Strollerderby : food additives

Is Junk Food a Custody Issue?

Amy Kuras — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:02:00 GMT

Is feeding your kids white bread, or God forbid high fructose corn syrup, the kind of thing that should lose you custody of your kid in a divorce?

I don't think so -- even though I am a strong believer that most of what is marketed to kids is crap and shoudn't be fed to anyone, ever. But I certainly don't fool myself that the bowl of Pirate's Booty I just handed my daughter to snack on is anything other than fancy Cheetos. If most of what you feed your kids is good, wholesome, real food that bears more resemblance to how it came from the ground or the animal than to a lab-created Frankenfood, a preference for white bread or a daily bowl of Doritos is not that big a deal.

Laura Bennett agrees with me. In this piece from Alternet she recounts running into a mom at her sons' school who was livid with her ex-husband, livid to the point of asking a judge to revisit their custody arrangement, for his wanton disregard for their children's health.

What was the issue, you ask? He had packed them a lunch of sandwiches on white bread, Doritos, and Go-Gurt.

She makes the point, an excellent one, that kids denied sugar or junk food will lose their damn minds when in the presence of it at someone else's house. Which is why we try to make sure no food is labeled bad or off limits, there are just certain things we don't keep in the house. And yes, when we travel there is a frequent stop at McDonald's or M&Ms and Pringles in the car. While I am not alllowing Cool Ranch Doritos within three feet of my front door because ew, they are not actually going to kill anyone. And we all know that forbidden Fruit Rollups taste the sweetest.

Strollerderby Playdate: What Are These Things You Call Grocery Lists?

Jessica Ashley (Sassafrass) — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 12:47:00 GMT

While I love to cook, I am not what you'd call a meal planner. And even though I love to write out a nice, long, comprehensive grocery list, the contents rarely take into account specific recipes. In fact, I like to rationalize all this laziness and ill-preparedness by thinking of myself as a stellar impromptu chef, whipping up healthful and happiness-inducing dinners in thirty meals without any sort of Rachael Raying or ramekins filled with ingredients prepped and planned the previous Sunday night. Really, though, I am just lazy and ill-prepared. Not so with these mamas. These mamas have their meals mapped, their meticulous Whole Foods list checked off and probably know where all the proper lids to each Le Creuset pot and pan is in the pantry.

For that, I honor thee, ye who put your wedding china to good use and house at three kinds of salt in sealed canisters, ye Meal Planning Mamas. I bow to you and I wonder if you have any crushed tomatos I could borrow for tonight's pasta:

CityMama's foodielicious family meals that realistically incoporate sandwiches, deep fryers and date nights. Love her love her love her.

Lucky Charm and microbrew overloads don't stop Foodmomiac from getting all organic with the kids.

Diva Mom Vicki is insistent about staying out of the kitchen on the weekends. But during the week, it's on yo.

Post-holiday schedule re-entry means loads of meal planning delight for An Ordinary Mom.

And when all else fails, Mommy Cracked's embracing my kind of supper spontaneity.

Photo credit: grocerylists.org

Colorado Mom Takes on Big Food

Adrienne Martini — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:30:00 GMT

Parents of kids with food allergies know a type of terror that most haven't experienced. Watching your bundle o' joy turn beet red, stop breathing and, probably, convulse is a sight it's hard to get past. And you start to organize your life so that you never have to see it again.

Lafayette, Colorado's Robyn O'Brien knows that fear. When her youngest developed an allergy to eggs, O'Brien leapt into action, marketing products, speaking out about food allergies and writing a book.

Which is great. Nothing like a little grassroots activism to spur more research into this potentially fatal condition.

But -- how far is too far? O'Brien's site, in addition to selling allergy-branded items like sticker and lunchsacks, goes one step further, linking diverse conditions like autism, ADHD and allergies to food and vaccines.

These connections offer hope to many parents looking for solutions but appear to be based on anecdotal research rather than actual scientific data. And some of it -- like O'Brien's assertions about Celiac Disease (her claim is that it's a wheat allergy) -- are just plain inaccurate.

