Organics for Baby, Beyond Food

by Mara Fleishman, March 24th, 2009 | Permalink | Email this

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26 Responses to “Organics for Baby, Beyond Food”

1. Gregg Smith:

   Please cite your sources regarding cotton and pesticide usage. The only statistics I can find are from 1995 and are clearly outdated. The latest stats I can find are from (the admittedly biased) cottoninc.com and show a signficant decrease in pesticide usage in the past decade. As the son of a mid-size cotton farmer, I know he’s using fewer pesiticides and growing more sustainable cotton since I worked on the farm with him as a youth. He makes fewer passes through the field, uses of cover crops and focuses on the quality of the soil.

   I believe it’s irresponsible to make such a claim without a source. I realize I’m biased, but I’m also open-minded. I truly wish I hadn’t been as exposed to pesticides as I was when I worked on the farm. I’m glad to see the usage has decreased and the processes are much safer today.

   Thanks for allowing me to comment on your statement. Buying cotton period is good for everyone.

   
   March 24th, 2009 at 10:33 am
2. Roy Hanni:

   Do your kids and your self a favor, by using the none toxic, no alcohol, no fake coloring or flavoring toothpaste and rinse.
   Which have all beneficial ingredients to support healthy teeth, I personally think we have to go back to basic, organic and nature…

   Roy and Lori Hanni RDH OMT

   
   March 24th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
3. “Organic” Is More Than Just Edibles - Organic Baby Clothes, Bedding, & Diapers:

   [...] Foods Market has put together a great video of an interview with Lynda Fassa, founder of Green Babies. Lynda points out a number of facts about organic cotton and clothing that [...]

   
   March 24th, 2009 at 9:59 pm
4. Danielle Wheeler:

   That is an amazing statistic that she gives- only 3% of the crop but using 25% of the pesticides. I, like your first commenter, would like a source. It is good to hear from him that pesticide usage has gone down.
   I am frustrated by the fact that Organic seems to be a reason to raise the price point. It is good to hear that prices are becoming more comparable as the demand goes up.

   
   March 24th, 2009 at 11:21 pm
5. Paige Brady:

   @Gregg: Thanks for posting. Here’s a response from Lynda:

   Hi Gregg. Thanks for viewing our video and for your request for sources. There are many that substantiate that conventional cotton worldwide has serious impact on our environment, here is one that is very specific about pesticide use on convention cotton here in the USA: http://www.organicexchange.org/Farm/cotton_facts_intro.htm

   Please also consider viewing this film from the UK’s Environmental Justice Foundation to see how truly devastating conventional cotton can be. It’s a hard film to see but I promise you’ll never forget it: http://www.ejfoundation.org/page141.html

   I also wanted to say I am very grateful to your dad for working to reduce his pesticide use. This makes a huge difference to everyone and all species. I hope more farmers will follow his heroic lead. Thanks again for asking questions and sharing your experience. Best, Lynda Fassa

   
   March 25th, 2009 at 6:48 am
6. Jenny:

   The stats about cotton as a percentage of world crops vs cotton’s fertilizer/pesticide use was a great way to put buying organic into perspective. Often it feels like buying organic products doesn’t have enough of an impact or offset (considering shipping costs/pollution, for example) so it’s good to see an example of how buying organic does work.

   
   March 25th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
7. Kay M:

   Wow! The stats in this podcast are amazing and mind-blowing! As a ‘green’ mom I try very hard to purchase green items, but prices on many things are so crazy…especially in this economy. Organic cotton is just so much easier, to afford and to care for!

   
   March 26th, 2009 at 10:15 am
8. Christie:

   I have sewn for years, primarily quilts and baby items and love to use 100% cotton fabrics. It is sad to know that something that should be so safe is actually so full of “bad stuff”. I will be seeking out more sources of organically grown cotton, especially for baby items.

   
   March 27th, 2009 at 3:12 am
9. Angela:

   Wow. I never realized how many “bad things” were in cotton. I have been slowly making the jump to organics, but I might have to do it a little quicker now.

