Behind the Scenes CNN Interview Video by Ryan Wirick
When CNN aired the the Oregon GMO Wheat Mystery piece by Stephanie Elam on Monday June 17, 2013, http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/us/2013/06/17/tsr-dnt-elam-gmo-wheat-oregon.cnn it was a huge step for the movement in the right direction. People watching mass media are now wondering what GMOs are and why they are in doing illegally in our food. People are also seeing not just scientists and doctors being interviewed about GMOs, but an everyday Mom. Robyn O'Brien paved the way for us with her book "The UnHealthy Truth " and was in mainstream media, but for a Mom activist to get air time shows the power of what each and every mom contributes by sharing and standing up for health and freedom. Moms activists are being heard.
The CNN piece was mostly about the Oregon wheat however, and Ryan Wirick, talented producer of the following video, saw that there was more to the story. There is the story of Mom's health concerns. There is the story of our children in America.
This is our reality. Moms get nothing out of sharing what we are sharing except connecting with others that are going through the same struggles and creating a healthy future for our children. We share to empower America. We have the right not only to know what is in our food, but if there are health risks. We see that there are from looking at our own children and we want America and the world to know. We want health and freedom for all.
Thank you for sharing this.
Zen Honeycutt
It was a huge honor to be the one interviewed for the piece, and I didn't get to do this alone. I want to thank Michael Carey, reporter and camerman, Jack Olmstead executive producer of Weekly Womens GMO Free News for this idea, Pamm Larrry, Howard Vlieger, Kathleen Hallal and of course our husbands and children for their support in getting to this point were we have created a national organization having an international impact. I am moved to tears by what we are creating. Empowerment, love, health and freedom for all. Thank you!
For more information about PANDAS mentioned go to www.savingsammy.net
Proof of GMO Harm
Moms just know. We knew when we saw " The Future of Food" or "Food Inc" or " The Vanishing of the Bees" that this was bad. Nothing good could come from patenting seeds, dousing them and injecting them with poison and then spraying them with more poison and feeding to our nation. We knew that Robyn O'Brien exposed it when she linked GMOs to allergies. We knew that Jeffrey Smith put the first of many nails in the coffin of what will someday be the GMO DEBACLE. We knew that GMOs and chemical farming was hurting our kids, but besides a shocking study of rats with tumors that went completely ignored by main stream media, we did not have proof.
Until now, This is as SustainablePulse.com called it, "The Worst Week Ever for Monsanto Science".
First on Tuesday, the study of Pigs and GMO feed. PROOF that GMOs and the pesticide and herbicide combinations in and on them DO impact the stomachs of mammals. It has been claimed by Monsanto that these chemicals only kill bugs and do not affect mammals because we have a stomach acid. Look at the pictures. Mammals are impacted. The pigs had stomach ulcers and severe damage which is also skyrocketing in our American children. They show signs which mimick autism: distraction, irritability and inability to follow directions. Autism rate shave gone from 1 in 10,000 children to 1 in 50, in the 15 years since GMos and Glyphosate has been sprayed ON our food.( get our Howard Vliger DVD for more info)
They also had 25% heavier uteruses, resulting increased miscarriages. We currently have the lowest birth rate in America's recorded history. Every Mom I know as either had a miscarriages, has trouble getting pregnant or has a sister who lost a baby, many in the the third trimester, mysteriously, or to "SIDS" as an infant. These are our BABIES!!! The tragedy of loss is something no mother should ever have to bear. To find out it may have been prevented with just some regulatory testing is too outrageous for me to even comprehend. What if this is linked to my miscarriage, what if my baby had lived? Might I have had a daughter? It's time for Monsanto to do the wondering...when they are going to stop doing this and start doing something else.
Dr. Judy Carman: Evidence of GMO Harm in Pig Study: http://gmoevidence.com/dr-judy-carman-evidence-of-gmo-harm-in-pig-study/
Then Wednesday, the report of Glyphosate showing up in 18 countries throughout Europe came out. What I wonder is, how are they getting tested? I am sure it is in our urine too, as I have called the water department and they shared recording of glyphosate in the CA water with me. But none of my doctors will test me for it. Another Mom was told that no lab would test her for it because Monsanto owns the patent and no testing is allowed. So we cannot even test our own blood and urine for the most commonly used herbicide on our planet?
Messing it up and Doing it Anyway!
I am willing to mess up. I am committed to being effective, but what I have realized is that being a leader means you have to be willing to mess up and just do it anyway. Your commitment to being effective has to supersede the fear of failure.
Someone who is not willing to mess up does not take action.
To be someone who speaks out for a cause like GMO awareness means being a leader. We have all kinds of fears attached to that word, "leader", and for many of us it stops us from taking action. The rewards, however when we do, are far beyond what we can imagine.
Yesterday, the unimaginable happened to me. CNN came to my house ( my HOUSE!!!! you can imagine how my kitchen suddenly looked to me when I found out, I wanted to suddenly renovate) and filmed me cooking a GMO free breakfast ( why, oh why didn't I buy a new set of pots and pans??? Why are all my scrambled eggs sticking????) and eating together as a family (What if I look as nervous as I feel?). YIKES! Most importantly what if I don't say the right thing or forget to say something? What if I mess it up nationally???? ACK! The responsibility to speak for moms seemed immense.
The committee of chatter in my head analyzed everything before the shoot and I called Robyn O'Brien and just say out loud that "I know that I am not going to "get this right" for everyone. They are only going to take a few sound bites and I am never going to be able to say everything I want...so....( deep breath) I am going to be okay with "messing it up". I am also totally committed delivering my message. "Kids get better off GMOs."
