What does "Organic" Mean? Healthy Food or Trend?

So there are arguments that even organic food is contaminated from rain and the soil. So can you speak about what organic actually means, and is it actually healthy for you if it can be contaminated still without these other pesticides or things controlling the food? Yeah, so let's just start with defining organic food. Organic food is grown without growth hormone that's linked to cancer. It's talked about in my book. It's one of the sickening 15. Yes. It's grown without antibiotics, another sickening 15. It's grown without artificial ingredients. The 15 ingredients that wreck havoc on your weight, beauty, and health. That's what you're talking about. That's right. The sickening 15. Yes. So you want to make sure you don't have those. Right. Well, let's just talk about antibiotics for just a second here. So there's this groundbreaking study that Martin Blaser talks about in his book called Missing Microbes that shows that when we have overexposure to antibiotics, whether it's in our water, or in our air, or it's given to us as a child, the overuse of it, like when we don't need it, or sometimes it's passed through meat or dairy. They test for it, but sometimes it's passed. They found that to be the case. We can actually start to change our metabolism for the worse. So we start to gain weight. And in his book, his research is just groundbreaking when it comes to this, and actually our metabolism starts to change, and our gut bacteria starts to change to the point where we can't metabolize fat as much. And so- With, when we have, what did you say? When we put what in our foods? Antibiotics. Antibiotics, yes. Yes, there are some pesticides on organic food, but it's not the really super toxic ones. That's crazy. And then the other thing that I love about organic food is it prohibits a slew of those artificial ingredients, the azodicarbonamide that was in Subway bread, you can't use that in organic food. Artificial food dyes that were in Kraft that's linked to hyperactivity in children, can't use that in organic food. So when you buy USDA organic food, you're mostly getting real, unadulterated food. The fact that we have to call it organic is kind of sad if you think about it. Because everything should be organic. Right. So when you choose organic food, you're automatically eliminating your exposure to all of those potential toxins, but also you start to promote the reduction of pesticides in our environment as a whole, and that has a tremendous impact on our farmland, on the farmer's health, on the children's health, on our water health. You talk about how soil can be contaminated, it can, but I tell you, if the majority of our farms were organic, that wouldn't happen as much. Interesting. Yeah. Man. Okay, here's a question for you. To get a sense of worst case scenario, if you had to make a decision, would you rather eat that non-organic piece of produce or eat healthy packaged food? Would it be organic packaged food, or what is it? Healthy packaged food or non-organic piece of produce, something available. I'd probably eat real food. Real food. Yeah, because any time something gets into a package, it's been processed, the nutrients have been diminished. Uh-huh. So it means it's not organic. Yeah. You still eat it. Okay. Right. If somebody were to give me, let's say, an apple, a non-organic apple versus a healthy choice frozen meal, I'd eat the apple. Uh-huh. Or packaged good. Yeah. I always tend to go towards whole real food versus packaged processed. Healthy processed. Because as soon as it's in the plastic, it's in the paper, it's in the- It's already got a strike against it. Oh, and there's a whole chapter in here dedicated to what happens to food that's not even the stuff that is on the label, the stuff that's not labeled that happens to food that gets in our food and in our bodies. Okay. That's really important for people to understand. Okay. Tell me about your name, because your name really means voice. Isn't that right? Bonnie means voice. I find it fitting that your name is now coming to fruition over the last few years with you using your voice, and so it's something you're passionate about. Do you find that interesting? Do you feel like this was what you were born for, or do you feel like it's just coincidence? Gosh, that's a deep question. What's really interesting is that most of my life I hated my name, because no one could pronounce it correctly. Am I pronouncing it correctly? Gosh, we've known each other for a long time. Hopefully I'm saying it right. By the way, for the last couple of years, no one's been able to pronounce it, and I didn't really grow to love it until I started to really find myself and find my voice. My mom likes to say she planned this all out, of course, but I tell you, I think I count my blessings every single day that I've been able to find my calling in life, like why I was put on this earth to try to make a difference, and I hope other people find it too. One of the things that I realized very quickly is there's no way if I wasn't taking care of my body and feeling really great and being healthy that I would have had enough brain power or enough energy to even take on what I'm doing, and even go from someone who was working all day to doing this at night and doing this on the weekends to now doing it full time all the time and working more than I've ever worked in my life, harder than I've ever worked in my life. I mean, the last year writing this book, oh my gosh, and it's just, I know I would never be able to do that if I wasn't taking care of myself, and so when I think about teaching the principles in the Food Babe way to everyone out there, I'm really hoping that they get so healthy and so strong in their own body that they figure out what their true calling is, because I really do think that you should think about what you want to leave, what impact you want to leave on the world, and I tell you, working in that cubicle and working for those C-level executives at the bank, I wasn't leaving my impact on the world. Now I'm really leaving an impact on the world, I'm trying to get the world healthier, trying to wake up everyone's eyes about what's in our food so that they start to ask questions. I'm not trying to take anybody's food away, I'm just trying to make it the healthiest it can be and still taste amazing and still be the junk food, but just without the toxins, and the Food Babe way is not about deprivation. You've eaten with me, you know I love dessert, I can make it into some dessert. It's about the right ingredients in the junk food or the bad food for you, knowing that you're not putting the worst ingredients in there. Right, that's right, and there's a way to live and not expose yourself to that, and I've taught myself the principles, and I can't imagine not everyone knowing what I know, and that's what is in this book, and I tell you, it really shocked me when I started to do some of the investigative material, the new investigative material that's in this book, like finding out what's in the Olive Garden breadsticks, endless breadsticks, pasta and salad, you know, finding out what's actually in there, my parents' favorite lunch to have on the weekends, you know? It's devastating to find out the truth about what's in this food, but I tell you, once you know that, you can't unlearn it, and that's what I really hope for everyone who reads this book, is that once you know what's in your food, you can't unlearn it. Do you feel that mastering your health and what you put in your