"Unlike any generation of fathers who have come before us, the fathers of 2005 need to show protective leadership when it comes to the food they feed their children," said Dr. Greene, the father of four. "An increasing body of science links what and how much children eat to the degree their minds and bodies are vibrant. Nutrition has profound impact on short and long-term health. Food choices even affect our children's intelligence, attention, and behavior. And the average diet of today's American children is hurting them when it could be helping. By giving our children organic foods, which are made without pesticides, hormones or antibiotics, fathers take a big step in a healthy direction."
Dr. Greene, who is the author of McGraw Hill's "From First Kicks to First Steps," did not always eat organic. In fact, he went through college and medical school relying upon the "typical rushed American diet --- convenience foods, snack foods, junk foods, with little fruit and even fewer vegetables." Later, after he had started a family, he realized his children were eating just like him.
It was only when his wife, Cheryl, was nursing his fourth child and was found to have Stage III, high risk inflammatory breast cancer -- which she survived -- that his view changed. A farmer's daughter, Cheryl had grown up on a raisin farm in California. Her bedroom window was less than 20 feet from fields that were sprayed regularly with pesticides. The water her food was cooked with, that she bathed in, and drank also had been exposed to pesticides.
Farmers and their children have higher rates of several cancers than the American public at large according to studies published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine.* "Several lines of reasoning suggest that the pesticides used on farms are partly responsible for the increased cancer rates we see in farmers and their families. The structure and function of these chemicals, their effects on animals, and what we are now learning about their effects on people are all reasons for concern," warned Dr. Greene.
In the wake of his wife's breast cancer, Dr. Greene decided to protect his own children from unnecessary exposure to these pesticides. He said, "When I thought about where our food was coming from, how it was grown, I found I did not want our food choices to put my family or any farmers' families at increased risk."
The chemicals used on a farm don't stay on the farm, Dr. Greene discovered. They contaminate the air, water and soil. The herbicide Atrazine, for example, has been measured in falling rain at a concentration of 40 parts per billion. In scientific research on frogs, a concentration of only 0.1 parts per billion has been shown to cause severe hormonal problems, fertility problems and gender distortion.
Realizing that pesticides drift in our wind and in our groundwater, Dr. Greene started to see children in cities and suburbs in a new light. He wondered how these chemicals were hurting the rest of us.
Be Wise Parents Now: Use the Precautionary Principle
"The enormity of what we still don't know about these chemicals' effects
on the rest of us call for making thoughtful choices, using the 'Precautionary
Principle'," explained Dr. Greene. "We need to be wise parents now, rather
than waiting for science to answer these questions."
Already the Agriculture Health Study, comprised of more than 89,000 people begun in 1993, has found that breast cancer rates increase with the use of several specific pesticides.
Researchers at the Department of Environmental Health in the University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine have studied whether choosing organic food makes a difference for children growing up in America's suburbs. They found that children who ate "conventional diets" had mean pesticide concentrations in their urine samples about 9 times higher than did the children who ate organic.
"It's clear that feeding children organic food is a simple and practical step parents can take right now to protect their children and help them build healthy bodies," concluded Dr. Greene. For his full view of fatherhood and the organic choice, please read "A Father's Wisdom" by Dr. Alan Greene, available on the web at www.organicvalley.coop .
About Alan Greene, M.D.
Dr. Alan Greene, a practicing pediatrician, father of four and
spokesperson for Organic Valley Family of Farms, has devoted himself to freely
giving real answers to parents' real questions. His answers combine cutting
edge science, practical wisdom, warm empathy, and a deep respect for parents,
children and the environment. Dr. Greene's Web site,
www.DrGreene.com , was selected in July 2004 by the Wall Street Journal
as one of the best health sites. He also is the Pediatric Expert for Yahoo!
and for ParentsAction.org. Dr. Greene teaches at the Stanford University
School of Medicine, and is an attending pediatrician at Stanford's Lucile
Packard Children's Hospital. He is a senior fellow at the University of
California San Francisco's Center for the Health Profession and is a board
member of the Organic Center for Education and Promotion.
Organic Valley: Farming for Future Generations
Organic Valley is one of America's leading national organic brands and is
the largest independent and farmer-owned organic dairy cooperative in the
United States. Organized in 1988, the cooperative represents nearly 700
farmers in 20 states. It owes its success to staying independent and true to
its mission: keeping small and mid-sized farmers farming.
As stewards of the earth who use nature as their teacher, Organic Valley farmers produce more than 130 delicious organic products. Look for their organic milk, soy, cheese, butter, spreads, creams, eggs, produce, juice and meats in food cooperatives, natural foods stores and supermarkets throughout the country. For further information, contact Organic Valley at 1-888-444-MILK or visit www.organicvalley.coop .