A few weeks ago, Philly area mom bloggers had the privilege of hearing Robyn O’Brien speak at a luncheon sponsored by Stonyfield Farms. We ate at the highly acclaimed Fork Restaurant in the historic Old City section of Philadelphia, and our lunch menu was created especially for this event using Stonyfield’s Oikos organic Greek yogurt.
We got a chance to chat a bit with Robyn before the event officially started, and then she gave her presentation.
Basically, Robyn shares that she is a former food industry analyst who was insensitive to the rising incidence of food allergies and ignorant about the dangers in our food supply until one of her own children developed an allergy to eggs.
Suddenly she began to research our food, where it comes from, and how it is regulated.  She uncovered the disturbing information that in 1994, big changes were made to our food system when growth hormones were added to our conventional milk supply and genetically modified organisms were allowed into our grains. Even more startling is that other countries chose NOT to allow these same changes to their foods because they were not confident that they were safe. But here in America? We valued profitability over safety and now we have an entire generation of kids suffering for it.
Now she tours the country, sharing the information she has learned and trying to educate and inform. For example, did you know that big food companies such as Kraft and Coca-Cola formulate their products differently for other countries? Her message is that we can have an impact and companies making our food will change their practices if there is consumer demand.
Robyn’s message is appealing because she is realistic. The two biggest takeaways from her speech are: “It’s about progress, not about perfection.†and, “No one can do everything, but everyone can do one thing.â€
She urges parents to make one change at a time, even if it’s using 3/4 of a packet of fluorescent powder in your mac-and-cheese. She  makes it sound do-able, and she points out that every change helps decrease the toxic load on our kids.
I can’t begin to disseminate the wealth of information she shared in a single blog post, so here is a clip of the basic presentation she gave to us.
Afterwards, Philly Social Media Moms gathered outside the restaurant for a few pictures.
Photo credits: Shannon Ott of Philly Burb Moms
Thanks to Stonyfield for providing this opportunity and to Robyn for traveling to Philly to share her story. She is truly an inspiration.
Disclosure: For attending this event, we each received a copy of Robyn’s book, The Unhealthy Truth, as well as a gift bag including the Stonyfield Yogurt Cookbook.
Jo-Lynne Shane
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