Tell The Girl Scouts How Big the Gluten-Free Market Is!

I have to say that I was late to the party. I didn't understand how delicious Girl Scout cookies were until just adulthood. I don't know how I missed it...

However, I made up for lost time. There are three separate girl scout families that would vie for my business because if yesterday's post about my Costco shopping has taught you anything about me, I like to stock up. So the Riveras would buy multiple boxes of multiple flavors: Thin Mints would go right in the freezer for a cool treat in the summer, or mixed into ice cream (YUM!). I'd buy multiple boxes of peanut butter cookies of all types for my husband and for surprise treats when my brother would visit. I always love a basic shortbread cookie, so I'd get some Trefoils and All Abouts, and, lord help me, I'd get the Samoas and I'd hide them all over the place (some at work, some at home). I was a master at making them last the entire year, so that I'd be finishing up my last Thin Mints when the next year's order was coming in.

Then last year, in June, I was told I could no longer have gluten. I had to give away my Thin Mints. I had to give away all the cookies I bought - I could eat none of them. That wasn't surprising to me. I had to give away a lot of things. What did surprise me, however, was when I investigated the Girl Scout's gluten-free offerings this year and found NONE. I was heart-broken and confused. So many of the sites where I find gluten-free information are designed for parents of Celiac children or children on a gluten-free diet. I asked my husband, "What if your kid is a Girl Scout and they can't have gluten?"

Sometimes, when I ask questions answers come from unexpected sources. Here's the girl I was, unknowingly, thinking of on the day I did my own GF Girl Scout cookie search:

Petition for Gluten-Free Girl Scout Cookies: MyFoxNY.com

Her name is Elle. She lives right here in New York and she has Celiac disease. Her mom is helping her to tell the Girl Scouts that she, and others like her (ME!!) have been left out. So far all the Girl Scouts have to say about it is THERE ISN'T ENOUGH DEMAND TO INVEST IN SUCH A PRODUCT.

You know what that means - we're making today another TAKE ACTION TUESDAY! Ladies and gentlemen of the gluten-free community and our supporters, please take a moment now to sign this petition created by Elle's mother to let the Girl Scouts know THE DEMAND EXISTS and some of it is within their own troops!

Change.org|Start an Online Petition »

(Petition Link in case the widget isn't showing up: http://www.change.org/petitions/encourage-the-girl-scouts-to-sell-an-allergen-free-cookie)

Please share this with others and spread the word!!

TAKE ACTION AGAINST GE FOODS

There will be a meeting in Canada in the coming week concerning food labeling as a global issue. Of course, when it comes to food labeling, one of the topics up for discussion is genetically engineered foods. There will be delegates from the United States sharing their opinion that labeling - unfortunately, that opinion is that genetically engineered foods should not be labeled. If you are one of the very many people that feel that this particular opinion does not reflect your own, then please take a moment to sign the petition put together by the Alliance for Natural Health that will be sent directly to the committee.

Ask the CCFL to Revise Its Draft Position on the Labeling of Genetically Engineered Foods!

Food Safety and Corporate Interference

If there is anything that drives me nuts it is when finances take front stage where they don't belong. I just signed a petition concerning our food safety and how food rgulation in the United States is being largely hindered by corporate influence.

THIS IS RIDICULOUS.

Along with the form letter there was an option section to add in my own two cents. As I was limited to 700 characters (spaces included), I got a little creative with my editting, here's what I wrote:

Food & finances don’t mix. The former determines humanity’s survival while the latter is a man-made abstraction created to place value on things, services & time. NOTHING is more valuable than food. In a capitalist society, this reality is overshadowed by the “power” of $. The FDA & USDA are 2 organizations that should be freed of this conundrum. Those who regulate & determine the safety of what we eat, feed to our children & share w/ our families, shouldn’t be constrained by ANY institution. If we are to entrust the safety of our sustenance to any regulatory organization they should be unbiased, unfettered & given the appropriate resources to ensure that our people, not prices, are safe.

I hope that makes as much sense as it did before my brutal edit. Either way, I am writing this post today to bring this petition to your attention. We all need to sign this. We all need to add our two cents. The FDA and the USDA should not be hindered by any outside influnces.

To take part in the petition, click on the widget below, or if that does not work (it requires JAVA), please follow the link below it.



The link: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/667/237/208/?z00m=19968833

Please check out the petition, read the letter and share th petition with other action takers!

What are your feelings about corporate interference/influence over the FDA and/or USDA?

Is there some place that corporations belong in this regulation process that I am overlooking?

TAKE ACTION TUESDAY: Let the EPA Regulate Factory Farms!

Since the beginning of this blog, I have been largely concerned about the nature of the factory farms prolific in the food industry. I feel as though it may be at the root of the problem of our food safety, many of our environmental issues and, perhaps even some of our health issues. However, I can say none of these things with confidence, nor can I dispute them with as much because the effects of this type of farming continue to be under dispute without an unbiased third-party evaluator present.

It is for this reason I was happy to find a petition to "Tell the EPA It's Time to Regulate Factory Farms" over at the Food & Water Watch website.

To get an idea of how prolific these factory farms have become, and some of the risks associated with their presence, you can check out the Factory Farm Map on the Food & Water Watch site. Here is a mini version of the map that you can add on your website, if you have one, too. Get the embed code on the site.

Actions to take right now:

• Check out the Factory Farm Map for the country, your state and filter by various types of animals
• Sign the petition
• Tell a friend, or lots of friends via Twitter, FB or StumbleUpon

Take Action Against GM Alfalfa

You may be thinking to yourself: "Alfalfa? I don't eat that... What's the big deal?" Well, it is simple really, cattle eat it - both beef cattle and dairy cattle. Honeybees love it, and, with their help, the GM Alfalfa could cross-pollinate all over the place!  So, to preserve the organic crops we do have, take a minute to sign this petition and pass the link along to others who will do the same.



In case you do not see the petition widget above, you can see and sign the petition here.