Walmart's New Health Food Push: Is It Too Hard to Swallow?
Bonds Are a 'Safe' Investment: A Big Lie Gets Even Bigger
Sarah Gilbert is a former investment banker, Wharton MBA, and mama of three young boys. She keeps her finger on the pulse of hundreds of like-minded mamas through social media and reports on the mood of the biggest consumer group out there: Moms.It was the middle of the night when I first heard the news about melamine-tainted powdered milk sickening and killing Chinese babies. I was up with my youngest, who was teething, and listening to BBC. As the night wore on, it seemed that the numbers kept growing. Many, too many. Outrageously many. I comforted myself, remembering that those thousands who were sick may be mildly ill, in a contamination situation even similar-seeming symptoms are blamed for the poison. But this is China, not noted for its transparency. Maybe the numbers were far higher. I shuddered, clenched my teeth, glad my baby never had powdered milk, glad I didn't live in China, sad for all those who were tossing and turning with a fatal fright.
Today's news that White Rabbit Creamy Candies, a popular Chinese candy sold in Asian markets in the U.S., were tainted with unacceptably high levels of melamine was not surprising. Why should candy be any more carefully screened than babies' milk? But it was devastating to millions of moms. It's hard enough for us to trust corporations with our kids' health; after all, the past 50 years hasn't exactly been award-winning. Sky-rocketing obesity rates. Enormous rises in childhood diabetes and heart disease. The as-yet un-attributed upswing in autism. Someone's to blame.
Now, we'll be checking labels ever-closer. Honestly, anything that's made in China was already suspect; now, if it's got a chance at going near my kids' mouths, it's absolutely forbidden. "What isn't tainted out of China?" a friend in Chicago asked, writing about police cars and sunflower seeds.
It hurts deep down that so many kids' health had to be sacrificed for corporate profit. And while I'm thinking of the out-and-out obvious poisoning in China, I start wondering more about FDA-approved corporations here in the U.S. We all agree that trans-fatty acids, for instance, are awful for our health; but instead of pulling all partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, big food companies come up with more creative ways to chemically alter substances so they're not quite 1 gram of trans-fatty acids per serving and can register as "zero." Aren't these just far more subtle instances of giving up our kids' health for corporate profit? How about the excess of processed sweeteners in everything marketed to children? We know sugar screws with the body's natural chemistry, causing people to eat more of it than they really need. And we wonder why kids are obese.
Melamine-tainted candy is the tip of the iceberg. It's just one more push down that slippery slope, at the end of which the vast majority of moms are going to reject corporate food altogether and return to the ways of our great-grandmothers. In my community, more and more women are learning to bake bread, grow vegetables, keep chickens in our backyards. If I could describe to you the diversity of women who are right this minute engaged in canning organic local tomatoes so their kids can avoid BPA in the coating to commercial canned tomatoes all winter and spring long, well, you'd probably be gobsmacked.
We haven't, collectively, had enough yet. But keep pushing us, and you'll see exactly what we can do.
Goldman Earnings Sink After Buffett Dividend
Johnson & Johnson's Income Falls 23%
Burberry Shares Leap on Sales Update
