Free Republic

The government’s effort to force feed America’s youth with nutritionally approved food raised its ugly head in a North Carolina pre-school this past week. The issue gained notoriety when a mother complained that school officials declared the sack-lunch of a turkey sandwich, fruit, chips, and apple juice she had prepared for her daughter was substandard and gave the child a school meal composed of chicken nuggets, milk, and a vegetable. In the end, the girl ate only the chicken nuggets. The principal of West Hoke Elementary, Jackie Samuels, defended the program as “a crucial step toward ensuring that all children...

A preschooler in the Hoke County public school system in Raeford, North Carolina was force fed chicken nuggets for lunch because a state worker determined that her homemade lunch lacked nutritional value.

Madison, WI — The International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association™ (IDDBA) has announced the speaker lineup for Dairy-Deli-Bake 2012. The event will be held June 10-12 in New Orleans, LA at the New Orleans Morial Convention Center. This year’s speakers include: Sarah Palin, Paula Deen, Terry Bradshaw, John Pinette, Jeremy Gutsche, Adrian Slywotzky, Jim Carroll, Jane Buckingham, Harold Lloyd, Steve Beekhuizen, Jack Li, and Carol Christison. The Heart of a Rogue Trailblazer In 2006, Sarah Palin became the youngest person and the first female to be elected as governor of Alaska. A short two years later, she was tapped to be the vice-presidential...

A recent conversation prompted this article. It seems that friends in urban and suburban homes feel that there may be little hope for them in case of disaster, since they have no “retreat” set up in a rural area as a destination. This article points out similarities in all disaster preparedness, as well as possible differences in strategies and tactics to make surviving in urban and suburban locations more likely. None of these are new ideas, just slanted toward those who are urban/ suburban dwellers and that do not have a rural retreat location. While not detailed in scope, below...

... A child’s mother sent the kid, a preschooler mind you, to school with a turkey and cheese sandwich, banana, potato chips and apple juice. Is there any conceivable grounds here for government intervention? No? Think again. Bauer reports that the lunch from home “failed the mandatory lunch inspection”...

Nearly half of U.S. households receive government benefits. We’ve reached record highs of those relying on government-paid benefits, which is to say, benefits paid for by taxpayers, which is another way of saying redistributed wealth. Which is another way of saying socialism....

Taxpayers are unlucky in love this Valentine’s Day. Of an identified $17 billion in Valentine’s Day related spending on candy, flowers, dinner, jewelry, greetings cards, clothing, and hotels, government composes 33.14 percent of those costs—approximately $5.6 billion in revenues. But how does government love thee? Let us tax the ways…. This year’s average Valentine’s Day spending is estimated to be $126.03 a person, an 8 percent increase in spending since last year. Valentine’s Day spending is subject to income taxes, payroll taxes, corporate income taxes, and other taxes on business activity. Government then includes additional fees, excise taxes, and international...

Well I've finally finished my latests update of my Preparedness Manual. I hope everyone likes the changes! At 492 pages now it's a real labor of love, but worth it. As I have said repeatedly if my manual helps one family, even one person survive SHTF then it was well worth it. Now I want to say a special Thank You to FReeper Eaker for hosting the file. Eaker you are a scholar and a gentleman and a FReeper in need. Thank you so much for your help and may God Bless you.

African farmers ostensibly will benefit from an approximately new $60 million project that U.S. taxpayers could be funding. The U.S. Agency for International Development's "USAID/WA [West Africa] Trade Hub and African Partner Network Project," as the endeavor is known, will seek to "assist farmers and firms to increase trade in key grains and livestock" in that region, according to a presolicitation notice that U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor has located. The document says the initiative, which remains "subject to the availability of funds," will keep in line with the U.S. government's Feed the Future strategy as well as support the...

Valentine’s Day draws nigh. And if you’re the type of person who has a hard time expressing yourself the other 364 days of the year, then February 14 provides the perfect opportunity to at least do it half-assedly. One thing that cannot be denied, is that there is no better way to appease your partner with minimal effort than with a folded piece of card stock containing a message written by a stranger.

Time for the monthly rotation checklist. I’ve adapted this from alpharubicon’s site (they have more info than I can ever read). Usually do this the first Friday of every month (you pick best time for you). Some of these actions may only pertain to those living in a moist (and in my case salty) environment. If you have a suggestion of what to add…let me know!

