March Against Monsanto – Toronto

No time to make a sign. No time to be a bee! 

But I still marched. I made a difference. One voice among thousands. We shouted

“HEY, HEY! HO, HO! GMOS HAVE GOT TO GO!”

We let our city know what we want:

“SEED FREEDOM”

& when we wanted it

“NOW!”

— — — — — — — —

It was my first time going to MAMTO, yet it felt so natural to me.

All morning I stared at my breakfast, mulling over my food choices. Where they organic? No.  Where did they come from? I don’t even want to think about it.
How many GMOs are snuck into the food I eat everyday?

Denial.
I’ll admit it, I know about all the awful pesticides killing our lovely pollinators.
I try to buy local, farm-friendly and organic when I can, but I am unemployed and trying to get to university.
It’s hard to vote with your money when you don’t have any!

— – — — –

Attending events like March Against Monsanto, going to local farmers markets and supporting programs such as Food Share, FarmTOFork, or the Toronto GMO Coalition can still make a difference — even if you can’t afford to buy 100% organic and fair trade products.

Volunteering is a free way to show your support.
*PRO TIP* sometimes you get free stuff!

At the end of the march, I got to hear a few bands play in Christie Pits along with many speakers. I wish I remembered their names. These are real people making change!  Some sacrificed their jobs standing up for what they believe in.
It blew me away that one girl (16) started advocating for labeling GMOs when she was just 11 years old!
If she can do it, we all can.

Step up and fight for a world we are proud to be a part of.

♥ A.R.T.T.  xx

Advertisement

*UPDATE* Skin Deep App Review

I thought I had “discovered something fantastic for Apple & Android Phones” that was an easy tool to help people make good decisions when it comes to purchasing personal care products.
Skin Deep® boasts that “EWG’s Cosmetic Database is the world’s largest safety reference tool for personal-care products.”
If this is true, there must not be many databases out there.

With a database of over 74,000 personal care products, 2,500 brands and 9,000 ingredients I would think that about 70% of the products I had in my bathroom were on the database. How wrong I was.

Skin Deep App – Instant Feedback on Personal Care Products.

Last night I picked up the Food Lover’s Issue of Prevention Magazine (March 2014) and discovered something fantastic for Apple & Android Phones.

Skin Deep® is an app created by the Environmental Working Group.   According to their app description, “EWG’s Cosmetic Database is the world’s largest safety reference tool for personal-care products.” With a database of over 74,000 personal care products, 2,500 brands and 9,000 ingredients you have the opportunity to shop smart and safe in a matter of seconds!

Download the app for Apple devices here

Download the app for Android here

Too bad they don’t have the app for Blackberry…

*edit* I managed to try it with Android. You can read my review here.

“When you know what chemicals are in the products you bring into your home and how they may affect your health and the environment, you can make informed purchasing decisions — and help transform the marketplace.”

   

Safety ratings are neatly displayed for individual products and ingredients and there is a page that explains how the rating system works… it’s so convenient. I wish they had the app for my Blackberry!!! :[ I spend FOREVER in stores reading the ingredients and comparing products in effort to make a responsible, environmentally friendly purchase.

It seems to me that EWG is a genuine organization with good moral standings. They have a really great website with current news about the “beauty industry” and other discoveries about various products on the market. For anybody who cares about what they buy, what goes on their body and how that affects the environment I strongly suggest checking out their website.

If you want to know more about EWG:
“The Environmental Working Group is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to protecting human health and the environment.  Our mission is to empower people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment. EWG drives consumer choice and civic action with its game-changing investigations and research on toxics and environmental health, food and agriculture, and water and energy. […] EWG’s team of scientists, policy experts, lawyers, communication experts and programmers has worked tirelessly to make sure someone is standing up for public health when government or industry won’t.”

It’s important to have groups that stand up against the corruption of public health through government and industry. Although you may feel like your actions are insignificant or perhaps that your choices will not affect any change, I assure you vote with your money!

Purchasing things that are morally, ethically and environmentally reflective of your own philosophies will send a message to the companies you do (and don’t) support. 

Want an example?
Here is proof that something I thought was impossible may not be so
As Americans Reject Fake Food, McDonald’s Sales Rapidly Decline
I’m still smiling over that small success!