Participant Media presents entertainment that inspires and compels social change. Behind these films and issues, there are thousands of people nationwide who work tirelessly on campaigns that use the films as inspiration to make a difference. As a member of the company’s Social Action team, which develops initiatives that are inspired by the films, I’m excited to announce the first posting of a weekly blog of Sarah’s Social Action Snapshot, which will offer the latest updates on our campaigns and offer specific actions and tools, from our campaigns, for people to get involved in issues in the news.

Food, Inc.
Do you want to know about rGBH dairy, issues facing small farmers or organic yogurt? If so, check out our recent online chats with some of the leading food advocacy organizations from our campaign and Stonyfield Yogurt.

We learned this week that obesity rates continue to climb with an expected 103 million Americans to be obese by 2018. Scary? Yes. Preventable? Yes. Take action by supporting menu labeling and check out our campaign’s 10 tips for healthy eating.

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wild turkey by stevevoght, Flickr Creative Commons

Since I wrote last year about tips for a sustainable thanksgiving meal, much has transpired in the food movement. We now have a First Family that regularly toils in their backyard to grow and harvest organic produce. The hit documentary, Food, Inc. was released this past year and is now in the running for an Academy Award. I had the pleasure of working on the Social Action campaign for the film which has given me the privilege of learning much from amazing food activists who are working daily in fields, offices, schools and boardrooms daily to help to build a more just and sustainable food system. Read the rest of this entry >>

Thursday is International Cephalopod Day which might not have enough gravitas yet to be printed on every Hallmark calendar like Halloween and Valentines Day. But, it could be on its way there. You might want me to back up and explain what a Ceph-al-opod is before I begin touting the benefits of them and the need to have an international day of celebration in their honor, topped off with the ultimate recognition of inclusion in your mass produced annual calendar. I’ll give you a hint-for most people, they’re probably more familiar with the creatures in its golden deep fried version, served with a lemon wedge or marinara sauce at your local Italian restaurant.

Cephalopods are more than just the dish consumed after garlic bread and before fettucini alfredo. They’re the wavy-gravys of the ocean. The undulating tentacle-strung invertebrates glide throughout the deepest depths of the oceans with delicate fluttering motions that defy their sophisticated systems of highly developed brains and nervous systems. While there are 800 of types of them, the most commonly known ones are squid, octopus and cuttlefish. An octopus in its whole, living form, is a bit like those fuzzy neo-teddy bears known as Ugly Dolls; bizarre shapes and colors that are so ugly they’re actually mesmerizing and enticing.

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photo: quimby flickr, creative commons

The anti-BPA movement, of which I’m a proud member, has received much deserved fanfare in the past week after Sigg, the metal water bottle company, disclosed that it’s pre-August 2008 bottles were lined with BPA, a known endocrine disruptor. As I’ve written about before, I, like thousands of other consumers purchased Sigg bottles as an alternative to plastic water bottles which are toxic to humans and our planet. However, unknowing consumers like me were really alarmed and disappointed to find out that Sigg bottles were lined with BPA despite previously denials.

It’s nice to read now that the company’s CEO, Steve Wasik, has admitted it was wrong of Sigg to not inform customers of the contents of their products, especially when they are toxic. After contacting the company last week to return my bottle, I received a form letter which reminded me (as has Steve Wasik) that I should “please know that your SIGG bottles are proven non-leaching, this means they do not leach anything [including BPA] into the beverages that have been poured into them. Extensive independent testing shows this and are located here for your discernment.” Sigg  is missing the point. BPA is a known endocrine-disruptor and it’s not for the company to decide whether or not consumers believe their product is safe (I never would have purchased the bottle had I known it had BPA). I know they’re trying to do damage control, rather than digging a deeper hole they should just stop with a simple apology.

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There’s a seemingly quaint fishing town nestled into a mountainous coastal spot on Japan’s eastern coast that is going to become an international hotspot.  The innocuous-seeming village houses a national park, whale museum, Buddhist temples and lots of fisherman. Below the surface of this quiet place is a dirty secret that the fisherman and the Japanese government are trying to keep a secret.  Unless they’re testing nuclear weapons or building a top secret facility, why would a picturesque nook in a small fishing town off of Japan’s eastern coast be so intent on keeping what happens there a secret?

It turns out to be a government supported annual massacre of thousands of dolphins and porpoises.  These marine mammals are victims of international trade, economics, global fishing sustainability, world tourism and human health issues.  And, as a consumer, you might play a role in this intriguing international story, which is captured in the Oceans 11-esque gripping inspiring documentary, The Cove.

It has taken Flipper’s former trainer to expose the world to what is happening in Taiji. Ric O’Barry, the star of the upcoming documentary, The Cove,  explains his dramatic transition from being Flipper’s trainer to an activist intent on freeing captive dolphins worldwide.  The plethora of dolphinariums, swim-with-dolphin programs and aquariums with captive dolphins is personal for Mr. O’Barry who feels that this worldwide phenomenon is largely due to his training of dolphins and making it culturally appropriate.  Upon this realization, decades ago, he transformed himself into a unwavering activist globe trotter intent on freeing captive dolphins.

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What is more emblematic of this country’s deep rooted commitment to rebelling against the status quo than the impending July 4th holiday?  It’s a holiday which celebrates the collective commitment to individual liberties, freedom and democracy. As part of our individualistic spirit, how often do you seem to hear lately about people removing themselves from “grids.” I’m referring to energy grids, food grids, education grids and any other behemoth industrial structure that stagnates our growth, individual freedom and ability to operate outside of the confines of our sometimes restrictive corporate or government structures. While this should be a day that we each take the time to read the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights and celebrate heroes like Paul Revere, we usually instead we opt to take to our backyards to grill, baby, grill.

