Our responsibilities are straightforward - but hardly simple

I came across this letter from Ken Cook, President and Co-Founder Environmental Working Group (ewg.org). This is exactly how I feel about my 3 year old! Well, the responsibilities are a tall order for any parent. You can find the letter in their 2008 annual report here. The same is pasted below

-----

Watching a toddler take command of his world is magical. And humbling. As I observe my 17-month-old scramble and squeal through his daily agenda, I realize Cal is teaching me a lot more than I’m ever going to teach him.

Yank pots and pans out of kitchen cabinet with a clamor: check!

Grab dirt out of houseplant and sprinkle over rug: on it!

Chase a panicked Bennie the Cat scampering down the hallway: done!

In tough times, our kids remind us to take stock, keep what matters and forget about the rest. They don’t need a lot of complicated or expensive stuff. Is there really anything better than leaping into a pile of leaves or watching a bug or making a cave out of a big box?

They expect us to take care of the basics. Clean air and water, healthy food, safe homes, schools and playgrounds and an unclouded future.

Our responsibilities are straightforward – but hardly simple. Only by working very hard and working together can we hope to rid our water and food of pesticides, pollutants and industrial chemicals, find household goods free of invisible synthetics and conserve our countryside, rivers and streams and energy sources.

I’m proud to say that with your support, despite political adversity and lean economic times, Environmental Working Group has made great strides towards those goals in 2008. In 2009 and the years to come, we’re compiling even more impressive accomplishments.

When you’re looking for a good value and some serious game-changing strategies, I hope you’ll think about EWG. We’re staying lean, playing smart and aim to do nothing less than amazing work in the public interest.

----

Salmon: Farmed or Wild!?

My family loves Salmon! It used to be on our menu almost every day (Omega 3 fatty acids..good for heart!). Until recently, when salmon became scarce, the price went up and the quality degraded, it became a weekly thing. Now, it looks like it might be on our menu once a month or perhaps even less frequent. Why?

Anyone who reads or listens to news ( in the US , esp. California), would have heard about Persistence Organic Pollutants(POP) . A familiar POP is DDT, which is now banned in most countries. Long story short, POP are chemicals, (mostly) manmade and can cause cancer. They can also damage the nervous and immune system, cause reproductive disorders. Exposure to unborn child can cause irreversible reduction in IQ, reduced attention span, increased antisocial behavior, reduced immune system as indicated here.

POP are a problem because they are Persistent, Bioaccumulative and Toxic (PBT). So, even if it is banned, the concentration in the environment is not on the decline because of it persistence (the problem we face with DDT). See Wikipedia here for more information about POP.

How do salmon consumers get exposed to it?

The fish feed is concentrated fat and proteins extracted from fish trawled from the bottom of the ocean. The trawled fish absorbs POP from the contaminated sediments and food as indicated here, which is then stored in the body fat (POP are Lipophiliac). Since the fish feed is concentrated fat from trawled fish, the fattened farmed salmon contains more POP than a lean non-farmed salmon might contain by consuming food in the open waters.

The average level of PCBs (a POP, banned in the US since 1977) in farmed salmon is 0.027 ppm (parts per million) much higher than the non farmed salmon. According to a report by Environmental working group (EWG), farm raised salmon have 16 times the PCBs found in wild salmon. Per EPA recommendation, fish with PCB levels between 0.024 - 0.048 ppm should be eaten 8 oz a month. (see here )

More reasons to avoid farmed salmon from Monterey Bay Aquarium's sea food watch :

• Waste from most salmon farms is released directly into the ocean.
  
• Parasites and diseases from farmed salmon can spread to wild fish swimming near the farms.
  
• Salmon farmers may use pesticides and antibiotics to control outbreaks of disease among the fish. When consumers eat this fish, the residues from the chemicals may affect their health or interfere with medicines they're taking.
  
• It takes three pounds of wild fish to grow one pound of farmed salmon. As a result, farming salmon actually uses more fish than it produces, which puts more pressure on wild populations.

New study has found that POP in humans cause resistance to insulin, which is a precursor to diabetes.

Listen to this story on NPR's living on earth here

Ask whether the salmon is wild or farmed before buying. If farmed eat once a month or even less. Broil or grill the salmon, as it takes out the fat. If pregnant or of reproductive age, just stay away from farmed salmon. Eat walnuts for Omega 3 fatty acids.

If you are not convinced and have time on your hands to do a little research you can start here

• Scientific Literature review can be found here
  
• Watch BBC's documentary 'Warnings from the wild, The price of Salmon' (Unfortunately, it's not on Netflix)
  
• Some info on Green peace website here

Goodguide.com - Empowering consumers

If you are in the bay area and haven’t heard of goodguide.com, then you aren’t keeping up with the news. Goodguide.com is a tool that enables consumers to be responsible consumers! They provide ratings based on health, environmental and social impacts of a product.You can look up the product on the web or real time while shopping using their new, free iphone app (one more reason to get that iphone!)

