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DIGITAL FEATURES
MOMS CLEAN AIR FORCE—December 2016
Is the problem particularly bad in the U.S.?
Yes, there's a double standard between what
Americans get and what Europeans get. American
food companies produce food to higher standards
overseas because our trading partners don't al-
low GMOs (genetically modified organisms). But if
they can produce safe food for overseas, why not
here? Of course, they can do it. We just need to
show there's demand for it.
Other countries link food dyes and hyperactivity
in kids. The Europeans conduct more studies. Here,
we have multinational corporations like Coke, Pepsi
and Doritos dominating the conversation, advertis-
ing during the Superbowl. It's created more accep-
tance here for poor quality, unsafe food.
It sounds like you think the marketplace, and
what people buy and what they spend their
money on can make a difference. That's a big
focus for me too.
We can definitely create change through the mar-
ketplace. That's exciting because it creates the
opportunity to develop safe food product lines.
And that's true whether it's General Mills or a
start up food company. The key thing to keep in
mind is this: we have a food system that no lon-
ger works for our families. But we also have the
opportunity to create a system that does.
I've been under the impression that we've
made a lot of gains with organic food.
It's crazy, but only 1% of food is under organic
production.
Are any companies doing the right thing?
Costco is working with its farmers to convert to
organic. Other companies are making their own
private label brands to meet growing consumer
demand. Kroger has introduced an organic line
under their own private label. Then there are com-
It was at the emergency room that former
food industry analyst turned passionate food
activist, and mother of four, Robyn McCord
O'Brien learned just how serious food allergies
can be. When her youngest daughter had a vi-
olent allergic reaction, everything changed for
Robyn. She started researching food allergens,
which led her to co-found the Allergy Kids foun-
dation and write The Unhealthy Truth: One Moth-
er's Shocking Investigation into the Dangers of
America's Food Supply—and What Every Family
Can Do to Protect Itself.
Robyn was recently honored for her efforts to
clean up our food supply with the Green Parent
Award from Hollywood's Environmental Media As-
sociation. I caught up with Robyn by phone shortly
after she returned from Hollywood. Here's what I
learned about her mission and our food supply.
Moms Clean Air Force: It sounds like your child's
allergic reaction was sort of a punch to the gut!
Robin O'Brien: Once that happened, I started read-
ing the labels on all the foods I was feeding my kids.
I realized I was totally illiterate! I grew up in Hous-
ton. When I had my kids,
I thought if something was
on the shelf it was safe.
As I did more research
and looked at the data, I
realized that we were at a
crisis point for our kids. It's
estimated that two kids in
every classroom today—
that's one in every 15 kids
– has food allergies.
There's so much stuff
in our food we don't know
about! (Tweet this)
Interview with Safe Food Champion,
Robyn O'Brien
BY Diane MacEachern ON November 17, 2016
