Dr. Oz viciously attacks organic foods and farmers markets, pushes feedlot beef, urges clueless consumers to eat more pesticides and GMO (opinion)



Saturday, December 01, 2012
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
Editor of NaturalNews.com

(NaturalNews) Dr. Oz has finally done it: He has sold out to Big Ag by declaring organic foods to be "elitist," "snooty" and no better than conventional foods. The man who once urged Americans to eat organic has sold his soul to the criminally-run food giants in a mind-blowing editorial piece recently published in TIME Magazine.

Look for Dr. Oz to promote GMOs next, as cozying up to Monsanto probably won't be too far behind. The man is already on the record pushing vaccines, talking about how good they are for "public health" while failing to mention that vaccines admittedly contain mercury, formaldehyde, aluminum and MSG.

He's also the same guy who was behind the "RealAge" internet scheme that recruited people into a promotional network where they were barraged by drug-pushing ads from Big Pharma. Dr. Oz also owned a huge number of option shares in a vaccine technology company.

In his TIME Magazine editorial piece, Dr. Oz declares organic foods to be "elitist" and appropriate only for "the 1%." This clever bit of propaganda is designed to try to align conventional foods (i.e. pesticide ridden GMO foods) with the "99%" by making them sound more populist. As if, the "People's food" is pesticides and GMOs, you see.

Does the man have no shame? Is there any corporate poison he won't promote to his viewers?

Oz declares organic food is "not democratic"

"Organic food is great, it's just not very democratic," Dr. Oz declares, as if choosing organic is somehow an affront to America. "You don't need to eat like the 1% to eat healthily," he says. In other words, keep sucking down more GMOs, pesticides, herbicides and chemicals, and you'll be a good little American food slave. Buying organic is anti-American, you're being told.

Dr. Oz's message, of course, has become indistinguishable from that of Monsanto. It's all the same deception: You don't need clean, non-GMO food to be healthy. Keep eating all the conventional crap that poisons you with synthetic chemicals, and you'll be just fine! How about some GMO Corn Flakes for breakfast, even!

Dr. Oz also attacks farmers markets, because he apparently thinks buying local food is a silly waste of time. "Nutritionally speaking, there is little difference between the farmer's-market bounty and the humble brick from the freezer case," he somehow says with a straight face. Oh really? There's no difference between fresh, locally-grown food versus frozen, corporate-produced food trucked in from a thousand miles away? The ignorance of this guy is just flat-out stunning. Does he know nothing about where food comes from and how it is produced?

Dr. Oz: Eat more feedlot beef!

In an even more grotesque sellout to factory foods, Dr. Oz pushes feedlot beef, saying, "Nutritionally, there is not much difference between, say, grass-fed beef and the feedlot variety."

This is just a flat-out lie, of course. There's a huge difference nutritionally between free-range beef and feedlot beef. Feedlot beef, for starters, is raised on genetically modified corn containing BT toxin, while free-range beef has been consistently found to be higher in omega-3 fatty acids. And that doesn't even cover the ethical and environmental differences. In promoting feedlot beef, Dr. Oz positions himself squarely against the environment while also pushing animal cruelty.

Dr Oz has chosen a side, and it's the side of corporate biotech chemical agriculture

Above all, with this piece Dr. Oz has now clearly chosen a side in the realm of food. Betraying his own viewers and readers, he has chosen to jump in bed with Big Ag, Monsanto, chemical pesticide producers, processed food companies and feedlot cattle factories.

As is now self-evident, Dr. Oz has aligned himself AGAINST everything the organic movement stands for: Honest food, local food, free-range meat, avoidance of GMOs, avoidance of synthetic chemicals and so on. His TIME Magazine piece is an insult to all the good people in America who simply want honest food produced without cruelty or chemicals. Dr. Oz calls those people "snooty" and "elitists."

And what does that make him? Oh, now he's the leader of the "populist poison foods movement" that tries to convince the American masses to eat more GMO, more pesticides, more store-bought foods and more feedlot beef, chicken and pork. The food industry must love this guy! (Watch for new sponsorship contracts to fill his pockets with cash right around the corner...)

