Page 80 - Summer2020final

All Thumbs Book Reviews

Hands Off My Food! How Government McCullough works her way through the
and Industry Have Corrupted Our Food convoluted and broken world of food regulation,
and Easy Ways to Fight Back subsidies, safety testing and dietary recommen-
By Dr. Sina McCullough dations. The book is well annotated and includes
Watchdog Works a wide swath of quotes and research to support
her assertions about what is happening to the
Dr. McCullough’s story, told in Hands Off food system and what the food does to us—the
My Food!, resonates deeply with my own. In her eaters. The book also introduced me to pieces
twenties, she found herself waylaid by severe di- of FDA history that I didn’t know about. In one
gestive and other health issues. This led her first chapter, McCullough describes how the rich
to mainstream medicine, whose only solution and famous (like Bon Jovi) use farming as a tax
was drugs with unknown short- and long-term shield or, in the case of the Rockefellers, as a way
consequences. A gluten-free diet had given her to get even more money from the government.
arsenic poisoning (something I warned about We get a first-hand look at how those who have
years ago in Wise Traditions). Eventually, a doc- opposed or tried to speak out about the dangers
tor diagnosed her with a number of problems, of food additives, genetic modification, chemi-
with a severe autoimmune condition at the core. cals and more have faced the same fate again
But what caused her body to attack itself? and again—targeted campaigns by big food and
“My illness wasn’t instantaneous,” McCullough big government to bury them and their work.
states. “I ate the chemicals prevalent in our food Some elements of Hands Off My Food!
supply without any noticeable effects for half may be old hat for foodies—reminders that our
my life. . . and then I slowly became debilitat- food and farming systems have been misman-
ingly ill.” aged and made into something grotesque and
The emphasis on personal responsibility
for food is probably my favorite part of this dangerous through the collusion of government
Our food book. McCullough focuses on the “root of the and industry—but experienced and novice

and farming problem,” which is us. At the end of the day, no readers alike are likely to learn something new.
I also recommend the book for those wanting
systems one forces the majority of people to eat heavily an accessible introduction to food issues and
processed, additive- and chemical-laden foods.
have been Yet not only do the majority of people eat these encouragement to take more responsibility for
mismanaged things, they feed them to children. She states, their habits and choices. If you know people
interested in taking the plunge into real food
and made “Most of us unknowingly celebrate our child’s and you want to give them something written
life by giving them foods that can hurt them.”
into She goes further, however, pointing out that in a way that almost anyone can understand and
something government and industry are not the solution. connect with, this book is a very good choice.
McCullough says, “We’ve abdicated re-
grotesque “[A]s we hand more responsibility and authority sponsibility as watchdogs over our food supply.”
to the FDA and USDA, they get larger and more
and laws are enacted,” she states, but this doesn’t Her conclusion? “I am the solution. You are the
dangerous make our food better or safer. Indeed, as those solution.” Today I am detecting signs that the
through the agencies have ballooned in size and budget, our U.S. is experiencing a sudden increase in people
caring about their food. My hope is that they will
food supply has—by almost all metrics—de-
collusion of clined in quality and safety. Her discussion of realize—through renewed local relationships
government how government growth perpetuates industry and reinvigorated health—that they indeed can
and industry. misdeeds is spot on and includes examples from help reshape the future by the food choices they

her time in the food and supplements industry. make today.
Review by John Moody
78 Wise Traditions SUMMER 2020