Charles Records Response To Us About Page Middle School

Mr. Thompson, Thanks for the opportunity to comment on your last story concerning Page Middle School. Here is my response in its entirety to ensure no editorial liberties are taken. Good Morning Mr. Thompson,

Thanks for your message asking me to respond to your article concerning Page Middle School. I would be happy to take you and any other citizen of Gloucester County on a tour of the new building at anytime to dispel many of the false statements you have made in the story which I have included below for reference. It behoves the both of us to represent the truth, for me as an elected official, and you as a journalist.

I will try to respond to each of the items you mention as follows:

1. Fence at Rear of Building - The fencing is 6’ high and has capped tops on each individual newel post and baluster. In the event children are climbing on it, as you suggest, we have another problem which is supervision of our students. I have gotten to know the Staff at all of our schools and I don’t believe any of us have to worry about inadequate supervision. I also question the standards that you may think our children have. Our middle school students do use common sense and are generally well behaved.  (I might agree with you if you have one teacher per student.  Otherwise I just can not go along with the idea that 1 teacher can watch 25 students all at the same time.  Also, if the children, preteens, teenagers, offspring, are in fact as well behaved as you suggest, then I guess we will not see any form of detention this year for any of them?)

2. Railing Heights - The top of the railing astragals at Page Middle School are 42” high, not 3’.  (I corrected that in the last article as we did a measurement based on a photo that is not online.  We figured about 40 inches and will measure it with your tour.  Thank you.)

3. Lockers next to Railings - The Locker is in essence just like the railing, 42” high. If a student climbs on the lockers, or the railings for that matter, I would have the same response at Item #1.  (See 2. above.)

4. Mortified Engineer - I’m unsure of who your engineer is, as you didn’t identify them by name. I would wonder if they are a Licensed Professional Engineer or not. I am a Professional Engineer and Gloucester County Public Schools has employeed dozens of other Professional Engineers, licensed by the Commonwealth of Virginia, to design this project. As a Professional Engineer, our singular duty is to protect the Life, Safety, Health and Welfare of the General Public and it is not a duty I or any other Professional Engineer takes lightly. It is a slap in the face to suggest otherwise.  (You can speak with him at the next meeting between the BoS and School board joint meeting.)

5. Visible Escape Routes - As you mention "A question that has been brought to my attention is how did the school board manage to get a certificate of occupancy especially when there are no visible escape routes and or facilities for handicapped children that might be on the second floor? None." There are visible safety route signs placed strategically throughout the entire building. No less than 250 safety evacuation route signs exist and there are also another 90 exit signs that are lit in the event of a power failure to identify exit locations. I have attached a few pictures that show exactly what you say doesn’t exist. The pictures are of appurtenances to safely get physically disabled people from the 2nd floor to the 1st floor in the event of an emergency.  (Signs are not the concern.  Nice deflection.  How are you going to move handicapped children out if an emergency comes about and especially if they are on the second floor.)

You also go on to state, "If a fire should engulf the front of the building, the children will be locked in an outdoor courtyard that is fully fenced in with locked gates trapping them from being able to get out to safety.” This statement is ridiculously inaccurate. In the event of a fire at the front of the Building, the kids would exit the building into the rear courtyards and simply push the bar on the gate and walk through it. The gates operate just like any other commercial door, push the bar to exit. They aren’t locked from the inside, they are locked to the outside. This functionality also serves another important purpose and that is to keep unwanted guests from entering the building.  (This is good to know.  We did not get that part of the tour.  Have no issues being corrected here as our only interest is that of the public.)

