By Paula Osborn, NCL Public Policy Intern

Paula is a child labor public policy intern at the National Consumers League. She’s from Albuquerque, New Mexico and, this fall, will begin her senior at Johns Hopkins University, where she’s studying Psychological and Brain Sciences, with a minor in Spanish for the Professions and a pre-law concentration.

My mother always used to tell me to clean my plate at dinnertime because there were starving children in China who would love to have the food I had in front of me. Last week, I learned that mothers should also be telling their kids to go to appreciate being able to go to school every day because there are 72 million children all over the world who would love to be in their place.

Last week, child labor advocates honored World Day Against Child Labor with a panel discussion to address this year’s theme: Education – The Right Response to Child Labor. A dozen panelists elaborated on education being the key to poverty reduction, attaining social justice, and enhancing skills for productivity and economic growth. Panelists argued that ensuring basic education for all is the most direct and cost-effective way of eliminating child labor and, in turn, the elimination of child labor is a prerequisite for any country’s fast economic development.

An excerpt from “Rescuing Emmanuel,” a film by Len Morris, showed street children from Nairobi exclaiming their desire to go to school, a luxury they were not afforded. Millions of children living on the streets have the same dream. To learn more, visit the International Labour Organization.

A few months ago, I was looking for possible internships for the summer, when I came across the National Consumers League, which needed a Child Labor Policy Intern for its Child Labor Coalition for the summer. I was immediately intrigued; I am very interested in protecting human rights, especially children because they cannot help themselves. At Johns Hopkins, my focus is child labor in Latin America and the United States, especially focusing on child labor in agriculture.

In my first few weeks at NCL, I have been—and will continue to—going to many conferences, events, and panel discussions on child labor-related issues, which I will be relaying back to you through my blogs. Stay tuned!

By Ria Eapen, Health Policy Associate

Many consumers rely upon conventional medicine to treat various ailments. However, others use complementary and alternative medicine, such as therapies like acupuncture and homeopathy and products like dietary supplements and herbs.

Curious?

Feel free to check out the federal government’s agency known as the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, or NCCAM. This agency is 1 of 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health (NIH) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

If you would like to learn more about CAM, including some tips on how to discuss your options with your physician, please visit: https://nccam.nih.gov/timetotalk/forpatients.htm.

How about you, what’s your preferred method of treatment?

Supermarkets, fast-food chains, and restaurants have pulled certain raw red plum, red Roma, and red round tomatoes, and products containing these raw, red tomatoes from their shelves and menus following an outbreak of salmonella.

Most people infected with salmonella suffer experience diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after infection, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Yuck!

The Food and Drug Administration has posted a list of states which have not been associated with the salmonella outbreak.

You hear a knock at your door. You look through the peephole and see a salesperson. In this day and age, you can never be too cautious when it comes to who you choose to do business with.
NCL teaches consumers how to identify salespeople from honest door-to-door sales companies. These salespeople will:

• Identify themselves and the company’s products they represent by name. They should explain the purpose of their visit upfront and present proper identification.
• Respect your wishes. It’s a sign of fraud if they try to pressure you into buying something on the spot or refuse to honor your request to end the sales presentation.

For more information, including tips on deceptive sales tactics, read this month’s 2008 Consumer Calendar: Do We Have Tips for You! June’s tips are sponsored by The Southwestern Company.

According to researchers at Cornell University, the average person makes more than 200 food choices a day! Isn’t that, well, nuts?

Most survey participants guessed that they only make 15 food-related decisions each day. What a disconnect! So, not surprisingly, the researchers found that we make many of these decisions – about portion size, for example – unknowingly, and end up overeating without even realizing it.

The Washington Post recently reported on America’s youth obesity crisis. So much bad news on this subject these days – where’s the good news? Here’s some: our LifeSmarts program offers key nutrition facts and resources – as well as tips on a variety of other subjects – to help students make better food choices and to become healthy and responsible consumers. Right now the program’s in “Spring Training.” Check it out!