Childrens Hospital of Chicago Lobby

I finally got to take a break and attended a Chicago Ideas Week’s event at the new Children’s Hospital, designed through a collaboration with the Children’s Advisory Board made up of patients ages 11-18 from diverse populations.  these children have spent more time than any child should have to,  battling for their life in hospital settings.

Murals in operating rooms (non-toxic of course), gardens, whale sculptures, Library Sky Garden with tall bamboo trees, Chapel with bright colored stained glass vs. muted colors, salon barbershop and gift shop with lighting set with shapes and colors kids recognize,  family friendly restaurant, family rooms, barn doors, aquarium.  There is so much to be appreciated in how simple, well thought out, dynamic changes can make long stays at a hospital for a child more like home.  Walls of art, some donated by other nonprofits, others walls of art by the children themselves was amazing!   And there is just one hospital bed in each room. The research staff will use scientific measurements to establish how this evidence based design will help children heal better, and open up new ideas for the comfort of mind, body and spirit for the children and their families.

Testing Room

Children’s Hospital of Chicago Outside of Rooms

More Kids Area JOY!

Children’s Hospital Chapel windows.

Bamboo Garden with huge windows

Amazing Views!

Familiar Graphics

Who better to work with the Parent’s Board to make their wishes known than a carefully chosen Children’s Advisory Board?  These Boards along with designers, consultants and 23 other nonprofit organizations worked together and got it right. Personal

Wall Art on Room Floors

Art by Children patients amazing halls full of wonder!

Firetruck Display a Kid’s Favorite!

hospital life for children.   The joys that are created at Children’s Hospital of Chicago help to make the experience more than bearable.  It shows these kids that a lot of people care enough to create an environment that is less intimidating, more inviting and makes the experience for them and their families a more peaceful experience, and more fun.  The patients have the opportunity to experience art and where the inside feels more like outside, with great views, gardens and aquariums.

More Art…by the children, for the children near the media room!

During the hour-long presentation, members of the Children’s Advisory Board shared so much; comments that I want to share with everyone out there.  These quotes are paraphrased and meant to express their process and inspiring stories.  We then took an hour to see what these children talked about. To see and experience each of their visions and how they were manifested.  All in all, the comments and a few photos I took while there, I hope will show you this amazing story.

I simply am so proud of the accomplishment of these kids, parents board and community to bring this astonishing facility to Chicago.  Could this well thought out environment help heal?  I personally believe it can.  For scientists it will probably need to be proven further, but for me, I believe environment can be a big part of the spiritual calm and spiritual healing needed to heal the body.

Children’s Advisory Board presenters

Here are a couple of paraphrased quotes by the Children’s Advisory Board who have spent so much time as patients in children’s hospitals.

“We feel we really had a voice”

“This experience teaches you to advocate for yourself”

“Meeting with Maggie Daley, architects and parents was so empowering”

“One of the parents said we should get jacuzzi’s in the room!:

“Giant animals didn’t always work for all ages.”

“Big windows connect us with the outside.

“Being on the Children’s Advisory Board gave me something to write on my college application.”

“We saw our ideas come to reality”

“We left our footprints here”

“The feedback from families and kids has been amazing to hear”

Thanks to everyone involved.

Knowledge on Sugar IS POWER!

Sometimes it helps to be entertained while we are choking down the truth about sugar.

Hey, I love the taste too, but these are the affects of sugar on our health.

http://therealbears.org/#video

Along the years at Farm Aid

I am so happy to have been invited to be part of Farm Aids’ Home Grown Village in Hershey, PA September 22.  It was pretty last minute and after attending Farm Aid as a concert-goer for years, it was absolutely amazing to be there to talk about CanUDigit.org, and to attend a press conference. I have been to press conferences before, but I will never forget the level of passion of these artists, the founder of Farm Aid and farmers as far away as New Zealand talking about their work and the tough-stuff of farming.

Amazing Appalachian Mountains, And Valleys So Deep!

