Little Green Means Green
Our New Blog Series on Environmental Health Topics
Bisphenol A (BPA), phthalates, lead, polyvinyl chloride (PVC)...it's for very good reason that you won't find any of these chemicals in Little Green Pouch’s reusable food pouches.
Walking The Little Green Walk
We developed our pouches for feeding our own kids healthy, real food on the go (see Melissa’s What's in Parker's Pouch blog series!). That's why we really did our homework to find the safest materials for our reusable food pouches--and we continue to do our homework, to make sure it stays that way.
We want the safest products for our kids and for yours.
So today, we're kicking off our Little Green Means Green blog series on environmental topics related to health. In the coming months, we'll be talking about BPA, phthalates, sun protection and skincare products, toxic chemicals in fragrances, parabens, pesticides and many other topics.
We want to share things we've researched and information we've learned that will help you make the healthiest choices for your family and the planet we share.
The Challenge of Making "The Right" Choices
It's a complex equation. So many factors, so many unknowns, SO much information. And as parents, we're right there with you, figuring it out on the fly, doing the best we can!
So as excited as we are to share all of this info with you, we're equally excited to learn the great information you have to share. We hope you'll chime in on our Little Green Pouch Facebook community and share the great resources and information you've discovered.
First on our list to share, this incredible TED Talk we just discovered...
The Toxic Baby - A Blow-Your-Mind TED Talk
This TED Talk features filmmaker Penelope Jagessar Chaffer, maker of the film Toxic Baby, and scientist Tyrone Hayes, who studies the effects of common farming chemicals on frogs and amphibians.
In it, Penelope shares her personal story about environmental pollution affecting her first baby--it’s both tough to hear and powerful motivation to take action.
Give it a watch, and let us know what you think!
Real Food Making a Real Difference
"I've always had a passion for food and cooking fresh but it wasn't until I had a family that I saw the importance of it all. Five years ago, I had a beautiful baby girl. She was born 16 weeks early at 24 weeks gestation and weighed only 1 pound. A hard road was ahead of her but she came through it fighting all the way. Her biggest and most severe complication to overcome was a digestion problem called Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC), a life-threatening condition where the small bowel dies. She pulled through like a champ but for the first few years we had to strictly monitor what foods she ate. At the advice of her gastroenterologist, we stayed away from processed foods, additives, and dyes that would only cause her pain because she was so sensitive. We mostly did this anyway but now we were on alert. It became shocking how often anything processed contained a long list of man-made additives and it became even more apparent how important it was to choose fresh real foods. As my daughter got older she relied on every single calorie. At the age of 3 she weighed less than an 18-month-old. To give her anything processed was a joke as it did nothing nourishing for her. What was the point?
Today, she is a healthy and active little girl with a huge palate. She enjoys real foods and is far from a picky eater — something I truly believe has to do with feeding her a wide variety of FRESH foods from the very beginning. I am very thankful for every doctor that had a hand in saving her but I am grateful to her first gastroenterologist for putting me on the real food track and opening my eyes."
Real Foodie Kath Younger
Today’s Real Foodie is blogger Kath Younger of Kath Eats Real Food. Kath has been blogging about her Real Food journey since 2006. Along the way she has added the titles of Registered Dietician and Bakery Owner to her resume. And most recently, Kath took on the role of Mom to son Mazen.
Kath has found feeding a toddler to be one of the hardest parts of motherhood. “I don’t blame Mazen at all for being a picky eater - imagine if someone was creating your whole menu and you had very little way to communicate back. Sometimes you just don’t want meatballs.” Kath and her husband, Matt, have found that sign language has helped a lot, but beyond the basic foods, “It’s hard to tell what he’s in the mood for until he pushes it off of his tray.”
Kath has found texture plays a huge part in Mazen’s likes and dislikes and often makes him smoothies, soups and purees.
“I believe that the more variety you can get into a child’s diet the better. It’s hard for a toddler to chew kale or celery and texture can make or break a dish. Thus, the more you can adapt things to make kiddos like them the better off their diets will be. Smoothies and pureed soups are as versatile as they come and offer an easy way to introduce more real food. Best of all – you can enjoy them along with your toddler.”
Kath created a great recipe for Coconut Rice & Pear Soup enjoy it, too. Be sure to visit Kath’s blog for more about feeding a toddler Real Food.
Guest Post from Real Foodie Courtney Haswell
We'd like to introduce Courtney Haswell, a Real Food blogger dedicated to upholding a healthy lifestyle for her and her family, while encouraging and helping others to do the same. This is Courtney's story of Real Food journey. For more information about Courtney, visit her blog—Family Gone Healthy. If you have a story you'd like to share about your Real Food experience, we'd love to hear it! Email us at maggieandmelissa@littlegreenpouch.com. Here's Courtney's story:
Let's be honest, most of us at some point have eaten a typical American diet. Either as kids, teenagers, or even adults on the go, quick and easy comfort food is what we usually crave. I was no different growing up. I loved boxed macaroni & cheese and hot dogs. My parents would cook most of our meals, but Dr. Pepper and Oreos were constant staples. You could say that back then we didn't know better. We assumed that if it was sold at the grocery store, it was safe to eat.
After I got married and was out on my own, I would make an effort with my husband to cook more often. At the time I thought to myself, "Hamburger Helper is better then fast food," but I really didn't consider what I was putting into my body. Even though I studied the internal workings of the human body throughout college and have a degree in biomedical engineering, I still was oblivious to just how bad these ingredients were for the body.
It wasn't until I gave birth to my first daughter at the end of 2009 that I started to take more notice. Of course, we all want what's best for our children, and I began to research the right foods to feed her. I happened to see the documentary Food Inc., and that's when I really opened my eyes. I couldn't believe some of the things I saw in that documentary. How could so many people be unaware of what's going on with our food supply? The living conditions of the animals? The genetically modified ingredients that aren't even labeled in our foods? I tried to start making changes right away.
Unfortunately, change is hard. A big move and new jobs got in the way, and we slowly crept back into bad eating habits. We were better than before, but we were still eating a LOT of processed foods. This is the story for a lot of people. They are aware that what they're eating is toxic and can really harm their bodies over time, but a lot of people just accept and trust our foods or don't have time to make change. It usually takes something big for change to happen. You get sick, become overweight, or for me it was becoming pregnant again.
While I was pregnant with my second daughter I was having a hard time putting on weight and had severe morning sickness. Most processed foods would make me sick, and I seemed to be craving more fruits and vegetables. I was also having trouble keeping foods down, so I started researching which foods had the most nutrition. I didn't want to waste my small appetite on empty calories! While researching, I discovered so much online about "clean eating" and "real food" and couldn't stop reading.
When my second daughter was born in October of 2012, I was ready to make a huge change, not just tiny ones anymore. I was going to try breastfeeding and wanted to get optimal nutrition for myself that would be passed on in my milk to the baby. I went through our pantry and tossed out everything processed or containing artificial dyes and genetically-modified ingredients. I was finally fed up with our industrial food system, and all the large companies trying to profit over cheap, processed foods. I also wanted to start supporting our local farmers and other families in our area. Regular trips to the farmers' market became a staple in our week.
In early 2013, I decided to start "Family Gone Healthy", my blog dedicated to helping other families take the same steps we took. With a little planning and a willingness to learn more about the food we put in our bodies, every family in American can take the steps to eating better!
Author info:
Courtney Haswell is a Real Food blogger behind the website, Family Gone Healthy, and lives in North Carolina. She is a biomedical engineer by day and has two young daughters, ages 1 and 4. Check out her free Real Food Grocery Guide and subscribe to her weekly newsletter to follow more of her story.
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