GMO’s – Jen Kehl

You Don’t Have to Cook to Snack Organic

As I sit here munching on my not-oreo Organic Tasty Sandwich Cookies, it occurs to me that many people don’t eat organic because it’s too much work.

Well let me tell you, I’m With You Sister! (or brother, you too!)

I remember a time, a long long time ago, when cooking was a wonderful and creative hobby of mine. Why I spent a whole day once making a chocolate tart from Cook’s Magazine and liked it!

Oh yes, those were the days.

Enter child, special needs, homeschool, husband with ADD, dogs, house, laundry……..

But I never changed my tune. I didn’t care how the food got there, but I did care what was in it.

I know what it’s like to peruse pin boards for yummy healthy food, pin it, and never look at again because I don’t have an hour and a half to make homemade granola bars with organic chocolate chips.

Wait, what? I didn’t hear that….. oh! My brain just said, “Why reinvent the wheel?!”

You can buy these organic snacks at Target!!!! Oh yes you can!

Do you already know that Target has at least one organic choice in almost every food category? Maybe you just don’t want to spend the extra money?

Can I ask you a question? Can you start thinking about what is going into your child’s body? It’s hard, I know. Denial is a beautiful place to live.

But imagine this. Imagine those waving fields of oats growing on the farm for as far as the eye can see. Now imagine a crop duster flying over the field spraying the chemical 2, 4-D on those oats. And according to the agriculture sites I studied, the optimal time to spray is in the fall. Well those oats are nice and grown by the fall. Not a lot of time for that 2, 4-D to wash off before harvest time.

You may remember 2, 4-D from my post about GMOs. That is a chemical in Round-Up which also contains glyphosate.

Evidence is mounting by world health organizations and Universities like MIT, that these chemicals are destroying vital gut-bacteria and are responsible for more diseases than we can count. Things you would never think of. From ALS to Autism, Food Allergies to Lupus, and, by exposing ourselves to these chemicals, we are actually making it easier for other chemicals to do damage to our cells.

There are more organic choices than you can imagine out there. You just have to agree to make a change. And yes. Maybe it will cost you a little more. Maybe even a dollar more a box. And maybe something else in your life will have to get the pennies pinched? But isn’t it worth it? Isn’t your child’s health worth it?

When we were kids I couldn’t even say there was one child I knew with Autism, there wasn’t one child I knew with a nut allergy! Now…well now there are more than I can count.

This isn’t evolution my friend, this is a systematic poisoning of our bodies and years of adding chemicals to the chemicals already destroying our bodies.

Make a change, even if it’s a little one!

Here’s a list of easy organic snacks you can buy on Amazon! Got prime? You get free shipping too! (if you can’t see the list, turn off adblock!)
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I wrote this post before being asked to participate in Green is Universal’s Eco Eats Challenge. But we are so sympatico I am happy to use this post to promote the challenge! Join in, have fun, maybe even win something! (click here to read my last eco challenge post)

And while you’re here visit some of the other great bloggers participating in the project, maybe you’ll find a recipe, learn a short-cut, be inspired!

Here’s some bizness:

“Are you interested in ‘eco-eating’? NBC’s Green is Universal is hosting an “Eco Eats” sweepstakes from September 29 – October 17. To join, visit their free green-living tool, One Small Act, and join the “Eco Eats” challenge. Everyone who signs-up and tackles at least one action by October 17th will be entered to win one of five 6-month subscriptions to NatureBox. No Purchase Necessary. Must be US resident and 18+. Read official rules here.

Note: In exchange for participating in the challenge and writing this post, I was given a gift package from Green is Universal. All opinions here are still my own.”

An InLinkz Link-up

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Be The Weird Family on Your Block

Believe it or not, Isaiah and I were laying in bed the other night when we had this conversation.

“Mom, we’re never going to make a difference”

“Of course we will my love.”

“But mom, we’re the only people I know who even care about GMO’s and eat organic.”