Flying in to Hershey, Pennsylvania took my breath away.  As I took the 6:15 a.m. flight out of Chicago in a little bigger than a puddle-jumper aircraft, I woke up on landing to a vista of mountains, deep valleys, and I thought for a moment “where am I?’  I was entering the northern Appalachian Mountains and I didn’t realize how amazing this would be.  Then, there was the Hershey Hotel and the stories of Milton Hershey, who started this amazing school for undeserved kids and did well while doing great for kids in America.

Hershey Hotel, Hershey, PA

Hershey Hotel Old Lobby!          A must see!

This reminded me so much of Marrakech, Morocco when I traveled there on a Peace Journey a few years ago.

Many of you know that our campaigns are all about advocacy to provide access to “healthy foods”  and local farm2 table buying practices, as well as putting healthy foods back in schools.  My life has provided me amazing exposure to what can happen when celebrity helps to drive a message.  I have worked with Little Feat (greatest rock and roll band ever) and others.   Farm Aid is that activism on steroids!  For 27 years, Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young and then Dave Mathews commit their time and talent to provide an

FarmAid 2012 Press Event

opportunity for us to learn more about why farming is critical to our nation’s future.  They perform FREE.  They give it there all and for good reason. After hearing them at the Press Conference, with not one ounce of self promotion, not one ounce of anything but diggin into how our towns are eroding,  how we need to support our farmers to provide jobs and preserve families!  I am hooked on this movement and hope to inspire others.

Students setting up Solar Power for Home Grown Village

We were also very inspired by Columbia University who sent environmental students in to Hershey from NYC to build a solar panel lab so our Home Grown Village tent could have electricity!  It worked great!  However wireless continued to be an issue but we got a ton of Twitter posts for our TweetChat out throughout the course of the day, focused on sharing and gathering information from the twitter world.

An amazing site for Solar Energy that worked so well!

At FarmAid, so many passionate people stopped by and signed up to help support our CanUDigIt.org Campaigns.  We had deep conversations about what was happening in their communities.  I heard stories of gardens being grown in Harrisburg to bring community together to have city departments turn them under and leaving the residents bewildered.  We talked about animal cruelty, nutrition education in schools and how school food has to drastically change by buying local,  and heard over and over how people were working to buy direct from local farmers.   I also shared info on www.FOODDAY.ORG, Officially October 24th, but let everyone know that October is a time to celebrate final harvest, talk about and share healthy food ideas with the world. You can do that at www.CanUDigIt.org as well as FoodDay.org.

That’s right, all of us are affected and need to be involved!  Farm Aid is working to save the economy of farming. To get us to wake up about buying local.  And yes, while so many people, farmers and folks were in the audience who are already ‘awake’ to the critical nature of our

preservation of farming and food as a way of life and health, there are still so many of us who can work a little harder to seek out and buy from local farmers or grocers who ‘buy local. That’s what we hope  to inspire!

This isn’t about not liking the big businesses. It’s not about campaigning against fast food. It’s about moderation, access and waking up that American farmers need us to help them with our buying dollars. Here we can make farmers and families a priority today when we choice to buy local whenever we can. To remember there are real people,

Willie Nelson & John Mellencamp Sharing their passion for farmers and the American small town situations.

real families behind those acres of land, crops and grazing animals and without them, we don’t really exist as a society any more.  I just want to honor their work more. To take the time to understand that most of the farmers are doing their best to preserve everything that our culture stands for.

I live in a major city known for some of the best restaurants, world renowned really, and rated on every high-rating restaurant listing known to the world.  We have a responsibility in Chicago to lead in this area. Bring amazing Chefs, restauranteurs, servers, buyers, athletes, celebrity and marketers together to fight for farmers and a way of life in the Midwest and you can vote for me here: http://drivingthemidwest.com/2012otoh9/. We are also doing a shout out today to ask restauranteurs and other stakeholders to step up here for the farmer. To join us in this stand-up for what truly matters.

The Farm Aid concert was amazing!  Neil Young speaks with amazing  hear here .  http://www.farmaid.org/site/c.qlI5IhNVJsE/b.2723849/k.F173/Good_Food.htm  

Dave Mathews and John Mellencamp spoke with such conviction as well as Willie.  Watch at the Press Conference here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-Jh2FVKDiY.  Once you hear all of these men speak, there is no question as to their intellect and knowledge. And they are doing all this for the field of farming and for you and I.

