and pursue optimum health. If you speak with your dollar those in charge MUST listen. Support and spend on that which makes sense in your heart, soul and for your children's future, health, and wellness. If you want proof as to the reactive, healthless, unsustainable path we are currently heading down pay attention to The McDonalds franchises around the towns and cities in which you call home. Here in the beautiful LehighValley all the McDonalds are tearing down their current stores and building brand new restaurants with a contemporary stone and wood design. Common sense and business 101 tells anyone that for any business large or small to take on that type of expense business must be beyond good. The Ancient concept of Empirical Healers during the time of Hippocrates, stated "The true cause of all disease ultimately lay in the life and habits of the individual". If we keep spending our dollars, pesos, euros. francs, and cats eye marbles on "Value Meals" and "Mc Flurries" we'lll get what we paid for for sure. Best of health and a PFL
Sean
   

     

Calcium and Heart Attack—What You Really Need to Know

Calcium and Heart Attack—What You Really Need to Know