I just learned that the new film Consuming Kids, was created by The Media Education Foundation which is located right in my own backyard…almost – Northampton, MA. As a mother of two little ones, seeing exactly how corporations go about learning how to push kids buy buttons was chilling.

The worst part about this to me is that most people think it’s fabulous when McDonalds® or Disney® gives them money for some community use. They just don’t see that it’s not about compassion, it’s about profit. About getting our kids to first beg us for, then later buy themselves their non-foods in the case of McDonald’s, which when eaten regularly have proven to wreak havoc on the human body (watch Super-Size Me).

We canceled cable and watch very little TV, but even so, it’s impossible to keep you kids from seeing or otherwise learning about all this “stuff.” What if anything are you doing in your family to keep your kids from the grasp of the corporate monsters systematically vying for their minds? Sound a little extreme? OK, what would you call it?

Watch this clip and then click the link below to see if there is a screening of the film near you. Then please add your comments below.

Consuming Kids Screenings

Peace,

Tracy
OFM

‘Tis the season for nuptials and organic vegan wedding cakes are becoming popular. More and more bakeries are hip to the fact that not everyone is into buttercream frosting and bleached wheat flour cake.

Check out this terrific article on alternatives to sugar, dairy and wheat-laden wedding cakes. I particularly liked the idea of wedding cupcakes, with a small cake for cutting. Cool idea, but too late for me!

Organic Vegan Wedding Cakes

Here’s a website that lists bakeries across the U.S. that make organic and vegan wedding cakes:

www.Vegan-Nutritionista.com

OFM

Certified organic food and personal care products are just about the only things sold in grocery stores these days that can be accurately described as healthy, nutritious, safe and good for the environment. (Beyond organic you can vote for economic justice with your consumer ollars by choosing items that are labeled as Fair Trade or Union-Made.)

But constant vigilance is required to prevent unscrupulous companies from driving down organic standards, or exploiting their workers. Family-scale organic dairy farmers are being undermined by factory farm feedlots masquerading as organic, as well as Wal-Mart and other national retail chains driving down farm gate prices.

Multi-ingredient organic food processors are cutting costs by using the same supply chain as bottom-of-the-barrel conventional brands, with unfortunate results such as the recent peanut butter food poisoning scandal. And, fake organic imports threaten to flood the domestic organic marketplace.

Under the Bush Administration, the USDA National Organic Program contributed to these problems by being slow to address National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) recommendations, issue definitive regulations and enforce existing ones. Under the new Obama Administration, with Kathleen Merrigan as second-in-command at the USDA, we have an opportunity to prevent corporate greed from corrupting organic standards.

Please send a letter to the USDA

And, help the OCA develop our comments for the NOSB’s next meeting May 4-6, 2009.

Courtesy of the Organic  Consumers Association.

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