With respect to the Certificate of Occupancy, it is appalling to suggest that anything other than the typical course of Occupancy was completed. To do so is reckless. What exactly do you mean to infer, when the State Fire Marshall, the Gloucester County Building Official, County Inspectors, Licensed and Bonded Contractors, School Board members, School Staff, Engineers, Architects and Private Third Party Inspectors have worked diligently to satisfy the myriad of design and building code requirements for a building of this kind? (That is real simple, please address 5 above and I want to thank you for the list of who is responsible should an accident befall any student due to what many consider a poor design and implementation of those 2nd floor rails.  My concern is the safety of the students and you are a pompous ass to word the above the way you have.  I must remind you that you are the public servant who answers to the people and not us who dare question stupidity.  May I suggest you take a course on the US Constitution through my friend Gary Porter who offers these and are published on this site.)

6. News Coverage - The News Station covered the Open House for one simple reason. We used to have another Middle School, 4 years ago it was destroyed by a tornado and it devastated our community. We have built a new school and it was opened to students for the first time. (That was just ridiculous on your part to even go there.)

7. Open Space in Building - The building design will stand the test of time and will be judged by it. Could it have been designed differently? Sure. Does it have high ceilings and large corridors? Yes. Is it something we should be proud of now that it is complete? Yes. I was a vocal private citizen when this was all being planned but, at the end of the day, the building is done. Adults have argued their points for nearly 4 years but now - the more important part - it is complete and What do the kids think about it? I am unsure if you noticed when you attended the Open House but the kids were amazed by it, The first day of school was flawless and the kids were amazed by it. Today they will walk in and they will be amazed by it. So while you, and many others I’m sure, still want to continue the contentiousness…it is over, water under the bridge. We can now, in the coming months, reflect and learn from the entire process to ensure several things are done differently for the next project, but this project is complete. 

 (Okay, let's really address this shall we?  We fought with the school board and the board of supervisors over many issues here and it was railroaded through regardless of what any of the people thought.  No one in the public were told what the interior designs would look like or that the county had plans for wasting taxpayer money so foolishly.  Proud of the school?  I am seriously thinking of taking my own out of it for safety reasons.  I only need one good reason at this point.)

8. Exercise Room - Childhood Obesity is a serious problem that we need to try to solve, this fitness room hopefully will help to those ends. As your pictures show, most of the equipment is for cardiovascular exercise and will be integrated into our Program of Studies in Middle School which also aligns with the curriculum at our High School.  (What medical doctors were consulted here?  From what I am seeing online through medical experts, you need an experienced weight trainer to design specific programs per person here.  Do you have such a person?  I will check with my own doctor for further information.)

9. Safety in General - 2 story school buildings are not uncommon throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia or the entire Nation. See above.  (And where did that come from?  That was just ......well...... not needed.  But gee, thanks all the same.  I went to several of them.  Another of your pompous ass comments)

With respect to the Waterline at Page Middle School, I offer the following - Mr. Hogge sent the School Board and Board of Supervisors several messages concerning the inadequate cover over the pipe, Mr. Hutchinson’s latest response, which you published, explained exactly what we plan to do to remedy the situation. Mr. Hogge’s response was as follows:

"Outstanding!! This is very good news. Great work!! Thank you Mr. Hutchinson, and please thank everyone involved. - Kenny"

Why don’t you publish that? I’m guessing because it doesn’t “sell” the story.

(I am going to love this.  Here is why Charles.  You are NOT privy to private conversations between Mr Hogge and myself.  So let me clue you in.  Kenny's statement above is in regards to making sure that those responsible for having screwed up the 16 inch pipes being disturbed after being put in the first time is what the comment refers to.  What you are not aware of is that Kenny's personal opinion and I restate "OPINION" is that those pipes can break at anytime causing massive flooding due to the joints being disturbed causing a weakening of those pipes.  Then it might turn out to be a great idea that the mountain of dirt was left so that the students and teachers have some place to escape to.)

