Words for a Better World

GMO Sugar: How Sweet It Isn’t

Posted on December 12, 2012 | 4 comments

Our daughter Claire definitely falls into the category of picky eater. Her sensitivity to taste limits what she eats, and I’m always trying to make the most of the food she’s willing to eat. One of those is pumpkin pie. She loves it, and pumpkin has good nutritional value. On Sunday, we decided to try a different recipe than our usual. I needed brown sugar, so I ran to the closest supermarket and picked up a pack of Domino’s brown sugar. I felt my GMO radar go off, but nonetheless it was time for Claire and I to make a yummy pie, which we did.

The next day, I bought some organic brown sugar for future pies and felt better. Yet I knew I hadn’t done any real research on GMO sugar, so I looked into it. Here’s the scoop.

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Posted in Clean Food, Air and Water, Consumerism, GMOs

Tagged genetically modified foods, genetically modified sugar, GMO sugar, GMO sugar beets, Monsanto, sugar beets, sugar cane

Stepping into The Twilight Zone: Attack of the GMOs

Posted on December 4, 2012 | 6 comments

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are always on my radar screen. I’ve understood for some time that genetically engineered food is something I do not want to ingest if I can help it. Keeping them out of my family’s diet is a daily priority for me. Yesterday, I saw on Facebook that Peru had officially banned GMOs. Wanting to get clear on how many countries have banned them – in the hopes that these bans matter – I did some further investigation and ended up in…The Twilight Zone.

Countries that have banned GMOs include Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Russia, Austria, Greece, Poland, Egypt, Kenya, Madagascar and, for the most part, the Nordic countries. Kudos to these countries for standing up to the biotech companies pushing these seeds!

Now, take a look at this map, which shows in red all the places where GMOs are thriving.

sott.net May 2012

That is one frightening visual. Here’s why.

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6 Comments

Posted in Clean Food, Air and Water, Consumerism, Human Evolution

Tagged CRIIGEN, genetically engineered, genetically modified foods, genetically modified seeds, GMO, GMOs, Kenya, Michael Taylor, Monsanto, Non-GMO Project, Open Earth Source, Peru, pollination, The Twilight Zone

May the Fleece Be With You?

Posted on November 24, 2012 | 3 comments

I don’t remember what year it was when I first encountered fleece. What I do remember is that it was love at first wear. Its softness, warmth and lack of itchiness were a godsend to me. Prone to being cold, I’ve been wearing it ever since, from fall through early spring. I couldn’t image being without fleece – until last week, when I learned that it’s poisoning the oceans.

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Posted in Clean Food, Air and Water, Consumerism, Ecological Devastation

Tagged "reduce, Black Friday, don't buy this jacket, fashion industry, fleece, Jack Johnson, Marc Gunther, microfiber, Patagonia, plastic microfiber, plastic microfibers, recycle", reuse, Sustainable Apparel Coalition, washing machine

Lego Fractivists!

Posted on November 11, 2012 | Leave a comment

Even the little plastic people have had it with fracking.

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Posted in Children, Clean Energy, Ecological Devastation, Fracking

Halloween Candy: On Childhood Joy and GMOs

Posted on November 1, 2012 | 45 comments

Another Halloween has come and gone. After hopping from house to house in a celebratory frenzy, our little Ninja Claire came home, plopped on the living room rug and began the ritual carried out for generations: the sorting of candy. I remember doing it myself as a kid, with great excitement, wondering if I had more Sugar Babies this year than last. For Claire, it’s Nerds, Dots and Laffy Taffy that top her list. Twizzlers, too. Watching her sort with joy and precision, I pushed down the sadness and confusion I felt, knowing how happy she is to have all this candy. Knowing it’s all made with genetically modified corn syrup.

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45 Comments

Posted in Children, Clean Food, Air and Water, Consumerism, GMOs

Tagged Bt corn, candy, childhood, corn syrup, genetically engineered, genetically modified foods, GMO, GMOs, Halloween, Halloween candy, Monsanto, trick-or-treat

Fracking IS Poisoning Children

Posted on October 24, 2012 | Leave a comment

At the 2012 Shale Gas Outrage rally in Philadelphia, people whose water has been contaminated by fracking came up on stage to speak of their experiences. Carol French, a dairy farmer from Pennsylvania, was one of them. As she spoke of the serious health ramifications that befell her daughter, deep sadness arose with her words. Her daughter was being poisoned by the nearby fracking wells, as are so many others people in her county. This assault on our children, on our citizens for the sake of cheap natural gas is not acceptable. No one deserves to be sacrificed for this country’s energy needs. No one.

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Posted in Children, Clean Energy, Ecological Devastation, Fracking

Calling All “Moms-In-Chief”: The Mothers Project and the Fight to End Fracking

Posted on October 9, 2012 | 1 comment

I wasn’t able to listen to the First Lady’s speech the night she delivered it at the Democratic National Convention. My 8-year-old daughter Claire is a night owl who loves to be read to sleep, so we lay in bed together reading Katie Kazoo Switcheroo as Michelle Obama spoke from her heart about the man she married and the country she so loves.

