Overview
The cost of our food and personal care items is much more than what we pay at checkout. The true cost is measured by the impact that thousands of chemicals have on our health, the environment and climate, our economy, and many other facets of life.
Being an informed and engaged consumer is one of the most powerful ways to turn around our toxic world, and we have some incredible resources at our fingertips to do that, like the Environmental Working Group (EWG). Today, I’m excited to talk with Ken Cook from the EWG about food, conscious consumerism, and our impact on the planet.
We currently support a system that promotes the growing of commodity crops using loads of chemicals, which are turned into processed foods. Those foods cause mass chronic disease and create huge amounts of healthcare costs, while also destroying the environment with glyphosate, the overuse of water, declining biodiversity, and the list goes on. Ken explains that these are the expansive costs of our food system that require us to make a serious investment on all levels. We talk about what that looks like federally, personally, and all parts in between.
The EWG has revolutionized the way we shop for produce with their Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen lists and their Skin Deep Database gives a comprehensive inside look at the many ingredients, good and bad, that make up personal care products. Ken and I discuss how the EWG has bridged the gap between personal health and environmental health with tools like these that empower consumers.
We’re seeing a shift in consumers pushing for more accountability in the marketplace. The EWG plays a vital role in modernizing the environmental movement to fit the times, where more is at stake than ever before. Ken and I have a hopeful and action-oriented conversation, I hope you’ll tune in.
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