Making Informed Food Decisions at ModernMom.com

Have an article on Making Informed Food Decisions: The GMO Labeling Movement on the homepage of Modern Mom today.

Here's just a tidbit:

Making Informed Food Decisions: The GMO Labeling Movement

The demand to label GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms) is picking up steam in the United States, both on the state and national front.

Genetically Modified Organisms are experimental plants and animals that have been genetically engineered in a laboratory with DNA from other plants, animals, bacteria, and viruses.

GMOs exist for two main reasons:
1. Seed producers modify their seed to make them resistant to their brand of herbicide.
2. Seed producers modify plants to contain built-in pesticides.

As of 2010, GMOs constituted 86% of the Corn, 90% of the Canola, 93% of the Soy, and 93% of the Cotton grown in the U.S.

Although GMO ingredients are found in 80% of packaged foods in the U.S., they have not been proven safe as the long term consequences of GMOs on our health and environment have not been adequately investigated. 40 countries, including Australia, Japan, China, Brazil, Mexico, and all of the European Union nations, either have significant restrictions or outright bans on the production of GMOs because they are not considered proven safe.

Check out the entire article at http://www.modernmom.com/blogs/kat-thomas/making-informed-food-decisions-the-gmo-labeling-movement

Using Mushrooms to Teach Kids About Food Ownership at ModernMom.com

Have an article on Using Mushrooms to Teach Kids About Food Ownership on the homepage of Modern Mom today. Here's just a tidbit:

Using Mushrooms to Teach Kids About Food Ownership

Food is the fuel of human beings. To stay strong and healthy we eat healthy things. Sounds like a pretty simple concepts right? But sometimes the simplest of concepts are the hardest.
I know it sounds crazy but one of the biggest relationships we’ll ever have in our life is with food (another one is money). A kid’s relationship to food will last their lifetime and will affect every aspect of their life from their health, to their education, to their career, to their romantic relationships, to the actual length of their life.

That’s why it’s so important to teach children about ownership when it comes to what they put in their mouth. Ownership that applies not only what they should eat (healthy food), to how it’s grown or made (without chemicals), to how it affects the bigger picture (the environment).
But how do you teach such grand, and somewhat overwhelming, concepts in a simple and fun way? One great way is using a mushroom kit from Back to the Roots. It's interactive and fun - kids spray the mushrooms with water as they grow - and these kits can grow up grow up to 1 1/2 lbs of tasty organic oyster mushrooms in as little as 10 days right from the box.

Check out the entire article at http://www.modernmom.com/blogs/kat-thomas/using-mushrooms-to-teach-kids-about-food-ownership

Chipotle Gives Food for Thought in Modern Mom

Have an article on Chipotle's film Back to the Start airing during the Grammy's on the homepage of Modern Mom today. Here's just a tidbit:

Chipotle Gives Food for Thought With "Back to the Start"

One of the biggest successes of the 2012 Grammy Awards on Sunday was Chipotle's short film "Back to the Start" - which aired as a commercial during the award show.
Encouraging us to "Cultivate a better world," the spot spotlights issues with factory farming and emphasizes the importance of a sustainable food system.

The stop-motion animated film depicts a farmer whose family farm has slowly evolved into a factory. In a moment of self-reflection, the farmer realizes that he must go “back to the start” and transition away from factory conditions and towards more sustainable farming methods. Directed by London-based Johnny Kelly, the film features Willie Nelson covering the Coldplay song "The Scientist." "Back to the Start" was the longest commercial to run during the Grammys in recent history and was the first time Chipotle ran a national television advertisement since the burrito chain’s inception in 1993.

“We are changing the way people think about and eat fast food,” said Steve Ells, founder, chairman and co-CEO of Chipotle. “We have always understood the importance of serving food that is raised right, but that is a difficult thing to communicate with the limitations of traditional advertising."
Check out the entire article at http://www.modernmom.com/blogs/kat-thomas/chipotle-gives-food-for-thought-with-back-to-the-start