As we prepare for the interviews from our visit to the TEDx – Teen event in New York, we bring you this encore edition of the program. Next week we begin the first of a three part series of these compelling conversations with these very inspirational young people.

 

Most of us go to the supermarket to buy our food. We trust that everything we buy will be safe and healthy. The problem is that food safety and healthy eating look different depending our your point of view.

Let me give you an example. If you are a snack food company, you think in terms of the consistency of the quality of your product. You want everyone to have a similar experience when they eat your snacks. Your concern for safety – means that there isn’t anything in the package that doesn’t belong there.

How this food impacts your body, isn’t the snack company’s concern. They believe that we are responsible to make the best choices for ourselves. They may stack the deck with their packaging and advertising, but they believe the consumer will make the best choices for themselves and that’s not their responsibility. Whether we agree with that or not, this is an important perspective to realize and with this understanding remember we, the purchasers of the food we eat, are responsible for our own health and safety.

The good news for personal responsibility is the many organizations that take up the mantle of making sure our food system is safe. Not just safe like disease free, but safe from unintended consequences.

One of the long –standing advocates for food safety is Andrew Kimbrell. Andrew is a public interest attorney, activist and author. He has been involved in public interest legal activity in numerous areas of technology, human health and the environment. in 1994 he established the International Center for Technology Assessment (CTA) and in 1997 the Center for Food Safety(CFS).

The most important thing about Andrew isn’t in is bio or resume. He is an authentic human who cares about the well-being of others. This passion bubbles over into his advocacy at all levels.

Recently several of us had the opportunity to sit with Andrew at the Kickapoo Country Fair, which is the Midwest’s largest organic food festival sponsored by Organic Valley. Andrew was one of the keynote speakers at this year Fair. Today’s program contains interviews by both Thomas White of Business Matters and Missy Hughes, Director of Governmental Affairs at Organic Valley.

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The purpose of this program is to stimulate a conversation of change. Change that corrects the course of business when it’s not operating in the best interest of all.

To help you understand more deeply the issues of the day, we begin a new feature. It puts the spotlight on a thought leader and let’s them share their perspectives. In this program, we bring a conversation with Jerome McGeorge. Jerome sees the world more clearly than most. He has been an integral part of the Organic valley team since its inception.

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