A response to a letter

My response to a very negative letter. I post these things because it helps you all to know the kind of opposition that's out there. This is the reason laws don't pass. So many people really think these things. I wish we could educate everyone.

Her letter...

Why does it matter SO much about the petroleum you take in through your mouth? What about the petroleum that's in everything around us, including the water that comes from our taps and the air we breathe? Wouldn't those have just as much of an adverse affect, if not more so in some instances, than the teensiest bit of petroleum one might find in a certain food product's container? I do understand not wanting to take into our bodies things that are unnatural and unhealthy, but it seems that Feingold is taking it to the extreme.

If a person truly wanted to be free of petroleum (and other pollutants) they would be like some people who live in homes out in the middle of nowhere, with special air filters, special foods, special clothing, etc. Of course, they never leave their homes. How do you buy gas, drive on the road, deal with the inversion, keep your water clear, insure that your clothing, furnishings and other finishes are petroleum-free, etc.? How are your sure you've had a reaction to food and not something else in the environment? How do you determine that a child's hyperactivity, or other undesirable behavior, is a result of petroleum and not just normal, age-related behavior?

(Also, as a side note, just because an organization says it's 'non-profit' doesn't mean the people running it aren't making a huge salary. It just means the organization itself doesn't make a profit. Credit unions and most hospitals are non-profit and the people running them are very wealthy. Which reminds me of another question: Don't Feingold members get a discount if they bring other people on board?)

I do find it enormously suspicious that something so important as Feingold claims to be is also very expensive and very exclusive (you're not supposed to share recipes, etc.). My personal experience with truth is that it's available to everyone and it's free. Do Feingold's claims override the inspiration parents are entitled to for their own children, especially when it comes to treating them for specific conditions?

And, my response...

Maybe I should send you Jane Hershey's phone number so you can meet her and see how rich she is. $80 for a whole year, for a book that has to be updated monthly, 12 issues of a magazine to keep US updated, and a free internet forum for support with no other advertising to make money sounds great to me. Many of the people I know paid $40 for all of that or got it free depending on circumstances. Feingold members do not get anything for "bringing people on board". We get nothing, the products in the book get nothing. We do not get a discount of any sort unless we are financially unable to buy the program.

I just looked up weight watchers last night and it cost $40 a month. That's $480 per year.

The reason we can't share product names, (not recipes) is because that's what the money goes towards. It takes months to research the products within the products to get approved. Hours on the phone that have to be paid. Hours more to make sure the product stays the same. If everyone just gave away the product names there wouldn't be enough money to keep the program going.
And for a program that saved my son's life and his social ability yes, it's absolutely worth $7 a month to have a book and magazines that tell me which products are safe for my kids without me having to do all that personal research.

As for mattering what we take in our mouth, it's the molecular structure of petroleum from coal tar dyes that hurt my children and give my son asthma. We also do not use petroleum on our skin. And believe me, every time the inversion comes around (with pollution petroleum) my son gets a cough again. He is just recovering from a terrible asthma episode because he played outside on a day that I didn't realize was a red day. I wish we could move where the air was clean but unfortunately we can't. Yes, we have air purifiers. We also have a reverse osmosis water system. I care about my son enough that once a month in the hospital and steroids for life just didn't cut it for me. If something is broken, you fix it any way you can. Does any advice anywhere override a parent's inspiration? Feingold is just another piece of advice and I have been inspired to follow it. This truth is available to everyone and it is free if you are willing to call the manufacturer of everything you eat and expect said manufacturers to be honest with you without being made to sign a truth agreement like they have to in order to be in the Feingold list. They may or may not listen to you or answer your question because you are a single person rather than an organization.

The reason I care about a teensy amount that's found in a box is because it absolutely affects my son. I can't "make up" peeing the bed or asthma when we have it, even if I could possibly make up behavior issues. Somehow the people at co-op and church know when to ask me, "gee has he had petroleum today?" after he's punched 2 people in the stomach and is running around like a wild man and go figure, we had something the night before that wasn't approved. I called Feingold and we found out that it had TBHQ in it.

There is also dirt in everything, we can't get it all out, but I don't see you serving it in a bowl to your kids for dinner.