Clean Hands = Happy Hands. But I like peanuts!!!

 The other day I posted about Escoffier's grand contribution to the kitchen brigade organization and the other systematic necessitates implemented which stem from such as better sanitation standards.

Since his era in Western countries sanitation regulations have only grown stricter with time including more government oversight and public transparency.

Today, upon first thought you may feel entitled to all information and naturally think that the more oversight the better.

(Now that your palate is moist, click below to taste some more of this fantastic post!)  

 


However, have you ever wondered if such activities has weakened us as a society rather than made us stronger?

The question that I am putting forward today is:  if our quest for greater cleanliness and sanitation to strengthen our society as whole has paradoxically weakened the health of many individuals health and even character?

Generally speaking Americans are no longer hunters, gatherers or cultivators of of their own food and as a result:

a)  there is no longer the ability to distinguish and identify the good from bad or healthy from dangerous (e.g. I was fishing this weekend and the schmuck next to me was going to grab at a Scorpion fish - unstopped, he would have died in half hour; ergo, if he does not know the good from the bad in produced in nature even with its clear and visible violent looking spikes and dangerous warnings how much research must be done for him to know how bad a piece of farm raised Tilapia is to eat and why)


 b)  in spite of the new high priced super markets etc., general trends and norms in this country over the years have steered people away from nature's goodness and weakened the immune system in our children (e.g., there is less breastfeeding here, and there is an overuse of both soy products and genetically manipulated farm raised fish like Tilapia)

c) disengaged and apathetic with wild food cultivation has become dependent on alternative and extremely unhealthy ways to preserve food which in recent decades America was led the introduction and production of a million and one uses of High Fructose Corn Syrup

In spite of still retaining a title of financial world leader by some standards (barely) and being a country that has invested much to promote great strides as a leader in industry in biomedical health and technology over the past century the United States has the largest number of folks dropping dead from Diabetes out of any country in the world.

Could this be directly linked to the trends and nutrition standards and disenfranchisement discussed earlier?   Maybe its due to the ingredients introduced into most breads and products on the shelf consumed like High Fructose Corn Syrup?
There is clear and present evidence in our children's health today that they are weaker as a result of our inability to cope with nature's bacteria and replace such with the aforementioned political and economic nutritional trends.


Did you ever hear of it growing up?  I didn't either and guess what nobody in any other country knows what the hell is going on here.

China is responsible for around half of the worlds peanut production and consumes most of it domestically - no allergies.

India around a quarter of the worlds production - and yup same as China with regard to allergic reactions.

The US produces around 7-8% of the peanuts and exports a great deal of them throughout the EU etc.  Actually along with a only a couple other countries in South America, the US accounts for around 80% of the entire worldwide peanut trade.

Here's the rub:  we are really the only ones with this allergy!  Around 2% of our population of little tykes now have a peanut allergy.


What seems to be our answer?  More incubation and sterilization of the children... that is working out great!

Children cannot bring nuts, peanut butter, products etc... into schools for fear that even those that can and should regularly have a nuts and seeds as part of their diet may come into contact with a child somewhere in the same school that may smell the nut, go into shock and drop dead.


This year, Mr. Obama took the time to pass some new regulations to help with this nutty crisis.

I leave it to you to decide if the tactics for a "cleaner" nation have worked to the benefit for a "healthier" nation.  
Just note that it cannot be directly concluded that people in the United States live longer as a result of any and all precautionary and sanitary and medical benefits that have been invested in hitherto.

Out of around 180 countries worldwide the US ranks only around 40th in the world in life expectancy.  Many of the other countries have been doing things the same ways for thousands of years. 


Statistically, those who live the longest in the world in the reside in the country of Japan (ironically also one of the largest importers of American peanuts),  followed by Hong Kong: generally speaking these folks consume more fish in their diet than Americans with very different sanitation systems and guidelines for seafood and fish purchasing, distributing, serving and more.       


Noteworthy, people also apparently live a very long time in Israel (& they state the reason they don't have like allergies are  because they introduce the ingredients like the peanut to infants from birth).

Maybe there is something to be said from a combination of experiences mixing the old and the new ways to find a proper balance of doing things... unfortunately the United States is at a disadvantage as it lacks the history and experience that the other countries mentioned have to draw off of.