As an aside, it appears your blog has been created to promote transparency, yet from my viewpoint, shows your discontent. The title of the two articles alone; “Page Middle School, Serious Life Threatening Concerns to Consider” and “The Waterline at Page Middle School: Disaster Waiting to Happen Here Too?” is typical of media sensationalism to a degree that questions your integrity as a journalist. I’ve attached both articles for your reference. As a member of an elected Board we are no strangers to criticism but I would like to remind you of an old saying: "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." This particular story asserts facts that are blatantly false as highlighted above. (You have only corrected one area that I see after we did so.  You have not corrected any facts.  What we do on this site is done to protect the people from potentially corrupt government and inform the people of what is going on in the community.  Can you please explain to me as we publish articles and ask a lot of questions, various members of staff from the county continue to leave?  Wait, don't tell me, it's all a coincidence right?)

I look forward to scheduling an appointment with you to discuss/tour Page Middle School if you have any further questions. In the event you choose to use my response in a sensational way on your blog, consider this our last correspondence. (Gee, what happened to the statement you made about transparency?  I would not call this a sensational use of your comments.  It is only fair that I show both sides of the story.  This statement shows that you were purposely trying to avoid having your ridiculous statements shown the light of day and that you are truly a pompous ass.  Does this mean you will now purposely hide facts from the public?  I guess this will not help your re election campaign?  Also, does this mean the offer for you giving us a tour is now off?  I really want to film that.  And one other area, you forgot to mention is that your invitation for response was in fact meant for the public to see on this site.  That has to hurt.)

Have a great day,
Charles Records
Vice Chairman
Gloucester County School Board

Thank you Charles for taking the time to address our concerns.  I am sorry if we do not agree on various areas.  Our concerns are the students and the parents.  I am not sure of yours however except to limit liability of the school which one could argue is looking out for the public's interest as it is the public that always pays for everything that government does whether it is right or wrong.  

One final area I would like to address is the 2 story open floor plan and how this is a huge waste of taxpayer money as it raises the heating and cooling costs exponentially.  With the federal and state government putting out a lot of pressure for going green to save energy costs and usage, how does this ridiculous design fit within a green environment?  Or is the government lying to us?  That would seem a fair question.  But I am sure someone has a spin for this to make it sound as though this design is in fact green.

That is a very large area to have to heat and cool.  That is also some very serious equipment outside to do such a job.  Gloucester County School Board.  Now you know.

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Gloucester, VA Animal Control and the Bena Feral Cats

As it should; the issue pertaining to the feral cats in Bena, Virginia seems to be resolving itself without action by the Gloucester Board of Supervisors.  The most logical approach to such an issue is education, effective communication and public relation skills.  When a representative of animal control responds to such complaints it would be more productive if they act as a positive representative of the County, an educator and a mediator.  Presenting themselves as intimidating law enforcement officers who render inaccurate definitions of law only serves to cause confusion, animosity, distrust, paranoia and continuation or escalation of the issue at hand.

 

Upon first contact; the responding animal control officer should have spoken to all of the parties involved and provided the owner of the property/cats with handouts containing information on applicable law, the potential risks involved and options to mitigate the issue.  A time limit for the owner to contain the cats she claimed ownership of should have been established.  The animal control officer should have obtained permission from the owner to capture the cats she did not claim.  Animal control could have then turned the unclaimed cats over to the private entity the tax payers of Gloucester already pay to assume responsibility of abandoned cats and other animals.

 

Animal control readily utilizes private people and organizations when they conduct seizures; why did it take so long for private people and organizations to get involved in the feral cat issue? 

 

Animal control personnel are not law enforcement officers.  They are law officers with a very limited domain.  § 3.2-6555 of the Code of Virginia provides the following on the powers of animal control officers:  

When in uniform or upon displaying a badge or other credentials of office, animal control officers and deputy animal control officers shall have the power to issue a summons or obtain a felony warrant as necessary, providing the execution of such warrant shall be carried out by any law-enforcement officer as defined in § 9.1-101, to any person found in the act of violating any such law or any ordinance enacted pursuant to such law of the locality where the animal control officer or deputy animal control officer is employed.