“That’s not true baby, we know a few other people who care. You know when you were born (9 years ago) I had to order organic formula from California. It was the only place they distributed it! Now you can buy organic formula at Target!

It’s important that we continue to make these decisions, because by making these decisions we’re telling the grocery stores and mega-conglomerates what we want. So that also means supporting new grocery stores when they start to sell organic by buying from them too, then they know they’ve made the right decision.”

“I know, but what about when we bring food places, like when we go to Auntie Suzette’s house and you always say this is organic. And then you whisper to me what I can and can’t eat. I think people think we’re weird.”

“You know what Isaiah? The wisest people always seem weird until people start to agree with what they’re talking about. You should feel proud of the fact that we have made the choice to eat healthy and take care of ourselves. You and I, and lots of people we know, have immune issues that are worsened exponentially by the pesticides we can’t control, at least when it comes to eating we can control that. So many people don’t realize that food allergies are an immune reaction, when you were 2 you had 12 life-threatening food allergies. Now you have 3. I couldn’t control what went into your body when you were growing into a baby, but I could control it once you were born. As best as I could you were on a completely organic diet. Now you have 3 life-threatening food allergies. I’d say we made a huge difference!”

Sometimes caring about GMO’s in your diet, and eating only organic can make you seem like “The Weird Family.” I get it. Because that’s us. When we had a Cub Scout cookout a few weeks ago I brought our own hot-dogs and buns because there are some things I won’t compromise on, even outside the house, and beef is one of them. I know some of the families who don’t know me well were looking at me funny, but even more asked me, why? That’s the best thing that can happen. I will happily share with them why. I am happy to tell them about the changes in our nations health since we have created stronger pesticides, GMO crops, using plastic for everything. I am happy to explain to them how easy it is to make the change, and why giving your child organic snacks is one of the easiest changes to make!

Being “The Weird Family” also means that we are on the frontline of change. That we might be able to make a difference to one family, or in the big picture, to have a larger voice when fighting the large corporations who insist that toxic pesticides are the answer.

For the month of October I will be participating in an exciting project by NBC’s Green is Universal called One Small Act. They contacted me after reading my post on GMOs, I was already planning to dedicate the next few months to the very critical topic of why you need to eat Organic and understand GMOs for your family’s health. And to focus on the research that shows that Immune Disorders, Food Allergies, Autism, Sensory Issues and many other health issues are directly related to the food we are eating and the chemicals we are exposed to. Joining the “Eco Eats” challenge is such a perfect fit that I was happy to be part of the project and hopefully reach more people in the process.

Please subscribe to my blog to get the posts I write on this subject, right under the “Get Me In Your Inbox” button on the right, or stop by to keep reading as I continue sharing the importance of organic!

Here are the posts of others participating in this challenge, check them out!

An InLinkz Link-up

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The business I have to tell you all about:

Note: In exchange for participating in the challenge and writing this post, I was given a gift package from Green is Universal. All opinions here are still my own.”

I Was Against GMO’s Before it Was Cool

Hey! I have an AWESOME idea!

Take that broccoli you were going to feed your kids tonight and soak it in RoundUp– let it sit for 30 days. Now rinse it off, you know, like you would if you were getting ready to cook it and feed it to your child.

What? No? You don’t want to?

Well if you’re buying GMO food, that’s basically what you’re doing.

What Monsanto – Dow – The EPA – wants you to think is that thanks to GMO foods, we are going to feed the world. And they want you to believe that there is actually no evidence that consuming Genetically Modified food is dangerous.

Okay, say they’re right. Which I’m not doing. Just say they are. The problem is not only the actual modified food, it is what it is modified for.

Do you ever wonder why they are genetically modifying crops or do you just not think about it? Well I’ll tell you why. They are modified to withstand stronger and stronger pesticides and herbicides.

