Children, Food and How Glyphosate is
Majorly Messing With Their Health

Dear Krush Family and Friends,

Many of you know about our deep attachment to healthy living: keeping our body burden low and focusing on healing foods as a source of energy and great health. The mission for me started years ago when I realized that children were being so negatively affected by the chemicals in food. We never want to be a downer when you read our newsletter, but in this heart to heart issue, I want to share some insights about food choices. 

We have conversed with a wonderful doctor, Dr. Sina McCullough, in Richmond, VA. After spending her young years in personal pain (deeply aching joints, horrible stomach distress, debilitating headaches) she made the connection between the chemicals in food and the damage on her system. She is now pain free and healthy, and on the most inspiring mission to share with the world what she has learned about the atrocities of what happens (behind our backs) with our food supply. Her two books, Hands Off My Food and Beyond Labels, will soon be available at our restaurants. Since I know it’s nearly impossible to read a book with the demands of kids over the summer, I thought I’d share some insights and helpful tips for helping your families avoid the most harmful of pesticides: Glyphosate. 

Glyphosate, a toxic pesticide, was added to our food supply by Monsanto, nearly 50 years ago. I have been so distressed over the years by this chemical company, Monsanto, who has also added to our world, chemicals such as agent orange, DDT, and PCB’s. Monsanto now owns much of the seed supply in our country and world. 

Currently more than 25% of children suffer from a chronic disease, and many more than  that have underlying risk factors for developing diseases during the course of their lifetime. Food is the #1 contributor to the early breakdown of what is happening on their insides. When we ask their bodies to break down pesticides, their small organs are not able to handle the task. So instead, the glyphosate, remains in their digestive tract and starts to wreak havoc on the linings of the stomach and intestines. Upon repeatedly consuming foods that had been sprayed with glyphosate, the immune system of our children (and ourselves too BTW) starts to react…rashes, tiredness, repeated cases of strep, colds that just won’t go away, and then eventually more debilitating situations. Have you ever heard the expression, “your skin is trying to tell you something”? What goes on inside our body is always trying to make its way out…rashes, eczema, fever, coughs. It isn’t a bad thing to express these symptoms, but it does tell you that something is going on inside of you that needs to escape, otherwise it would just linger inside. Eventually, seemingly small issues like eczema (inflammation outside our bodies) becomes permanent inflammation inside our bodies.

Anyway, back to food. About 60 years ago, pesticides were introduced to our food supply. In 1952, 5% of corn crops received pesticide spray, but by 1980, 90-99% of our  corn supply was being sprayed. Glyphosate, which is the most widely used herbicide, (aka Round Up) was declared by the World Health Organization to be “probably carcinogenic to humans”. Little immune systems can NOT handle layers of pesticides on their food. Imagine the small sizes of their organs being burdened with the job of “digesting” glyphosate…it isn’t do-able. Glyphosate is involved with our most major crops: corn, soy, canola, and even our meats because animals are fed glyphosate-laden crops. 

Our family committed to organic food 19 years ago. I was pregnant with my first child, and I started to weed through this information via books, blogs, and films. I wanted to believe it couldn’t be nearly as bad as it seemed, but the truth was the people I was learning from (Jeffrey Smith, Robyn O’Brien, Jeffrey Seifert) had no reason to be making this up. And at the same time, I was watching the rates of allergies, asthma, autism and ADD begin to skyrocket (this was the early 2000s).

It makes NO sense to be adding this level of pesticides into our children’s bodies. Layer after layer of glyphosate makes it too difficult for their bodies to do what they need to do: help them grow healthy and strong at the core. Glyphosate is also a known antibiotic. This means that it kills important living bacteria in our gut. As parents, the responsibility falls on us to control what our children eat. Keep your pantries safe and your fridge fresh! 

Here’s what you can do!:

• Clean out your pantry – Most glyphosate is found in processed foods, which all use canola, soy and corn. 
• Consider ordering from places like – Thrive Market (all GMO-free offerings) and buying in bulk, organic items from Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, and Costco.
• Bake in bulk – Have we ever shared our Organic Gluten Free Cheez It recipe with you? We will get it ready in time for our next Heart to Heart newsletter :).
• Buy frozen organic fruits and acai – These can easily be turned into great smoothie bowls!
• Assign one of your older children – The role of snack production: making trail mixes, homemade popcorns, bento boxes filled with cheese, salami and hard boiled eggs.
• Adjust the definition of snacks – Guacamole, olives, nuts, organic cereals, & trail mixes instead of Doritos and Goldfish.
• Ahead of time: Prepare easy to grab fridge foods like roasted sweet potatoes, grilled lemon chicken, edamame, quesadillas on organic tortillas! 

Our ideas are endless, please shoot me a note if there are any specifics we can help you with! 

To pesticide free living and eliminating the body burdens on our children! 

xo
Michelle