 

The following is the applicable definition found in § 9.1-101:

 

" Law-enforcement officer " means any full-time or part-time employee of a police department or sheriff's office which is a part of or administered by the Commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof, and who is responsible for the prevention and detection of crime and the enforcement of the penal, traffic or highway laws of the Commonwealth, and shall include any (i) special agent of the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control; (ii) police agent appointed under the provisions of § 56-353; (iii) officer of the Virginia Marine Police; (iv) conservation police officer who is a full-time sworn member of the enforcement division of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries; (v) investigator who is a full-time sworn member of the security division of the Virginia Lottery; (vi) conservation officer of the Department of Conservation and Recreation commissioned pursuant to § 10.1-115; (vii) full-time sworn member of the enforcement division of the Department of Motor Vehicles appointed pursuant to § 46.2-217; (viii) animal protection police officer employed under § 15.2-632; or (ix) campus police officer appointed under Chapter 17 (§ 23-232 et seq.) of Title 23. Part-time employees are those compensated officers who are not full-time employees as defined by the employing police department or sheriff's office.

 

§ 9.1-101, (viii) includes animal protection police officers employed under the following:

 

§ 15.2-632. Department of public safety.

The department of public safety if and when established shall be under the supervision of a director of public safety appointed by the county manager. Such department shall consist of the following divisions:

1. Division of police, in charge of a chief of police and consisting of such other police officers and personnel as may be appointed, including an animal protection police officer who shall have all of the powers of an animal control officer conferred by general law and one or more deputy animal protection police officers to assist the animal protection police officer in the performance of his duties. In addition, the animal protection police officer and his deputies shall have all of the powers vested in law-enforcement officers as defined in § 9.1-101, provided they have met the minimum qualifications and have been certified under §§ 15.2-1705 and 15.2-1706.

2. Division of fire protection, in charge of a fire chief and consisting of such fire fighters, and other personnel as may be appointed.

 

Gloucester County, Virginia does not have an animal protection police officer, therefore under Commonwealth law, Gloucester’s animal control officers must rely on law enforcement to perform criminal enforcement.  During the October 21, 2014 Board meeting Animal Control Officer Steve Baranek stated he would prosecute anyone caught shooting a companion animal.  Animal control officers do not have the power to prosecute.  In all essence they serve only as complainant or witness in criminal proceedings.  Arrogant statements such as the one Officer Baranek publicly made only further exemplifies the misunderstanding of duties and powers and the lack of public relation skills that exists in Gloucester’s Animal Control Department.  Government employees are not paid to provide arrogance and intimidation, they are paid to provide Public Service.  Had the Animal Control Department been operating properly the issue of the feral cats would not have wasted the Board of Supervisor’s and County staff’s time.

 

Kenneth E. Hogge, Sr.

Gloucester Point

Gloucester, Virginia Links and News, GVLN

Voted

Gloucester, Virginia's Best News Source

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Broke, A Man Without A Dime

English: Homeless man, Tokyo  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Broke; A Man Without A Dime, Free eBook from Chuck Thompson

INTRODUCTORY

I was born on the 28th day of April, 1857, in the village of Port Byron, Rock Island County, Illinois. The waves of the grand old Mississippi sang my lullaby through a long and joyful childhood. So near at hand was the stream that I learned to swim and skate almost before I was out of kilts. My father, A. J. Brown, at that time was the leading merchant and banker in the town. We were an exceedingly happy and prosperous family of six.

My father died when I was seven years of age. My mother, a woman of exceptionally brilliant intellect and lovable character, has been with or near me almost all my life. She died in 1909 at the ripe age of eighty-four.

When a boy in my teens I attended school in Boston, where I spent four years. In the early eighties I moved to Colorado and have lived there ever since. In 1897 I was married, and the intense interest and sympathy my wife has shown in my crusade for the homeless has been one of my greatest encouragements. With no children for company, it has meant a great sacrifice on her part, for it broke up our home and voluntarily separated us for nearly two years.