The ingredients of products on the shelves have become increasing complex and obscure. We often hear about carcinogens found in toys, Nike using child labor, genetically modified foods, pesticide contamination, additives, preservatives, sodium, cholesterol, transfat, various chemicals.. Not to mention, all the green washing out there. It is quiet confusing , time consuming and frustrating to find the right product. Goodguide.com has eased that pain quite a bit, I have to say. I started looking up some of the cereals, frozen foods that I buy and for the most part, I was choosing the wrong product. If I picked the one with high fiber, it also comes with high sugar plus not to mention the environmental practices of the company, good lord!

I have a toddler..What snacks should I stay away from? Check here. My son regularly eats atleast 3 of them on the list. Well, Not anymore!

Did you know that many of the chemicals used in the personal care products have not been tested for their effects on human health? Read here

Is Santa bringing toxic toys this year? Read here

Find out the top ten chemicals to avoid in the baby care products here

If you use Google reader – this is one that you would want to subscribe to – closest thing there is – to protect your family and shop responsibly

Nursing

Nursing is the single most important thing and also the toughest. Accompanying the bliss of having a baby is the nursing anxiety. It’s a learning process for both mother and baby. To begin with, the baby has to latch on. I had read some horror stories about it on the World Wide Web and had doubts right from the start. But when the hour came, both Nikki and I were a real pro. He latched on effortlessly. I nursed him for the first time in the recovery room 20 minutes after the C-section. And right then I knew, I could abnegate all my worries about latching on.

With latching right on track, it was the colostrum supply that I started worrying about. After some panic calls to the lactation consultant I was assured that I was making enough colostrum for a baby whose stomach is the size of a marble. They also told me that the supply would increase if I kept nursing him frequently. I did know in theory, the demand and supply thing about breast milk. But it’s just scary when there is scarcity. Little did I know then that the fears would come back every now and then and that milk production would be my topic of conversation to everybody and anybody. I would just scour the Internet on how to increase milk supply. I consumed plenty of lactation agents like Fenugreek, Dill and Oatmeal to increase the supply. But, I have come to realize that when the supply seems to go downhill, all I have to do is nurse (and also rest) frequently and within a few days its back up.

I introduced bottle to my son when he was 3 weeks old. As much as I loved nursing him, it was just hard for two reasons. One, I had to be there all the time which hardly left me any time for anything. Two, my nipples were sore and it hurt. In my breastfeeding class, I was told that nipples wont be sore if the baby latched on correctly. That was total BS. It hurts either way. So, I started pumping and it made my life a lot easier. But one tricky thing here is, my milk supply would reduce if I constantly pumped with out nursing. In order to ensure good milk supply I worked out a routine with both nursing and pumping. I pump four times during the day, with each session lasting about 20 min and nurse during the night.

It’s easier to follow the routine now, as I am on maternity leave. Once I start working, it’s going to be a challenge. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Beginning of motherhood

The first two weeks after delivery went like a breeze. The first few days in the hospital was filled with anxiety and elation. We would jump at every small whimper and cry. Sometimes he would cry incessantly and I just couldn’t figure out why. It would either be a wet diaper, gas or that he’s hungry again. It sounds simple, but trust me it’s hard to figure out which one. We eagerly waited for him to open his eyes. When he did, we talked to him, made sounds, smiled at him and we said we loved him very much. That ‘I love you’ was very different and had a new meaning with emotions hard to articulate (At least for me)

After I got home, all I remember doing was nursing Nikith. Venu would burp him and change the diapers. As I was drugged with painkillers and sleep deprived, it was impossible for me to be alert. Initially, the adrenaline kept me up. But as it weaned off, it was extremely hard to cope, being new mommy and all. Everything other than the baby seemed utterly insignificant except for our renewed relationship as husband and wife, which transcended overnight.

Our son was like this new toy, procured after 9 months of hard work. It was exhilarating! We dressed him up, we took plenty of pictures, we talked about him all the time to everybody and I would dream of all the things we could do together. Oh, Sweet dreams they are!

Venu’s paternity was over and panic took over for sometime. I had gotten used to Venu being around, burping, diapering, trying to keep me awake, and all of a sudden he wasn’t there anymore. This irked me and I would curse God for going so easy on men.

I would be locked in my bedroom all day and night nursing, burping, diapering and if my son showed some mercy, napping. This was my introduction to motherhood. I thought, all this is going to pass and I’m gonna get back to my normal life, except, that was my new normal life… and I’m getting used to it.