Posted on 01/09/2008 10:43:12 AM PST by Born Conservative
ROBYN O’BRIEN likes to joke that at least she hasn’t started checking the rearview mirror to see if she’s being followed.
But some days, her imagination gets away from her and she wonders if it’s only a matter of time before Big Food tries to stop her from exposing what she sees as a profit-driven global conspiracy whose collateral damage is an alarming increase in childhood food allergies.
Ms. O’Brien has presented her views, albeit in a less radical wrapper, on CNN, CBS and in frequent print interviews. Frontier Airlines and Wild Oats stores distribute the allergy-awareness gear she designed.
Her story is one of several in a new book, “Healthy Child, Healthy World” (Dutton, March 2008), whose contributors include doctors, parents and celebrities like Meryl Streep.
Sitting at the table in her suburban kitchen, with her four young children tumbling in and out, Ms. O’Brien, 36, seems an unlikely candidate to be food’s Erin Brockovich (who, by the way, has taken Ms. O’Brien under her wing).
She grew up in a staunchly Republican family in Houston where lunch at the country club frequented by George and Barbara Bush followed Sunday church services. She was an honors student, earned a master’s degree in business and, like her husband, Jeff, made a living as a financial analyst.
Ms. O’Brien was also the kind of mom who rolled her eyes when the kid with a peanut allergy showed up at the birthday party. Then, about two years ago, she fed her youngest child scrambled eggs. The baby’s face quickly swelled into a grotesque mask. “What did you spray on her?” she screamed at her other children. Little Tory had a severe food allergy, and Ms. O’Brien’s journey had begun.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Did you ever see the episode of Penn & Teller's BullS*** on getting a petition to ban it at an eco rally?
It was hilarious.
Swell. Another nanny-state, “it’s for the health of the children,” do-gooder star is born.
A lot of hard work, but I think it was worth it. Not only for my brother, but for all off us and the perspective it gave us on farmers and pioneers.
It doesn't. I never said that was the case in this article. I was referring to the increase in allergies being discovered in children.
What? Who are you?
It’s absolutely a pain to work on allergy meal plans in a HC setting...but again, the simpler the better. So far no one has had a reaction. And yeah, read every label of every thing you eat.
What’s wrong with Indian restaurants? Pretty tasty stuff there.
Which has nothing to do with the age of the mothers.....or this mother (which appears to have started having her kids in her late 20’s early 30’s).
Have you been watching Penn & Teller?
LOL
I love Indian Restaurants!
Honestly, I like any place where I don’t have to cook or wash the dishes....not that I wash dishes usually anyhow........
You have Celiac Disease? I’ve read a bit about that, incidentally with all my digestive problems. Of course, I’ve had it suggested that maybe I have Celiac; but mostly it’s really upper GI.
The point is that I bought a whole bag of peanuts themselves. I don't need to be told they were processed on machines that process peanuts. There needs to be a sanity check in there somewhere.
Everyone who ate carrots in the 19th Century died. I hope that we have healthier carrots today.
A FOOD allergy caused by VACCINES? Which one; the dreaded strawberry peanut vaccine? /end sarc
Carolyn
I have seen the Penn and Teller show, however chemistry and engineering majors have been amusing themselves for years by scaring the idiot political science students about water. P&T just decided to film it.
I am a meat eater.
Probably it’s a bag that is printed prior to the labeling. IOW, almonds, cashews etc are all bagged in the same plant. They get the same base bag. Then the labels go on and Peanuts gets the same warning as Almonds and Cashews.
Does that make sense?
An “allergy” to me is a symptom of an immune system problem....I often wonder what else the allergy sufferer is ingesting....how much sugar? How much carbs? I say this as someone who “had” allergies....
It’s amazing how much crap already IS on these food packages. It wasn’t enough to have every damn kind of nutrient info on there, but now they have warnings about peanuts. Soon they’ll have warnings about every single chemical used in the plant.
And then when the packages get bigger to accomodate all this shi-ite, and the maker has to charge more just pay for the package, these same (communist) ninnies will wail about how “Big Food” is CHARGING too much.....
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