Food Controversy and Confusion

I have a friend who recently started writing a blog.  He's been stirring up all kinds of controversy, talking about sex, politics, religion, and all kinds of serious stuff.  I've been thinking about delving into some juicy, controversy-inspiring topics too.  They've been weighing heavily on my mind, and I don't think I can keep it inside much longer.  Though the things I worry might get people all fired up are more like how to deal with peanut allergies in schools, attempting to purchase illegal raw milk from pasture-fed cows, and breastfeeding in public. I know, I'm a real rebel. It's in my nature. 

I joke, but people really do get seriously bent out of shape about these things. People like me. These things really have been weighing on my mind, and I'm having a hard time sorting it all out. So, here are some of the things I'm thinking.  I'd love to hear your thoughts on any of these.

1. How common are peanut allergies? And how serious are they? Some people say that no study has ever shown that inhaling the scent of peanuts causes a reaction, much less a deadly one.  Others say they know someone who nearly died from an anaphylactic reaction to just the smell of peanuts. Who is correct?
2. From what I can gather, about 125 people a year die from allergic reactions to food in the U.S. How many of those are from peanuts? Some say almost all; others say only a handful.  Who do you believe?
3. How many of these serious peanut allergy sufferers are in my children's school?  Are there really enough of them to have one in every grade level at our school? 
4. What is the best way to deal with the risk to children with peanut allergies?  Is the risk to their health deadly, dangerous, worrisome or inconvenient?  Do parents have a responsibility to teach children to be responsible for themselves and what they ingest?  At what age is that appropriate and effective? At what point do we expect them to take some responsibility for themselves?
5. How do you implement a safe peanut policy that demonstrates common sense and good health?  Limiting choices to a list of approved foods consisting only of packaged, processed, sugar-, additive-, dye-filled foods can't possibly teach our children how to make food choices that promote health.  How do you balance the need to keep allergy affected students safe from allergens with the need to promote healthy food choices for all children?
6. If my child had a food allergy, would I raise hell and high water, home school them, refuse to let them out of my site for one second, move to Alaska, make them live in a bubble to keep them safe?
7. What effects do the pasteurization and homogenization have on the taste, vitamins and benefits of milk? 
8. Is milk the cause, or one of the causes, of 8-year-old girls entering puberty?  Is raw milk from pasture-fed cows safer for my baby girl and her growth process?  Is it safe at all?
9. Why in the heck can I not purchase milk from any source I choose to?  When no one was looking, it became illegal for people to get milk from the source--the cow.  Am I the only person that thinks food should come from where it's made?  You know, vegetables from the ground? Milk from a cow? Bread from wheat that grew in a field?  Not from a can, from the store, from a factory, a chemistry lab that's concocting additives?
10. Am I willing to pay three or four times what milk costs at the grocery store for raw, grass-fed, organic milk? Am I willing to drive out to the country an hour away every week to get real milk from a real farmer who has real cows? 
11. Speaking of "from the source," how are there really still people who don't think breastfeeding babies is the best choice?  Or that a boob exposed to feed a hungry infant is obscene? Don't you know that's what they were made for? And by the way, if I can eat somewhere, so can my baby, like in a restaurant, the mall, or my living room.  If I wouldn't eat there, my baby doesn't need to either, like in the bathroom or under a blanket. 

Right now, I'm right in the middle of wondering what to do about our school's snack policy, which only allows pre-packaged, labeled treats to be brought in for birthdays and parties. I hate the message that this sends to our kids--that these foods are better for them than what I make at home. I have so far chosen just to refrain from sending food to school other than what my child takes in his own lunch box. Unfortunately, teachers, room parents (who plan parties), and birthday kids still bring in snacks with seriously questionable nutrition. If it were occasionally, I'd probably overlook it, but it isn't. With class parties, rewards, birthdays, and special events, it's no less than once a week. I feel like this, compounded over many years, will have a significant impact on their health as well as their beliefs about food.


I am also just starting to learn about raw milk. I don't know enough yet to say if it is a safer, better choice than conventional milk, but what I have read has certainly made me want to find out. The way meat, milk and many other foods come to our stores is enough to make me want to consider alternatives for a lot things. The effects of hormones, pesticides, antibiotics and the myriad other chemicals involved in modern food production are downright frightening, and even if my process is slow and unsure, I'm continuing to learn and search for better, viable alternatives for our family.

I suppose the only one I don't really have a question about is the last one. I'm pretty clear in my own mind about the whole breastfeeding thing.  Maybe that's because I'm past it.  My children are several years beyond that so I'm no longer in the worrying stage about that one.  I'm hoping that I'll get there with the other two issues as well. Please bear with me. I know I'm a bit of a nut about these things. But not a peanut. I'm not that bad.