Dr. Oz makes himself irrelevant to the discussion on food

By joining forces with Monsanto, Bayer and Big Ag, Dr. Oz has now taken a position squarely against organic foods, against farmer's markets, against free-range animals and against non-GMO.

It begs the question: Why pay any attention to Dr. Oz at all anymore? He's just parroting the same corporate lies and deceptions we can just as easily get from the New York Times, or the USDA, or Monsanto itself. By attacking organics, Dr. Oz has just made himself irrelevant to thinking people everywhere.

He's got nothing to say anymore, and more importantly Dr. Oz no longer has any credibility whatsoever. He's just committed professional suicide. I can't wait to hear what Ronnie Cummins from the Organic Consumers Association has to say about Dr. Oz's comments.

Because Oz has sold out to the GMO-producing, chemical-producing, animal cruelty feedlot sectors of the corrupt food industry, watch for the mainstream media to keep propping up Dr. Oz and attempt to make him a puppet of "authority" on all things related to food and health. Heck, why not make the guy Surgeon General and enact a law population control law that mandates the consumption of feedlot Soylent Green?

Dr. Oz's purported audience is a sham, by the way. Natural News has a far larger audience than Dr. Oz, especially when you count the cumulative IQ points of our respective followers. While the low-IQ zombified consumers may still think Dr. Oz has something resembling credibility, all the in-the-know organic food consumers and activists are fully aware of who is on their side and who isn't. Dr. Oz clearly isn't. His audience exists only as a fabrication of persistent corporate promotion.

Without the corporate backing, Dr. Oz is a nobody. (And by that, I mean he didn't achieve success on his own, he got there with the ongoing support of big, globalist corporate sponsors and backers who have their own agendas to push.)

Spread the word, folks: Dr. Oz is a sellout. Share this story and warn your friends.

Story photo by David Berkowitz

Update: Dr. Oz given opportunity to respond to these criticisms

We've just published a list of twenty-one questions for Dr. Oz and have invited him to respond to those questions as well as any points of criticism or debate in this story.

Read that announcement here:
http://www.naturalnews.com/038186_Dr_Oz_snob_diet.html

Official response from the Cornucopia Institute

Here's the response from Cornucopia on the TIME Magazine "sellout" piece by Dr. Oz.

The original TIME cover story was published on 12/3/2012 and is entitled "What to Eat Now" by Dr. Mehmet Oz. It's available at:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2129811,00.html

The full story is available to Time subscribers only. Excerpts from the article, with Cornucopia's responses:

Dr. Oz: "Nutritionally speaking, there is little difference between the farmer's-market bounty and the humble brick from the freezer case."

Cornucopia response: Dr. Oz compares conventional and organic foods throughout the article by focusing exclusively on the differences between a handful of nutrients. This is exactly what the agrochemical and conventional farming industries, and their front group, the Alliance for Food and Farming, would like the American public to focus on. Just two months ago, Dr. Oz told the viewers of his syndicated television show to buy organic vegetables to avoid pesticide residues. Now, in his copywritten Time story, the word "pesticide" or "agricultural chemical" is never mentioned.

Dr. Oz: "Dispelling these myths -- that boutique foods are good, supermarket foods are suspect and you have to spend a lot to eat well -- is critical to improving our nation's health. Organic food is great, it's just not very democratic."

Cornucopia response: What can be more democratic than consumers voting with their food dollars to support organic farmers who protect our environment and our health by eschewing harmful and polluting agrochemicals?

Even if there were no direct benefit to our families (plenty of published scientific research indicates there is), when we choose organic food we are protecting farmers and farmworkers from exposure to toxic chemicals. Many farmers, farmworkers and their children have elevated levels of certain cancers and chronic diseases.

Dr. Oz: "The rise of foodie culture over the past decade has venerated all things small-batch, local-farm and organic -- all with premium price tags. But let's be clear: you don't need to eat like the 1% to eat healthily."

Cornucopia response: Organic foods are not for the "1%." Organic foods are for everybody, and are accessible and affordable to most families who prioritize their expenses. Many organic consumers forgo other "luxuries," whether it be iPhones, vacations, new cars -- all of which are advertised in the same Time magazine where Dr. Oz's article appears -- in order to be able to afford organic foods to protect their family's health. These decisions should be applauded, not turned into a character flaw.