She supported me by saying that "even one sentence that they use, or even just the image of me as a Mom, will inspire other to speak up. They will get that they can do it too."
And that's when I realized that it is more important that I do this, for others, than it is for me to paralyze myself with fear to "protect" myself. I am committed to, and believe I did, deliver our message in a way that people can hear it. It's not as impassioned as I really feel about all this, but I get that that screaming it like I kinda-sorta did at the rally in my speech at March Against Monsanto is a different setting. Delivering a message means being calm, focused, strong and clear.
As a leader for this cause, in whatever capacity we choose, there is a lot that can get in the way of being focused and clear, for you, for me. Mostly it is all in our heads. We think "I couldn't be a speaker, I can't even talk to my neighbor about this ...I don't have what it takes...I am too shy...too angry...too busy...too tired..." or maybe it's "not enough" like, "I am not well-spoken enough, or prepared enough, or experienced enough."
Or maybe you really believe you are " just not that kind of person"...sort of how I used to believe I am "not good at math". Now, I use math, in my example that if you as just 1 person has 10 people over for a GMO movie night and those 10 share with 5 and those 5 all share with 5 who also share with 5, then you will be responsible for 1,270 people finding out about GMOs! This math example is inspiring ten of thousands! How's that for rocking math?? Do you believe things about your self too? Like you are " just not a leader?" or "Just not a speaker?"
I ask you to consider that that is not REAL about you. It's just something you made up about yourself. It's just something you say to protect yourself from the fear of failure and "messing it up."
Now some of you are really going to fight me on this, and say " but I really do have a soft voice" or " I get really nervous talking to people and I feel like I am going to throw up in front of a room, I am just not like that."
My answer, with all the love in the world for you, is SO WHAT???!!!
What is more important, letting your fear of failure and messing up in front of people dictate your actions or your gigantic commitment that people have HEALTH and FREEDOM NOW?
What is more important, you NOT sweating or children having the future they deserve and seeds being accessible to all?
What is more important, you being more comfortable NOT talking to your neighbor or being a stand that EVERYONE knows about GMOs and causing a tipping point of consumer rejection NOW?
It's only going to happen if we say so. Speaking to your neighbor and inviting them to a GMO movie night June 15th, getting up in front of a room and speaking at a school, or speaking on CNN is all the same. It just means that you take actions that are aligned with what you are committed to. Someone, I think that Dalai Lama said, that when your actions are in alignment with your commitment, is when you experience true joy. We can experience that joy in adverse situations or not.
So whether they air my segment on CNN or not, whether they pick out the best sound bites or not, whether you think I messed up or not, I am going to keep going. I will not stop. I will not give up. My love for my children will never end and my actions will be in alignment with that limitless love.
I hope you see the love that you have is the fuel for the opportunity of leadership you have in your life. My wish is for you to speak out in your local radio and TV stations, to write to editors, to speak at libraries....just share your personal story.
And be willing to mess it up! On of the founders of Google said, when asked why he was so inventive said,
"When I was little, I tried to pour a glass of milk and I spilled a full gallon of milk all over the kitchen floor. When my Mom saw it, she didn't get mad, she said " WOW! that's the biggest milk spill I have ever seen! Have you ever seen one bigger? And I was stunned. I though she would get mad, but instead she smiled asked, " Would you like to play with that milk ?" I smiled and said yes and smooshed it around and it was fun. Then she asked " Would you like to help clean it up?" and we did together and it was fun. And then "Would you like to practice pouring in to a glass outside with water?" and I did and that was fun too. She taught me that it's okay to make a mess, you can even have fun with it. I never forgot that and since then I have not been afraid of messing up, so I invent."
We can be inventive and create the world we want. The Dalai Lama said "Western women will change the world" that's us, America, and the time is now.
And to the rest of the world, we do this in partnership with you. Thank you.
Love,
Zen Honeycutt
P.S. I will for sure let you all know when it airs, whether I think I messed up or not:)
Click here for the link to sign up and be a host for the Global GMO Movie night!
Have FUN sharing!
Message from the Founders
I just want to take a moment to acknowledge the fantastic, historic, awe inspiring and thrilling turn out of the 436 March Against Monsanto events in 50 countries. What Tami Canal Monroe and her very small team of committed volunteers accomplished is nothing short of phenomenal. We are grateful for them and their support with the Moms Across America March to Label GMOs!
Despite the huge leap in unity this past week, we have had some bad news.
GMO wheat found in an Oregon field, China burning 4 tankers of GMO soy (good thing) but making a deal with Brazil to get the bulk of the world's non GMO soy ( umm...not so good for the rest of us), the EU bowing to pressure and allowing GMO crops to be planted, Moms unable to get their own blood tested due to Monsanto's patents on toxic chemicals...this news can be overwhelming.
The good news is that Moms are used to being overwhelmed and that has never stopped us before and won't stop us now.
The good news is that over 75 Moms Across America groups are joining into 4th of July parades nationally so far, more every hour! The Netherlands and Canada are marching in solidarity! Whooo hooo!
We are thrilled with the partnerships we are honored to be creating with the CA State Grange, Label GMOs, NYR Organic, Dr. Bronner's, Robyn O'Brien and Allergy Kids Foundation, Organic Valley, Nature's Path, Nutivia, Institute for Responsible Technology, Holistic Moms Network, Green America, Moms for Safe Food, and more.
If you would like to support our volunteer organization to give out GMO info at every parade and empower and educate millions, there is still a week or two to be included.
Please contact Zen with connections to people who can support us and future generations.
Thank you!
Zen, Kathleen and the MAAM Team