On the second anniversary of the campaign to fight childhood obesity, reflecting on how smart it was to target school lunch and food deserts. On the occasion of the two-year anniversary of Michelle Obama's Let's Move! campaign, it's time to reflect again on what the campaign means for the White House, for childhood obesity, and for the food movement. A year later, I summarized some of the campaign's accomplishments. From the beginning, I've been impressed with its smart choice of targets: to reduce childhood obesity by improving school food and inner city access to healthy foods. I'm reminded of the...

Really, really love bacon? Then this might be the drink for you. That’s drink. Jack in the Box, the sometimes out-there burger chain, has come up with a belly-buster idea to cap it’s “Marry Bacon” advertising campaign. It’s offering a bacon milkshake. Kind of sidesteps the old bacon burger and a shake idea, doesn’t it?

Vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients in our foods, we expect. But information? According to recent research from China’s Nanjing University, when people eat rice, tiny sequences of microRNA from the plant-based food can survive the body’s digestive process and end up absorbed in human tissue where — and here’s the reason why we need to know about this study — plant microRNA may actually affect how our cells behave and function. In the study, Exogenous plant MIR168a specifically targets mammalian LDLRAP1: evidence of cross-kingdom regulation by microRNA, published in the Journal Cell Research, the genetic material from rice showed up...

Consumer rights' advocates filed a lawsuit against McDonald's fast food chain in Russia. The lawsuit was filed at Moscow's Tverskoy Court. The plaintiffs intend to oblige the company to indicate the complete list of ingredients on packaging, rather than the content of protein, fat and carbohydrates. Representatives of the Consumer Rights Protection Society claim that concealing the content of products the company violates the status of the retail outlet of finished products, not to mention the fact that it misleads consumers. According to experts, the range of milkshakes, which the chain sells, can not be referred to as "milk" under...

President Obama, I oppose your appointment of Michael Taylor, a former VP and Lobbyist for Monsanto, the widely criticized Genetically Modified (GM) food multinational, as Senior Advisor to the Commissioner at the FDA. Taylor is the same person who was Food Safety Czar at the FDA when Genetically Modified Organisms were allowed into the US food supply without undergoing a single test to determine their safety or risks. This is a travesty. Taylor was in charge of policy for Monsanto's now-discredited GM Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH) which is directly linked to cancer and opposed by many medical and hospital organizations.

Across the country the Center for Disease Control (CDC) has been spending millions of ‘Stimulus’ dollars running campaigns and ads attacking tobacco and sugar-sweetened beverages like soda. Health police have also waged overt war on alcoholic beverages. After taxing beverages to no end Big Brother has turned more frequently to regulating away individual choice. Nowhere is the Nanny State more alive and well than in the Big Apple. Under the guise of public health, Mayor Bloomberg is planning a draconian assault on alcoholic beverages, plotting to close a number of drinking establishments and restrict alcohol advertising throughout the city. Initial...

Less salt and fat. More whole grains, fruit, veggies and low-fat dairy. This is what kids can expect in the school lunchroom soon, according to new nutrition standards for school meals announced today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and first lady Michelle Obama. "When we send our kids to school, we expect that they won't be eating the kind of fatty, salty, sugary foods that we try to keep them from eating at home," Obama said in a statement. "We want the food they get at school to be the same kind of food we would serve at our...

President Obama laid the blame for impressions that he is “cold and aloof” at the feat of what he called “a largely hostile media.” “It’s lonely at the top,” Obama complained. “The average person has plenty of equally situated people who share similar day-to-day experiences. But who shares what I go through on a daily basis? I’m one-of-a-kind. No one is my equal. I can’t hang out with anyone without having to reach down to a lower social strata.” “Instead of praising my magnificence, though, the media foments criticism and complaints,” Obama continued. “A person reading a newspaper or watching...

Those mocking the Transportation Security Administration for recently confiscating a passenger’s cupcake are missing the point says Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. “It’s not that we’re saying that a cupcake, per se, is a dangerous weapon,” Napolitano explained. “But the risk of a random confiscation of any item is a way of throwing a monkey-wrench into a potential terrorist’s plot.” Napolitano also cited the collateral benefit to the TSA from “foraging off the land. You know, Sherman’s march to the sea wouldn’t have been possible if his troops didn’t take opportunities to seize supplies from the inhabitants of Georgia and...

WASHINGTON, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Blount Fine Foods is recalling some of its Rip Roarin' Crab Soup sold in 16-ounce cups because it contains undeclared milk, wheat and crab, the company said. The back label of the crab soup incorrectly identifies the product as Manhattan Clam Chowder, the company said in a statement on the Food and Drug Administration website. The ingredient statement also fails to declare the milk, wheat or crab, which can cause serious or life-threatening reactions to people with allergies.

