The Healthy Parenting Blog

Mission: Organic

Its hard to believe that there is a single soul today that hasn’t heard of the benefits of eating organicly.  Or thought to go organic at some point. If one puts aside the undeniable price increase a family is burdened with if the decision to go “organic” is made, it is doubtful to me that most would choose the pesticide laden produce over the organic. 

For those that have friends that have been considering buying organics, here’s a site that will get them a free starter kit (a 9 page downloadable booklet explaining the benefits of organics) if they commit to eating 10% organic.  It sounds like an easy way to start.

Mission: Organic

Hormone Free Milk Labels BANNED!

No, this is not a joke.  I’ve been stewing over this for a number of days now.  I just can’t figure out who had to be asleep at the wheel for this to happen.

The Agriculture Department of Pennsylvania has deemed that milk labels that state “rBST-free” or “hormone free” are no longer permitted.  Do you want to know the reasoning behind this?  Hold on to your hats.  Here is a direct quote from Monsanto spokesman, Michael Doane, in speaking about the hormone free label,  ”implies to consumers, who may or may not be informed on these issues, that
there’s a health-and-safety difference between these two milks, that
there’s ‘good’ milk and ‘bad’ milk, and we know that’s not the case.” 

And if you are wondering what Monsanto has to do with PA dairy regulations….maybe it has to do with their request to the FTC to take action against dairies using “hormone free” labels.  Their request was denied.  But they obviously have friends in high PA places.

Monsanto, the only manufacturer of rBST  (also known as recombinant bovine growth hormone - rBGH) also sued a small Maine dairy back in 2003 due to their “hormone free” labeling practices.  Monsanto claimed…guess what?  The same exact claims made by the Pennsylvania Agriculture Dept.  I am looking into if they won the suit or not.

The rBST hormone has been approved in the US since 1994 but is is banned in the European Union, Canada, Australia and Japan. Under FDA policy, food companies are allowed to make claims on labels that they do not use rBST, as long they do not “mislead consumers” to believe milk from cows without rBST is safer or of higher quality.

So Monsanto is sleeping with the PA government. It is said that Ohio is also looking into a similar ban. Please contact your representatives and let them know that if THEY too sleep with Monsanto, that you will not support them! 

Wordless Wednesday-Climbing Trees!

Cow’s Unite - Bovine Rights Now!

This is too hysterical not to share.  Aside from some darn amusing tactics, you are joining hands with a good cause and a number of groups that support true organic practices in the dairy industry.  Without our support and involvement, organic practices will be allowed to erode.

So join our bovine sisters for free and get your posters and blog badges, as well as your map sticky.

Toxic Perfume Lady!

I just love Mike Adams! Can everyone relate?

My husband tells me I have a hypersensitive sense of smell but I think its ONLY to chemicals.  Perfumes, fake aromatherapy candles, etc…..all make me tense up (among other lovely things like headaches, itchiness, watery eyes). If I’m suddenly in close quarters with someone who is doused in perfume/cologne, you can bet that ALL I’m thinking about is how to get away FAST.

Toxic Perfume Lady (comic)

What’s YOUR Body Burden?

I’m thinking its a really good thing that the media has recently been focusing on Bisphenol A, pthalates and PBDE’s.  If you’ve not had a chance to glance at the news lately, bottom line is that these chemicals are used in a variety of every day products and are proving to be a burden to our bodies, especially our little ones.  Bisphenol A is used in hard plastic, think baby bottles. Its also used in the plastic that lines food cans. PBDE’s are flame retardants and used in TV’s, sofas, mattresses.  Pthalates are used not only in cosmetics but are the main softener used in polyvinyl chloride (think soft plastic….like baby toys).

All of these chemicals are labeled “endocrine disrupters” as they can block natural hormone functions and they have been shown to cause genetic changes in the reproduction system (low sperm count, egg production disruption, changes in breast/testicular tissue).  Endocrine disrupters are the cause of the sex changes that we’ve seen in amphibians and fish.  JUST what you want to be experimenting on your bodies, heh? 

A recent collaborative of environment groups across the country tested a small group of volunteers representing a cross section of the population (ranging in age from 12 to 50).  All were found to have these three chemicals in their bodies.  This small monitering mimics the results of a recent CDC study of over 2,500, where 92% were found to have Bisphenol A in their urine.

One of the things that has always driven me bonkers about this chemical issue is that the responses we get from the powers that be are always singular.  Meaning, they respond to the outcry against each individual chemical as if it is not really the sum of our entire exposure that is important.  No one is regulating or calculating our entire body burden and no one who markets chemicals in any way (from personal care to plastics) is stepping up to take responsibility.

Anyhow, back to my point of the recent media attention.  I think its important that we don’t let this topic die.  That we continue to talk and blog about it and thereby keep it active enough for the news media to report on. 

Here’s a quiz you can take to get an idea of YOUR body burden. http://extras.insidebayarea.com/bodyburden/bodyburden.html

Flu Shot or NOT

We don’t do shots…period. And even if we did, we’d no doubt NOT get the flu shot for a number of reasons.

