April

I consider myself a lucky blogger. There’s so much to say about organics, going green, raising kids, and trying to make sense of healthy green living. And at OrganicMania, we've had some great discussions about organics versus conventional foods, like this one and this one.

As I look through some of the nearly 300 comments (!) you've left on OrganicMania, I’m struck by how many of us are struggling to make sense of our options in order to provide what’s best for our children. This morning I was struggling a bit, too, trying to choose from a myriad of possibilities for today's post.

But my mind kept wandering back to this story in yesterday’s Washington Post about the terrible impact of rising food prices on the world’s poor. Did you know that the UN’s World Food Program being forced to cut back on feeding programs that serve 20 million children?

This afternoon, the US National Toxicology Program, part of the National Institutes of Health, released a draft reportindicating that low dose exposure to BPA plastics may be linked tobreast cancer, prostate cancer, early puberty in girls and behavioralchanges such as hyperactivity. And it's rumored that the Canadiangovernment will take an even stronger step on Wednesday, naming BPA a"dangerous substance."

Many feel that this report is long overdue. The fact is, for yearsnow, early pioneers such as the Environmental Working Group and savvymedia outlets like The Wall Street Journal have been warning of the potential risks of BPA. Just last August, a group of 38 medical researchers warned again of the potential risks.

It all sounded so wholesome and Walton-esque at the time: Our family was not going to succumb to the lure of the built-in DVD player in our minivan. Instead of staring slack-jawed at Sponge Bob, our kids would talk to us for hours as we merrily traversed to our summer vacation destinations (their little jaws get ample resting time at home anyway). Perhaps we’d even break into spontaneous song as we created warm, fuzzy family memories. As we drove away from the Honda dealership in our new, DVD-less minivan, we felt proud, and almost Amish.

Then came the time for us to actually take a family vacation. Correction—not vacation. Vacations conjure notions of lazy afternoons spent napping, evenings sipping piña coladas and competing in limbo contests, and mornings that don’t begin until noon. Our first big family retreat was to Sesame Place in Pennsylvania, a 2 1/2-hour drive from Bethesda if you take the scenic, endlessly stretching, gray highway route. I can honestly report that Sponge Bob’s presence wasn’t missed in the slightest for the first 90 seconds.