The 'Gay Diet' If 'man food' is meat and 'girl food' is salad, what's 'gay food'? Simon Doonan has just written a new book called Gay Men Don't Get Fat. Doonan is less famous here than he is in the States: he's a Reading-born, highly successful window dresser for Barneys, a style columnist for the New York Post and elsewhere, and is married to the designer Jonathan Adler. His title alludes, of course, to the mid-noughties bestseller French Women Don't Get Fat, which did more to raise awareness of the French paradox among the general public than any book before...

Every once in a while, I can’t resist indulging in a sleeve of hot, crispy McDonald’s French fries. Not even Michelle Obama can resist the attractive allure of the crispy spuds. However, that doesn’t stop her from trying to curb the desires of her fellow Americans. I can only assume that the First Lady’s stint in office will long be characterized by her perpetual battle against America’s increasing waistline. Her attempt to halt the increasing health concerns of overweight Americans is certainly a noble cause, but her methods (unsurprisingly) are not always acceptable within the confines of a classical liberal...

Every once in a while, I can’t resist indulging in a sleeve of hot, crispy McDonald’s French fries. Not even Michelle Obama can resist the attractive allure of the crispy spuds. However, that doesn’t stop her from trying to curb the desires of her fellow Americans. I can only assume that the First Lady’s stint in office will long be characterized by her perpetual battle against America’s increasing waistline. Her attempt to halt the increasing health concerns of overweight Americans is certainly a noble cause, but her methods (unsurprisingly) are not always acceptable within the confines of a classical liberal...

If you're one of the many families that has a Christmas Eve eating tradition please give us your best. Personally my wifes family had one when we got married....Oyster stew and rice with raisins, it was vile! Thankfully I got her off that and for 20 years we've had Super Jumbo Atlantic wild caught Shrimp and Jumbo Stone Crab claws MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM gooooooood. Please post what you'll be having

I went recently to San Francisco to give a talk to a conference of scientists. The scientists were experts in gathering together mountains of biological data—genome sequences, results of experiments and clinical trials—and figuring out how to make them useful: turning them into new diagnostic tests, for example, or a drug for cancer. The invitation was an honor, but a nerve-wracking one. As a journalist, I had no genome scan to offer the audience. We science writers do have one ace in the hole, though. Instead of being lashed to a lab bench for years, carrying out experiments to illuminate...

Obviously if you are reading this article you already have a modicum of common sense about the impending changes to our capitalist system or the prophesy about the collapse thereof. Some people who have been out of work and have given up on ever finding another job are no longer counted in the unemployment figures since the change in how they are counted so politicians can justify their piss poor job performance…..the rate currently in reality is something akin to 20% not below 10% as touted. Almost 50 million persons receive food stamps and on the rise. Less than 50%...

So am going to get some Eggnog tomorrow. What alcohol do you guys like to put in eggnog?

The road to gastric hell is paved with first lady Michelle Obama’s Nanny State intentions. Don’t take my word for it. School kids in Los Angeles have blown the whistle on the east wing chef-in-chief’s healthy lunch diktats. Get your Pepto Bismol ready. The taste of government waste is indigestion-inducing. According to a weekend report by the Los Angeles Times, the city’s “trailblazing introduction of healthful school lunches has been a flop.” In response to the public hectoring and financial inducement of Mrs. Obama’s federally subsidized anti-obesity campaign, the district dropped chicken nuggets, corn dogs and flavored milk from the...

A graphic interpretation of recent changes to the US dietary guidelines shows that the average American adheres to the national food guide MyPlate just seven days out of the year. Using its National Eating Trends statistics, which have been tracking the eating and drinking habits of US consumers for 30 years, market research company the NPD Group found that only two percent of Americans’ diets -- equal to about seven days a year -- come close to the US Department of Agriculture’s new dietary guidelines launched this summer....

The Detroit News this morning published a story about the possibility of reforming the Michigan Liquor Control Code and its related rules. The author correctly notes that some groups and residents in Michigan are “on edge” over what the reforms may bring. One of those quoted, Mike Tobias of the group Michigan Alcohol Policy Promoting Health & Safety, argued that “We (Michigan) have plenty of liquor licenses and plenty of beverages sold over the counter. We know that the more alcohol outlets there are, the more alcohol-related problems and harm there is.” There are two problems with this quote. First,...

