Eye Opener:CSPI

In my exam of "Score your Diet" this is what I found.

I scored a (-50) for my grant total score, which is in the "Uh-oh you need help" range of scores, of which ranges from 15 and below for a total score. The other possible scores are 15-59= Good, and +60 is Exellent.

My health Score is at 23

My Environmentaly Friendlys Score is at (-39).

And my Animal Friendly Score is at a sadening (-34).



For which types of food did you score the highest? (look for green numbers). Why?
In my scores I had whole grains as my highest positive rated score. It is my belief that this number is the highest as it is a natural food to harvest and grow makes little impact on the earth comparetivly to other foods, such as beef and pork of which have many feces that raise the nitrogen levels of the local water from feces run-off into local lakes and water supply. The feces from these animals are not properly maintained as the farmers spray the animals living areas down to clean them and the water run-off is saturated in the feces of the animals, thus polluting the local water supply with higher nitrogen, and other chemicals that are harmful to ingest.


For which types of food did you score the lowest? (look for red negative numbers). Why?
Milk (-30), and beef (-28) were both very close of which are a related topic as they both come from a cow. This score was low as cows impact their local environment in a big negative way from the over-crowding of these cow farms. With nearly a thousand cows on some farms with only 100 acres the run-off of feces is a great impact on local water supplies. The chemicals from feces is harmful to anyone whom ingests feces effected water.

Which category do you need the most improvement...health, environment, or animal welfare?
The most needed improvement I need is on Environment (-39).


What can you/will you change to improve the score?
To improve this score it will take people to lobby the government and farm companies to better maintain their run-off of feces from their animals. It will take both local government, and federal government to change the way farms keep environmentally safe practices.


Summary //What does it all mean to you?
As a grandson of a retired dairy farmer, I am familiar of cows and the feces run-off they produce. It takes the assistance of the government to help create water protection systems that help farms pay for updated environmentally friendly farm systems.

When farmers clean off their product (cows, pigs, etc) of feces and other dirt and grim, the water will run-off into the local rivers and lakes if the farm is located near those local water supply. My grandfather's farm was located near a river. To prevent his farm from effecting this river we was equiped with a drain system that lead into a sewage pipe that does not allow water run-off to local water supply, but to the local water filtration system. He only cleaned his cows in the milking area. Of which is equiped with the drains to sewage pipes. He never cleaned his cows out in the fields, he waited until brought them into the milking area cleaning and disinfecting the cows just before milking them.

Many big farm lots clean their cattle in the open field with huge sprayers, and sprinklers of which allows for feces saturated water run-off. This type of cleaning is being allowed to happen, and should be lobbyed in the government to mandate a drainage system area for cattle to be cleaned in. Designate where the cattle can be cleaned that has the proper drainage system surrounding it, so the water goes into the sewage system that is connected to water filtration systems, and not flowing into the local water supply un-filtered.