The next day I watched the speech on YouTube. Toward the end, Michelle spoke about who she was first and foremost amidst the many roles in her life. It was the only noticeable moment where tears filled her eyes.

“And I say all of this tonight not just as First Lady and not just as a wife. You see, at the end of the day, my most important title is still ‘mom-in-chief.’ My daughters are still the heart of my heart and the center of my world.”

As I listened to her, my eyes filled with tears, knowing that I, too, am first and foremost a mom-in-chief to a daughter I love more than words could ever convey. I was moved to tears by that extraordinary love and a future my daughter and all children will be inheriting – a future that I’m not feeling very good about.

Granted the future has always and will always carry with it burdens and responsibilities that the next generation must take on when they have grown. But when it comes to poisoning water and air, the adults in this world right now have a responsibility to stop that poisoning. And right now fracking is at the top of the culprit list.

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Posted in Children, Clean Energy, Clean Food, Air and Water, Fracking

Tagged Angela Monti Fox, Clean Air Act, clean energy, Clean Water Act, Deborah Rogers, Democratic National Convention, Dr. Helen Caldicott, Frack Check WV, fracking, fracking wastewater, gas drilling, Gasland, human stories, hydraulic fracturing, Jannette Barth, Josh Fox, Joyce Hale, Katie Kazoo Switcheroo, Michelle Obama, mom-in-chief, Moms Clean Air Force, Mothers for Sustainable Energy, precautionary principle, renewable energy, safe drinking water, Safe Drinking Water act, solar energy, Stacey Haney, The Mother's Project, wind energy

Josh Fox Explains How Fracking is Consuming Our America

Posted on August 9, 2012 | Leave a comment

At the Frack Attack rally, I caught Josh Fox talking on the sidelines. I am always in awe of his capacity to communicate. He is articulate, accessible, compelling, funny, genuine and spot on. The anti-fracking movement is so fortunate to have him as an international spokesperson, though his film Gasland is clearly one of the main reasons the movement exists.

In this clip, he explains how our country is literally getting eaten up by our addiction to fossil fuels. I’ve known this for a while now, but as he was explaining it, it hit me differently, perhaps because I was at the rally in the front of the Capitol with people from all over this country that have been personally affected by fracking in horrendous ways. Whatever the reason, I could literally see our country getting eaten up, and it fueled my fire to continue fighting to extinguish the madness.

Clean energy is our only chance for a viable future. Our only chance.

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Posted in Clean Energy, Clean Food, Air and Water, Ecological Devastation, Fracking

Tagged clean energy, Don't Frack New York, fossil fuel, fossil fuel industry, fossil fuels, FRAC Act, fracking, Gasland, Haliburton Loophole, hydraulic fracturing, Josh Fox, mountain top removal, MTR, our America, renewable energy

Is Cheap Natural Gas Worth Poisoning Children?

Posted on August 2, 2012 | Leave a comment

Is cheap natural gas worth poisoning children? It’s a question we all need to answer truthfully. Especially when it comes from the mouths of children themselves.

I met Devon Haas at the Stop the Frack Attack rally in Washington, DC. She is a beautiful eight-year-old-girl who was out in the blazing heat with her sign, fully present to do her part to stop the insanity of fracking. She lives in Pennsylvania, where fracking is taking over at lightening speed. Accidents and spills abound, contaminating water and air. The gas industry will not own the contamination they are causing, but they do own the governor and the Department of Environmental Protection.

Devon makes clear the obligation we have as a society to stop the destruction of the planet and get serious about renewable energy. How can we do otherwise? How can we not do our part to make sure the water she drinks and the air she breathes are safe? We are the caretakers of their future, and the future is now.

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Devon is currently involved in Kids of the Gulf, a documentary film in progress that features two kids – Devon and Devin – who are determined to have a positive impact in the Gulf coast region in the aftermath of the BP oil spill by telling the stories of the children affected by the spill. She is also the founder of Kids Army Worldwide , which connects tens of thousands of kids around the world together for environmental and social justice issues that matter most to kids today.

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Posted in Big Oil, Children, Clean Energy, Clean Food, Air and Water, Fracking, Gulf Oil Spill

Tagged clean energy, Devon Haas, FRAC Act, fracking, Gasland, Haliburton Loophole, hydraulic fracturing, IS Foundation, Kids Army, Kids Army Worldwide, renewable energy, safe drinking water, Safe Drinking Water act, Stop the Frack Attack

The Sky is Pink: The Truth about Fracking

Posted on July 26, 2012 | Leave a comment

Josh Fox’s “The Sky Is Pink” is a brilliant, concise and startling short documentary on the truth about fracking and the fate New York awaits. It is worth 18 minutes of your time. Fracking is NOT safe. It’s as simple as that. See for yourself.