The talent let you know why they were there.  And not for one moment did they fail to lay out why they were there to support the little guy.  How about all of us? How can each of us help?

Thank you for reading and being a part of this hopeful movement. It’s been a 27 year labor of love from these men and women. A big THANK YOU to all.

VOTE HERE!!!!   www.drivingthemidwest.com/

Sometimes the most amazing things happen.  This has been a true experience when my friend Angela Roos and I worked helping a neighborhood with a local garden in the inner city in  Chicago and then, being asked to be honored for our work by Our Town, Our Heroes for kids at the center of our www.CanUDigIt.org campaign. Our charity work started at  sponsorKIDS Charities 501c3 for our work for peace; Campaign PeaceJourney, after 9/11.

Great day at Donoghue Charter School with Our Peace Team.

I am always amazed at the people I have met along this 12-year journey. People who just give and give and try to help in anyway they can, knowing it’s a struggle in this economy, knowing things just don’t come easy anymore, but what I and our group has experienced is a continued understanding of this fact:  we can’t give up on the future for our kids.  Yes, our CanUDigIt.org banner is about getting healthy foods to kids who need it most — but we also believe in America, that access to healthy foods is a human right in America.  The key word is ACCESS to nutrition information and ACCESS to healthy food choices.

So I wanted to thank General Motors and GMC for nominating me for their Our Town, Our Heroes Award and ask you to please support me with your vote. It matters so much because by winning, we get to use a car and get a gift card to help with expenses for our FoodDay.org campaign to push this message out.

My Dad when stationed in the Portuguese Island of Teceira where he met my mom.

Also, I wanted to share that my beautiful Father, Lawrence Edward Moore II, who  worked in Ohio at the Chevy plant there many years ago until he retired.  He was always proud of this company. And I know for a fact, he is smiling down on this from above:)

Attached is the Press Release (and copied below).

Let your passions guide you to: http://drivingthemidwest.com/2012otoh9/ and vote for Jeannette Kravitz!

PRESS RELEASE

For more information, contact:

Fred Ligouri, General Motors

VOTE FOR JEANNETTE KRAVITZ @ http://drivingthemidwest.com/2012otoh9/

312-405-0160, fred.ligouri@gm.com

Chicago Residents Nominated for

Our Town, Our Heroes Program

 General Motors Initiative Recognizes, Rewards Local Heroes

Chicago (October 2, 2012) – Chicago residents Amy Bergeson and Jeannette Kravitz are among four finalists selected for General Motors’ Our Town, Our Heroes program. Beginning October 2, the public is encouraged to vote for their favorite hero at . Voting ends October 16 and the hero will be announced October 17.

Bergeson’s friend, Jenni Purdue, nominated her for the Our Town, Our Heroes program because of her commitment to go above and beyond as a teacher. Purdue writes, “Amy’s positive energy gives inspiration to everyone she meets. She gives so much time, energy and money for the benefit of others, more than any other professional I know. This makes her my hero.”

Scott Roos nominated Kravitz for the Our Town, Our Heroes program, citing her ability to engage youth by challenging them to promote cultural understanding and peace. “Jeannette’s latest initiative advocates healthy food access and spotlights childhood food-related issues at CanUDigit.org,” writes Roos. “She is a true action hero.”

General Motors launched the Our Town, Our Heroes program in 2011 to recognize and reward unsung heroes who are inspiring and empowering others in their local communities. Every month, the program will narrow down the nominations and open voting of the featured finalists to the public to select the winner. The hero and his or her nominator will receive a one-week loan of an all-new Chevrolet, Buick, GMC or Cadillac vehicle and a full tank of gas. New to the program this year, the winning hero will also receive $500 in gift cards, and the second place hero and his or her nominator will each receive a one- week vehicle loan.

“Amy and Jeannette are two people who are on a mission to positively shape Chicago’s youth and their communities,” said Brian Goebel, General Motors North Central Region Communications Manager. “Both Amy and Jeannette show steadfast dedication to young people, recognizing their role in laying the foundation for the future.”

