Organic baby politics

I’ve been reading “The Complete Organic Pregnancy” by Deirdre Dolan and Alexandra Zissu. Of course I am overwhelmed by the myriad of toxins that cause (at certain levels at least) birth defects or cancer. As I was taking a shower and reading the ingredient list on my shampoo I was trying to remember the list of toxins I was supposed to be looking for, and then I thought how I would just go to Rainbow with Regina and we would pick out not-toxic shampoo and pay the extra money.

This is the point that has been bothering me all day—how I do have the money to look at organic cotton mattresses and non-toxic shampoo but I know that there are others who don’t have the extra money to do it. I was also thinking about how in the book I’m reading it keeps referencing how certain European countries have already banned fill-in-the-blank chemical from fill-in-the-blank baby product, yet in the United States you have to one, do a lot of research to find out what legal chemicals are actually dangerous to your baby, and two, have the extra money to spend on those products. Yes, I am grateful to have both, but am really uncomfortable how the anti-regulation dogma of corporate fundamentalist have created this situation. For instance, our local radio station had a spot on all the lead in baby toys—and how most of them came from the dollar store.

So, if you have the discretionary time and money you can make sure your baby is not exposed to toxins; if you do not, you take your chances because our government has decided not to regulate imports and chemicals as strictly as other nations have. In other words, the regulation of food and baby products that the government should be doing is left to those who can afford to outsource it to non-governmental organizations who pass on a “tax” in terms of a higher cost.

So, when I run for office you better believe Nadar and I will be stumping on this!