Robyn O'brien

Our Intimate Relationship with Food: A Complex Truth

A famous French political thinker once said that the public would rather believe a simple lie than a complex truth.

The truth behind genetic engineering is extremely complex. It has been used for decades, but it is only in the last ten years that neurotoxins have been engineered into our food supply.

When courage and conscience collide

I was raised on capitalism and the Wall Street Journal.

As a child, my family celebrated the birth of Reaganomics the way one would have celebrated the birth of a child. There was prosperity to be had by all — if only we believed

The Price Tag of Sick Kids

As the population gets sicker, including our kids, the laundry list of chronic conditions grows - diabetes, asthma, allergies and ADHD. On top of that, the cost of health care continues to climb.

2009: "We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For"

Whoa. What just happened? Does the end of 2008 at all resemble what we thought we knew twelve months ago?

In 2008, it seems that the world redefined itself. As the stock market fell, heroes like Michael Phelps and Dara Torres inspired us and new players like Sarah Palin and Rachel Maddox emerged on the scenes. And while headlines told us about the toxicity in our financial system, our food supply and our politicians, comedians kept us laughing when we otherwise might have cried.

Somehow we survived: the downturns, the corporate scandals and the crises. And we survived with our hope, faith and dreams still intact. Because that is who we are.

Duped: A Nation of Eaters

We are a nation of 300 million eaters.

And anyone that eats can attest to the utter confusion that our food supply has become. As headlines swirl about beef recalls large enough to feed every American two hamburgers, baby formula laced with melamine, and controversial additives used to preserve processed foods, eaters can't help but yearn for the days when all we had to worry about was contaminated spinach.

Heavy Metal in Our Daily Bread?

As Pfizer swallowed Wyeth and Bank of America started belching up Merrill Lynch this week, you just might have missed the heartburn-inducing headline of the year: heavy metal has been found in our daily bread.