Caryn received her My First Organics Classroom Bundle free as part of our recent launch of www.RealFoodAction.org and the Real Food Action Campaign. Real Food Action is a culmination of years of research that we did on the topics of nutrition, earth science education, school food, childhood obesity, local food systems and much more.  We found that they are all tied together, and that U.S. children are having a disconnect from the concept of where their food comes from.  Real Food Action is a resource derived from this extensive research, a resource for anyone seeking guidance on how to get involved, get educated, and get going!  It’s a wonderful springboard that points you in the direction of numerous other organizations and individuals that can help you make lasting healthy changes for our nation and our planet.

Smart Program, or Corporate Greed?

Smart Choices.  We all need to make them every day.  If I am not smart enough to look both ways before crossing a street, I could be hit by an 18-wheeler (probably loaded with processed food).  Thus, I have developed the habit of looking first.  I was taught this at an early age by older authority figures who thought it was a good idea to preserve my life by showing me this Smart Choice – it is a choice of course. I could choose not to look.  I could just take into account that there is a slim mathematical chance that I can make it across an expressway if I just charge ahead without looking.  But some advice is invaluable.  Take for instance the Smart Choice Program.  Corporate food giants have recently joined forces because they are afraid that all of us, the consumers, have gotten some dangerous ideas about what healthy food really is.

So, thank goodness that there is a new website out there that offers us a searchable database for making ‘smart choices’ when it comes to diet.  With a badge that displays their mission of ‘…building healthy habits for the long term’.  Really?  Take a closer look and you will think twice.  The Smart Choices Program was developed by an alliance of over a dozen giant food conglomerates and some industry “experts”. They devised a new nutrition labeling program meant to help consumers make “smarter food and beverage choices.”

Critical to building disease, obesity and dependence

So, give it a shot.  Try doing a search on breakfast cereal.  You get results like Froot Loops®, Keebler Cookie Crunch® and Lucky Charms®.

And this label is appearing all over your local grocery as I write this.  What has the FDA and USDA done about it?   Nothing.

If you see this label, know it for what it is – an outright affront to your intelligence and a personal attack on you and your families health by some of the largest and greediest corporations on the planet.  If you want to do something about it, head to Food Democracy Now! to sign a petition to have this travesty addressed.  Without your help, labeling and deceptive marketing will continue to dominate our landscape.  Help us fight back.