GMOs – what moms should know

I had the opportunity to speak about GMO’s this week.  Here are some notes, links and documents to share.

As I mentioned, you as moms have an enormous sphere of influence!  Most of us get information from various media but we also get it through our friends and families.  So please share what you have learned.  Everyone should know what is in their foods.

You vote every time you go to the grocery store, so even though proposition 37 might have been defeated (narrowly), you can still send a message to food producers.

The majority of diseases nowadays are lifestyle diseases (degenerative) vs the infectious disease of a century ago.  That means they are largely preventable.

Remember these critical points:

1. You have a right to know  so you can make an informed choice.
2. Testing has not been done accurately – Co’s not allowing their seeds to be used in non-industry testing – why?  FDA currently does not REQUIRE manufacturers to test for safety.
3. Other nations around the world either ban or require labeling – See Map

What are GMO’s?  Non-GMO-Project-FAQ-TriFold-US-June-2012

What are the risks?     gmoharmfuleffects

Who owns organic?   OrganicT30J09

Solutions  – What to look for to avoid GMOs?

Organic is best way –

remember you can “pay the farmer now or pay the pharmecist later”

Keep in mind that GMO’s are in at least 80% of conventional processed foods (as defined as having an ingredient label).

The USDA has three “categories of organic:”

1. 100 percent Organic: Made with 100 percent organic ingredients

2. Organic: Made with at least 95 percent organic ingredients

3. “Made With Organic Ingredients:” Made with a minimum of 70 percent organic ingredients with strict restrictions on the remaining 30 percent including no GMOs (genetically modified organisms)

Products with fewer than 70 percent organic ingredients may list organically produced ingredients on the side panel, but may not make any organic claims on the front of the package.

Of course – foods with out labels are best!  Fruits and veggies have codes –

If your produce has 4 digits, it means that it was “conventionally grown, but not organic”.

If it has 5 digits, and begins with a 9, it means that the produce was organically grown.

A 5 digit code that begins with an 8 indicates that the produce was genetically modified.

At least ½ your intake should be from vegetables and fruit. Strive to move in this direction.    But let’s face it in today’s world, most  look for convenience foods and that means have labels.

Boycott those companies that sell “organic” but are against labeling:

• Kellogg’s (Kashi, Bear Naked, Morningstar Farms)
• General Mills (Muir Glen, Cascadian Farm, Larabar)
• Dean Foods (Horizon, Silk, White Wave)
• Smucker’s (R.W. Knudsen, Santa Cruz Organic)
• Coca-Cola (Honest Tea, Odwalla)
• Safeway (“O” Organics); Kraft (Boca Burgers and Back to Nature)
• Con-Agra (Orville Redenbacher’s Organic, Hunt’s Organic, Lightlife)
• PepsiCo (Naked Juice, Tostito’s Organic, Tropicana Organic).

Some companies that have organic brands have heavily contributed to defeat Proposition 37 in CA.  Cos Defeat Prop 37

You can also look for Non GMO project verified.  Here is their label.

Check out this iPhone app – Shopnogmo.  I found some more here to check out.

I also promised you some tips for a stressfree holiday season:

1.  You know this already – get plenty of rest
2. Drink lots of water to stay hydrated
3. Don’t forget your skin care routine – 3 minutes in morning and 3 minutes in the evening – isn’t it worth it (contact me for great skincare products)
4. Watch your sugar intake!  Substitute healthier desserts to eliminate temptation
5. Watch low fat items – usually means added more sugars
   1. The recommended sugar intake for adult women is 5 teaspoons (20 grams) of sugar per day, for adult men, it’s 9 teaspoons (36 grams) daily, and for children, it’s 3 teaspoons (12 grams) a day.
   2. Care now means you don’t have to worry about weight management in January – but if you do (contact me for great weight management products)

Leave you with this quote:

“A major cause of the Roman Empire’s decline, after six centuries of world dominance was its replacement of stone aqueducts by lead pipes for the transport and supply of drinking water. Roman engineers, the best in the world, turned their fellow citizens into cripples. Today our own “best and brightest,” with the best of intentions, achieve the same end through childhood vaccination programmes yielding the modern scourges of hyperactivity, learning disabilities, autism, appetite disorders, and impulsive violence.”–Harris Coulter

I would say the same thing in today’s world about GMO’s.  So learn about your foods and then make an educated choice – you vote every time you open your wallet!

