When I started doing the Whole30 reset this April, I was hungry for food information! I honestly had no idea what was in my food, even though I thought I did. I randomly found the documentary Food, Inc. on Netflix (I LOVE NETFLIX!). I had heard of the movie, but had never seen it, so I parked myself and Lulu on the floor in the family room to watch it while the kidlets were with their dad for the evening. OMG, I was horrified at the information Food, Inc. was telling me about our nation’s food industry. I still have a hard time dealing with the fact that there are chemicals in our food, on our food, and being used as food. Do you know what’s in your food? After seeing the horrors of factory farming and hearing about the terrible things in our food, fear quickly took hold about what I’ve been feeding my kidlets for the past fifteen years. Yes, we all like junk food, and know its junk. But this movie showed me that even the things I thought were healthy could be filled with terrible things.
“In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation’s food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government’s regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation’s food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, herbicide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won’t go bad, but we also have new strains of E. coli—the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults.
Featuring interviews with such experts as Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma, In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto) along with forward thinking social entrepreneurs like Stonyfield’s Gary Hirshberg and Polyface Farms’ Joel Salatin, Food, Inc. reveals surprising—and often shocking truths—about what we eat, how it’s produced, who we have become as a nation and where we are going from here.”
-Excerpt from Food, Inc. website
Chemicals On Food
So as I started digging around a bit on the internet, I came across an article entitled “Five Essential Facts About Pesticides on Fruits and Vegetables” at the Healthy Child website. Here is a bit of what I learned. Pesticides and fertilizers used on non-organic foods are petroleum-based chemicals. In order to kill weeds and insects, our nation’s non-organic fruits and vegetables are heavily sprayed with these dangerous chemicals. The residue of the pesticides and fertilizers are so strong that they linger on fruits and vegetables – even after scrubbing them! While the argument is that the pesticides and fertilizers help grow more food, the dangers associated with these chemicals are terrifying. There have been studies showing that they damage the brain and the nervous system, disrupt normal hormones, and even contribute to cancer. So even if you are scrubbing and soaking them in vinegar and water prior to using them, these fruits and veggies aren’t coming clean and are definitely hurting us. What’s worse is that as the fruits and vegetables grow, these chemicals are absorbed into the food. INTO THE FOOD! So what I’m hearing is that even if I do somehow manage to get the outer residue off, its already made its way into the fruit or veggie itself. HEAD SPINNING!!
Luckily, we now have people and organizations that are starting to take this problem seriously and help us be more informed consumers. Pesticide Action Network has built a searchable database so you can see what pesticides are on the foods you’re eating called What’s On My Food? You can hop over to their website and check it out. I will warn you that once you understand the set up, you will get sucked in. Fast. Thank you, Pesticide Action Network for making this information available to us!
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has created the Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce, along with their Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen lists. What an incredible resource for those of us just starting on our journey to healthier eating. I love finding companies that are working to protect us and our environment through research and education and work on Capitol Hill. Thank you, Environmental Working Group for the great information you share and the work you do to change laws.
Chemicals In Food
I did a google search for chemicals in food, and was presented with this gorgeous gem of a sentence:
If you eat processed foods, you’re consuming a chemical cocktail with each bite. Even seemingly simple foods like bread, processed cheese, salad dressing or pasta sauce are typically loaded with preservatives, emulsifiers, flavorings, colorings and other “enhancers.”
-Excerpt from “What Chemical Cocktail Is In Your Food” by Dr. Joseph Mercola
This article is an interesting read, and brings up a number of issues to me. His article states that “Since the 1950s, the number of food additives allowed in U.S. food has grown from about 800 to more than 10,000.” Ok, scary, but then he states, “GRAS, or “generally recognized as safe,” is a loophole created in 1958; food companies are tasked with determining such status for their own ingredients.” HOLY KRAUT. WAIT. I thought the FDA was supposed to tell me which foods are safe to eat? Not the people making the foods and wanting to make a fast buck. And to top it off, he tells us that “Once an additive is granted GRAS status by an industry-hired panel, the company doesn’t need to inform the FDA that the ingredient is used, and no independent third-party objective evaluation is required.” DUMBFOUNDED. COMPLETELY DUMBFOUNDED. Thank you, Dr. Mercola, for scaring me into more action to learn what’s in my food! And if you’re wondering just who this Dr. Mercola is, and why you might want to listen to what he says, go check him and his impressive qualifications out at his website.