For one, mercury has not been removed from these shots (thimersol really, which is 50% mercury). Even a little bit of a carcinogenic toxin that is ACCUMULATIVE in the body, is too much in my eyes. And food for thought on all those other childhood vaccines that supposedly have mercury removed, most still retain “traces” of mercury. The difference in how the vaccines are labelled is probably related to whether or not thimersol is used as an “ingredient” or in the processing. Either way, a little bit is in there no matter what.

My question would be, before I inject my child, who is regulating the traces and determining how much all together my child will be storing up in his body? No one, you say? Okay, well then, thank you but I think I will wait until someone PROVES to me that any level is safe (which won’t happen because it isn’t a possibility).

Another thing that is really getting my goat is that I KNOW many people that have been told by their doctors to give the flu vaccine to their babies. Recently a friend was encouraged to give the flu shot to her 4 month old. According to the flu shot manufacturers and CDC last year, the vaccine is “safe” for children of the age of FIVE and up. But recently the CDC changed their flu shot recommendations.

Suddenly, the flu vaccine is safe for children 6 months and up. And suddenly, any child under 9 years getting the flu vaccine for the first time, now requires TWO doses.

After reviewing some of the pharmaceutical vaccine inserts, I’m baffled. Some state that no tests have been done to determine if “this shot works”. Okay, those are really my words but thats the premise of their convoluted statement.

So check out this CDC recommendation on the FluMist (LAIV) vaccine. Scroll down to “Primary Changes and Updates in the Recommendations”. This is one quoted recommendation;

ACIP reemphasizes the importance of administering 2 doses of vaccine to all children aged 6 months–8 years if they have not been vaccinated previously at any time with either LAIV (doses separated by >6 weeks) or TIV (doses separated by >4 weeks), on the basis of accumulating data indicating that 2 doses are required for protection in these children (see Vaccine Efficacy, Effectiveness, and Safety).

So basically, they are changing the safe to use age from 5 years to 6 months and two doses. Now check this page at the CDC out. Here is the quote from the CDC page on who should not use the LAIV flu vaccine.

LAIV is not currently licensed for use in the following groups, and these persons should not be vaccinated with LAIV:

• persons with a history of hypersensitivity, including anaphylaxis, to any of the components of LAIV or to eggs.
• persons aged less than 5 years or those aged 50 years and older;
• persons with any of the underlying medical conditions that serve as an indication for routine influenza vaccination, including asthma, reactive airways disease, or other chronic disorders of the pulmonary or cardiovascular systems;
• other underlying medical conditions, including such metabolic diseases as diabetes, renal dysfunction, and hemoglobinopathies; or known or suspected immunodeficiency diseases or immunosuppressed states;
• children or adolescents receiving aspirin or other salicylates (because of the association of Reye syndrome with
  wild-type influenza virus infection);
• persons with a history of GBS; or
• pregnant women

If I’m not mistaken, these two quotes conflict greatly with one another. One states that the LAIV flu vaccine is not licensed for use in children under 5 years and the other recommends its use in children from 6 months to 8 years. I just don’t get it. Why are we using our children as guinea pigs?

And in other news….just the other day, I was at the gym and reading “Health” magazine, which I consider a fairly mainstream mag. I discovered this article on the flu vax, “Read this BEFORE you get a flu shot“.

Any comments?

Vaccination article

This is one of the best articles that I have read on the subject of vaccines.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/miller/miller15.html

CA Wild Fires

This year seems worse than I can remember. As home after home is destroyed, we all must watch and hope for the best.

Please help the victims of this crisis by making donations that will help with food, lodging, pets, etc.  One site that is taking donations online is Father Joe’s Villages.  You can check them and any other charity out at Charity Navigator.

 And don’t forget to send positive energy or prayers.

Kid Ecowarriors!

I have to admit that I dance a little “proud mama” dance when I think about how much my boys have learned and taken to themselves the lessons of being a “healthy” person in today’s world.  This past weekend I was dancing a number of times.  ;) 

On a trip to Target, my 8 year old stomped on a floating in the wind McD’s bag and mashed it into the nearby garbage can.  And not without grumbling about who would do such a thing.  I didn’t have the heart to tell him that it appeared that the garbage can was overflowing and it probably hitched a ride on the wind, as it was apparent that he felt proud of himself. 

A little while later on the car ride home, my 5 year old peanut was unwrapping a piece of candy that we had secretly dropped on our doorstep the night before (a halloween neighborhood thing).  He hands me his garbage and instructs me while doing so, “Now Mom, do NOT throw that garbage out the window”.  Seems my stories of stopping my vehicle on the side of the road and forcing any passengers dumb enough to toss garbage out my car window to get out and pick up the offense, took root!

We haven’t managed to instill all the lessons of being an ecowarrior in a natural family yet but we’ll get there. I realized last night while chatting quietly with my 8 year old in his bed (part of our bedtime routine) that all these lessons will take when they are old enough to understand.  He’s had a problem the past year or so letting go of negative things that happen. Last night he GOT the releasing negative energy as we talked about creative visualization methods.  I suggested putting these negative feelings/things into the form of a helium balloon and simply cutting the string and watching them float away.  But my spirited 8 year old had a more creative way of letting go, in the form of a catapult.  I really like his way of thinking  ;)