Sources:    GMO Myths and Truths       Non-GMO-Communications-Toolkit-v1

Genetic Roulette by Jeffrey Smith, Institute for Responsible Technology

To learn more about GMO’s, please visit:

Non-GMO Project

Institute for Responsible Technology

Of course, just search on GMO or genetic engineering, and you’ll find plenty of information out there.

If you want to follow health and wellness issues, please subscribe to my blog – over on the right.  Also my business page can be found on Facebook as http://facebook.com/jpgreendream.  You do not have to be on Facebook to see this page.

If you look around this blog, I’ve already posted some info but most of the links and issues I’ve been following are posted on my FB business page up til recently.  I will be updating this blog regularly with updates on these issues.  Be sure to check out my must-read and must-watch lists.

One of the questions was the location of Monsanto offices.  Monsanto is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, in the United States – http://www.monsanto.com/Pages/default.aspx

Forgot to mention another of my favorite phrases – “Follow the money.”  When you do, it becomes painfully obvious what’s really going on.

Monarch butterfly and GMO connection?

Recently in the news was a report that the monarch have landed in Mexico following their usual migration from North America.  What wasn’t usual was the numbers – or lack of  – scientists are concerned that the populations has drastically been reduced.  Could GMO Bt corn be the cause?

http://gmoevidence.com/cornell-university-bt-corn-harms-monarch-butterfly-larvae/

Scientist that discovered GMO health hazards immediately fired, team dismantled

Scientist that discovered GMO health hazards immediately fired, team dismantled.

No we really don’t want GMO

Two in three families want their food guaranteed to be non-GM, a survey revealed today.

The figures show that a propaganda campaign led by the food industry and the previous government has failed to win over a sceptical public.

The study, by consumer research group GfK NOP, found that 72 per cent of those polled were prepared to pay extra for non-genetically-modified food.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1286621/GM-free-guarantee-food-demanded-families.html#ixzz0rAh03wyf

Happy 40th Birthday Earth Day!

Wow – what a great response to Earth Week!  Between the discussion at mothers’ club and then the Earth Day party, we’re off to a great start!  At first glance, it’s sad that we still have Earth Day.  You would think that after 40 years, we’d have figured out how to live in harmony with mother nature.  But there is hope – every one who says YES I’m going to do something today.  YES I’m going to talk to people about this today.

Tremendous Sphere of Influence

We moms have a tremendous sphere of influence.  There is power in sharing our knowledge with one another. Our lively discussions were filled with great ideas – none really too difficult to implement.  When we each make small changes, they add up to big change. 

Talk to your friends! Think of the impact you can have if you tell 2 friends and they tell 2 friends and so on and so on…(now you’re all remembering the suave commercial from the 1970s).

This comes down to changing habits – about realizing the current way is poisoning us our children and our planet. Change your buying process.  Besides looking at value, look at the price of convenience.  In the long term, is this product better for me, my family and the planet?

Great Pacific Plastic Garbage Patch

We have become a throw away society.  There really is a garbage patch of plastic bits out in the Pacific Ocean. Watch this for a quick intro to this issue.  Here’s another link to see Captain Charles Moore  on David Letterman in March.  Part II of it is here.  (see my earlier post for a link to Moore movie) We contribute to it  every day.  Each time we unwrap something and throw out the wrapper.  From a sandwich at the deli to a new toy that’s got so much security on it you wonder if it’s got gold in it.

You are what you eat

Here is a reality check. The less we spend on food today the more we will spend on “health” care tomorrow. Technically it’s not health care, it’s disease care.  It is a fact.  So choose how to spend your dollars wisely.  It’s better to spend more on quality foods, aka organics, than to spend less for more quantity.