I have often wondered why I should have been the one to make this crusade, for all my life I have loved solitude, and have always been over-sensitive to the criticism and opinions of others. My mission is not based upon any personal virtue of goodness, but I have been inspired with the feeling that I had taken up a just and righteous cause, and the incentive of all my efforts has ever been that of compassion—not to question whether a hungry man has sinned against society, but to ask why he is not supplied with the necessities of existence.[A]

I am trying to solve these questions: Are our efforts to help the unfortunate through the medium of our “Charities,” our “Missions,” and our churches all failures? Why is crime rampant in our cities? Why are our hospitals, almshouses, our jails, and our prisons crowded to overflowing? And these questions have resolved themselves for me into one mighty problem: Why is there destitution at all,—why is there poverty and suffering amidst abundance and plenty?

I am convinced that poverty is not a part of the great Eternal plan. It is a cancerous growth that human conventions have created and maintained. I believe it was intended that every human being should have food and shelter. Therefore I have not only asked “Why?” but I have tried to find the remedy. My crusade has been constructive and not destructive.

My mission is not to censure but to disclose facts. I am without political or economic bias.

I shall ask my reader to go with me and see for himself the conditions existing in our great cities,—to view the plight of the homeless, penniless wayfarer, who, because of the shortsightedness of our municipalities, is denied his right to decent, wholesome food and to sanitary shelter for a night. And my concern is not only the homeless man, but the homeless woman, for there are many such who walk our streets, and often with helpless babes at their breasts and little children at their sides. And after my reader has comprehended the condition that I shall reveal to him, I shall ask him to enlist himself in the cause of a Twentieth Century Free Municipal Emergency Home in every city, that shall prove our claims to righteousness and enlightenment.

To-day there is everywhere a growing sense of and demand for political, social, and economic justice; there is a more general and definite aim to elevate the condition of the less fortunate of our fellow-citizens; there are united efforts of scientific investigators to discover and create a firm foundation for practical reforms. I am simply trying to show the way to one reform that is practical, feasible, and—since the test of everything is the dollar—good business.

If I can succeed in showing that old things are often old only because they are traditional; that in evolution of new things lies social salvation; that the “submerged tenth” is submerged because of ignorance and low wages; and that the community abounds in latent ability only awaiting the opportunity for development,—then this volume will have accomplished its purpose.

I am determined to create a systematic and popular sympathy for the great mass of unfortunate wage-earners, who are compelled by our system of social maladjustment to be without food, clothing, and shelter. I am determined our city governments shall recognize the necessity for relief.

Let me not be misunderstood as handing out a bone, for an oppressive system. “It is more Godly to prevent than to cure.”

In these pages I shall undertake to show by many actual cases that the so-called “hobo,” “bum,” “tramp,” “vagrant,” “floater,” “vagabond,” “idler,” “shirker,” “mendicant,”—all of which terms are applied indiscriminately to the temporarily out-of-work man,—the wandering citizen in general, and even many so-called criminals, are not what they are by choice any more than you or I are what we are socially, politically, and economically, from choice.

I shall call attention to the nature and immensity of the problem of the unemployed and the wandering wage-earner, as such problem confronts and affects every municipality.

We find the migratory wage-earner, the wandering citizen, at certain seasons traveling in large numbers to and from industrial centers in search of work. Most of these wandering wage-earners have exhausted their resources when they arrive at their destination, and are penniless—“broke.” Because of the lack of the price to obtain a night’s lodging, or food, or clothing, they are compelled to shift as best they may, and some are forced to beg, and others to steal.

For the protection and good morals of society in general, for the safety of property, it is necessary that every municipality maintain its own Municipal Emergency Home, in which the migratory worker, the wandering citizen, can obtain pure and wholesome food to strengthen his body, enliven his spirit, and imbue him with new energy for the next day’s task in his hunt for work. It is necessary that in such Municipal Emergency Home the wanderer shall receive not only food and shelter, but it is of vital importance that he shall be enabled to put himself into presentable condition before leaving.

