Robyn O’Brien was as far away from being a foodie as you can imagine. She had four picky kids to feed and the last thing she wanted to worry about was some hippie notion of what constituted safe food. She figured that if it was on the grocery store shelf it was safe. She was adamant on not hearing anything otherwise. She thought, “Do not tell me what to eat, and please do not tell me what to feed my kids!”
But one morning all this changed on her breakfast table. A breakfast of waffles, yoghurt, and scrambled eggs was being served when her youngest kid got a food allergy reaction. Robyn had never heard of a food allergy before and no idea what to do as she rushed her child with a puffed up face to the pediatrician. When things settled down she was determined to find out more.
What she dug up was not pretty. She learnt that we were becoming allergic to our own food because they contain unfamiliar proteins and chemicals. A primary source of these is due to the genetically modification of our food crops. She found a direct linkage between the introduction of genetically modified (GMO) crops and the increased incidence of allergies. Genetically engineered food started getting introduced in our food supply in the 1990’s and between 1997 and 2002 the incidence of peanut allergy has tripled. While governments around the world have not allowed tampering of food supply using GMO, the US has taken a different approach. It has found creative ways of allowing these into the food supply without any human trials or studies. Things have gone so bad that 1 in 17 kids below the age of three has a food allergy and healthcare costs in the US as a percentage of GDP are the highest in the world. So also the incidence of cancer in the US is the highest in the world. (This should also serve as a warning to those developing nations that are opening up their countries to allow GMO crops.)
How do you change your diet to consume healthy food? Her mantra is “Do one thing”. Rather than taking on wholesale changes that may be unsustainable, she favors introducing change slowly one thing at a time. Are you ready to get onto the “healthy eating” bandwagon? If so what is the “one thing” you plan to change first? If you have already commenced your journey let us know how it is going?
Related:
Robyn O’Brien Website
Robyn O’Brien Facebook Page
Allergy Kids