Shedding Light on the Food Industry – a must-see video from Robyn O’Brien
I had the good fortune of meeting up with girlfriends from my not-so-recent past last night. Station Sushi, in always-perfect Solana Beach, served as our backdrop while we shared cold Asian beer, chilled, unfiltered sake in pretty pink bottles and veggie sushi (for me – my omnivore pals went the traditional route). We laughed, reminisced and made enough of a general ruckus that the gentlemen next to us asked me if we were grade-school buddies enjoying a reunion; more like post-grad school friends, but it sure does feel like we could have all played hop-scotch and dodge ball together back in the day.
Our talk turned toward more serious topics at the end of the evening. As we all have children, work with children or both, much of our conversation centered around little folks. Soon we were touching on subjects like autism, ADHD/ADD, allergies and other maladies when questions arose regarding possible links between such disorders and food.
It was then and there that I pulled out my Herby the LOVE Blog business cards, passed them out and promised my friends I would post this video (“Patriotism on a Plate”) the very next day.
.
Here is an apt description (from Robyn’s website) of who she is and why she is someone worthy of our attention:
.
A former food industry analyst, Fulbright grant recipient, author and mother of four, Robyn O’Brien brings insight and detailed analysis to her research into the impact that the global food system is having on our health.
Robyn graduated as the top woman in her class from business school before working as an equity analyst on a global portfolio team. She is regarded as an expert on children’s health policy, hailed as “food’s Erin Brockovich” by The New York Times and has been named by SHAPE Magazine as a “Women To Shape the World”, by Forbes Woman as one of “20 Inspiring Women to Follow on Twitter,” and by The Discovery Channel as one of its 15 Top Visionaries. Robyn’s work has also been recognized by individuals such as Dr. Oz, Robert Kennedy Jr., Ted Turner and Prince Charles. She is the founder of the visionary organization AllergyKids which is focused on restoring the integrity of the food supply and the health of children. Her work is seen in Food, Inc. filmmaker Robert Kenner’s 2012 video, Labels Matter, and with Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution.
.
This is an important and far-reaching topic for MANY reasons, but especially relevant when we are contemplating what to feed our children. This video is just 18 minutes, 42 seconds long – a significant, big-picture investment that costs less than 20 minutes of your time.
And, to my very forward-thinking, proactive friends and family who have already asked the most important question – “So, what can we do?” – I say “See here”. Robyn’s “Do One Thing” tab categorizes immediate, practical, can-do activities into “At Home”, “At School” and “On Line” sections. Brilliant.
To my dear friends – thank you for continuing to inspire me. And for sharing stories about the children you LOVE.
Jun
25
