CHILDREN, Commercialism and Chemicals

Looking around the Co-op, it is a great joy to see the many babies and children, at all stages of development that grace our aisles.

The feeling of continuity and community is strong. It's a good feeling, full of hope, with the sense that things are as they should be.

As I look into little faces; sleeping, smiling, giggling, crying or intent on some half eaten Co-op goodie, I am reminded of the tremendous responsibility we as adults have for these precious lives in our care.

Although they are the future, we are the shapers of that future as we take action, or not, to ensure that each child has the opportunity to reach their potential.

Given that it takes a village to raise a child, all of us, even those of us who have never chosen to have children, or whose children are grown and gone have a role to play.

Never before have our children been exposed to such a cultural, commercial and chemical onslaught.

Not only are our children target populations for corporations seeking to "brand" our children for life at ever younger ages, these advertisers now utilize the services of child psychologists to do it ever more effectively.

To fill empty coffers for basic educational programs, perhaps inspired by the often repeated concept of "privatization", schools across the nation are busy selling our children's time and minds to everyone from cola companies and fast food outlets to textbook revisionists and Channel One advertisers.

What Are We Teaching? What Are They Learning?

If declining math, reading and cognitive skills are any indication maybe learning fractions by counting M&Ms, environmental science from Exxon or figuring out the lifecycle of a Nike sneaker, (a few examples of corporate forays into cirrcula) are not working for our children.

The one lesson that seems to have stuck though, is that people are not valued, as the esteemed Dr. King (himself a victim of corporate commercialism), hoped, "by the content of their character', but rather by their material positions, bank accounts, name and fame.

And if there is a collorary to this it is that in nation that uses 90% of the world's resources, from wood to water to big gas-guzzler cars, there is little money for the needs of our schools, our educators or our children.

So, unworthy of our resources our children are objectified and sold as a "captive audience" to the highest bidder.

These lessons in self worth, when added to the cultural milieu of acceptable violence (from the wild west to the White House to business as usual corporate predators), that is regularly and repeatedly mirrored and expanded upon in the media, are not lost on our children.

The resulting malaise, including depression, rising school dropout rates, increasing childhood and teen suicide rates, and epidemic of violence among our children is, although not acceptable, understandable.

While there are many parents, teachers, school administrators, other folks and many young people who are doing important work in numerous realms to make things better, in the larger cultural context, whether we know it or not, want to believe it or not, this is what they have been taught.

What Are We Feeding Them?

Adding physical injury to psychological insult, the past few generations are the first to have been raised on processed chemically treated foods since before their birth.

While most people are aware of the toxic soup of synthetic chemicals and nuclear materials that contaminates our planet, few are aware that we have contaminated our first environment, that sacred place of nurturance, the womb.

It is now well documented that mercury, lead, and a host of agricultural and industrial organochlorides and organophosphates cross the placenta barrier and affect growth and development.

While some understand the links between these materials and cancer, including the great increase in childhood cancers, fewer still, (except you regular Co-op Connection readers) are aware of the excellent work pioneered by husband and wife team, Drs. Jacobson, and later by Dr. Ted Schettler and his colleagues at Physicians for Social Responsibility.

Their report, In Harms Way; Toxic Threats to Child Development, (available at www.igc.org/psr/) pulls together the extensive research showing the links between cognitive and behavioral disorders, including ADD, ADHD, and verbal and physical aggressiveness in children with higher exposures.

Also well documented is the meteoric rise in childhood obesity, allergies, asthma, and early onset of puberty.

While wholesome whole grain and organic foods could mitigate or reverse the effects, hamburgers, soda pop, and other fast food, (remember that Taco Bell Day on your school cafeteria monthly menu) based diets contribute to their difficulties.

A recently released report done by Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) looked at 17 controlled studies that found that diet adversely affects some children's behavior.

With estimates of ADD and ADHD as high as 17% in the U.S. population the effects of artificially colored candy, soft drinks, children's vitamins, cupcakes and sugary cereals must be assessed.

While most of the studies concentrated on artificial colors and additives others looked at milk, corn and other foods.

CSPI, doctors and researchers from several university medical centers have called upon the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to withdraw their documents that dismiss the effect of food ingredients on behavior and urged them to encourage parents to modify children's diets before resorting to Ritalin or other drugs.

Dumping On Our Schools

Now we are dumping all the genetically modified corn, milk, soybeans, potatoes, irradiated food and who knows what else, that we cannot sell abroad into our school breakfast and lunch programs (see Heather Williams' article elsewhere in this issue).

One thing is clear, that despite biotech industry claims, there is much we do not know about the long-term effects of eating genetically modified organisms.

For GM foods to be patented and commercialized without extensive health and safety testing the bio-tech industry, with the blessings of the USDA and the FDA, prefers using unscientific "compositional comparisons" between GM and conventional crops. When they are not significantly different, it allows industry and government agencies to regard GMOs as "substantially equivalent."

Dr. Arpad Pisztai, noted researcher on the health effects of genetically altered food, notes that there is little data, and "no peer reviewed publications of clinical studies on human health effects."

His research, which fed GM potatoes to rats, showed changes in their digestive tracts. Other research quoted by him (available at
) points to increased amounts of stable CryI toxin (the toxin contained in the Bt, Starlink corn) in mouse gut fed Bt corn, failure to thrive in rats fed GM soybeans, increased allergen content in GM soybeans, and reduced ability to digest in mice fed GM corn.

Also of concern is increased antibiotic resistance from "marker" genes, as DNA does not always fully break down and gut bacteria can take up genes.

With gene flow already documented in the guts of wild honeybees pollinating GM fields, changes in cow gut from GM feed, links to cancer from rBGH produced milk consumption and documented, unexpected gene flow in successive generations of plants it is imperative to take action that protects our children.

Safeguard Our Students

La Montanita is pleased to be joining the National Organic Consumers Association in an effort to safeguard our students. Our new SOS Task Force will have its first meeting on September 12th at

7 p.m. All concerned community members are welcome. We hope, together, to create a program that among other things will encourage school gardens, replace GM contaminated food with locally grown and organic products and reduce our children's exposures to other toxic chemicals.

It is our hope that by becoming active in the well being of our children, our actions, which often speak louder than words, will teach them just how important they are.

More than anything money can buy, more than any investment we can make, our community's children are the lifeblood of our future.

Join our efforts as we work to safeguard our students.