It seems that this is a great time in the history of Canada to be a vegetarian. Although there have been several health scares involving vegetables over the last couple of years (spinach and tomatoes come to mind), the outbreaks of disease that spread as a result of vegetable health scares are rarely as deadly as those involving tainted meat. And tainted meat is exactly what Canadians have on their minds these days.The culprit of this particular outbreak is the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes. According to the Toronto Star Health Zone, this bacterium is “often found in soil, vegetation, animal feed and feces; symptoms include nausea, vomiting, cramps, diarrhea, headache, constipation, persistent fever. If it spreads to the nervous system, signs and symptoms may include headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, convulsions.” Because it can take up to seventy days for symptoms to appear, visitors to Canada within the last several weeks should also take note.

Maple Leaf Foods has issued a recall of all 220 meat products passing through their Toronto plant since January of 2008, at a loss of $20 million. In addition to monetary losses, however, more startling are these statistics released by CBC as of August 26:

• There are twenty-six confirmed cases of Listeriosis in Canada.

• There have been twelve deaths linked to the outbreak.

• Eleven of the deaths have occurred in Ontario.

• One death has taken place in British Columbia.

In light of these statistics, perhaps even most alarming is the fact that pregnant women are twenty times more likely to contract Listeriosis than other healthy adults. Laureen Spitz of Milwaukee was one of such women eight years ago. Laureen suffered a miscarriage as a result of contracting Listeriosis, and although her symptoms were relatively minor, she made a trip to see her doctor, who admitted her for observation. At thirteen weeks pregnant, she miscarried shortly after being admitted.

Laureen appeared on CBC today to talk about her experience in an effort to continue educating the public, especially pregnant women, about the risks associated with eating processed meats while pregnant. She suggests women experiencing even mild symptoms should report their illness to their doctor right away since risks to pregnant women other than miscarriage include stillbirth, premature birth or potentially fatal post-birth infections.

If you’re pregnant and experiencing any mild symptoms of Listeriosis, call your physician or visit your local walk-in clinic right away.

A current list of recalled meat products is available at the website of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

by Ann Bibby

A single mother in Winnipeg is fighting to regain custody of her children. She alleges they were taken from her by Manitoba’s child and family services agency because of her political beliefs. Read the rest of this entry »

This week I wrote a post for BlogHers ACT Canada about reducing the auto footprint. What comes hot on the tail of this discussion is a sad symptom of the state of the economy, both in Canada and the United States.

It’s no secret that the cost of fuel is on the rise. This makes it nearly impossible for regular working families to afford gasoline for some vehicles. Vehicles like trucks.

Do you know where most of the pick-up trucks in North America are manufactured?

Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. Read the rest of this entry »

Here in my town, a “Clean-up Week” has been organized. When I was a kid, clean-up week happened once or twice a year, and it meant that residents could put whatever kind of trash they wanted out on the curb and the city would pick it up. People would use this opportunity to put old appliances, furniture, clothing, you name it, out on the curb. One year my step-brothers brought home someone’s old recliner for my Dad. He was a good sport about it, but I’m sure purple wasn’t his colour!

Image Source: Kenn Kiser, Morguefile.

Junk-pickers would drive around all night, salvaging what they could for recycling, but mostly for fixing up and reselling. Read the rest of this entry »

Happy Earth Day!

Last summer I was disappointed to find that our next-door neighbour had hired a non-organic company to take care of their lawn. Graham and I would sit out back, drinking our coffee in the morning, and then suddenly the powerful, sickening smell of the pesticide/herbicide cocktail would waft into our yard. Annoyed, disgusted, we’d head back indoors to finish our coffee.

I put a little sign in our garden in the hopes it would start a dialogue between us and our neighbour, but it didn’t seem to phase them at all, which I just can’t understand because he grows FOOD in their yard.

I was pleased this morning to discover an article in the paper (Pesticide ban set to grow, The Toronto Star, April 22, 2008) detailing our provincial government’s plan to ban the cosmetic use of pesticides and herbicides, to be enforced beginning in the spring of 2009. The City of Toronto’s ban took effect on September 1, 2007, but in the smaller cities and town around Ontario, it’s been legal to spray lawns and yards with toxic chemicals. It’s hard to believe that with all of the information available about the health effects of these kinds of sprays, people continue to use them in the very space their children play.

The new ban will mean that my next-door neighbour won’t legally be allowed to spray their yard with pesticides and herbicides. The ban won’t affect farmers, golf courses or managed forests, and the legislation will also force the manufacturers of pesticides and herbicides to reduce the level of toxins they produce.

I’ll be pushing this information on my neighbour this year…they might as well get started with organic methods this year, since next year they’ll be out of luck!

(Cross-posted at BlogHers ACT Canada and Playing in the Dirt.)

A private member’s bill supporting mandatory labeling of genetically engineered food in Canada was selected randomly for debate in our House of Commons this month.

Bill C-517 went to second reading on April 3, and a second hour of parliamentary debate could take place in as early as two weeks, as per the House of Commons calendar. After a second debate, the House will be called upon to vote on the bill. If you are concerned about feeding your children genetically engineered foods, it’s important to make sure that a majority of Members of Parliament vote in favour of Bill C-517. If the Bill passes second reading, it will be returned for a third and final reading, followed by a vote by all of Canada’s 301 Members of Parliament.
Read the rest of this entry »

The National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy is making quite a recommendation to the Canadian government: cut it out, or cough it up.

This afternoon as we ate a bowl of soup, my husband and I watched a report about the NRTEE’s recommendations.

