Food
Healthy food is a building block of a healthy body. Unfortunately, today’s food can play host to a wide array of chemicals that can impair our health. Some chemicals are put in our food intentionally, like preservatives, additives and colorings. Others end up in our food as residues from using pesticides, antibiotics or chemicals in packaging. Healthy food is especially important for children because, pound for pound, children eat more food. For example, the average infant's daily consumption of six ounces of formula or breast milk per kilogram of body weight is equivalent to an adult male drinking 50 eight-ounce glasses of milk a day.1 Likewise, proportionate to its body weight, the average one-year-old eats two to seven times more grapes, bananas, pears, carrots and broccoli than an adult.2
1Bearer CF. "Environmental Health Hazards:
How Children Are Different From Adults." Future of Children Summer/Fall
1995;5(2):11-26.
2 National Research Council. Pesticides in the Diets of Infants
and Children. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1993.
Take action
Food and Farm Toolkit A Guide for Community Organizers
(PDF format). From Oxfam America, a tool kit to support healthy food in your community.
Food and Food Purchasing: A Role for Health Care
Health Care Without Harm
Healthy Food, Healthy Hospitals, Healthy Communities
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
Healthy Hospital Food Initiative
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
Resources
Eat Well Guide
GRACE
Online database for finding healthy meat, poultry and dairy
near you.
Food and Farm Connections
Land Stewardship Project
Buy food from Minnesota’s local farmers
Organics Directory
Organic Consumers Association
Potential Public Health Impacts Of The Use Of Recombinant Bovine Somatotropin in Dairy Production
Consumers Union
Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce
Environmental Working Group
A wallet guide to produce based on the results of more than 100,000 tests
for pesticides on produce collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration between 1992 and 2001
Smart Fish Calculator
Institute for Agriculture and Trade
Policy
Online tool for calculating how much fish is safe
to consume based on their body weight.
Smart Fish Guide
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
PDF
Smart Meat and Dairy Guide
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
PDF
Smart Produce Guide
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
PDF
Quick tips for food
1. One of the most important things you can do for your child’s health is provide a balanced, varied diet and lay the groundwork for a lifetime of healthy eating habits. Regardless of possible chemical contaminants, a diet high in fresh produce and whole grains and low in fats and sugars builds a healthy body that is more able to fight off the ill effects of environmental toxins.
2. Buy certified organically grown food whenever possible to avoid exposure to pesticides. If you cannot afford to buy all organic, try to at least purchase the organic options of what your child eats most. In addition, some conventionally grown foods typically have fewer pesticides. Use the following table to help you find which fruits and vegetables are safer.
| Highest pesticide residues | Lowest pesticide residues |
||
|
Fruits |
Vegetables |
Fruits |
Vegetables |
| Apples Cherries Grapes, imported Nectarines Peaches Pears Red Raspberries | Bell Peppers Carrots Celery Green beans Hot peppers Spinach | Apple juice Bananas Kiwi Fruit Mangoes Orange juice Peaches, canned Pineapples Plums | Asparagus Avocado Broccoli Cabbage Corn, sweet |
3. Thoroughly wash hands, food and cooking utensils and use proper refrigeration and heating practices to avoid bacterial food-borne illnesses.
Check out:
Basics for Handling Food Safely – US Department of Agriculture
Alternatives to Antibacterials and Disinfectants: Safer Ways to Keep Germs at Bay – Children’s Health Environmental Coalition.
4. Eat low fat, organic and antibiotic-free meat and dairy products. Cancer causing chemicals like dioxins and PCBs accumulate in fatty foods, so eat lower fat dairy and meats, and cut away any fat that can be trimmed before cooking. Purchase dairy and meat that has been raised antibiotic-free. Large factory farms routinely use antibiotics as feed additives for livestock and poultry, not to treat disease, but to compensate for crowded, stressful, unsanitary conditions. The Union of Concerned Scientists estimates that 70% of all antibiotics in the U.S. are used as feed additives for pigs, poultry and cattle. Antibiotic overuse in food animals worsens antibiotic resistance, and can contribute to food contaminated with drug-resistant, disease-causing bacteria, as well as possible air, water and soil contamination.
5. Be aware of fish consumption guidelines. Mercury, PCBs and other
contaminants are common in some fish. These toxins can damage the developing
brains of fetuses and young children. You can reduce exposure to these
toxins by eating fish lower in mercury and learning how to cut the fat away
from fish that contain PCBs and other fat-loving toxins. (Mercury is found in
the muscle.) Serve children “chunk light” tuna, which has lower mercury and
limit to a half a can per week.
6. Buy dairy products from animals raised without the use of recombinant
synthetic bovine growth hormone (rBGH or rBST). The health effects of rBGH
have not been widely tested for long-term health consequences. What we do know
is that milk from rBGH treated cows may contain the residues of up to 80 different
drugs. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) admits that the use of rBGH in
cows may lead to increased amounts of pus and bacteria in milk and has released
studies showing that milk from rBGH-treated cows could have more saturated fat
and less protein than regular milk. (Organic Consumer’s Association’s consumer
warning on rBGH dairy.)
7. Avoid micro-waving food in plastic. Until more research is done
on the effects of long-term exposure to chemicals that leach from plastics into
food, you may want to take general precautions and avoid plastics that have
been linked to health problems. Even the plastics industry recommends that plastic
wrap not touch food when heating it. Plastics are classified into 7 categories.
Look for the recycling symbol and use only those numbered 1, 2, 4, or 5 for
food storage.
8. Choose minimally processed and packaged foods. A typical highly processed "food product" may contain little natural food and be high in fat, salt, sugar, preservatives, artificial flavors and food colorings.
9. Prepare your own meals from scratch. It might take a little more time, but you’ll likely save money and resources, because you’re not paying someone else to prepare, package, transport and advertise your meals. Home cooking is healthier and more nutritious because you start with fresh ingredients. Get creative and involve the whole family in the process and you’ll also be helping teach your children healthy eating habits for life.