If believing obscure fringe beliefs about food is called being informed then I pity you. Its psuedo science at best. So many different health organisations, doctors and governments agree that you should eat less animal fats and more fats from plants. http://www.heartfoundation.org.nz/files/National%20Dietitian /Dietary%20Fats_March1999. pdf
The Heart Foundations 5 simple steps to eating for a healthy heart:
1) Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables
2) If choosing meat, make it lean; include fish as an alternative
3) Choose low fat milk
4) Replace butter with margarines and healthy oils
5) Reduce salt; check sodium on food labels
beaker59,
Jul 20, 12:09am
This bill will also be a whole new dept within Government at a time when we need less not more government so will the local market gardener have to get a certificate for his produce to say its compliant and there fore gst free so he has to pay for that privledge because he is an individual business whereas Mac Donalds can get one for the same cost but spread the cost across all of thier stores. Thus cabbages will be more expensive and Big macs 12. 5% cheaper.
melford,
Jul 20, 12:10am
Yes I agree GST should be removed from the basics - bread, milk, cheese, meat, vegetables, flour, sugar. I work in a supermarket and I see low middle income families struggling - have never seen this before. We get many people asking us to put back about a 1/4 of their purchases as they can't afford them
buzzy110,
Jul 20, 12:10am
Why should we choose low fat milk ferita. It is not even logical. Without going into the science let us look at the reality. Mankind has been drinking the whole milk from animals long before agricultural farming became all the rage 10, 000 years ago.
And whaddya know. When bones are dug up of peoples who lived before that 10, 000 year threshold, tests show that the person who owned those bones had excellent health, strong bones and cavity free teeth. Obviously full cream milk hadn't done early man any harm but suddenly, in the last 50 years it has.
Sounds like something is going terribly wrong with the organisations that are supposed to be leading the way when it comes to our health.
buzzy110,
Jul 20, 12:16am
melford, not to be blunt, but I have seen these people in the queues in supermarkets and their trolleys are not full of fresh meat, eggs, vegetables and fruit. When I see that then I might agree that they are struggling.
When I was first married I had the tightest budget to feed two growing children and two adults. I always had money left over whilst my better off friends were always crying poor. I stuck to unprocessed primary products and wholegrain (Vogels which I thought was healthy at the time) bread, butter and eggs.
We romped in and I was never shamed in the C/O queue. I also shopped around, buying fruit from orchards and veges from gardens, etc.
greerg,
Jul 20, 12:20am
From the above website: Cereal grains obviously can be included in moderate amounts in the diets of most people without any noticeable, deleterious health effects, and herein lies their strength. When combined with a variety of both animal- and plantbased foods, they provide a cheap and plentiful caloric source, capable of sustaining and promoting human life.
buzzy110,
Jul 20, 12:22am
Margarine - Until the last century margarine didn't figure on our dinner table because it was unheard of. And just as well because in order to make the cheap, chemically extracted vegetable oils it is made from go solid it has to be partially hydrogenated. Butter, on the other hand just needs to be whipped and washed.
Margarine has to have a flavour added to it. Butter just tastes good naturally.
Margarine has to have a preservative added to it. Butter doesn't go rancid if refrigerated for ages unless the manufacturer has left milk and protein solids in it.
Margarine has an unnatural food colour added to it (I think or maybe that has been outlawed now). Butter is naturally yellow.
Something is rotten to the core when our health watchdogs think that a foodstuff that has nourished man for well over 10, 000 years is not fit for human consumption whilst this artificial, hydrogenated, artificial foodstuff with possibly carcinogenic chemicals is OK.
buzzy110,
Jul 20, 12:26am
Yes. tis true. Just ceases to be true when people are stuffing themselves with grains for breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and supper. That sort of skews the balance from moderate to seriously causing deleterious effects.
Which means grains should not be considered healthy and made more accessible by price because moderate has already flown out the window. What we now see is an explosion of hyperinsulinemia, insulin resistance, diabetes, heart disease, obesity, arthritis and a myriad of auto immune disease bought on specifically by over-consumption of grains.
indigojo,
Jul 20, 12:27am
I work in a supermarket too (well, not right now as I am maternity leave), but I used to see lots of trolleys filled with processed food that people think are necessart - things like just-add-meal sachets (which are just expensive flour and herbs). I know of lots of people that say 'food is expensive' but are unwilling to do the basics to reduce their food bill - like having a meal plan (doesn't need to be written), limiting amount of trips to supermarket (its very hard to go in and just get 1 thing! ), using fruit and vege shops, shopping around for stuff (like here 2L of milk is $2. 90 at dairy, at least 30c cheaper than at supermarket), limiting junk food, planting a few veges...
vintagekitty,
Jul 20, 12:41am
I agree, fresh fruit, meat, cereal, cheese, butter, milk should be cheaper. They are the mainstays of food for a family. We go through huge amounts of bread, cheese, milk. Eg we always have heaps of kids here in the weekends. Last weekend I had 5 extra huge 16 year old boys staying, just that group ate 4 loaves of bread, a 12 or 18 pack of noodles, 6 litres of milk, a huge container of juice, a kilo bag of chicken tenders, a kilo pack of bacon and a tray of eggs. Plus pizzas we bought. I dont begrudge the kids any food, but when your average grocery bill is $400 + a week, it mounts up. In winter nothing really grows here, I dont have hardly any winter fruit and spend so much just on fruit and vegies. Ibuy chips, fizzy and sweetsvery rarely. Food is more expensive down here, as it costs more to get it here in the first place.