The purpose of each Municipal Emergency Home, as advocated in this volume, is to remove all excuse for beggary and other petty misdemeanors that follow in the wake of the homeless man. The Twentieth Century Municipal Emergency Home must afford such food and lodging as to restore the health and courage and self-respect of every needy applicant, free medical service, advice, moral and legal, and help to employment; clothing, given whenever necessary, loaned when the applicant needs only to have his own washed; and free transportation to destination wherever employment is offered. The public will then be thoroughly protected. The homeless man will be kept clean, healthy, and free from mental and physical suffering. The naturally honest but weak man will not be driven into crime. Suffering and want, crime and poverty will be reduced to a minimum.

In looking over the field of social betterment, we find that America is far behind the rest of the civilized world in recognizing the problems of modern social adjustment. We find that England, Germany, Austria, France, Switzerland, Sweden and Norway, and other nations have progressed wonderfully in their system of protecting their wandering citizens. All these nations have provided their wage earners with old-age pensions, out-of-work funds, labor colonies, insurance against sickness, labor exchanges, and municipal lodging houses.

Because of the manifest tendency to extend the political activities of society and government to the point where every citizen is provided by law with what is actually necessary to maintain existence, I advocate a divorce between religious, private, and public charities, and sincerely believe that it is the duty of the community, and of society as a whole, to administer to the needs of its less fortunate fellow-citizens. Experience with the various charitable activities of the city, State, and nation, has proven conclusively to me that every endeavor to ameliorate existing conditions ought to be, and rightly is, a governmental function, just as any other department in government, such as police, health, etc. The individual cannot respect society and its laws, if society does not in return respect and recognize the emergency needs of its less fortunate individuals. Popular opinion, sentiment, prejudice, and even superstitions, are often influential in maintaining the present-day hypocritical custom of indiscriminate alms giving, which makes possible our deplorable system of street mendicancy.

The object of the personal investigation and experiences presented in this volume is to lay down principles and rules for the guidance and conduct of the institution which it advocates.

The reader has a right to ask: How does this array of facts show to us the way to a more economical use of private and public gifts to the needy? Are there any basic rules which will help to solve the problem of mitigating the economic worth of the temporary dependent? I shall give ample answers to these queries.

In the hope that the facts here presented may bring to my reader a sense of the great work waiting to be done, and may move him to become an individual influence in the movement for building and conducting Twentieth Century Municipal Emergency Homes throughout our land, I offer this volume in a spirit of good-will and civic fellowship.

E. A. B.

Denver, September, 1913.

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McDonald's Shuts Down Employee Website Advising Workers to Avoid Fast Food...

. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By Dr. Mercola

McDonald's is the poster child for the modern Western diet and all the health problems that it engenders. As a general rule, "food" was designed to supply your body with all the nutrients it needs.

Processing destroys many of the nutrients and is the primary contribution to most of the chronic degenerative diseases many experience today. I would also argue that food processed to the point of not decomposing after more than a decade is not actually real food and shouldn't be consumed...

Ironically, the fast food giant recently ended up with a PR nightmare after suggesting its own employees forgo fast food fare for healthier options like salad and water. As reported by Business Insider:1

"Several excerpts from the posts, which were created from a third-party vendor, warned against the negative effects of fast food, even going so far as labeling a cheeseburger and fries, core items on its menu, as an 'unhealthy choice.'"

The site also warned employees that fast-food meals are "almost always high" in calories, fat, sugar, and salt—and rightfully so, I might add. Warning employees of the health hazards of the very food they produce and serve, however, does not make for good PR.

In response to the controversy, McDonald's shut down the website in question, which was aimed at providing "work and life advice" to employees. According to a company spokesman,2 the information was "taken out of context," thereby generating "unwarranted scrutiny and inappropriate commentary." Employees will still be able to receive work and life advice over the phone.

Is Fast Food Giant Skirting Social Responsibilities?