So I started wondering what kinds of chemicals are put into our foods. One chemical is TBHQ (tertiary butylhydroquinone). Healthline.com says “TBHQ is an additive to preserve processed foods. It acts as an antioxidant, but unlike the healthy antioxidants you find in fruits and vegetables, this antioxidant has a controversial reputation.” Some of the dangers that Healthline cites are “vision disturbances have been reported when humans consume TBHQ. They also cite studies that have found TBHQ to cause liver enlargement, neurotoxic effects, convulsions, and paralysis in laboratory animals.” An interesting note they mention is “Some believe BHA and TBHQ also affect human behavior. It’s this belief that has landed the ingredients on the black list of the Feingold diet, a dietary approach to managing attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Advocates of this diet say that those who struggle with their behavior should avoid TBHQ.”
Epiphany moment: What if we can help all these kids with ADD/ADHD just by changing the food they are eating? WHAT IF??
Chemicals As Food
LiveScience tells us that “A genetically modified organism, or GMO, is an organism that has had its DNA altered or modified in some way through genetic engineering.” Think glow in the dark pigs that have been modified with jellyfish DNA – that’s an actual example they use on their website. Now let’s talk about what it has to do with us. LiveScience tells us that “According to the National Library of Medicine (NLM), genetically engineered foods have had foreign genes (genes from other plants or animals) inserted into their genetic codes. The potential benefits are foods that are tastier, more nutritious and resistant to diseases and droughts.” The biggest area of use of GMOs is in large scale agricultural farming in the US. “At least 90 percent of the soy, cotton, canola, corn and sugar beets sold in the United States have been genetically engineered.”
Are you terrified yet? So here is the deal. This is a huge political issue. There are people who say GMOs are safe and help feed the world. There are people who say its poison killing us, our environment and endangering our future food sources. This is what I know – according to the Non-GMO Project. “In more than 60 countries around the world, including Australia, Japan and all of the countries in the European Union, there are significant restrictions or outright bans on the production and sale of GMOs.” I also know that labeling GMO foods in the USA is not a law. And the fight to get it to become a law is raging. Both sides (helpful vs. harmful) are working as hard as they can to either keep government out of our food industry or to put government into our food industry. I’m an err on the side of caution kind of gal, so I’d like to at least KNOW what I’m feeding myself and my family, and therefore would like for the food to be labeled. Since that isn’t happening right now, I am happy that Non-GMO Project makes resources available to me, like certifying foods and labeling them and creating resources for me to research the foods I’d like to buy.
Action Steps You Can Take
So, are you overwhelmed? I completely understand. I’ve only just begun my research and learning, and believe me, I know how it feels to have all this thrown at you. Its completely bewildering. New questions arise often: isn’t the FDA supposed to keep ME safe, not big agra? How can I possibly allow my children to ever eat (insert favorite processed food here)? DEAR GOD, IS THERE NON-GMO CHOCOLATE???
Let’s breathe for a moment. (Yes, there is non-gmo chocolate treats that are to die for delicious – BarkThins, anyone?)
Ok, now, what are some action steps you can take to get started making your heart smile knowing you’re feeding yourself and your family healthier?
- Go read all those wonderful articles I linked to up there. Instead of feeling overwhelmed, think of it as gaining control to make better choices in the future. (Heart smiling? Check!)
- Print out the EWG’s Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen lists, and be sure to check out their Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce. (Heart smiling? Check!)
- Download The Non-GMO Project’s App for iPhone or App for Android: Links are found at the bottom of this page. (Heart smiling? Check!)
- Start reading labels. (Heart smiling? Check!)
- Buy local. Get to you know the farms you buy from. Ask them questions. (Heart smiling? Check!)
- Buy organic when you can, the Dirty Dozen is a great place to start. (Heart smiling? Check!)
As you start to learn more about our food industry and the toll it can take on our health, it can be very overwhelming. I believe in baby steps. This means taking time in the grocery store to read those labels, and more importantly reach for real, Whole Foods over processed foods. If you’re looking for motivation, check out Food, Inc. on Netflix. It may drive you to learn more and make healthier food choices. I’d love to hear your thoughts and questions, so feel free to leave a comment after the related posts show below or send me an email. Thanks for visiting. I appreciate you!
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Learning about mindful, healthy food choices that keep your family healthy and free from disease.
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