Allergies – it is not normal to have so many allergies. Between our exposure to chemicals and our ingestion of genetically modified foods, our body burden has tipped that we are now more sick than ever before.  Our bodies cannot work fast enough or hard enough to eliminate the toxic brew inside of us.

Check out http://www.responsibletechnology.org/GMFree/Home/  Download the non gmo shopping guide. Watch Jeffrey Smith’s video – it’s 83 minutes but it extremely informative!  Organic foods are not genetically altered – another great reason to go organic!

Eat locally grown!  Buy local – everything from cheese to wine to produce. Less fuel costs associated when shipping locally.  Local CSAs are where you sign up for the season at a local organic farm.  Even just buying from local farmers market and not organic is better than paying for produce from around the world.  Buy in season. Who said we should have strawberries all year round??  Shinn Winery out East is only winery east of Mississippi to make organic wine.

Composting – create compost pile in yard. Or get red wiggler worms to eat through your kitchen scraps.  They turn your trash into gold for your garden and lawn.

As a side note – Check titers for immunization before getting booster. If your child has enough titer in the blood, a booster shot is not necessary.

Key words – look for biodegradable, organic, non-gmo. Unfortunately green or natural means nothing on a label nor does a cute baby or lush farm scene.  Stay away from corn, soy, cotton (cottonseed oil), canola and sugar unless it’s organic.

There is hope!  We all just need to make a few adjustments and we need to spread the word!

It’s about the 3 Rs – Reduce, Recycle, Reuse

• Reduce the use of chemicals – everything from lawn care to eating organic.  Cleaning products and personal care products are LOADED with chemicals.
• Reduce bottle water consumption. In 450 years, the plastic water bottle will still be breaking down. That’s over 22 generations.  Think about that. Try tap water for a change.  Water from the tap is fine if you filter it.  Filter your sink and refrigerator water link.  You can also get a reverse osmosis filter under sink or whole house.
• Reduce plastic bag consumption! Plastic trash bags just clog up the landfills, poison wildlife and are way too ubiquitous.  Use reusable shopping bags when ever you can.  Check out for school fundraiser – Mixedbagdesign.com  also teracycle.com  send back those juice pouches!
• Replace your lightbulbs with CFLs.  CFLs are four times more efficient and last up to 10 times longer than incandescents. A 22 watt CFL has about the same light output as a 100 watt incandescent. CFLs use 50 – 80% less energy than incandescents. Replacing a single incandescent bulb with a CFL will keep a half-ton of CO2 out of the atmosphere over the life of the bulb. If everyone in the U.S. used energy-efficient lighting, we could retire 90 average size power plants. Saving electricity reduces CO2 emissions, sulfur oxide and high-level nuclear waste.
• Reduce energy consumption with simple things at home:  don’t boil a whole pot of water for one cup of tea, cover the pot and it will boil faster.  Run dishwasher and washing machine with full loads.  Lower your water temperature to 120 degrees.  Look into tankless water heater or solar panels.  Wash clothes in warm, not hot water.  Install programmable thermostats for heating and cooling – no use heating a house when no one is home.  Drop the heat 5 degrees when you go to bed.  Turn off power strips, unplug chargers that suck up phantom energy.
•  Reduce your CO2 emissions.  Try to combine your errands and trips about town.  Plan more and drive less. USA has only about 2% of crude oil reserves in the world and consumes 25% of all oil production in a year.  Lighten your load – clean out the car and dump excess weight.
• Reduce paper consumptions:  reuse sponges  – wash in dishwasher.  Use microfiber cloths which can be laundered for hundreds of times – stop using papertowels so much
• Reduce air pollutants.  Use an air purifier to get rid of toxic air.  Also houseplants make great air purifiers! 

