Take Hormones Out of our Ice Cream!

(Here's a guest post and green mama activism action about getting recombinant bovine growth hormone out of major ice cream brands. I am amazed several brands still contain this hormone, as most milk companies have phased it out.  Thanks to Rick for leading this campaign, and fighting for healthier food for our families.)

More and more people are finding out that recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH or rBST) is injected into cows producing some of the dairy foods we feed to our children. This drug harms cows, leads to increased antibiotic resistance in humans and may increase cancer rates. Its use has been banned in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and all 27 nations of the European Union.

Thanks to consumer demand, numerous companies don’t use the hormone, including Starbucks, Chipotle Restaurants, Ben & Jerry’s, Darigold, Tillamook and many more. Last year, Yoplait and Dannon yogurts both went completely rBGH-free in response to consumers’ wishes.

But Breyers and Dreyer’s, the two largest ice cream producers, still allow the use of rBGH.  Breyers’ brands include Good Humor, Klondike Bars and Popsicle. Dreyer’s includes Haagen Dazs, Nestle´ and Edy’s. Breyers and Haagen Dazs labels even say “All Natural!” 

Please help us take the next steps in protecting the health of our families and friends.

If you have only two minutes:

• 
  
  Please contact Breyers and Dreyer’s today and simply ask them to stop using rBGH – please include what town or city you’re from.
• 
  
  If you’ve stopped buying their product(s) or will stop because they use rBGH, let them know.

 If you have a few more minutes:

• 
  
  Tell them who you are (such as a mother, nurse, doctor, business owner, teacher, student, etc.).
• 
  
  And please forward this message through e-mail, Facebook, Twitter , MySpace and good old face-to-face conversations with family members, friends and neighbors.

To email U.S. Ice Cream, which includes Breyers, Good Humor, Klondike Bars and Popsicle, go here. If you’d rather call, the separate numbers are:

BREYERS                (800) 931-2826

GOOD HUMOR         (800) 931-2854

KLONDIKE               (800) 931-2830

POPSICLE               (800) 931-2849

To email Dreyer’s, which includes Haagen Dazs, Nestle and Edy’s, go here. For separate phone numbers:

DREYER’S             (877) 437-3937

EDY’s                    (888) 590-3397

NESTLE                 (800) 225-2270

HAAGEN DAZS      (800) 225-2270

The American Public Health Association, American Nurses Association, Health Care Without Harm, Food and Water Watch, Center for Food Safety, Family Farm Defenders, National Family Farm Coalition and Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, among many others, all have taken official positions opposing rBGH.

Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility facilitates a nationwide effort opposing rBGH and you can check out a short video, brochure and other documents here to get the facts. 

Every e-mail and phone call brings us one step closer to these companies going rBGH-free. THANK YOU!

For more information on how you can help Take Back our Ice Cream, please contact:

Rick North, Project Director, Campaign For Safe Food
Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility
503-968-1520hrnorth@hevanet.com

image:  

By theimpulsivebuy on Flickr 

Buy Local Eggs from Your Trusted Farmer (avoid salmonella and factory farmed eggs)

Since heading back into my classroom, and getting ready to send my two girls to school for the first time, I haven't been paying much attention to the news.  My mother finally alerted me several times to the massive egg recall and widespread illnesses that have been playing out in recent weeks.  Wondering if you have recalled eggs in your fridge?  Check this article out to find out.  

My first thought is:  here is more evidence that factory farming is bad for us, animals, and the environment. We've seen the spread of salmonella from irresponsible and inhumane farming conditions.  Ever since I was in college, ahem, several years ago, I have known about the inhumane practices in many factory egg farms.  For years, I have been buying at least cage free eggs, and some organic.

Below is an update about the recall.  It makes sense right now to not eat or feed your family any eggs that are not organic.

Now I am happy to have neighbors that are our dear friends (Tangletown Farms), and also farm ethically and humanely.  So I buy my eggs from them.  I just saw the happy chickens that lay the eggs I eat today, running around in the yard of my friend's house.  Now that is the way it should be.

If you don't have access to local humanely raised eggs from your neighbor or farmer's market, go for organic ones from the store.  That way, you know they are not fed genetically modified feed, antibiotics, and are cage free.  This article details the sometimes confusing labels on eggs, such as "cage free", "organic", and the ever ubiquitous and overused "natural."  It also gives advice for how to select the healthiest eggs possible.

According to this article CBS news, factory farmed eggs are simply bad for us, all around.  "A 2002 study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology found that people who ate eggs from caged hens had about twice the odds of coming down with salmonella food poisoning compared to those who did not eat eggs from caged hens, according to an article on the society's website."

But I would think we should considering buying eggs based on more than our health (although this is what is grabbing everyone's attention these days, and rightly so), including their carbon footprint, taste (organic, local eggs taste better!), and the humane treatment of chickens.

Tired parents take home message?

*buy local eggs from a farmer you know and trust (at your local farmer's market or from a neighbor)
*if not, buy organic eggs for your family at the grocery store
*avoid eating eggs at restaurants unless you know they are organic

iamge: nickwheeleroz on Flickr

Toy R Us and Wall Street: Stop Selling PVC Toxic Toys!

Here's a Green Mama Activism action from our friends over at CHEJ. 

Despite promises to reduce toxic chemicals in toys, new testing shows that Toys “R” Us continues to sell products made out of polyvinyl chloride or PVC, the poison plastic, without adequate cautionary labeling for parents. Chemicals released during PVC’s lifecycle are linked to chronic diseases on the rise in children including asthma, learning disabilities, obesity and cancer.

Now Wall Street bankers are set to profit from the sale of this toxic asset! KKR, the private equity firm that owns Toys “R” Us, is planning to sell $800 million worth of Toys “R” Us stock. But offloading Toys “R” Us without putting an end to toxic toys will further entrench irresponsible business practices at Toys “R” Us that put children’s health at risk.

Help us hold Toys “R” Us responsible for selling toxic toys. Tell Toys “R” Us and Wall Street to stop the public sale of Toys “R” Us until the company agrees to label toxic toys and eliminates poison plastic from its toys.

Your message will be sent to executives at Toys "R" Us, KKR, Bain Capital, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Vornado Realty Trust, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank Securities, Wells Fargo Securities, Needham & Company, Mizuho Securities, BMO Capital Markets and Daiwa Capital Markets.

Send your message here!