How Far We Have To Go

There's a book that's making a BIG media splash right now. Much bigger than I expect my own book to make when it comes out in July. And I think it's very telling about where the mainstream in America is right now in terms of food consciousness. The book I am referring to is The Unhealthy Truth by Robyn O'Brien. Now, I don't want to knock her book (read my review here). I liked it. I think it's filling a BIG NEED by waking up some mainstream parents to what their kids are actually eating. But let's talk about it.

Robyn, the author, was a "normal" mom, buying her four kids (ages 9 months to 5) all kinds of kid food. The foods were affordable, they were convenient, and her kids thought they were tasty and fun. Plus, the packaging and advertising said that these foods were made FOR kids. I'm speaking of foods like blue yogurt, dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets, multi-colored goldfish, and Kraft Mac n Cheese.

Now, if you're a sustainable foodie like me, maybe you're rolling your eyes. Maybe you grow your own foods, and you might even be personally acquainted with the animals that are on your plates. Or maybe you don't do that (I don't) but you shop at a farmers' market and you at least know who grows your food. Or perhaps you just try to buy sustainably grown foods. But whatever. There's an entire world of food in between perfect sustainability and blue yogurt, right? BUT... THAT... Kraft Mac n Cheese, etc... is what a LOT of America is eating.

I didn't grow up eating blue yogurt because it didn't exist yet. But I remember all kinds of colorful, sugary cereals, fake juices, high fructose corn syrup laden "healthy snacks" (healthy because they were fruit flavored, of course), and all kinds of nightmares that my mom gave me to take to school for lunch. And we have an entire culture that validates those types of eating habits and shopping habits. There's precious little out there on so-called mainstream TV that makes you question these foods. In fact, that's where these foods are advertised. Of course they don't want to offend their advertisers.

So going back to Robyn O'Brien, one fateful day, her youngest child had a dramatic allergic reaction to eggs. Robyn, being a loving, committed mother, researched allergies and foods to see what was happening to her child and how she could protect her. Surely at home she could simply avoid giving her daughter eggs, but what would happen once her daughter went to school? Or Girl Scouts? Or birthday parties? You can't just tattoo "NO EGGS" on a kid's forehead!

Robyn's research led her to a lot of information that you might already know. Like the fact that studies show that some children have behavioral problems after eating artificial food dyes. That's kind of a big deal, you know. If you're a parent, hoping to avoid tantrums and make sure your kids get enough sleep at night, and you're feeding your children "kid food" that has MORE artificial food dyes than regular "adult" food (after all, kids LOVE eating fun colors, right?), wouldn't you want to know about this?

So as basic as this information might be to somebody who is devoted to a 100-mile diet or somebody like me who attempts to eat all organic, whole foods, most of which come from my local farmers' market, this is revolutionary to a lot of the American people. Fortunately, Robyn's out there on Good Morning America and the Today Show and she's featured in Redbook and People. So the message is getting out.

But the message getting out is "Buy plain rbGH-free or organic yogurt and let your kids add fun toppings like raisins" (as a fantastic alternative to blue yogurt) and not "Make sure the dairy you buy comes from pasture-raised organic cows" or "Try making your own yogurt." The message is "Buy whole foods" not "Shop at a farmers' market" or "Plant a garden." Perhaps these are the baby steps the mainstream of America needs. But it certainly shows how far we have to go. And I'm thinking the editors of People magazine might not be ready for the messages I advocate in my book. We sustainable foodies might just be a little bit too "out there" for mainstream America. We've got a lot of work to do.