The Future of Food
A Food Fight of Epic Proportions
Before making a purchase at the market, do you ever stop to think about how it was grown or what quality assurances are in place? Well, I certainly have. Can it really be true that big business gets away with making record profits even at the cost of the consumer's health? How could this be?
Ever since my cancer diagnosis last year, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, listening and reading about all of this. Most recently, after a conversation with concerned mom Robyn O’Brien (AllergyKids.com), who's fighting to make food safer for our children and families, I was left slack-jawed by the information I was hearing. Here’s a mother of four allergy-ridden children who is right smack dab in the middle of a food fight of epic proportions that's only getting messier.
Demanding Disclosure
We really need to take control of this formidable situation. We should be reading more labels, demanding more complete disclosure, refusing to buy products that don't measure up, and discussing the "possible" contamination of our food supply for the gains of big business. Food is becoming less of a nutritional substance and more of a fabrication of what we once thought food was. Instead of fortifying us, it is often tearing us down, rendering our families sick—very sick.
So why are children developing autism, cancer and autoimmune disorders in record numbers? Scratch beneath the surface, and I bet you’ll be led right back to food and environmental conditions.
What can help? Eating clean, fresh, nutritious, non-chemically treated food. But not everyone can afford to “go organic” as the cost of food—especially chemical-free food—has skyrocketed. However, eating some organic is better than none, and why not drink RBGH-free milk products, for extra bonus points! One suggestion to keep the costs down is to figure out which foods you eat most frequently and make those your organic choices. Think of this investment as additional health insurance. In the long run, it can prove worth the additional expense when you save on a slew of medical bills!
Big Change
So what then? How can we bring our food back to the way it was a half-century ago? Well, big changes have to occur. Perhaps we need to separate the Food and Drug Administration into two agencies in order to ensure a secure line of checks and balances between the food industry and the drug industry. One should not feed off of the other. Any way you slice it, changes need to be made, and it all begins with a discussion and an acknowledgment of the problem.
To learn more, check out the movie The Future of Food, by Deborah Koons Garcia (2004).
Also on iVillage:
My daughter was diagnosed as autistic, she would line up toys, have extreme bursts of hyper activity, tantrums several times a day, she would gnaw on the furniture, her clothes and herself and those are just some of the things she did. I removed all artificial preservatives, artificial flavorings and artificial colorings from her diet, within a matter of 1 1/2 months she stopped doing almost all of those things and no longer carries the autism label. We can immediately tell now when she has had something she shouldnt have because the awful behavior returns for a few days. Read labels but unfortunately you cant trust all labels. A certain ice cream brand that has strawberries in its vanilla ice cream claims to be all natural, unfortunately the strawberries in the ice cream have been dyed with artificial dye before they went to that ice cream factory. Its a shame people will put petroleum (yup, I said it, thats what the artificial things are) in our bodies and our childrens bodies so that our food looks pretty! Please give me an ugly picked, give me a not so red red potato just please hold the chemicals.
I'm trying to subscribe viz your feed, but when I click on the xml button, it takes me directly to the feed, but gives me not option to subscribe. Please help.
I'm so glad that I'm not the only one trying to go organic. I'm a self-confessed sugar-addict trying to (slowly) wean myself... Ok, maybe not 100% off, but at least greatly reduced!
I am also reducing the amount of processed and artificial foods I ingest. I'm starting by adding as much organic food as I can to my diet and also cutting out as much High Fructose Corn Syrup-laden foods as I can (you'd be amazed at how many foods contain HFCS!!)...
I think it is the first step to a healthier lifestyle for me & my family!
Wow, a lot of great information. The list of items that we should pick from “eat some organic is better than none” is great. The ‘eye opener’ for me was the chicken. We tend to eat chicken because of less fat, and forget to think about the quality of it due to the way chicken are raised. I will definitely check the organic one next time.
I think this is wonderful. I am starting to look at labels and that's a great improvement. It's crazy that we assume that food/products are safe, when in fact most are not.
I will be watching this movie soon: King Korn
Thanks, I will sign up for this blog!