I’m not asking you to give up your cherished grilling time, but each of us has the opportunity this holiday to make a radical political statement by declaring our food independence.  What does this mean? Well, it means a lot to each one of us as unique individuals.  But, collectively, it’s about saying no to our industrial food system which is feeding us an unhealthy corn-based diet that is contributing to skyrocketing obesity rates, helping to fuel global warming, scaring us with constant food recalls and offering us foods that barely resemble food (a friend recently received a piece of sausage resembling a Pabst beer bottle. American kitsch? Yes. Healthy? No.).

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It’s hard to see Food, Inc. and not be inspired.  Okay, so most people might not be selling their house and quitting their office job to become full time farmers  but the movie certainly inspires people to change something in their lives.  There’s a lot of super simple but highly effective things you can do to transition off of a corn-based diet, lessen your carb(on) food/footprint, support local farmers and choose humanely raised meats.  We are thrilled by the deluge of emails we’ve received from people across the country who are inspired by the film and want to make changes but are looking for some help.

Below is a list to some of the most commonly asked questions.

1. Where can I buy organic food? The Eat Well Guide is a handy resource which lists local farmers markets, farms, restaurants and Community Supported Agricultural programs in your area, all of which offer organic and sustainable foods.

2. Where can I buy sustainably raised meat? Eat Wild is a user-friendly resource with listings for grass-fed meat and dairy near you.   Do you need some clarification on all of those confusing terms used to describe meat products, such pasture-raised, non-confined or natural? If so, Sustainable Table’s wallet-sized gloassary of meat production will help you better understand what these each mean.

3. What is the status of Kevin’s law?  Unfortunately, nothing right now. However, you can support the ongoing work of Barb Kowlacyk and her mom, Pat Buck,  for safer food standards nationwide through their organization, Center for Foodborne Illness, Research and Prevention.

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I know crap isn’t a polite word but how else do you describe the stuff that is marketed and sold to kids as food? I’m not just referring to what they see in the supermarkets and on TV but also in school. You would expect schools to offer kids the most nutritious, healthy food choicest possible, right? No, instead they’re being offered high-fat, low-nutrition foods that are helping to fuel an obesity epidemic amongst kids. And, to top it off, the “snacks” offered in school vending machines are primarily junk foods and soda that are high in fat, calories and sugar.  Can you imagine trying to sit through an entire day of multiplication, division and cursive on a diet of candy bars and sodas (and you’re PE class has probably been canceled due to budget cuts)?

Some sobering statistics:

-1 in 3 Americans and 1 in 2 African-Americans and Latinos born after 2000 will contract early onset diabetes.

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Summer’s here, and there’s nothing more relaxing than lounging on a hot night with a cool, refreshing beverage.  Or, how about nourishing your child on those sultry summer days with a fresh drink from a sippy cup or baby bottle.  But, what if I told you that those drinks are also infused with an endocrine disruptor associated with heart disease and diabetes.  No, it’s not the latest fad coffee drink but a dangerous toxin that is found in everyday consumer products.

You, like millions of other Americans, probably regularly use and consume products made with Bisphenol A (BPA), a toxic chemical that is a $6 billion global industry.  It’s  found in ordinary products such as baby bottles, sippy cups and canned food.  Unfortunately, the Food and Drug Administration, which is supposedly deemed with the task of protecting consumer interests has forgotten who it represents. 

Despite numerous scientific studies, including a recent one from the American Medical Association, confirming the dangers of BPA, the FDA instead has chosen to pledge its ongoing support for the use of this chemical.  Says FDA scientist Laura Tarantino, “A margin of safety exists that is adequate to protect consumers, including infants and children, at the current levels of exposure.” Despite the agency’s continued allegiance to this toxic product, consumers, politicians and advocacy groups are fighting back and saying no to BPA.

Corporations are getting anxious over the uproar and outrage generated at their continued use of BPA.  A host of companies that use BPA met recently  to establish the so-called BPA Joint Trade Association. “Coca-Cola, Alcoa, Del Monte, Crown, the American Chemistry Council, the North American Metal Packaging Alliance, Inc. and Grocery Manufacturers Association convened behind closed doors at Washington’s exclusive Cosmos Club and committed $500,000 to an effort to ‘prolong the life of BPA.’” These executives tried craft messages to allay consumers fears by targeting the most vulnerable populations, young mothers and pregnant women, with fear tactics.

Fortunately, the public is smarter than these executives and the FDA.  Consumers have choice and power to say no to corporations pushing dangerous toxins on them and their families.  The Environmental Working Group offers online resources for finding BPA-free products. And, get involved today to help to ban this product. It’s something we should all live without.

(picture: pixnpics, flickr Creative Commons)

Can a radical social agenda really take root in Los Angeles? Living in this city, I sometimes think that the stereotypes (and complaints) about the city might be accurate. On the down side, it’s a sprawling, overheated metropolis of concrete rivers billowing out to the far reaches of the region’s somewhat in-hospital desert landscape. It’s streets are lined with sinewy palms that offer little shade or respite from Southern California’s severe sun.  The city’s architectural gems are frequently overshadowed by the bland neon strip malls that are often are the central focus of neighborhoods. All of this non-interactive city design can leave one whimpering for a sense of connection to fellow Angelenos. Despite this rather grim description of my current town, there’s some amazing things happening below the surface.  It might not be apparent to the naked eye when cruising the concrete on Pico Boulevard or inching along on the 405 freeway.  This incredibly diverse city (someone once described it as the “Ellis Island of the 21st century”) is filled with creative activists using renegade tools to push new social agendas that foster a sense of community in a city that often lacks such a physical and emotional space and literally build communities. Read the rest of this entry >>