An Uncolorful Truth

Blogger Profiles

Organic Food

Sunday, July 13, 2008
Posted by Matthew Parker
(0) Leave A Comment

Picture this: While at the grocery store with your children, you walk past their favorite section--the cereal and snack aisle-- and the onslaught of requests for Twinkies, Pop Tarts, Cheetos, or Jell-O begins. As any conscientious parent focused on the long-term health of your child, you politely silence their pleas, and instead look for healthier alternatives, such as yogurt, fruit snacks, or a mutually agreed upon cereal. The problem with these compromises, however, may be more sinister than saving a few calories.

In a recent report by ABC news, mother of four Robyn O'Brien nearly lost her 9 month old baby to an allergic response to scrambled eggs. This harrowing experience prompted her to inspect what she was feeding her children. At the onset, O'Brien did not necessarily know she was in for a an education on food allergies. But she soon learned that artificial dyes used in sugary cereals, candies, dairy products, and other items marketed solely at children may be, in part, responsible for the spike in children's hyperactive reactions to certain foods.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Posted by Janelle Sorensen
(0) Leave A Comment

Did you know?

The "free-range" label doesn’t necessarily mean the animals went outdoors.
"Fair Trade Certified" means more than paying producers a fair wage.
Meat labeled as "natural" can contain artificial ingredients.

Consumer Reports has put together a new website to help us find out what the labels on our favorite products really mean. As the popularity of green product claims continues to grow, it’s important to know which claims you can trust and which ones you can’t. Use their search tools to get expert evaluation of labels on food, wood, personal care products and household cleaners. You can search by product, category, or certifier, and easily compare labels using their report cards. For labeling tips on buying greener products for your kitchen, you can also visit their virtual kitchen.

Visit the Eco-Labels Center today!

Thursday, May 08, 2008
Posted by Healthy Child
(0) Leave A Comment

Think you know a lot about keeping your family safe from potentially dangerous chemicals in the foods and products in your home? Take our Healthy Child Healthy World Quiz and find out!

Get all the answers correct, and you’ll win twice: First, you'll receive $1.75 in Earthbound Farm coupons and their 2008 Pocket Guide to Choosing Organic and secondly, $1 for each quiz taken will come to us!

Get started!

Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Posted by Healthy Child
(0) Leave A Comment

"5 Easy Ways to Go Organic", based on an interview with our very own Dr. Alan Greene, should be nicknamed "The Little Blog that Could". This piece got a lot of attention when it was originally published in October. It was the most popular article in all of the New York Times website many days during the following 30-day period. And it's still getting attention. Just yesterday it was once again on the most popular list in the Health category -- after 6 months! The way the Times works, the more popular something is, the more headlines they give it on the site, the more popular it becomes, and on and on. So, help get the organic message out -- go to this article, hit email at the bottom of the post, and send it to everyone you know who cares about organics. While you're there, post a comment to keep the conversation alive!

Thursday, April 17, 2008
Posted by Healthy Child
(0) Leave A Comment

Help Healthy Child Top The Amazon.com Best Seller List.

Please do 2 things right now:

Buy the book: This is an essential book for parents and anyone looking for simple steps to take toward a healthier lifestyle. It also makes a wonderful gift, especially for a baby shower, Earth Day, and Mother's and Father's Day - so pick up a few copies if you can.
Spread this message: Please help us spread this message with as many people you know who would find this book valuable.

Healthy Child Healthy World would like to THANK YOU for your support.

Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Posted by Christopher Gavigan
(0) Leave A Comment

Take Action: Ask your U.S. Representative to stand up for the protection of health and the environment by joining with his/her colleagues in the U.S. Congress through a letter to stop a pro-pesticide amendment in the Farm Bill, which is still under consideration in a House-Senate Agriculture conference committee.

Your Member of Congress received a “Dear Colleague” letter from Representatives Rush Holt (D-NJ) and Donald Payne (D-NJ) and the letter s/he is being asked to sign will go to the Farm Bill conferees. To sign on, tell your Member of Congress to email Rep. Holt’s aide Michele Mulder michelle.mulder@mail.house.gov or call her at (609) 750-9365.

The provision, and other substitute language now floating around, stops the U.S. Department of Agriculture from curtailing hazardous pesticide use through its conservation programs, either by targeting specific contaminants that are poisoning water or hurting wildlife, or facilitating a transition to organic practices.

For more information on this important issue, read Beyond Pesticides' full action alert.

Download the Dear Colleague letter.

Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Posted by Janelle Sorensen
(0) Leave A Comment

From Monsanto.com, “Monsanto is an agricultural company. We apply innovation and technology to help farmers around the world be successful, produce healthier foods, better animal feeds and more fiber, while also reducing agriculture's impact on our environment.”

From a jury in Alabama, Monsanto is guilty of behavior “so outrageous in character and extreme in degree as to go beyond all possible bounds of decency so as to be regarded as atrocious and utterly intolerable in civilized society.”

My mother taught me that if you don’t have anything nice to say about someone, you shouldn’t say anything at all. My legal advisor tells me I should be careful about pointing fingers at specific companies because it might be construed as slander or libel. Common sense tells me I shouldn’t smear a company that farmers across the US refer to using terms like “Gestapo” and “Mafia.” But, I think you should know…

If Monsanto was a person, I wouldn’t want you to be his friend. In fact, I would want you to stay as far away from him as possible.

Friday, March 07, 2008
Posted by Tasneem Motala
(0) Leave A Comment

Healthy Child's board member and activist Laura Dern spoke with Delicious Living Magazine on living a green and healthy lifestyle. The actress and eco-friendly mother shared her experience making changes in her home and teaching her kids about being earth friendly.

"Even before I had children, I thought it was fascinating that people put locks underneath their kitchen sinks because they're terrified that kids will get into whatever is down there. Why do we have things in our houses that we breathe in and let our dogs lick but that can kill children? As I learned more about the outrageous rise of chemical toxins, it was shocking and eye opening to me, but also, I felt overwhelmed. I fell in love with Healthy Child because its philosophy is that yes, there's a lot of daunting stuff going on in the world, but our children spend the majority of their days at home — it's where they sleep, it's where they eat, it's where they're nurtured — and we can control that." - Laura Dern.

Click to read the full article.

Friday, February 22, 2008
Posted by Healthy Child
(6) Leave A Comment

By Cheryl Tallman and Joan Ahlers

When shopping for your family, you should consider that per pound of body weight, babies consume about 60 times more fruits and vegetables than adults. This fact combined with undeveloped digestive and immune systems, put young children at the greatest health risk for pesticide residues. To minimize the effects, you might consider buying organic for those foods that your children eat regularly.

Produce: Pesticides levels vary in produce. Here is a list of common fruits and veggies that are high in pesticide residues*.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Posted by Christopher Gavigan
(0) Leave A Comment

The American Academy of Pediatrics -- the organization that sets practice parameters for pediatricians to follow -- has finally acknowledged that dietary intervention is a valid treatment for children with ADHD in a report in the February 2008 issue of its publication, AAP Grand Rounds.

After reviewing the British study published in the September 2007 Lancet, in which researchers found that food colorings and/or sodium benzoate increase hyperactive behavior in children, the AAP concludes with an Editors' Note and a commentary by Alison Schonwald, MD, FAAP, of the Developmental Medicine Center at Children’s Hospital in Boston.