Oath Keepers has learned that federal agents recently visited a Later Day Saints (Mormon) Church food storage cannery in Tennessee, demanding customer lists, wanting to know the identity of Americans who are purchasing food storage from the Mormons. This incident was confirmed, in person, by Oath Keepers Tennessee Chapter President, Rand Cardwell. Here is Rand’s report: “A fellow veteran contacted me concerning a new and disturbing development. He had been utilizing a Mormon cannery near his home to purchase bulk food supplies. The man that manages the facility related to him that federal agents had visited the facility and demanded...

The recent release of Ken Burns’ “Prohibition” documentary has raised many good questions about the subject of alcohol control. For Michigan, the questions are timely. Gov. Rick Snyder’s 21-member Liquor Control Advisory Rules Committee will soon present its ideas for alcohol control reform, and would be wise to think and reform boldly. Michigan’s laws and rules governing alcohol control have been treated like the play things of politicians and powerful special interests for decades. They are not as protective of public safety as neo-prohibitionists want people to believe, and are actually protectionist in many ways, treating different businesses and people...

The 20 most famous vegetarians of all-time will appear on a series of postage stamps — and the folks at PETA are hoping it’s a good way to lick animal abuse. In time for the holiday-card rush, the stamps featuring such meatless celebs as Paul McCartney, Ellen DeGeneres, and Morrissey will be released Tuesday. “These are very influential people, and not everyone knows that these folks are vegetarian,” said Lisa Lange, vice president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. The stamps will also feature hip-hop impresario Russell Simmons, actors Woody Harrelson and Natalie Portman, and singers Chrissie Hynde,...

Imagine walking into your local wine, liquor or beer shop and finding all of your favorite brands on sale — permanently. This could be the reality for Washington liquor consumers as the state transitions from a government-run distribution system to a private one as a result of the state’s successful privatization initiative, which voters approved this month. The new system permits liquor producers to sell directly to retailers; something that is generally prohibited under the three-tier distribution system which separates producers from retailers by forcing them to sell their product to a wholesaler who then sells to stores. Freeing the...

Many now face the biggest problem post-Thanksgiving..what to do with all the leftovers?..There's always plenty of food left over..and we all it it for a few days..but I'm wondering if anyone has some special, creative recipes for the leftovers.

A chef was stunned to find she was almost banned from buying two limes from a supermarket - because they could be classed as a weapon. Marisa Zoccolan, 31, popped into the new Asda supermarket close to her home in Wallsend, North Tyneside, to pick up some groceries, including the citrus fruits. But when she tried to pay for them at the self-service checkout, the message 'amount exceeded, authorisation required' flashed up. An assistant then came over and told her that more than one lime was deemed a weapon - because the citric acid could be squirted in someone's eye.Marisa,...

What may be new to most Americans is nothing out of the ordinary for our readers. As the economic, financial and political situation around us becomes more dire by the day, people are realizing that if it hits the fan there will be no safety net to assist them. The government is already overwhelmed with nearly 50 million people on nutritional assistance and an estimated 100 million Americans living in or right on the edge of poverty. In a true emergency, be it economic in nature or an unforeseen outlier, there will simply be no way local or federal officials...

Throughout our history, Americans have benefited from the extraordinary riches and resources of the wealthy land in which we live. Compared to any other country on earth, Americans enjoy more fertile farmland, better internal communications by water, rich and diverse mineral resources, a more favorable climate, a more favorable position in the world’s commerce, and friendlier neighbors: our home truly flows with milk and honey. On this Thanksgiving Day we should reflect in gratitude for the abundance that shaped us as a people and still flows for us today, and see how yet again we are poised to enjoy new...

Okay folks, the third year we have been doing this and it's time yet again. We're having a traditional dinner....a 18# Tom turkey deep fried in peanut oil, yams with brown sugar bacon drippings and multiple spices, green bean casserole, mashed cranberries with sugar and cream, southern style mac and cheese, fresh frozen (Cherokee variety) sweet corn, reduced gravy from the drippings with Idaho Russet mashed potatoes, no dressing :(, wife hates "soggy bread".. For the hardcore meat eaters ....4 racks of Pork Baby Back ribs cooked on the Bradley Smoker starting in about 2 hours. Dessert: Pumpkin Divine....a combination...