Why would they need a stronger and stronger pesticide and herbicide combo? Well let me tell you. Once upon a time Monsanto had this bright idea. If we genetically modify crops to NOT DIE when we spray super high-powered pesticides and herbicides (chemicals that kill plants) on them, we won’t have problems with crops being destroyed by weeds and insects. Great idea, right? Let’s not even think about the fact that we are talking about putting stronger chemicals on food going into our bodies. But get this!

The Catch: Who knew that by using these super-chemicals we would spawn a whole new breed of insects and weeds? Yup Super Bugs and Super Weeds!

These are not characters in the latest Marvel movie. These are growing and swarming and getting resistant to stronger and stronger chemicals in the farms next door to your kid’s school, the farm you get your “Iowa Sweet Corn” from. And you know what they do to get rid of them? They fill up a crop duster with an even stronger version of RoundUp and fly it over those farms to kill the Super Buggy Weeds. Hmmm… Well, what if it’s windy?

Now you don’t only have issues with these chemicals in your food, now they are on your clothes, in your hair, on the playground equipment. You’re tracking it in your house, your kids are putting their chemical covered hands in their mouths. So guess what? Even if you go GMO free, which hopefully means organic as well, you’re still going to be effected by the chemical in RoundUp called glyphosate.

What’s the bottom line? Well according to one of the top researchers on GMO’s Stephanie Senett of MIT:

“Glyphosate’s inhibition of cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes is an overlooked component of its toxicity to mammals. CYP enzymes play crucial roles in biology, one of which is to detoxify xenobiotics. Thus, glyphosate enhances the damaging effects of other food borne chemical residues and environmental toxins. Negative impact on the body is insidious and manifests slowly over time as inflammation damages cellular systems throughout the body. Here, we show how interference with CYP enzymes acts synergistically with disruption of the biosynthesis of aromatic amino acids by gut bacteria, as well as impairment in serum sulfate transport. Consequences are most of the diseases and conditions associated with a Western diet, which include gastrointestinal disorders, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, depression, autism, infertility, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.”

Okay, I know, you probably zoned out there. But being a mom, one who has a child with special needs, one who was also diagnosed with infertility, depression and three auto-immune diseases (two in the last year, that have to do with inflammation), a mom who knows more kids with autism than I should. (And I bet you do too.) Can I suggest you read it again more carefully?

Here’s something else that should scare the heck out of you. According to Reuter’s, since 2012, Monsanto, Dow and DuPont have spent over 80 million dollars to defeat GMO labeling laws. That’s right, they have spent 80 million dollars to try to insure that you do not have a right to know what your food is made of.

These corporations have so many politicians in their pocket that it seemed like no matter what, we were fighting a losing battle against GMO’s in food. And then a few days ago something happened. Dr. Oz dedicated a show to the dangers of GMO’s in food. Why? Because now the danger is very real. Dow/Monsanto are adding a new chemical to RoundUp, they have proposed to add 2, 4-D to the already toxic herbicide. Why does it matter you ask? Well 2, 4-D is the active ingredient in Agent Orange, a herbicide used during the Vietnam war and banned because exposure to the chemical is linked to an increased risk of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, thyroid & reproductive problems, Parkinson’s disease and neurological damage.

The irony? Monsanto produced Agent Orange. And now they want to put the active ingredient back into another herbicide they produce and the EPA is about to let them!

What can you do? Well this is where I must thank Dr. Oz for getting involved, he has created a petition on the White House website demanding President Obama get involved and not allow the EPA to approve this volatile mix.

Please join me in signing this petition, we cannot let this pesticide be used on the food we feed our children.

Whether or not this herbicide is allowed to move forward, most corn, soybeans, tomatoes, squash and potatoes you eat are already genetically modified to withstand high levels of glyphosate. If you want to be 100% sure your children are not eating these toxic foods I urge you to buy organic.

Please sign the petition HERE

*as an aside, it was recently discovered that Monsanto had hired numerous bloggers and social media figures to actively troll posts that are anti-GMO, so if you’re one of them, don’t even think about it. I know all about you, and I will delete your comments.