Lets face it. We all come across a ton of junk in our inbox. Over the couple of years I have been on my plant-based journey I have amassed a deluge of feeds reminding me daily of the dangers of living on this planet. My Facebook news feed resembles the world debt clock, forever firing off updates and news alerts. Any personal friends I had on Facebook are long gone I am sure; “thanks Ian, we get the message…” I use a distinct email for my plant-based endeavours and I have to admit, I now spend a decent amount of time unsubscribing to blogs and sites I once felt necessary.
When I set out to start WholeFed.org I vowed to be purely content based. That means, anything you read, I wrote. I did not want to become a “like” me site, aggregating other people’s content. Yes, I would definitely have more followers if I choose to be more active.
With all that rambling aside, I like Food Babe.
Food Babe is relatively new on the circuit, 2011.
Vani Hari is known by two names. In her normal day-to-day routine she is Vani, but to her followers she is Food Babe.
After suffering from some serious health issues, Hari became very passionate about understanding what is in the food that she is eating – how it is grown, what chemicals are used in its production and what eating food does or doesn’t do for the body.
Vani is not afraid. She takes on the biggest food companies in the world. Kraft was a recent target. With a petition based effort (270,000 long) she actually forced Kraft to let her in the gate and discuss a food dye used only in the U.S. for Mac & Cheese. Apparently, it’s not ok for Brits to eat the dye but perfectly fine for American children.
I particularly enjoyed when she went after Chipolte. Chipolte has been touted as healthy and comes across as a fast food alternative. I ate there myself early on when one opened a short walk from my office. It was not until I read Vani‘s take on their ingredients did I understand the duping.
Ultimately,Chipolte finally released their ingredients list to the public and shed light on their Food with Integrity? slogan.
I signed up for Food Babe’s email notifications and have been pleasantly surprised at the content she provides. It is content. Each report is thoroughly investigated and leaves the topic out in the open, exposed. What you do with the information is your call.
It was a recent article she wrote about beer that concreted the benefit of having Food Babe in my arsenal. I take a lot of time analyzing my ingestion of ingredients. I had not thought about beer. The Department of Treasury runs the alcohol industry, which means as a consumer you know absolutely nothing about the liquid in your favorite 12oz can.
Ingredient labeling on food products and non-alcoholic beverages is required by the Food and Drug Administration. But a whole other federal agency regulates beer, and not very well. The Department of Treasury – the same folks who collect your taxes – oversees alcoholic beverages. That probably explains why we know more about what’s in a can of Coke than a can of Bud. You can also thank the alcohol industry, which has lobbied for years against efforts to require ingredient labeling.
Wait until her report on wine, coming soon.
I could go on and on. I fully endorse Food Babe to my readers. She is not vegan, plant-based or any other label. She simply investigates the inconsistencies within the consumer market and asks questions. It’s a classic David & Goliath approach and I appreciate her efforts. There is not a topic she reports on that does not immediately force me to make changes.
I encourage you to visit her site; Foodbabe.com and sign up for her email alerts.
Ian
IRW