McDonald's has received a variety of unflattering attention lately. Last month, fast food workers around the US rallied in protest of low wages, demanding the hourly wage to be raised to $15 per hour.

At present, the average fast food worker makes less than $9 per hour, and according to a recent study by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, more than 50 percent of US fast food workers are enrolled in some form of public assistance program,3 costing US tax payers an estimated at $7 billion annually.

You might be asking yourself why you're being forced to subsidize fast food profits, especially when you consider that such foods are at the heart of our current health crisis...

Contrary to popular belief, nearly 70 percent of fast food workers are actually adults, and the main wage earners in their family. Gone are the days when fast food joints were staffed primarily with high school students. This too, I believe, is a sign of how the food culture has changed in this country.

Fast food restaurants are a primary source of food for a lot of people these days. British chef Jamie Oliver is but one vocal "real food" advocate who addresses this issue head-on, pointing out that our food culture has changed so drastically over the last 30 years that a majority of today's youth do not even know what fresh, whole food is.

Fast food restaurant work is also full-time employment—if not a career, albeit a poor-paying one—for many. Case in point: Nancy Salgado, a single mother, claims she still makes $8.25 after working for McDonald's for a decade! The following video went viral last October, when Salgado was threatened with arrest for shouting out a protest during a talk given by McDonald's president Jeff Stratton.

"It's really hard for me to feed my two kids and struggle day to day. Do you think this is fair, that I have to be making $8.25 when I have worked for McDonald's for 10 years?" she shouts.

How Government Farm Subsidies Have Created a Disease-Ridden Country

There's little doubt that the Western diet, high in ultra-processed food, is a major source of many of our modern diseases. McDonald's and other fast food restaurants are not necessarily the root of the problem, though. They're simply an outgrowth of the food system created and upheld by the US government.

As you can see below, US food subsidies are grossly skewed toward factory-farmed meats, grains, and sugars, with very little fresh fruits and vegetables or healthy fats from nuts and seeds. What you end up with when you get paid to mass produce those ingredients is a cheap fast food diet.

The following chart was published by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine4 (PCRM) back in 2007, yet little has changed since then. The fact that a hamburger can be had for less than an organic salad is a major contributing factor to why fast food is consumed as frequently as it is. The same goes for soda, loaded with cheap high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), compared to a bottle of plain water.

Source: Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine

Needless to say, if your diet consists of burgers and super-size sodas, your meals may be cheap, but it is also excessively high in grains, sugars, and factory-farmed meats. This is a recipe for obesity, diabetes, and heart disease, just to name a few of the conditions that commonly befall those who consume "the Standard American Diet."

Tellingly, in contrast to third-world countries, in the US, higher rates of obesity is actually linked to poverty, suggesting that the American "poor man's diet" (which tends to be exceptionally high in processed foods and fast food) has a drastic and adverse impact on your metabolism. Indeed, many on the most limited food budgets, such as those who receive food assistance dollars, live in "food deserts"—areas without grocery stores, and perhaps only a convenience store or a fast-food restaurant where they can purchase their food.

The Food Lobby Wields Great Power Over Public Health...

Thanks to the tireless efforts of the powerful food lobby, Congress keeps subsidizing foods that we really should be eating LESS of – including factory farmed meats and corn (which ends up as HFCS that is used in nearly every single processed food and sweet beverage on the market.) The farm bill also has a direct impact on what your child gets fed in school, and what food assistance programs will distribute to poorer households.

I believe many of our society's chronic health problems could be resolved if attention was paid, at the highest levels of government, to the root problem – our agricultural subsidies. If growers of subsidized fresh vegetables were in a clear majority, you might start to see some fine advertising campaigns promoting the consumption of those veggies.

Unfortunately, the Department of Agriculture is deeply entrenched with the agri-business, and current legislations protect the profits of these large industries at the expense of public health. Sadly, you also see this influence in nutrition science. It is actually not designed to help you make sound dietary choices but rather to allow food companies to make health claims to increase profits, and this is a primary reason why you cannot get sound dietary advice from the US government.

