The Unhealthy Truth: How Our Food Is Making Us Sick and What We Can Do About It

Eatlocalgrown.com

childberriesIs Robyn O'Brien on your radar yet? She should be. In addition to being one of our "Real Food" heroes here at eatlocalgrown.com, Robyn O'Brien is a former food industry analyst, strategist, author and mother of four. Robyn's website goes on to say--

 

Robyn brings insight and detailed analysis to her research into the impact that the global food system is having on our health. Since giving her first TEDx talk in which she discusses research she conducted six years ago, the World Health Organization now reports that the U.S. ranks 7th out of almost 200 countries worldwide in cancer rates due to the remarkable efforts to reduce tobacco use in our country.

And she firmly believe that while we can't change the beginning of our stories, we can change the end.  And hope is the knowledge that change is possible, even when it seems hard to imagine.

Why are Food Allergies Among Children on the Rise?

In an article the New York Times ran on Mrs. O'Brien, she makes it quite clear that our food supply is being manipulated with additives, genetic modification, hormones and herbicides, causing increases in allergies, autism and other disorders in children. We agree wholeheartedly.

Record numbers of parents are heading to doctors concerned that their children are allergic to a long list of foods. States are passing laws requiring schools to have policies protecting children with food allergies. But no one knows why the number of allergies seems to be on the rise, or even if they are rising as fast as some believe.

Ms. O’Brien and leading allergy researchers agree that few reliable studies on food allergies exist. The best estimates suggest that 4 to 8 percent of young children suffer from them, though the reactions tend to grow less serious and less frequent as children grow older.

Learn more about The AllergyKids Foundation that Robyn Started...

Robyn started the AllergyKids Foundation to restore the health of our children and the integrity of our food supply.

Our goal is simple and straightforward: we want to protect the American children from the additives now found in our food supply – additives not used in children’s foods in other developed countries. In our efforts to achieve this, the AllergyKids Foundation works to:

  1. Inspire choices that enhance the quality of life, improve nutrition and create change in the health of our children, schools and communities.
  2. Inform parents and caregivers about food grown without the use of synthetic additives, artificial growth hormones and pesticides.
  3. Address the increasing prevalence of synthetic additives, artificial growth hormones, antibiotics and genetically engineered allergens and proteins now found in the U.S. food supply and its impact on the health of our families.
  4. Provide materials and resources to help individuals and families reduce their exposure to additives in their diets.
  5. Cultivate team building and grassroots movements that drive change in our schools, communities, organizations, and federal food policy.

Our mission is a mighty one, but we believe that our children deserve nothing less. And while they may only represent 30% of our population, they are 100% of our future, and we can accomplish so much together.

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