body is the first step to being able to then find your voice, if you don't have it yet, and then to be able to have the energy to move towards it? I absolutely think that, because I think it all has to do with self-confidence too, like I tell you, I didn't have a lot of self-confidence looking the way I looked back in the day. Marshmallow face wasn't confident? It really wasn't, it wasn't who I was, you know, I feel, when I look back at that time I feel like I was in an alien body, I was like a zombie walking through life, and to think I spent more than half of my life like that, it kills me, and I can't just sit back and watch others not realize their full potential, because I tell you, I'm not, you know, I'm not living a life of deprivation, I eat, and I love food, and I eat all amazing types of things, and, but I also feel so good and have so much energy that I'm able to do so much more with my life, but it's about living that long, and like really truly like having a quality of life, not being hooked up to machines, not being in a nursing home, being able to do the things you want, yeah, not having cancer, and if I can do whatever I can to prevent that, I really want to try, I know it's not 100% preventable, because it could be anything, we don't have the answers, but when we know that some of these things can be linked to it, it makes sense to repeat it. Yeah, it's about setting yourself up to win to the best of your ability, you know, making sure you understand, you're educated, you're putting in the ingredients that matter, that we know about at least, and setting yourself up to win. Yeah. So I've got a couple questions left for you, Bonnie, and the first one is about your approach in getting your voice out there and your message out there, and sometimes I'll share your information on my Facebook page, and I'll have a friend from college say some really nasty things about you, like they'll say, I can't believe you're posting about her, or promoting her information, the way she goes about things is negative, and this and that, and they'll have some really nasty things to say, and I'm like, whoa, I'm really taken aback, because I know you, and we're friends, and do you feel like, and I know you have a lot of people that are against your message, and your mission, you have this huge food babe army that's for you, and that supports you, and that signs these petitions, but then there are a few people that aren't so supportive. Why do you think these people are not supportive, and do you think there is an approach that you could take, slightly different, to gain their support of you, or do you think that you don't need their support? Well, I think the reason why there is so much talk about the food babe, right, they really want to make it about me, as opposed to the message. The message, yeah, trying to take down the messenger. Right, they do, they want to attack the messenger, and the thing is, I'm not bringing up too many new things, yeah, I investigate it differently, I find out new things about certain food companies, but the research behind the chemicals is clear, it's from Consumers Union, it's from the Environmental Working Group, it's from the Center of Science and Public Interest, I stand on the shoulders of these experts, basically shouting out loud, in a consumer focused way, relating it back to products, so that it's not just some weird chemical that they're talking about, it's an actual product, it's the, you know, it's the Dannon, or the Yoplait, or the, you know, whatever, the yogurt in your fridge, and what's in that, you know, so people are like, oh, I have that brand, so let me go check, and da-da-da-da, and let me find out, you know, and so, it's a way to really, you know, resonate with the average person who doesn't have time to research all these different chemicals, and, you know, some people are not going to like my approach, I understand that, but I also know that my approach has had a tremendous impact, and it's starting to wake up food companies for the better, the amount of food companies that changed last year was insane, and they're doing commercials talking about the changes they're making, which I thought was insane, yeah, I mean, the fact that McDonald's had to hire the guy from Mythbusters to talk about the ingredients in their food in a very open way is a huge change in transparency, I mean, it's still unfortunate that you, in the United States, McDonald's French fries has 19 ingredients here, and only four in the UK, I mean, those other, it's just potato, what else could it be, right, right, but those other 15 ingredients we really don't need, right, but, you know, things are changing, and unfortunately, there's certain people that want the status quo to stay the same, they're threatened by this message of change, they feel threatened maybe in their work, and I don't know about your friend specifically, he could be a food scientist, or someone who's developing these chemicals, or could be employed by one of these food companies, I haven't talked to him in a long time, but I just saw a comment, I was like, okay, you know, or he could have been influenced by some of the factions online that really are working to try to destroy my name, and destroy my character, and, you know, the thing is, is I'm a normal everyday person, I'm a citizen journalist speaking out, you know, who is he supporting, is he saying that the food industry is right, for using certain ingredients here, and not in other countries, for hiding certain facts about their food, you know, no one can argue with that, and that's what's so encouraging for me, is that when I think about the work that I'm doing, I know I'm on the right side of the debate, there are two sides to the debate, yeah, they're the people that want the status quo to stay the same, and then there's people that want change, I'm on the change side, and I'm leading the food babe army that way, to change the food industry for the better, because we have to change it, the astronomical rates of cancer, heart disease, autoimmune disorders, ADHD, autism, neurological disorders, is through learning disorders, all sorts of things, it's through the roof, we have to do something, and that's all I'm asking, and if the people who speak out against me, if they just use some of that energy, some of that time, and maybe work for positive change, that would really be a good message to have, I mean, I just think about some of the people who spend all day fighting me, and writing nasty things about me, and I just think about, like, you know, the food industry has spent so much time and money on these inventions, and the science to make their bottom line richer, what if they use that energy and attention, and that science to make us healthier, and when we look at these inventions, they aren't making themselves, yeah, there are brand new chemical substances that have been introduced into the food supply very recently, in the last 30 years, I mean, think about it, Congress, when they gave the FDA authority to regulate food additives, there was only 800, now there's 10,000, and the FDA has admitted, they don't know the amount of chemicals the American public is being exposed to, and they know that they can't safeguard us, they admitted this, so we have a huge issue, we need to speak up, and if you want to learn about the key foods you need to eat to master your health, make sure to this video right here. Without yellow five and yellow six, and use real ingredients, paprika and beta carotene, for European citizens, but not for us. Why not?