buzzy110,
Jul 20, 12:55am
And vintagekitty's idea of healthy foodfor 16 year old boys just about sums up what is so wrong with this legislation. If the boys were fed high satiety and truly nourishing foods that contained red meats, fresh vegetables and fat instead of just 1kg of chicken tenders (whatever they are), 1 kg of probably cheap bacon, packets of instant noodles, loaves of (probably white or close to) bread. gallons of fruit juice and pizzas maybe they would have eaten less. The eggs were the only real nutrition these boys were feed for a whole weekend.
And the foods served these boys are the very ones that our legislators are trying to remove the GST from.
ferita,
Jul 20, 12:59am
So they are rotten to the core because they follow what educated scientists and researchers have found to be true? LOL You are fighting a losing battle you cannot disprove science no matter how hard you want to.
People may lose weight on a low carb diet but thats probably due to being malnourished and nothing to do with the diet being healthy.
vintagekitty,
Jul 20, 1:00am
whatever buzzy, you nasty old hag. It was treat food, ie Treats when mates stay. Maybe the concept of having friends elludes you. Remove the stick and maybe you may find out.
ferita,
Jul 20, 1:04am
Dont let them get to you. I think its great you gave the kids a treat in the school holidays
vintagekitty,
Jul 20, 1:06am
Thanks Ferita, its great that the kids friends like staying, we enjoy having the house full and the boys loved barbequeing their food in the minus 2 nights!
uli,
Jul 20, 1:13am
Grains are now a "treat food" ... really ... :)
nfh1,
Jul 20, 1:14am
I do not think it will make the slightest difference to the obesity levels - people make choices and many make the choice to eat cr@p food. You could give fresh veges away outside McDs, KFC and people would walk past to get to the counter and order a meal.
vintagekitty,
Jul 20, 1:20am
not in my house, I was simply outlining the amount of food consumed in my home when you have Teens with hollow legs
soupsoup,
Jul 20, 1:40am
I wouldn't dream of trying to post on here regarding the merits/demerits of various foods, but as a bookkeeper who has worked extensively in the food industry, and has read about the UK VAT system, I believe we'll all be better off staying with GST applied to everything. Otherwise admin costs etc will mean the "ordinary Joe" will still pay more, but bigger businesses will find loopholes, as I think some of you have shown!
buzzy110,
Jul 20, 1:44am
I don't need to disprove science ferita. There is not one piece of science that can actually prove that carbs are good for you. Not one piece of science that can say, categorically that an over consumption of grains won't cause diabetes and obesity.
One the other hand, there are bucket loads of science to say that carbs and grains do cause a myriad of disorders, diseases and ailments.
The scientists that find for the grains and breads are dependent on their brains for their livelihood. If they do not toe the PC line they lose their jobs and their livelihood.
But I'm not going to argue the toss with you because it is all well documented in the Food Lies thread if you had bothered to read it.
buzzy110,
Jul 20, 1:46am
We are arguing for and against new legislation VK. I pointed out that the rubbish you fed your 'friends'was actually the same foods that would come under the umbrella of GST removal.
So tell me how your 'treat' food is going to improve the country's overall health statistics.
Oh I see that you like to resort to name calling too. How does that add to the debate. Better a nasty old hag than a mentally deficient cow who doesn't understand the point in question.
Finally I have descended to your level. Happy?
nfh1,
Jul 20, 1:49am
As a Brit and one who has worked in finance nearly all my career, VAT comes in many shapes, one rate for normal items, reduced rates for heating bills, zero for basic foods. Plain biscuits are zero, choc biscuits are considered luxury and attract VAT!
But there is no VAT on rates which is a large saving.
motorbo,
Jul 20, 1:51am
i havent read anything here but your first message, does it really matter what you or i think is healthy what matters is people that struggle to feed their families might buy veges and bread instead of bags of chippes or maccers, chill! ! !
vintagekitty,
Jul 20, 1:54am
I couldnt care less buzzy, time and time again you show what sort of person you are. I know I cant be bothered reading your ravings.
I was outlining the cost of feeding Teens, ie boys that eat alot. I regard all of the above ie dairy, meat and vegies and cereal as what a family usually purchases to feed their families. And those are amongst the foods that should have GST exempt or reduced.
buzzy110,
Jul 20, 2:02am
I don't suppose you noticed that the foods on your list - bread, pizza, noodles, chicken tenders, and fruit juices would probably be the very foods that are freed of their GST component. Why you should resort to name calling because I pointed that out is just a measure of how ignorant and shallow your thinking is.
There are other posters in here who have come up with some really excellent reasons why this legislation shouldn't even get into the debating chamber and your posting was just the icing on the cake because if it became law you 'treats' will be cheaper than ever, and the nation's health will suffer in consequence.
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