Sometimes I feel discouraged about the direction the world is moving in and wonder what it will be like when my children are raising children.  I wonder if they will have the freedom to make choices that are in line with their beliefs and values.  Will they be able to choose (for example) home birth, home education, and alternative health care choices for their children?

Last week I watched the new documentary Bought with dh, dd14 and ds12.

The goal of this program is to open a conversation about who is manufacturing our food and medicines, who is dictating policies regarding both, and how this is affecting our health.  We don’t have much transparency in these areas and consumers deserve to know more about this so we can make informed choices for our families.

This program confirmed much of what I already know, but it didn’t depress me.  Actually, it gave me hope.  Hope that there are a lot more people out there who are doing the research that I’m doing, who are coming to conclusions that I’ve come to, who are concerned about the same things that concern me.

As dh said when we finished watching, it was very nice to feel that we’re not alone.

‘Bought’ is available to watch online for free until March 6.  It raises valid issues that would be of concern to almost all of us if we knew what was involved.  I’m a proponent of the concept of ‘informed consent’, and we can’t make informed choices when critical information is withheld for the sake of financial profits.  I would love to believe that people are rising up and demanding transparency from the major manufacturers, but the real power will come from a critical mass of educated parents making these demands in unison.

Avivah