Bits and Pieces

GREEN WASHING is the practice of companies disingenuously spinning their products and policies as environmentally friendly, such as by presenting cost cuts as reductions in use of resources. It is a deceptive use of green PR or green marketing. The term is generally used when significantly more money or time has been spent advertising being green rather than spending resources on environmentally sound practices. This is often portrayed by changing the name or label of a product, to give the feeling of nature, for example putting an image of a forest on a bottle containing harmful chemicals.

Purchase from companies that have always had an earth friendly philosophy.

STOP – Stop Throwing out Pollutants – check with your town.  Find out how to dispose of hazardous household waste properly.  Things like adhesives, alcohol,antifreeze, lighter fluid, cleaning solvents, degreasers, herbicides, paint remover, pesticides, photo chemicals, insect sprays, pool chemicals, solvents, stair or varnish or wood preservatives. 

Check out different green websites like benefitsofgoinggreen.com.  Check out Sunday’s paper – new section GreenStreet LI.  

Watch my blog, posts and emails for new information everyday.  Let’s try to make small changes each day.  21 days to form a habit!

Wangari Maathai, nobel peace prize winner, says in “Dirt! The Movie” on PBS  – like the hummingbird trying to put out a forest fire, everyone should do the best they can.  That’s all we can do.  The best we can.  What are you going to do today?

New Jewelry or New Way of Life??

It never ceases to amaze me! Ask a bunch of women to come to a jewelry party and they come in a pack. Invite them to a Healthy Living meeting and one shows up! Now don’t get me wrong, I love a good jewelry party and have been know to treat myself to a few trinkets. I’ve even gone to those home decorating and fancy pottery ones and splurged a little.

But when you start talking about the dangers of the FRANKEN FOODS we’re now eating on a regular basis or the toxins in the common household cleaning products, somehow people have something better to do. I find it incredible that some people just don’t want to deal with this stuff. They think it’s not their problem. But if we don’t start taking notice, the consequences are dire.

Some people don’t want to change. They think it’s hard. You know what’s hard – dealing with disease, dealing with a child stricken with cancer, dealing with a parent with dementia, dealing with breast cancer and your own mortality.

The thing is, you can deal with these in a positive way. Start making small changes. Start eating whole foods. Live foods. 75-85% of our food supply is GENETICALLY MODIFIED. Do you know what the long term results are to eating the majority of your food this way? No? Well neither does the food industry or the government. If that doesn’t scare you I don’t know what will.

See the thing with the toxins in the cleaners you bring into your home is that they accumulate in your body. They don’t get passed out. They sometimes mimic what supposed to be going on or they block nutrients from getting where they are supposed to go. Short term – maybe no problem. Long term, you’re looking at cancer, allergies, asthma, ADD, ADHD, Austism, Heart disease, diabetes. All these illnesses are caused by our lifestyles – by what we expose our bodies to in what we eat, what we put on the body and what’s around us in the air.

What about genetics? That’s become a cop-out answer for just about everything. But in reality – genetics only accounts for 10% of serious illness. The rest is how we deal with the genetic hand of cards we received. When you have over 66% of the adult population of your country overweight or obese, you can’t blame that all on your parents. Because 30 years ago the population was less than 15% overweight.

There is something that’s passed directly to you from in utero – toxic chemicals! A 2004 study found almost 200 toxins know to cause cancer in humans in babies umbilical cord blood. How did they get there?

So I’m ringing the bell! I’m sounding the alarm! Wake up people. Don’t put your head in the sand. Don’t think it will all go away if I don’t think about it.

How many people do you know that struggle with some health issue? Most people don’t have to look far. Now ask yourself how did we get here?

How did we become a society who buys the majority of their food from a box that’s been sitting on a shelf for months and that was made with ingredients that were stored for possibly years. How did we get to a time when there are more cleaners available then there are fresh fruit and vegetables in the produce aisle? How did we get to eating the meat of an animal that was injected with hormones that now reside in our bodies? I didn’t ask for them, did you?

The next time someone offers you a few simple suggestions for living a healthier life, please take a moment. The jewelry is nice to look at but it won’t save your life.