The National Round Table has boldly suggested that an incentive for cutting out greenhouse gas emissions should take the form of a tax break, while those companies who do not abide by emission minimums should be taxed for adding pollution to our atmosphere.

Canada has relatively high standards when it comes to cutting down greenhouse gas emissions. Our current Prime Minister’s long-term goals include cutting greenhouse gas emissions 60-70% from 2006 levels by the year 2050. According to the NDP, however, since Prime Minister Stephen Harper took office, emissions have risen 25%.

The David Suzuki Foundation quickly responded to the National Round Table’s recommendation, stating, “The report shows that the most effective policy is a broad economy-wide carbon price, either in the form of a greenhouse gas tax or a cap and trade system, accompanied by building regulations and transportation regulations.”

My question is, Is this a realistic way to reduce Canada’s carbon footprint? My husband’s reaction to the story is that big businesses will not want to spend the funds required to upgrade their systems and improve their greenhouse gas output levels. He thinks that large companies will simply be encouraged to move their operations to other jurisdictions where there are no emission standards or watchdog agencies.

He got me thinking, “It has to start somewhere!” I would like to believe that Canadians, ALL Canadians, including Big Business, have a responsibility to set an example for other countries, and for its own citizens. It could be a slippery, slope, though, and not one all Canadians will be willing to approach. If industry can be taxed for emitting carbon, it stands to reason that individual citizens could also be taxed in the future, which would have enormous implications for the automotive industry.

Do you think applying a price to carbon is a reasonable and realistic way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?

Did you know that Health Canada maintains a vigorous set of standards when it comes to the manufacture and sale of health-related products? Health Canada’s “good manufacturing” practices help ensure that manufacturers of natural health products such as supplements and herbal remedies are held to certain standards for:

• quality assurance,
• product testing,
• manufacturing,
• storage, and
• distribution.

When manufacturers fail to abide by these standards, heavy metal contamination can occur, causing you and your loved ones discomfort or illness. Consumers should be especially wary of products ordered online.

We all want our families to be safe and healthy. A lot of the time, homeopathic and herbal remedies are great alternatives to traditional medicine. However, this is not always the case! The lesson? Be vigilant.

How Can I Tell if My Products Are Safe?

If you’re a Canadian who regularly purchases naturopathic medicines, it might be a good idea to take a few moments to scan the contents of your medicine cabinet to make sure that all of your bottles are marked with an eight-digit Drug ID Number (DIN), a Natural Product Number (NPN) or a Drug ID Number for Homeopathic Medicine (DIN-HM), which indicate the product has been assessed as safe for consumer purchase by Health Canada.

Current Recall Notice

A company called Wild Vineyard is unauthorized to manufacture, package, label or import natural health products in Canada. For more information and a list of recalled products, visit Health Canada’s Advisory, here.

Related website: United States Food & Drug Administration Consumer Education: What You Need to Know to Use Medicine Safely

Since half of the Internet seems to be pregnant and in the throes of full-on morning sickness these days, this product recall especially caught my attention.

If you’re doing “the technicolour yawn”, as my father once so eloquently put it, due to pregnancy and morning sickness, you should avoid using Calabash chalk as a remedy for nausea. It might tame your tummy, but it also contains high levels of LEAD, and a little arsenic, to boot.

According to Health Canada,

Calabash chalk is ingested by some pregnant women to alleviate morning sickness; it is traditionally used by women from African communities. Calabash chalk is usually sold in the form of blocks, pellets or as powders. The product is generally sold loose, and there are no particular brands, batch numbers/codes or best before dates.

For more information, please visit Health Canada’s Advisory, Calabash Chalk May Pose Health Risk for Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women or CBC news report, Morning-sickness remedy calabash chalk may pose health risks: Health Canada.

Have you heard yet about Bisphenol A? Sandra over at Blog Chocolate reminded me this morning of a news story I read recently and intended to post about here. The gang at BlogHers Act Canada are getting in on this action, too, taking up the cause of urging the Canadian government to ban Bisphenol A. Bisphenol A is a toxic hormone disrupter sometimes detected in products such as food cans, plastic water bottles and baby bottles. According to Wikipedia,

Recent studies have confirmed that bisphenol A exposure during development has carcinogenic effects and produce precursors of breast cancer. Bisphenol A has been shown to have developmental toxicity, carcinogenic effects, and possible neurotoxicity. Recent studies suggest it may also be linked to obesity by triggering fat-cell activity.

There are also studies that have been done that suggest normal, regular use of products containing Bisphenol A causes no health risk.

Read more about Bisphenol A here. Then, if you agree that this is a substance you’d like to keep out of your family’s bodies, head on over to Toxic Nation to sign the petition to ban it:

To the Honourable John Baird, Minister of the environment, and the Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Health,

Bisphenol A is a hormone disruptor found in many everyday products including food cans, plastic water containers and baby bottles. Studies show that people can be exposed to Bisphenol A when it leaches out of these products. Low-doses can harm our health.

Canadians’ health should be protected from harmful toxic chemicals. Ban the use of Bisphenol A in food and beverage containers immediately. Phase out other uses over the next five years!

Sincerely,

[Your Name]
[Your Address]

(I’d also like to mention that Sandra and Her Bad Mother will be guest speakers on a podcast tonight from 9-10 pm EST with Kristen of Motherhood Uncensored. Their topic is, “It Can Be Easy Being Green: How to Make Green Parenting Work For You”. Be sure to listen!)