Whenever I am feeling
dangerously chipper and
optimistic about the state
of life, the world and humanity
in general, all I
need to do is tune in to National
Public Radio for my
RDA of suffering and panic.
Because we don’t have
cable television, we are
blissfully sheltered from
many of the ways news programming
attempts to entice
and ensnare users. For
many years, I watched network
morning news programs
daily while I got my
children ready for school
and dressed myself for
work. Now, without TV service,
I have gone almost a
year without seeing a single
``Today Show’’ segment on
``jeans for every body type,’’
``health conscious summer
recipes’’ or ``ordinary household
objects that are likely
to kill you.’’
Know what? I haven’t
missed them.
But if you took away my
access to public radio, I
would miss it like I would
miss a relative. Yet, as
much as NPR is a trusted
member of the family, it’s
also a relative whom I have
to silence at times during
breakfast, lest my children
ingest news of war crimes,
civil unrest and dour signs
of the economic times along
with their cereal.
It’s like sitting at the
family reunion next to that
aunt who has no conversation
filter at. One minute,
the conversation is pleasant
as can be, then without
warning, she’s describing
her colonoscopy in vivid detail.
Yes, I want to be informed.
I want news of the
world delivered in a multitude
of voices, and NPR
does a fine job of that. But
does it always have to be so
scary?
Last week, I listened to
an episode of ``Alternative
Radio,’’ a program that features
lectures and presentations
by passionate experts
in the various
disciplines and ways in
which the human race is
headed to extinction in a
handbasket.
One week, you can hear
about how we have already
passed the crisis point for
preserving a sustainable
water supply. The next
week, you will hear about
how big chemical agribusiness
is literally killing
farmers in India, or at least
putting some of the world’s
poorest subsistence farmers
in a position where suicide-
by-fertilizer is preferable
to farming.
Last week, I learned
that microwave popcorn is
just one of the long list of
things that turns our bodies
into toxic cesspools.
Investigative journalist
and author of ``The Body
Toxic,’’ Nena Baker, described
the chemicals used
to line microwave popcorn
bags so the oils don’t leak
through and burn your
snack-happy fingers. Sure,
it’s convenient and delicious,
but when the bag is
heated (which is its raison
d’etre), some of that perfluorinated
chemical known
as PFOA leaches into the
oil of the popcorn and ends
up in your body. PFOA,
which the Environmental
Protection Agency classified
in 2006 as a likely carcinogen,
is very slow to
break down in warm-blooded
species (such as children).
Studies in lab mice
demonstrate that PFOA
disrupts hormone and liver
function, neonatal development
and the immune system.
And in a supreme ironic
twist for anyone who has
gleefully snorfed down one
of those 100-Calorie popcorn
bags (guilty), PFOA
exposure also is linked in
studies to an increased risk
of obesity.
The truly terrifying
thing I learned from Baker
is just how ubiquitous this
chemical is in everyday
products. In addition to microwave
popcorn bags,
PFOA is used in non-stick
cookware, stain blockers in
fabrics and carpets, dental
floss and even jackets and
rain gear.
It’s enough to send a
nervous gal off the grid and
into the wilderness, except
that there are probably just
as many things that could
kill me in the wilderness as
there are in civilization.
Instead of panicking, I
did some research, and
found that non-stick cookware
seems to be safe, and
manufacturers claim to be
making it safer. However,
heating up food in plastic
containers? Not so much.
As for popcorn, we’ll be
making our own 100-calorie
packs on the stove.
Elizabeth Trever Buchinger
is lined with a grease
resistant chemical. You
can connect with her at
www.moremindfulfamily.
wordpress.com.
