Subway - Not So Freakin Fresh

Ahhhh, the wonderful brilliance of marketing and advertising. We look at this logo and think, "fresh, crisp, and healthy." We think "green" must mean full of life! But little do we know that the secrets lurking underneath this subway, like the mice scurrying through the underground tunnels of New York's Transportation System, are not so... fresh.

First of all, one thing I want you to always remember, is that eating out is rarely the smart thing to do when it comes to your health. You are paying for all that you see - the rent, the bills, the waiter, the cashier, the cook, the preparer, or at the very least (in the case of these substitute sandwich franchises) the immense advertising campaign. On top of that you have no idea what you are getting (unless, of course, you have a orthorexic friend like me), and let me tell you from experience, more often than not, it is not what your grandmother would have in her cupboard.

So, fresh. Fresh can mean different things to different people. Maybe the marketing executives at Subway eat out of a trash can, and consider that edible goods. Jared, their spokesperson for weight-loss inducing sandwiches, was not concerned with the quality of the food, only the caloric impact. But for most of us, especially ones that seem to read what a company is communicating as their image (refer to above logo), we care. The general definition of the word "fresh," means something that "has its original qualities unimpaired." Hmmm, well, that makes sense. So, naturally we would assume that the majority of the Subway food products (or their sandwiches) would still be in their original, natural state. 

What you may find quite interesting is that out of the 55 individual components that are available to make a sandwich at Subway, only 6 of them could be considered fresh. And based upon the fact that it is snowing in Northern California right now, I am assuming that the tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, lettuce, olives, and onions are not from my back yard. They most likely were showered with pesticides, herbicides, sewage sludge, and synthetic fertilizer that is standard in conventional farming, and then traveled hundreds of miles in a truck to get here.

You may think that the bread that they make in house would be considered fresh, right? Think again. Here is a list of the ingredients for a piece of their 9 Grain Bread, which sounds oh-so-hearty. I highlighted some of the more obvious, un-fresh items, in red, and my annotations are in green:

Enriched wheat flour (wheat flour, barley malt, niacin, iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid) (anytime a flour is enriched, it means that the food manufacturer has stripped the flour of nearly all the vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, so they are legally bound to introduce back in the synthetic vitamins) , water, yeast (source of MSG, and a common allergy), high fructose corn syrup (need I say more? a cause of blood sugar imbalances and weight gain), whole wheat flour, wheat gluten, contains 2% or less of the following: oat fiber, soybean oil (Genetically Modified), salt, wheat bran, rolled wheat, rye nuggets, dough conditioners (DATEM, sodium stearoyl lactylate), yeast nutrients (calcium sulfate, ammonium sulfate), degermed yellow corn meal, rolled oats, rye flakes, caramel color (contains cancer-causing nitrates, and is GM), triticale flakes, parboiled brown rice, refinery syrup, honey, barley flakes, flaxseed, millet, sorghum flour, azodiacarbonamide (Use of azodicarbonamide as a food additive is banned in Australia and in Europe. In Singapore, the use of azodicarbonamide can result in up to 15 years imprisonment and a fine of $450,000.), natural flavor (another source of MSG) (maltodextrin, natural flavor, silicon dioxide, lactic acid). Contains wheat (uhh, yeah, among other things).

Well, we all know that bread products are not always fresh. But the meat must be, meat, right? Wrong (boy, am I having fun at this!)! Their Oven Roasted Chicken Patty is a great place to start:

Oven roasted chicken with rib meat (conventionally produced with growth hormones, pesticides, antibiotics), water, seasoning (corn syrup solids, vinegar powder [maltodextrin (GM sugar syrup, source of MSG), modified corn starch & tapioca starch, dried vinegar], brown sugar, salt, dextrose (a sugar derived chemically from starch), garlic powder, onion powder, chicken type flavor [hydrolyzed corn gluten (MSG!), autolyzed yeast extract (MSG!), thiamine hydrochloride, disodium inosinate & disodium guanylate]), sodium phosphate. 

That chicken sure went through the ringer, didn't she? Bathed in MSG (a flavor enhancer that is the chemical used to make mice obese- because they do not exist in nature- for diabetes trials in labs). Lathered in sugar.

Well, the last hoor-rah has got to be the vegetables. What on earth could they do to vegetables to make them, not-so-spanking-new? Let us evaluate the Jalapeno Pepper Slices:

Jalapeno peppers, water, distilled vinegar, salt, natural flavorings (MSG), calcium chloride (salt), sodium benzoate (preservative linked to hyperactivity and accelerated aging when combined with.... drumroll please.... FD&C Yellow #5!), natural flavors (MSG), polysorbate 80 (a preservative which has been linked to infertility), FD &C Yellow #5 (has been linked to asthma attacks and hives, thyroid tumors, chromosomal damage, and hyperactivity in children).

As you can see, Subway's products are not fresh, as they claim. Even the best of us think that this is a healthy alternative, (husband, take note!) but do you see that it only seems that way because of the advertising techniques? None of the dozens of products, and the combined-sandwich-outcome, could be fresh, even if you tried. It is a false claim, and one that I think is criminal. Every ingredient seems to be chalked full of synthetic chemicals, flavor enhancers, cancer-causing nitrites and nitrates, monosodium glutamate, sugar, and genetically modified ingredients.

