Calley Means: I think these executives don't want their kids to be sick

"I think these executives don't want their kids to be sick. They don't want 33% of young adults to have free diabetes, 50% of teens to be overweight or obese, fatty liver disease, autoimmune conditions, childhood cancers all skyrocketing. It's because of our toxic food supply. And I think the people in this building, when I see a lot of them, I think they want to see leadership. And I think we have to get out of this inertia.
And I think everyone in this building, they still have an opportunity to be a leader. Yes, regulation needs to change, our policies need to change, and trust me, they will. But also, part of the American system is our corporations being an important stakeholder and not poisoning our kids. I know the executives in this building have been set up the system, but they are propagating a system. A system that is serving really harmful ingredients to kids. These colorings don't need to be in there.
They do not need to be in there. These are petroleum-based colorings. They're phased out of almost every other country. They literally, in this country, make food for Canada without these ingredients. They use watermelon and carrot juice, as Lani says. So I still think there's hope for people in this building.
Although there was some people right there that had a shameful sign, a shameful sign that said get off our lawn. They were telling these hundreds of children, hundreds of mothers to get off their lawn. Mothers who are here for no other reason than to say that our kids should not be poisoned in this country. So while maybe we've lost hope for some people, I do think Kellogg still has a chance to do the right thing.
Well, I used to work for the food industry and consult for them and help propagate, you know, pay off research and pay off the USDA. And I can tell you, it is like a frog in boiling water. I think people have got to pay their mortgages. You know, Mark Twain said, you're never going to convince somebody to go against their own financial interests. What pays their paycheck? So, many houses, many expensive houses in this area are paid for, their mortgages are paid for by this company. I think it's hard. But I do think people are waking up. I'm getting a lot of outreach from executives at pharma companies and food companies realize something is wrong and we can do better in America. We can refrain from poisoning our kids. We can work with America. We can send $200 billion to Ukraine. We can shut the entire country down for COVID. We can move quickly. And the biggest crisis we have in this country is the child with chronic disease crisis. So I just want everyone in that room to know, it might feel like it's hard to change. It might feel like they need to dig their heels in. That was my inclination when I worked for these companies and consulted for them.
But they can change. We can change quickly. I want them to know that.
This can change overnight. We've got political candidates talking about this. This is the conversation just several weeks away from the election. We've got moms waking up. This is a very resonant issue. This is what consumers want. No parent wants these ingredients in their food. So I think there's actually a huge opportunity. This is a bipartisan issue. This is a jump ball for companies to show leadership. And the companies that show leadership on this issue are going to be rewarded.
Absolutely not. Absolutely not. I think signatures are coming in by the thousand as we stand here right now and we will continue to be unrelenting as Jason said. Do not buy Kellogg's cereal stop buying Kellogg's. Jason has said this, he was one of the most successful investors in the country. If you go down and take their revenue down 5%, 5%, it's going to transform this company.
So, the thing we can do right now is vote with our wallets. It's so simple. But I'm telling you, we've got political leadership happening. We've got this being talked about at the highest levels. I've met with a hundred members of Congress and senators by parts and they don't want this. We're going to see top-down change. And if consumers continue signing Vani's petition, continue following the amazing people here, continue buying books and listening to podcasts and working within their families and communities to spread these issues, that's going to change the world from the bottoms up.
So just keep pushing."