From 1997 to 2007, there was a 265% increase in the rate of hospitalization related to food allergic reactions. Today, 1 in 13 kids have a food allergy. What happened? Robyn O’ Brien, dubbed “food’s Erin Brockovich,” is convinced the rise of allergies is due to the increase of chemicals and genetically modified adjustments we’ve made to our food.
Here are the most interesting stats from the video:
- 19% of school kids have a food allergy.
- From 1997 to 2002, there has been a doubling of the peanut allergy.
- In 1996, we introduced GMOs into our foods.
- 18 cents of every dollar we spend in this economy is spent on healthcare and managing diseases.
- Organic is expensive because all the money we’re putting in is going towards farmers who are planting with all the chemicals and those who are planting organically are charged fees to prove that they are safe.
- Organic is growing at 14% a year but only 1% of our farmland is dedicated to organic.
- We outsource a lot of our organic food production to China.