Processed Food Contains Many Potentially Dangerous Ingredients

I've written numerous articles highlighting the hazards of specific fast food fare, and why such heavily processed foods cannot be considered "real food." This includes:

• Chicken McNuggets, which have made it into mainstream news on a number of occasions because of the potentially hazardous additives they contain.
• Soda can contain any number of health harming substances, from high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) to benzene andaspartame.
• French fries are loaded with the worst types of fat on the planet -- typically highly refined and genetically modified omega-6 oils, such as corn, canola, and soybean oils.
  
  
  Thankfully, the FDA recently announced it may remove trans fats found in margarine, vegetable shortening, and partially hydrogenated vegetable oils from the list of "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS) ingredients. This would be the first step toward ridding the American diet of this harmful fat.
• McDonald's seasonally-available McRib sandwich contains more than 70 ingredients, including a chemical used in gym shoes. And the pork is actually a restructured meat product made from the less expensive innards and scraps from the pig.

It's quite clear that fast food leads to obesity and insulin resistance. As demonstrated in one 15-year long study,5 eating fast food just twice a week can make you gain 10 pounds and double your risk of developing insulin resistance, compared to eating it less than once a week. The bottom line is that if you want to stay healthy, and keep your children healthy, you have to avoid fast food and other processed foods, and invest some time in your kitchen, cooking from scratch.

What Makes for a Healthy Diet?

I firmly believe that the primary keys for successful weight management and optimal health are:

1. Severely restricting carbohydrates (refined sugars, fructose, and grains) in your diet
2. Increasing healthy fat consumption
3. Unlimited consumption of non starchy vegetables. Because they are so low calorie, the majority of the food on your plate will be vegetables
4. Limit the use of protein to less than one half gram per pound of body weight

Healthful fat can be rich in calories, but these calories will not affect your body in the same way as calories from non-vegetable carbs. As explained by Dr. Robert Lustig, fructose in particular is "isocaloric but not isometabolic." This means you can have the same amount of calories from fructose or glucose, fructose and protein, or fructose and fat, but the metabolic effect will be entirely different despite the identical calorie count. Eating dietary fat isn't what's making you pack on the pounds. It's the sugar/fructose and grains that are adding the padding.

So please, don't fall for the low-fat myth, as this too is a factor in the rise in chronic health problems such as heart disease and Alzheimer's. Your brain, heart, and cardiovascular system need healthy fat for optimal functioning. In fact, emerging evidencesuggests most people need at least half of their daily calories from healthy fat, and possibly as high as 85 percent. My personal diet is about 70-80 percent healthy fat. Add to that a small to medium amount of high-quality protein and plenty of vegetables. You actually need very few carbs besides vegetables. However, by volume the largest portion of my plate is clearly vegetables.

Take Control of Your Diet and Your Health

I don't think fast food companies like McDonald's are as clueless about the health impact of their food as they would like you to believe. And advising their employees to forgo fast food fare and soda for more wholesome food is indeed good advice. The thing is, it's advice that applies to every single one of their customers as well... Healthy eating is actually far easier than most people think. Here's a quick and dirty summary: if you're new to healthful living, these four basic steps can put you on the right path toward vastly improved health, regardless of what your government's dietary guidelines are:

• Focus on raw, fresh foods, and avoid as many processed foods as possible (for those who still have trouble understanding what "processed food" is: if it comes in a can, bottle, or package, and has a list of ingredients, it's processed)
• Avoid foods that contain fructose (check the label for ingredients like corn syrup or high fructose corn syrup)
• Limit or eliminate grain carbohydrates, and replace them with healthful fats, such as avocados, butter made from raw grass-fed organic milk, grass-fed meats, and organic pastured eggs, coconuts and coconut oil, and raw nuts such as macadamia
• Replace sodas and other sweetened beverages with clean, pure water

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