Let me ask you something. What is one of the easiest and most convenient things to make at home? What could your 5 year old prepare and stack together with minimal effort, without the need to tip or pay a teenager with plastic gloves? A sandwich!

Take the anti-Subway challenge and make a sandwich on your own!

Anti-Genetically Modified Foods Are Not Just For Hippies!

I must preface this by saying that I do not have hairy armpits, and I wear deodorant. I love nice clothes, and although my father was a political activist, I have yet to be someone who tacks a sign to her chest and lays in the middle of the boulevard, or lives in a tree (although I think all of the above are admirable, minus the body odor - anyone can do that). Oftentimes people feel that, to become informed and stand up against something that is becoming massively accepted by society, that we must become "hippied-out." Perhaps we think that we have to start wearing Birkenstocks, become a progressive Democrat with Kucinich signs glued to the back of our car, or quit our job and move to Costa Rica to start a healing center.

But real change starts with just a couple of sentences, and the use of your dollar power, and all that you have to believe in is your right to be healthy.

Did you know that genetically modified food (GM) is dangerous to your fertility, your immune system, is hazardous to our ecosystem, and is hidden in food products in your pantry? Maybe you would find it even more interesting that the company that creates this type of altered food is trying to keep it under raps? 

There are a lot of articles out there that go into the specifics of the real threat that is a potential with GM foods, but let me give you a quick run down on what GM foods are, and how they may affect your health.

GM food is essentially food that has been altered by man in a laboratory down to the level of the  DNA. Scientists inject genes from another plant, or even another species, like a spider or a fish, to achieve a particular result. It was thought that doing this would give us the power to achieve pest and disease resistance, temperature and chemical tolerance, and better nutrition in our crops. Monsanto (insert satan's horns here) is the corporation that is creating, patenting, and selling these products. Their mission statement on their site is hilarious and disturbing. They believe they are helping feed the planet.

Boy were they wrong. Here is a list of the disadvantages so far from GM foods.

• Harm to the Ecosystem that Supports the Food in the First Place: A GM Corn that was injected with a gene from a bacterium that is lethal to insect larvae seems to be killing off the monarch butterflies. Also, because nature does not rely on man (I wonder if those idiot scientists ever read my blog?) the wind and insects are carrying these GM seeds to other fields and infecting our food supply, and then Monsanto sues the farmer that ends up with this crop. 
• Guinea Pig Science: These guys do not know what they are doing! In 1989 the FDA recalled supplements of L-tryptophan that was from a company in China that was utilizing genetic engineering to alter the molecular structure of the protein supplement. In doing so, a fatal blood illness was seen in those ingesting it. This is what many critics now say is happening in our food supply; unknown byproducts are being produced that are small and seemingly immeasureable by science, but hold extreme significance to our body's level of homeostasis.
  
• Allergies: There is a possibility that introducing a gene into a plant may create a potential or new allergen to those susceptible, like children, immunodeficient individuals, and the elderly. And with the above example, those of us who are not prone to allergic response may have one anyway, when the body is exposed to a tomato, lets say, with the splice of a spider gene (hey, that confuses me, I cant imagine what it does to the cells in my body). This is where labeling comes into play - why not label foods that are GM, so we can track if we have negative responses? Because Monsanto believes it will affect their bottom line. Their mission statement should be, "Feeding the world, whether they get sick from it or not."
• Infertility: A recent study came out in Austria that showed those mice who were fed GM corn developed a damaged reproductive system and offspring. Speaking for GM Free Cymru, Dr Brian John said:  “This work will do huge damage to the GM industry worldwide, since it shows that a crop — Monsanto’s maize line NK603 x MON810 — which has been approved as safe by EFSA, and given consent for use in food and feed by the EC, is in fact dangerous to health.  It demonstrates that the approvals process is at best inadequate and at worst corrupt. "
• Immune System Damage: The Italian government's National Institute of Research on Food and Nutrition published in 2008 a study that showed mice who were fed GM corn had "significant disturbances" in their immune system. The T and B cells were decreased in those fed the GM corn, which is a bit like being in Hollywood when the bodyguards and bouncers do not show up in town. Ick. Chaos.   

It is no surprise that many people are up in arms about Monsanto and GM technology. I no doubt predict that more of these studies will arise as time passes. Here are a couple tips to stave off the franken-foods from your pallet, and keep that libido, immune system, and longevity up to its potential:

1. Go Organic: Organic food is legally bound to not source any of their products from GM varieties of food. In other words organic cannot equal GM. And by purchasing organic you are also eating food free of herbicides, pesticides, sewage sludge, chemical fertilizers, antibiotics, growth hormones, or other drugs.
   
2. Avoid Processed Foods: Up to 75% of the ingredients that are on the packages in your grocery store are GM. Eat out of boxes, cans, and bags a lot? Down goes the crazy fake-food.
   
3. Read Labels: Soybeans and corn byproducts are the most widespread GM crops. Avoid their ingredients like corn flour and meal, dextrin, starch, soy sauce, soy lecithin, margarine, and tofu.
4. Produce Stickers: Every produce item at your grocery store has 4 digit number if it is conventional (4130), prefaced by a 9 if it is organic (94130), or a 8 if it is GM (84130).

If you could only do one thing for your health, and for your moral conscience, do the above.