Llamas at the Governor's Office at the State Capitol

Excited to present in the Governor's Reception room!

The Llamas presented our "Are You Dying to Eat Chicken" message at the Governor's Office at the MN State Capitol on Friday, February 17th.  We were escorted into the Governor's beautiful reception room and did our skit for Katie Troyer the Public Liason to the Governor and her staff.  They, like so many of the consumers we have talked to, were surprised that arsenic is in our chicken.  Ms. Troyer answered many of our questions and offered to help arrange a meeting with the team and someone from the Department of Agriculture.  She agreed that we need bi-partisan support for our bill and was surprised how much our team knew about the process of getting our bill passed. Being at the Capitol was exciting and it was yet another opportunity for us to gain steam behind our ultimate goal - warning labels (and an eventual ban) on chicken raised with arsenic!


On the steps of the MN Capitol

In front of the famous North Star

Lego Llamas Return Prep for State Tourament

We are so excited about the State Lego League Competition tomorrow.  74 teams will be there in 2 divisions. These are the winners of their regional tournaments just like us...so we KNOW they have worked hard!

If you'd like to come out and cheer for the Llamas tomorrow we will be at Washington School (Rice St. and Arlington) in St. Paul. Design & Program Judging at 8 am, 1st Robot Performance at 9:33, Research at 9:55. Two more Robot Performances follow at 11:12 and 12:30. Head to head competition in the afternoon. No admission fee. Concessions available. Wear your bright green and yellow or bring a llama (just kidding, that could get messy.)

If there is one word to describe our robot over the last month it would be-

 REVISION

Coach Williams has really encouraged us to refine and add to our original design.  We added sensors, created more attachments and programmed more missions than ever before. Thanks for pushing us to always work a little harder and smarter Coach Williams!

We really hope that tomorrow all the hard work will pay off and the missions will work as planned.      We wish all the FLL State Competition teams the best of luck.  Saturday is gonna rock!

Meeting at IATP with Dr. Wallinga

Yesterday we went to the IATP (Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy) and met Dr. Wallinga, author of "Playing Chicken", and had an interview with him. His staff video taped our presentation, and Dr. Wallinga answered a lot of our questions.  We agree with Dr. Wallinga that arsenic is in too many places already, so why do we need to intentionally put it in our chicken? 


Did you know that ANOTHER source of arsenic in our beef is that some companies actually grind up the chickens feathers that have arsenic dust in them and feed them to their cows!


 Dr. Wallinga was really excited about getting warning labels on chicken with arsenic in it because it gets consumers talking about it. He also agreed to be our expert when we get a  legislative hearing. That was great news to us!

Llamas talk to LOTS of consumers at Food Makeover!

We had a great day educating people at the Maximized Living Food Makeover on Saturday, January 14th.  There were over 120 people in the audience and most of them had no idea arsenic is in their chicken...now they do!

The Food Makeover was a seminar for people who want to learn to eat healthier, learn about organic food, lose weight and eat for peak performance.  Our message fit right in!  We set up our booth at 9:30 am and talked to people as they arrived until the seminar began at 10am. There was a break at noon so more participants could visit our table, read our poster board and hear our message.  The seminar ended at 1 pm when we shared our message one more time as people were leaving.

We distributed over 40 "Buying Better Chicken" guides.  To get one for yourself,  click this link -http://www.iatp.org/files/Buying%20Better%20Chicken042011.pdf This is a 4 page report from the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) and it profiles the chicken producers that raise their chicken organically and/or without the use of arsenic and antibiotics.

Consumers were also encouraged to take our "Top Ten Benefits of Organic Free-range Chicken" flyers.  Some of the reasons?  NO ARSENIC, no antibiotics, higher vitamin and omega fatty acid content and better taste to name a few! On the back of the flyers we gave links to websites where they could find free-range organic poultry in the area http://www.eatwild.com/ and for our friends at Highview Pastures http://highviewpastures.com/

Overall it was a great day and we really accomplished one of our main goals...educating consumers! Check out our photos!

Llamas educate consumers at Maximized Living's "Food Makeover"

Come see us on Saturday, January 14th from 10am-1pm at the Maplewood Community Center .  We will have a table at the Maximized Living "Total Food Makeover" seminar.  Maximized Living is a consortium of chiropractors who believe that you can live your best life by utilizing the right combination of nutrition, exercise, chiropractic care, managing stress/ relationships and limiting exposure to toxins. Arsenic in chicken is certainly a toxin we can avoid and we want to show consumers how.  Most people don't even know they are exposed to arsenic while eating chicken! The Llamas will be there to educate the people who attend this seminar and to provide them with a packet of information on which brands raise their chickens without arsenic. If you are interested in nutrition, weight loss, exercise or our exposure to toxins you will enjoy this seminar.  Come and say hello to us!

Info:

Maximized Living "Total Food Makeover"

Saturday, January 13th 10 am - 1 pm

Maplewood Community Center -  2100 White Bear Avenue, Maplewood

$15 at the door

presented by Vibrant Life Center and Beseman Chiropractic

Lego Llamas Return meet with Rep. Nora Slawik!

Our team met with Rep. Nora Slawik in late December to discuss our legislative solution to arsenic in chicken.  Rep. Slawik watched our presentation and agreed that pursuing legislation to add warning labels on chicken thats fed arsenic would be a good place for us to start.  She was concerned about this being a federal issue so she asked our coach to send a constituent e-mail outlining all of our questions so that she could have her staff review it and answer the questions.  It turns out that they think this can be a state issue and also that there is a bill currently in the House prohibiting the sale of arsenic chicken.  This bill was introduced last April by Rep. Bev Scalze of Little Canada but they have been unable to get a hearing. Our next step is to contact Rep. Scalze and find out all about this bill, her opinions and whether we should put our energy behind that bill or continue our course for consumer warning labels.  Stay tuned...

How much arsenic is in your brand?

www.iatp.org/documents/playing-chicken-avoiding-arsenic-in-your-meat
Have you ever wondered how much arsenic is in the chicken YOU buy?  How about at your favorite fast food place?  This report shows many popular brands and how they tested for arsenic.  Check it out!