KIDS TODAY!
Please consider reducing fast food from your diet for a healthier lifestyle
and a better world.~ Koa Halpern (age 12) President, FastFoodFree.org
GIVE A DAMN
Let’s use the month of July – the month that brought freedom to this country – to promote the freedom of our food supply and to encourage each other to take up their pen towards that end. This is a serious threat, not just to our country (as is by now apparent to everyone with a laptop and an internet connection) but to the health of the global population.
People around the world look to the US to see trends and the newest thing to buy, in this case food products that aren’t real. After achieving domination in the US market, food and chemical companies will slither across continents to infect other countries with their brand of the newest and the ever-worsening quality of food products. Such commodities affect not only the health of populations, but the ability of farmers to sustain centuries-old food production practices.
I’m calling on everyone to write to their elected officials this month (in about the amount of time it takes to watch your favorite tv show) to let your representatives know – from the mayor of your town right up to the president of the United States – how you feel about the state of the US food supply. This week I’m focusing on what the kids are doing. And they’re up some interesting things. Kids are savvy, and they get it.
FAST FOOD FREE
Soon to be non-profit organization, FastFoodFree.org set up by Koa Halpern, a 12-year-old who is a vegetarian and a boy with big vision. His aim is embodied in the quote above, citing four key elements of fast food:
- Unsustainability with respect to the environment, animals and workers.
- Artificially-colored and flavored, using preservatives and additives to insure consistency.
- Some is fried in unhealthy trans fats.
- Targets children through toys and play areas.
They state:
Fast Food Free is a youth-managed and youth-run start-up organization. The Board of Fast Food Free is composed entirely of kids who share the mission of eliminating fast food from our diet. We are based in Denver, Colorado. It is our hope to complete the necessary documents to become a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization.
The mission of Fast Food Free is to reduce the consumption of fast food through education and community awareness resulting in healthier people and a better world. Fast Food Free hopes to partner with other non-profits and companies to help us achieve our mission.
Fast Food Free is important to me because of the health risk fast food poses to people, animal rights violations, and the effects the fast food industry has on the environment. Personally, my number one concern is how the fast food industry impacts the world we live in. I don’t want kids growing up obese, I think it’s awful for chickens to be packed in cages with no room to move and it’s irresponsible to cause the deforestation of any country (like Costa Rica) just to feed the world fast food.
It’s a sophisticated site with good information about fitness, nutrition, comparing fast to real food, fast food restaurant alternatives, and links to other sites. Cute cartoon sketches pepper the site, making good points about sustainability and healthy eating. And his logo is brilliant at incorporating an ironic graphic nod while making their point.
Now through September 1st, 2010, they urge kids and adults to take the pledge to be fast food free for two weeks. How’s that for food activism? Let’s follow Koa’s lead and join the journey to better health through sustainable eating. Sign his pledge and lend your support. If this is an example of what a twelve-year-old can do, what can full-grown adults achieve?
MEATLESS MONDAY
Here is an eggplant preparation I was inspired to make from a cooking show down under, learned through a fellow blogger on Six Word Saturday. It was to be made with ground meat but why not forgo meat for another day? Called pide, it was also to be baked atop homemade risen bread, but we don’t need to get into that. I whipped this up with eggplant, and produced a savory little quick dish.
It can be eaten as a vegan entrée with a little yogurt and mint, served over pasta, or eaten as a side dish. Give it a try and tell me what you think.
