I highly recommend finding the time to watch this episode of Fearless Revolution. It is an incredibly interesting and informative conversation about GMOs and our food supply and the rising incidence of food allergies in our society, featuring food safety author/advocate, Robyn O’Brien.
They get off to a bit of a rough start, so stick with it through the first couple of minutes because it’s a great discussion.
Here are some key takeaway points:
“22% of the US population is food sensitive or food allergic.”
“Centers for Disease Control shows 265% increase in the rate of hospitalizations that are related to food allergic reactions.” (within the last 15 years)
“The U.S. has the highest health care costs of any country on the planet… we also have the highest rates of obesity, of diabetes, of cancer of any country on the planet.”
“80% of processed foods include GMOs (genetically modified organisms).”
“They’re fighting really hard for people not to know when something that is genetically modified is in their food. I think you just have to ask why.”
“It’s a social justice issue. Everyone deserves clean food for their families. When our corporations are formulating their products differently for eaters in other countries… at the very least, the American kids deserve that same lunch.”
“These are the everyday products that every family can afford.”
“If you’re not incredibly careful, you’re part of this human feeding experiment. We may or may not be able to get this labeled, but you can remove yourself and your family from the experiment.”
“Everyone can afford to do one thing.”
“There are ways that we can exercise precaution at any grocery store in the country, Costco or Sam’s.”
“You can either pay for healthcare at the grocery store, or you can pay for disease management at the doctor’s office.”
Easy Ways to Reduce Your Exposure to GMOs Without Changing Grocery Stores:
- Eat less processed food.
- Buy milk and dairy that is labeled rBGH-free.
- Avoid exposure to conventional soy and corn products and derivatives.
- Shift habits away from processed food aisles towards more of the whole foods.
**Canola, soy, corn and dairy are almost always GMO unless otherwise labeled.
And that is just the tip of the iceberg.
Let me know if you watch it, and what you think.
6 Responses
I started watching it and had to go. I will go back to it, especially after reading your notes.
Robyn said something about allergies and proteins which I want to hear again. She also said something about kids having an allergic reaction to the hormones in milk.
I love your last note, well, that you shared it. I didn’t realize that all those products were almost always GMO unless stated otherwise. That’s really, really scary!
The GMO thing IS really scary. And what is so scary is they are not required to label!! Crazy.
I am extremely interested in how GMO products are being marketed and forced on the public. It can be really overwhelming to try to get as much information about this topic. I try to take it in small steps. Our family is “middle class, on the lower end of that” and we made the commitment to always buy organic milk. I wish we could afford to do organic apples and potatoes on a regular basis (and other organic produce, as well). I am mostly interested in the practical ways to incorporate a GMO free, organic lifestyle, on a budget. Thanks for sharing this video!
This was very interesting to watch. Especially since they talked so much about dairy. I’ve drank milk my entire life, why did I develop an allergy in the past 10-15 years? It certainly left me with a lot to think about and research. I recently started reading the magazine Clean Eating and would recommend it for anyone interested in eating better. The magazine offers practical, inexpensive ways to eat better food. Most of this stuff is confusing to me, but if you take the time it starts to become clearer that as a nation we need to eat better and more nutrient dense foods. Thanks for sharing!
Finally watched the whole thing. So good! Wish I could move elsewhere, where there was real concern for population health, and for providing good food. We just have to keep the ball rolling!
Thank you so much for posting this. I read the article by Mark Bittman in the NY Times recently and was quite disturbed about the fact that we are not being told about the GMOs that are being introduced into our foods. This conversation with Robyn, who is so well-spoken BTW, provided me with a lot better understanding of the issue. For my family and my clients I try to use organic products, whole grains and little to no processed foods. The information included in this video has confirmed for me the importance of sticking to this type of diet and continuing to educate my children on the proper ways of eating.