   
   March 27th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
10. Christie:

    There’s more to kid’s clothing safety than flammability.

    
    March 28th, 2009 at 2:26 am
11. joanna smith:

    This was a very compelling video! I have a 6 month old daughter and I have been dressing her in some new conventional onsies and now I am shocked scared because of what I learned today from this video! I had absolutely no idea that there was so much pesticides in conventional cotton and after learning this I am going to throw all of them away! I am going to run, not walk to the closest place I can find that sells organic cotton baby clothing. I am so thankful, very, very thankful to learn all that I learned today from watching this video that you created because as a mother I want the very best, and most importantly safest products used on my children and today was a real eye opener and reality check for me that I need to become much more of an educated consumer on the dangers of some of the products out in the marketplace and how we can be fooled into thinking that they are safe for our babies. Thank you so much for making these types of educational videos available for us to learn from.

    
    March 28th, 2009 at 7:38 am
12. lace:

    Wow! I did not know that about cotton and coffee as well. I also never thought about cottonseed oil being in our food sources as well.

    Loved the blue tank top

    Learned so many great things, thank you.

    
    March 28th, 2009 at 8:59 pm
13. Tangie:

    I never knew that there were so many pesticides involved in cotton growing!! Now I get why organic cotton is so much better for our world. When I had my oldest son…who is 13 now….the only organic baby clothing or items that you would find would be not only HARD to find…but unattractive and unrealistic to purchase. I’m very glad to see that now, in 2009, I have a 2 year old and can now purchase organic products that are functional, stylish and cute even!!! And organic and natural products are no longer so hard to find! I definitely need to make a promise to try more organic cotton!

    
    March 29th, 2009 at 3:33 am
14. melanie burch:

    i think more people need this information! thanks for providing it.

    
    March 29th, 2009 at 10:53 am
15. Pam:

    My DIL and new grandbaby have very sensitive skin and this would be a great help. I never thought it was thier clothing. We just kept track of the soaps and laundry detergent that we used for thier clothing.

    
    March 29th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
16. Pam:

    I commented earlier but forgot to include the website.

    
    March 29th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
17. Amy:

    It is nice to hear that the prices for organic cotton clothing are coming down. It is hard for me to buy these things because they are so expensive. I did not know that about cotton! Great info…thanks!

    
    March 29th, 2009 at 1:54 pm
18. A Casson:

    Very interesting podcast, The clothing is Fabulous and they say so soft and the baby blanket zipper suit thing is so neat.

    
    March 30th, 2009 at 5:32 am
19. Zoey:

    What an awesome idea. It is never too early to start learning and using organic!

    
    March 30th, 2009 at 9:43 am
20. Quanda:

    I do appreciate the insight on cotton in general, especially organic cotton.

    
    March 30th, 2009 at 9:52 am
21. Maria:

    Wow. All this info was totally new to me.

    
    March 30th, 2009 at 10:17 am
22. Heather:

    This was very interesting. I had no clue about cotton. We’ve slowly been going organic, but knowing this will push us to try buying even more.

    
    March 30th, 2009 at 10:53 am
23. Brooke:

    I had no idea what a positive impact on the environment organic cotton has! Thanks!

    
    March 30th, 2009 at 11:03 am
24. Susan P:

    interesting thanks!

    
    March 30th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
25. Marcy Strahan:

    Thank you for educating me more one why orangic cotton is better. I live on the Gulf coast & I know the problem we have with red tide.
    This is all because of the runnof of all these chemicals!

    I also don’t want clothing made with chemical to hurt my childrens skin!
    I always has to wash & wash new clothing before they could wear them.
    Buy orangic is the only way to go!

    
    March 30th, 2009 at 5:20 pm
26. Brooke:

    I really like the baby zipper suit. I never understood why Whole Foods sold clothing, but now I get it.

    
    March 31st, 2009 at 5:34 pm