Thanksgiving jihad? Butterball sells sharia friendly halal turkeys Thanksgiving is turkey time, yet many Americans are unaware that the turkey on the menu may be halal, meaning it is slaughtered according to the dictates of sharia, the religious law of Islam. On Monday, reports began circulating around the web that one of America’s largest producers of thanksgiving turkeys, Butterball, slaughters turkeys according to the dictates of sharia law. And apparently Butterball has confirmed the rumor: all Butterball whole turkeys sold in the U.S. are slaughtered in accord with halal, and thus satisfy sharia, Islamic religious law. Halal is a term...

First I am in no way connected to Comfort Creek Foods or Crider Corp the Parent company. http://www.cridercorp.com/home.cfm/page/products/product/Canned_Meats.html This is just a personal review of one of their products. I just finish having lunch of a baked potato cover with a can of Comfort Creek Foods Gravy and Roast Beef. I found this product at the local Dollar Tree for you guessed it a dollar. It is a 5 oz. can and though I am not a big buy of food from the Dollar Tree I thought I give this a shot and brought one can. It is made in...

Original link: http://youtu.be/qDF1Mi3z4mI Just when you thought it was safe to grab some munchies in the cupboard, a new study warns of cancer in cans and bags—in cans of Pringles and in bags of a myriad of other potato chips. This disturbing truth about an all-time favorite snack may be forcing food manufacturers to change their processing methods. But can the changes really make a difference? Researchers find that potato chips, among other processed foods, are loaded with the cancer causing chemical, acrylamide (uh-kril-uh-mahyd). The substance forms when carbohydrate-rich foods are cooked at very high temperatures. Some of the worst...

Thanksgiving is a time for reuniting with friends and family, but the government wants to be part of your celebration too. Whether you stay home or travel for the holiday, government is a significant contributor to the costs of the celebration. Of an identified $10 billion in spending that occurs during Thanksgiving weekend on the wine and beer, the gas and plane tickets, and the meal itself, government taxation composes 35.86 percent of those expenses—approximately $3.6 billion in revenues. Many of these Thanksgiving items are subject to the increased costs of income taxes, payroll taxes, corporate income taxes, and other...

This taken from ”The Thanksgiving Turkey,” an episode of “The Red Skelton Show” where Red Skelton plays his Clem Kaddiddlehopper at the first Thanksgiving. At the very end of the episode, Red Skelton addresses the audience and says: “Now I have a little something to say on behalf of our American home. In the year 1620, a group of hardy, determined people crossed the Atlantic in quest of a land where they might live freely, and worship above a whisper. These Pilgrims found such a home, known as the United States of America, and history tells us that our...

While in Asia Hawaii last week, First Lady Michelle Obama sat down for a roundtable discussion with Ma’o Organic Farms. Mrs. Obama has made tackling childhood obesity her issue of choice, and has worked hard to ensure that McDonald’s only puts 14 French fries into each Happy Meal. During the course of the visit, Mrs. Obama revealed that steak and arugula is her favorite meal, and that we should be feeding it to our kids in order to adjust their palates. She said, "People don't have that connection. If they get their palates adjusted to those very interesting flavors, they...

More Videos: http://www.CleanTV.com Just when you thought it was safe to grab some munchies in the cupboard, a new study warns of cancer in cans and bags—in cans of Pringles and in bags of a myriad of other potato chips. This disturbing truth about an all-time favorite snack may be forcing food manufacturers to change their processing methods. But can the changes really make a difference? Researchers find that potato chips, among other processed foods, are loaded with the cancer causing chemical, acrylamide (uh-kril-uh-mahyd). The substance forms when carbohydrate-rich foods are cooked at very high temperatures. Some of the worst...

runo Serato says his Italian mother is responsible for his good deeds. It started when she spotted a boy eating potato chips at a Boys & Girls Club of Anaheim donation ceremony. When Caterina found out the chips were all that boy and other children at the club were having for dinner, she told her son to cook for them at his restaurant, the Anaheim White House. "I had to say yes because I had to listen to my mom," said Serato, who lives in Huntington Beach. That night — April 18, 2005 — he fed about 70 kids. "I...

Pam Lezotte, owner of Buster's Place in Trenton: “I've lost my smoking clientele. Instead of coming here, they're holding house parties, where they can smoke while they drink.” She also said it isn't difficult to distinguish between the effects of the ban and those of the recession. “We (the bar) were packed right up to the day that the smoking ban started,” Lezotte said. “It's clear that the ban chased away regular customers. When we held an outdoor event my smoking customers were back, but they aren't back into the bar. They want to be able to smoke while they...