The Junk In Your Food

I had already given up drinking soda for about ten years when I started doing research on the chemicals in food. Before that my favorite soda to drink was a cream soda float with chocolate ice cream (Don’t try this at home kids!)

I used to give my students cookies as rewards but graduated to pencils and school supplies when I began to feel guilty I was contributing to their sugar addiction. During that time I noticed a student who always had Mc Donald’s everyday after school gain weight that well exceeded her body mass index after only one semester.

I stopped drinking soda when I noticed an immediate correlation with the free soda I was getting at my first waiting job, with the immediate break out of the skin on my body and face.

During break at school, time I was always offered chips and other junk food by my students, and mostly turned them down. Since learning about food toxins, I always made sure I brought healthy snacks to class. Organic Non-GMO popcorn, kale chips, fresh squeezed juice instead of soda, and oatmeal cookies. I had a student comment on how healthy I ate and also teased me about not drinking soda. Shortly after, I found this infographic and brought it into school.

The kids loved it and it was a great topic of conversation in our class. My students were a direct inspiration for this zine. I saw a lot of my students struggling with acne and obesity and knowing that obesity can lead to problems farther down the road. I feel obligated to write about this topic on a level that children can understand.

I haven’t come across any literature that breaks down toxins in food on a simplistic level that children can understand and relate to.

The epic amount of toxins in food is astounding, it was impossible to cover them all in a short article. However this zine serves as a jumping off point for people who want to start exploring the toxins in our food, and the effects they have on our body.

List of references from THE JUNK IN YOUR FOOD zine. (These are links from the reference section of the zine. This list of links was created so anyone wishing to do further research would have easy access to the references provided. Please refer to the JUNK IN YOUR FOOD zine as a reference point. Curious Peacock has listed the references to the best of their ability and aren’t responsible for links that don’t work or have been removed from third party pages)

[1] http://www.freepatentsonline.com/EP0036258.html

(patent showing process for producing aspartame)

[2] a. http://www.mpwhi.com/hhc-dmartini2.htm

(letters of testimony to the Hawaii house committee on health concerning aspartame)

b. http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/4/prweb225071.htm

Athlete Alert: Renowned Neurosurgeon Identifies Aspartame & MSG in Sudden Cardiac Death

c. http://www.mindfully.org/Health/Aspartame-Adverse-Reactions-1993.htm (Adverse Reactions to Aspartame: Double-Blind Challenge in Patients from a Vulnerable Population )

d. http://www.mercola.com/article/aspartame/hidden_dangers.htm

Aspartame’s Hidden Dangers

[3] http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/dyes-problem-table.pdf

(Summary of studies on food dyes)

[4] a. http://www.gmoseralini.org/en/ ( More about Eric Seralini and his research)

b. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkionqWPc-Q

(Gmo A Go-Go)

c. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIXER_yZUBg

(14 year old girl picks fight with bully TV host – and WINS!)

[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_Additives_Amendment_of_1958 ( Food Additives Amendment)

[6] http://www.globalresearch.ca/neonicotinoid-pesticides-ongoing-death-of-the-beas-epa-slapped-with-lawsuit/5334816

(GMO Agriculture and Chemical Pesticides are Killing the Bees)