Our Daily Bread- Healthy Food, Healthy Spirits Around the shared table of communion, we take and bless the everyday elements of bread and wine that signify Christ’s body and blood. We should eat just as faithfully at our own dinner tables- with knowledge, love and care for how our food is prepared and what we are choosing to put in our bodies. Sadly, many conventional fruits, vegetables, meats and milk products are grown with pesticides or hormones that can adversely affect our health and the health of those who grow our food. Read more about pesticides and health. Some pans and containers also contain chemicals that may also adversely affect our health. Teflon non-stick pans are made with a product (PFOA or perflorooctanoic acid) that is a known human carcinogen. Carcinogens cause cancer. These chemicals remain in our environment forever and stand to harm human health and God’s creation.the Environmental Working Group has also linked the fumes from Teflon pans with pet bird deaths. The Center for Disease Control suggests switching your non-stick pan for a cast iron, stainless steel, or anodized aluminum pan. The top eight producers of PFOA signed an agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency in 2006 saying they would phase out all PFOA pollution by 2015. Teflon and other PFOAs (such as Goretex or Scotchguard) are part of a family of chemicals called PFCs. PFCs are considered by scientists to be among the most hazardous contaminants ever produced and are found in the blood of more than 90 percent of the U.S. population. PFCs have been linked to different types of cancers and birth defects. Additionally, as our lives become busier with less time to prepare meals, we often resort to pre-packaged foods. However, some of these options can actually be quite harmful to our health, and the health of our children. For instance, plastic baby bottles or water bottles with the #7 at the bottom, plastics used to coat and protect children’s teeth from cavities, infant baby formula cans and other aluminum cans are all lined with bisphenol-a. This chemical is known to cause increased rates of breast cancer and prostate cancer. New research also links Bisphenol-a with obesity and type II diabetes. Bisphenol-a and some pesticides are alsosuspected or known endocrine disrupters. Our endocrine system regulates when and how much of a hormone is released. These chemicals are able to mimic the behavior of these hormones, causing them to release at the wrong times, not at all, or the wrong amount of the hormone. This can lead to developmental disorders, birth defects, reproductive development, and disrupt other bodily functions. Infants, children, and fetuses are particularly vulnerable to these chemicals. Read more about endocrine disrupters. Lastly, microwaving food in plastic containers can release toxic chemicals that can cause cancer. What we can do Avoid microwaving plastic containers. Try ceramic or glass containers instead. Use stainless steel or cast iron frying pans or pots when cooking Use glass, ceramic, or stainless steel drinking containers or look for plastics that have a #1, 2,4 or 5. Purchase baby bottles or sippy cups with a #1, 2, 4 or 5 on the label Shop at organic farmer’s markets when available Buy organic produce when possible Visit the Healthy Legacy Coalition to learn what produce may be o.k. to buy conventionally and which produce is recommended to avoid or buy organically. Avoid stain or dirt resistant treatments on furniture or carpets. Avoid buying items that have been treated for water, stain or dirt repellency. Learn more Read a new report on bisphenol-a in baby bottles! Our Stolen Future: Bisphenol-A Five-minute radio program on bisphenol-A on Living on Earth More on bisphenol-a from the Alliance for a Healthy Maine More on Teflon and PFCs from the Environmental Working Group Read more about other environmental health topics on the NCC website Environmental Health- Home Toxics Environmental Justice and Health Children’s and Women’s Health Pesticides Our daily Bread- Food and Health Plastics Mercury- Our Children’s Inheritance Air Quality Flame Retardants Take Action!