Dr. Oz: "After several years of research and experience, I have come to an encouraging conclusion: the American food supply is abundant, nutritionally sound, affordable and, with a few simple considerations, comparable to the most elite organic diets. Save the cash; the 99% diet can be good for you."

Cornucopia response: Dr. Oz's research apparently missed the countless studies showing that organic foods are nutritionally superior, lower in pesticide residues, lower in antibiotic-resistant pathogen contamination, etc. In addition to being published in peer-reviewed journals, testing by independent sources such as Consumer Reports (Consumer Union) and government agencies such as the USDA corroborate these findings.

Dr. Oz: "I consider it a public-health service to the consumer who has to feed a family of five or the person who wants to make all the right choices and instead is alienated and dejected because the marketing of healthy foods too often blurs into elitism, with all the expense and culinary affectation that implies."

Cornucopia response: The added expense of buying organic foods is an investment in health. In the interest of public health, Dr. Oz should have mentioned the pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, synthetic preservatives, artificial dyes and sweeteners, and other harmful inputs used in conventional farming and food production. Comparing nutrients is just one aspect of a cost-benefit analysis. Dr. Oz owes his loyal fans, who respect his judgment, a more thoughtful and nuanced analysis.

Dr. Oz: "There's no question that free-range chickens and grass-fed, pasture-dwelling cows lead happier -- if not appreciably longer -- lives than animals raised on factory farms. They are also kept free of hormones and antibiotics and are less likely to carry communicable bacteria like E. coli, which are common on crowded feedlots. If these things are important to you and you have the money to spend, then by all means opt for pricier organic meats."

Cornucopia response: Yes, Dr. Oz, avoiding hormones and antibiotics is important to us, and it should be to you, too.

However, just because a package says "free range" or "grass-fed" does not mean it is certified organic, and therefore is not certified to be produced without some of the most dangerous and objectionable drugs. Concerned consumers should go out of their way to seek out the organic seal.

Dr. Oz: "But for the most part, it's O.K. to skip the meat boutiques and the high-end butchers. Nutritionally, there is not much difference between, say, grass-fed beef and the feedlot variety."

Cornucopia response: Dr. Oz's statement is not backed by scientific data, which consistently shows lower levels of cholesterol and saturated fat and higher levels of beneficial omega-3 fats and vitamins in grass-fed beef compared with feedlot beef.

Dr. Oz: "Let's also take a moment to celebrate the tuna-salad sandwich, which is to lunch what the '57 Chevy is to cars--basic and brilliant."

Cornucopia response: It is unconscionable that Dr. Oz touts the nutritional benefits of canned tuna, without mentioning the FDA and EPA warnings concerning methylmercury contamination. The FDA and EPA recommend that women who may become pregnant, pregnant women, nursing mothers and young children limit their consumption of canned light tuna to no more than 12 ounces per week, and their consumption of canned albacore tuna to no more than 6 ounces per week.

Dr. Oz: "Preserves and jams without added sugar can be great sources of dietary fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C and potassium."

Cornucopia response: Preserves and jams without added sugar often contain added artificial sweeteners, such as aspartame, which has been linked in studies to cancer and neurological damage. Aspartame and other artificial sweeteners are banned in organic products.

Dr. Oz: "We know more about the connection between food and health than ever before -- down to the molecular level, actually. This has provided us the curious luxury of being fussy, even snooty, about what we eat, considering some foods, well, below our station. That's silly. Food isn't about cachet. It's about nourishment, pleasure and the profound well-being that comes from the way meals draw us together."

Cornucopia response: Dr. Oz spends the entire article attempting to convince the American public that there are few, if any, differences between conventional and organic foods. Yet in his closing paragraphs he tacitly acknowledges that we "know more about ... food and health than ever before – down to the molecular level." This contradicts his earlier statements that there are no differences.

Most people who buy organic foods do so not because they are "snooty," as Dr. Oz suggests, but because they seek to protect themselves and their families from the widely recognized harmful effects of pesticides and other agrichemicals.

Source:
http://www.cornucopia.org/2012/11/organic-food-justice-for-the-99/


http://www.naturalnews.com/038157_Dr_Oz_organic_food_sellout.html