Still, it's hard to toss out the public awareness baby with the nebulous information bathwater. O'Brien's motivations appear born of a desire to inform people about a serious problem but at times her execution raises more questions than it answers.

Greenhouse: Me Want (Safe) Meat

Madeline Holler — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 14:17:00 GMT

God, I love meat.

I know, I know: meat is murder, it’s wrecking the environment and it’s not very healthy. I feel embarrassed these days for eating meat. Supporting industrial meat production, which uses so many natural resources and rips holes in the ozone, is my family's shamefully avoidable contribution to global warming. Instead of driving an SUV or clearing the walk with a gas-powered leaf blower, we grill.

Even worse, our meat consumption isn't just helping to accelerate the downward spiral of the planet's health. Every bite of the greasy, tender goodness gets me or my kids that much closer to treatment for E. coli in the hospital's critical care unit. Industrial meat is the perfect serving device for an aged and rotting spot of toxic bacteria. There are 27 people in New Jersey who will back me up on that.

Of course, I wouldn’t say we eat a ton of meat … but then I’d be lying. Meatless meals are the exception for us. So during these insecure times of beef recalls and E. coli outbreaks, I remind myself that there are other options to earth-unfriendly, factory-farmed beef, pork and chicken. I don’t have to buy just any old steak or pack of ground round. Not every roast is loaded with crap and bad cholesterol. I can be careful, pad the food budget and shop around. I just need to know what I’m doing.

Closely reading the labels is a start, as is figuring out what it all means. A convenient list of the subtle differences among the labels on beef products and what they actually mean is here. The following is a quick summary:

The most reliable labels are marked USDA Organic; pasture or grass fed; certified humane raised and handled; animal welfare approved; or food alliance. The least reliable are labels with free range or free roaming; no antibiotics administered, raised without antibiotics or antibiotic-free; no hormones administered, raised without hormones, or hormone-free; natural; and raised on small family farms.

Of course, the only way to avoid meatborne illnesses 100 percent is to never eat meat again. But that sounds too much like the logic of faith-based pregnancy and STD prevention. It will never work. Abstinence is boring in the bedroom and it’s boring on my plate. I am an omnivore and I’m going to eat meat.

Direct Link Between Food Additives and Hyperactivity Proven

Alisyn — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 13:05:00 GMT

The link between food additives and hyperactivity has long been suspected, but the study done by Jim Stevenson, professor of psychology at the University of Southampton, U.K., is the first to show a direct link.

While Stevenson and his colleagues are quick to point out that "no one factor is solely responsible for rising rates of ADHD," the British government has wasted no time warning parents of kids showing signs of hyperactivity to cut out foods with artificial colors and preservatives, and honestly, parents all over the world would do well to follow suit.

Over the six-week course of study, kids of various ages were given a drink similar to the widely available, ubiquitous "fruit drinks" we all buy now and then, containing various coloring and preserving agents (as a control, another group of kids was given drinks free of colors and preservatives.) Stevenson's team found that children in both age groups who drank the drinks containing additives displayed significantly more hyperactive behavior and shorter attention spans. It is not known which specific additives caused hyperactive reactions in the kids, but hopefully, we can assume that the study will be continued, in depth.

Interestingly, the U.S.D.A.'s website insists that "although this theory (that additives and preservatives cause hyperactivity) was popularized in the 1970's, well-controlled studies conducted since that time have produced no evidence that food additives cause hyperactivity or learning disabilities in children. A Consensus Development Panel of the National Institutes of Health concluded in 1982 that there was no scientific evidence to support the claim that additives or colorings cause hyperactivity."

Um... yeah....

I don't know about you, but my pediatrician has been warning me about food colorings and preservatives for years. As the mom of a kid with allergies and sensitivities, I tend to err on the side of caution and go out of my way to avoid them. And as an American, I tend to take the U.S.D.A.'s "well-controlled studies," as total bullshit; Anyone who says it's okay to pump livestock and poultry full of antibiotics, hormones and other livestock and poultry, and call it "good for you," clearly doesn't have my - or my kid's - best interest in mind.