However, I too agree with Kate on the allergy issue. I think that Ms. O’Brien has many good things to say and things that we need to be aware of and realize in our diets, but I do think that she is jumping to conclusions as to the allergy issue – foods might not be the only potential problem. I haven’t read her book and this is the first time I have heard of her, so she might not fully be pinpointing foods as the sole source.

Just as Kate said, there is A LOT of research and discoveries yet to be made in regards to what causes allergies to develop in children. We have 5 kids and our first has mild allergies (food and environmental), but our second has an extremely high sensitivity to peanuts and is off the charts as far as exactly how allergic she is, which means that it would be very deadly if exposed. In addition, she has a high sensitivity to tree nuts, cats and dogs, and many more mild allergies to other foods and environments.

We racked our brains trying to figure out if we did something wrong to cause this life altering situation. We have researched and talked to many allergists and doctors and there is no definitive reason and all resources have said that we have nothing to do with it.

However, in the course of 6 years of personal research, I feel as if it is the “sterile” environments we live in and all of our chemical cleanings that do not allow young children to build up the proper immunities necessary to tolerate certain foods (even in their natural state). I have seen and read many articles on this particular cause, but this too is still just a theory.

In the pattern of our own lives, the reason I tend to lean towards the sterile environment and chemical cleaning theory as a cause is because when I was 8 months pregnant with our second, I went fanatic about sterilizing (nesting I guess!) and was bleaching everything. In fact, at 8 months pregnant, I was bleaching my kitchen floors with a very strong bleach/water. This pattern of sterilizing continued through her birth. Then at 1 year old, we discovered all of these allergies.

Since then, we have had 3 more children, I became relaxed about sterilizing and started switching all of my cleaners to natural or homemade versions and we haven’t had allergy problems with the following 3 yet! Also, growing up, both my husband and I had poor diets and many processed foods and we don’t have food allergies along with many other people we know in the same situation. our children live in a “cleaner” environment today and our food allergy rates are increasing at alarming rates.

So I tend to lean more on this theory as it rings most consistent with what was going on in our lives.

However, I whole heartidly agree that there is major problems with the food industry in America and I am fully convinced that this has led to many health issues and we, as a family on a tight budget, are doing our best to eat as much healthy, organic as possible and change our lifestyle because of this.

But the fact remains that it’s an area (food allergies, that is) that still needs a TON more research, and it seems to me that she is stating as proven fact theories that at this point in time are still considered theories by the scientific community.

That’s not to discount the general advice she’s giving, I’m all for more home cooking from scratch, fewer additives, and eating whole, organic foods. And I get it that you can’t always wait for the “scientific community” to catch up with what you already know or beleive to be true — sometimes you have to go ahead and change your personal habits regardless, especially when you’re talking about the food industry considering that food regulations are so heavily influenced by lobbyists in this country. But I read this NY Times article about Ms. O’Brien and thought that at least some of the criticisms in the article seemed valid. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/09/dining/09alle.html?pagewanted=2
For those interested in Ms. O’Brien’s work, it might be worth reading.

Learning about food in the US lead me to investigate other items in my life. Did you know the lax laws you mentioned in your post also apply to cosmetics? Some of the things we smear on our bodies (and our baby’s bodies) are downright frightening. The Environmental Working Group is a great resource on many topics, but my favorite is the link where you can search by item and see it’s toxicity rating. It has definitely changed the way I shop.

Perhaps the biggest crime in all of this is that the more dangerous an item it is, the less expensive it is. You shouldn’t have to be rich, in America, to be healthy.

I’m glad you are reading this book and talking about it here! Way to spread the word.