DQ Farm (est. 1991)

People ask why  I bother. It’s a 24/7 job and rewards, if any, are few and far in between.

Well, let the following information illustrate 'why I bother':

My fasting blood glucose is 4.7mmol/l or 84.7mg/dl.

Recently I bought two fish fillet burgers for a quick lunch.  I threw away the buns, just ate the ‘fish fillet’.

Image from this website

http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/stories/your-filet-o-fish-is-endangered

Half-an-hour later I tested my blood glucose; it went shooting up to 7.6mmol (137mg/dl).  Folks, there’s no fish in the world that will do that, and at half an hour at that!

 Just what are they really selling to our young kids?  For comparison, I ate half a roast chicken recently and my 30mins post meal reading was 5.8 (104.5).

Image from this website: http://www.iamthewitch.com/2010/11/30/chicken-or-pasta/

 So what’s going to happen to a kid eating one fish fillet with buns intact,  potatoe chips and a large cup  of coke?  And he does that once or twice a day, day-in and day-out.

Another day I had a cup of Nescafe-si-kosong.  That’s Nescafe with evaporated milk, no sugar.  It could well be teh (tea) tarik-si-kosong. 

 

Image from:

http://tehtarikgelasbesar.blogspot.com/2009/05/berapa-ramai-yang-buat-segelas-teh.html

After half an hour, my blood glucose was 8.4 (151).  That’s no milk you are pouring down your throat 4 to 5 times a day.  Can you imagine the havoc you are doing to your endocrine system with this yo-yo-ing through the day? (For my BG to go up that fast, there must be corn syrup or corn flour in that milk).  Check the label of the evaporated milk your friendly teh-tarik (tea vendor) man is using.  Make sure it is milk and not milk plus hydrogenated soya oil (trans fats) or palm oil plus corn flour, etc.  Choose the wrong brand and you are pouring down your throat trans fats and very high glycemic index carbo a few times a day. If the evaporated milk tastes a bit sweet you betcha it contains HFCS (high fructose corn syrup).

It goes without saying what that non-dairy creamer is going to do to your glucose level. And you thought it is a healthier alternative to dairy!

Many weight conscious folks share a common myth – healthy lunch is the neighbourhood yong tau foo (vegetables stuffed with fish paste) store. Well, depending on the store, some will send my glucose level up to 7.5 (135), a really good store will send it up to 6.7 (121) or so.  The ones I made at home puts it up to 5.8 (104.5).  So, guys that yong tau foo is not as healthy as you thought. 

Image from

http://malaysiafood5a12011.blogspot.com/2011/04/yong-tau-foo.html

Why all this emphasis on glucose level? Firstly, it is the easiest to measure and prove what’s wrong with our food nowadays.  Second, continuous high blood glucose level is the mother of all degenerative diseases; from premature aging to arteriosclerosis to diabetes. 

And folks, your blood sugar level has been high since morning – first, that roti canai (traditional bread made with refined flour, sugar, salt and oils) and teh tarik send it way up.  Then three hours later, your mid morning kuih muih (rice cakes and similar rice flour based deserts), your lunch of fried kwai teow (flat noodles made from rice flour), your tea break of pisang goreng (banana fritters), then dinner, rice and curry and all the normal stuff, and after dinner a large helping of the sweetest fruits you can find.   And God bless you, a bowl of instant noodle before you go to sleep. 

 A diet like this, we are not just talking about obesity, we are talking about a whole host of ‘body breaking down’ diseases that will come crashing when you hit your late forties or fifties, if not sooner.

So, our Ministry is trying to reduce the obesity problem by ensuring that only wholesome food is served in school canteens.  NOT excluded is filled evaporated milk, NOT excluded is various types of meat patties, fish cakes, with unknown percentages of flour added, etc. NOT excluded is food / drinks made with fructose, or high fructose corn syrup, etc.  I am afraid the Ministry is going to fail and the kids are headed for diabetes by the time they reach their forties.

The above image is from this website. 

http://mthago.wordpress.com/2011/05/14/obesity-among-school-children-causes-and-treatment/

No, I am not talking specifically about blood glucose or fast food or obesity.  I am talking about the need to take control of our food supply and reducing the power of food corporations over our lives.  I am talking about authorities placing more emphasis on what the food corporations and corporate farmers are doing, the 'unseens', not the obvious. 

The modern-day 'snake oil' salesman calls himself a food scientist, or a food technologist or a bio-technologist.

Our farm is a sanctuary for snakes.  And they do good work too, getting rid of rats and other rodents.  Our workers are from communities which traditionally kill any snake, big or small, poisonous or not.  We have to put up pictures of snakes they should not kill, and snakes they should keep a distance from:

A sampling of the good guys found in the farm.

Among the poisonous snakes in  the farm is the fifth most venomous snake in the world -  Malayan Krait - Blue Krait.  It is 15 times more venomous than a cobra.

The snakes are becoming quite used to humans, slithering slowly away when they see us, not at all afraid.

Workers have been trained to let the snakes know of their presence, and how to handle the snakes if they suddenly become aggressive.  They have also been trained to handle situations if an emergency occurs.

We hope this will explain why we are reluctant to take on Wwoofers, casual visitors, etc.  We have seen visitors just go into hysterics on seeing a snake suddenly appearing right next to them, inches away.

Today, I was reaching out to unlock a gate that I have done maybe a few thousand times.  Most days I just reach out without looking.  Luckily today, I did look when my hand was almost at the latch:

It is a beauty, isn't it.

It is a Paradise Flying Snake Chrysopelea paradisi. Mildly venomous. We have seen them gliding from tree to tree in the farm.  They like especially coconut trees and other palm trees, especially areca nut palm.  The colors of the snake blends well with the tree.