To read Purdue’s and Roos’ descriptions of why Bergeson and Kravitz are inspirational hometown heroes, to vote for Bergeson or Kravitz and to nominate your own local hero, visit http://drivingthemidwest.com/2012otoh9/

# # #

About General Motors – General Motors (NYSE:GM, TSX: GMM), one of the world’s largest automakers, traces its roots back to 1908. With its global headquarters in Detroit, GM employs 202,000 people in every major region of the world and does business in more than 120 countries. GM and its strategic partners produce cars and trucks in 30 countries, and sell and service these vehicles through the following brands: Baojun, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Daewoo, Holden, Isuzu, Jiefang, Opel, Vauxhall, and Wuling. GM’s largest national market is China, followed by the United States, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, and Italy. GM’s OnStar subsidiary is the industry leader in vehicle safety, security and information services. More information on the new General Motors can be found at www.gm.com.

For everyone who has known our work, you know that advocating for nutrition education in schools and healthy foods as a human right is at the heart of our work.  After watching last weeks news on John Stewart Daily Show, Dr. Oz’s comments and following the efforts of Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move Campaign and

The Daily Show on School Lunches 

Let’s Move Campaign by Michelle Obama

Dr. Oz Spoke Recently on The View

efforts to get healthier lunches in schools, now students are making videos of thawing out the healthy foods that they say, won’t fill them up. The conclusion for us was the lack of nutrition education and the complete disregard for a system that needs to be thought through in a different way.  We have decided to start in Chicago to look at the lack of healthy, locally grown food and nutrition education and fitness in schools as a human rights issue.

Please join us by going to sign Our Petition (also, typed out below) ) and share with your friends who care about this issue too!  Next step…success!  Thank you!

http://www.change.org/petitions/mandate-healthy-school-food-as-a-human-right-for-cps-school-students

—————The Hidden Side of The Unhealthy School Food Rut————–

Kids Are In A Large Part, What They Eat & We Can Make What They Eat a Conscious Healthy Choice Through Mandating Access to Nutrition Education, Access to Healthier School Foods & Increasing Students Ability to Learn.

Let’s Get Obsessed About Food Markets as a Centerpiece for Local Economic Growth as We Join This Petition to Demand Large & Small Food Businesses & Legislators to Make Healthy Local School Food Access a Human Right for Children in America’s Fight Against Obesity, Type 2 Diabetes and Hunger.

History:  It’s been a very bad period for American Food from 1910 through 1980’s as the age of TV dinners, the sugar donuts, and fast food chains tailored to children’s tastes drove the market. (Soft, sweet, gooey and fast!)  American food marketing became geared towards what kids liked rather than what was best to fuel their mind, body and spirit.

Now is the time for dramatic healthy food changes. These changes need to be lead by legislators, health care corporations and citizens, to get companies who have gained the most financially to invest in a healthier system and:

• reinvest in innovation,
• elevate the work of the local farmer as an important and vital part of America’s economy overall, and
• assure healthy food & nutrition education in all schools to all children as a human right.

School Food Decisions:  Here’s the thing, big food business is making big profit dollars and yet, we continue to struggle to get students connected to cutting calories, breaking unhealthy eating habits and wasting food in schools.  Yes, the lunches are now getting healthier, however, the acceptance by students is low due and lack of nutrition education doesn’t help.  Often the food is also being transported long distances when it could be grown and purchased locally.  It will take a breakdown of this status quo system led by knowledgeable doctors, nutritionists, economists, environmentalists, farmers, technology visionaries and technicians to get to a truly healthy, farm-2-school food culture plan and it’s needed now.

So what are the health results of poor eating habits, lack of education and poor quality foods?  These practices have led to obesity and type2 diabetes now also designated as “gateway” diseases to earlier cases of younger children with liver and heart disease.  According to the Center for Disease Control (September 2012):

Obesity rates among all children in the United States

• Obesity is now forecasted to affect 40% of Americans this decade!
• Approximately 17% (or 12.5 million) of children and adolescents aged 2—19 years are obese.
• Since 1980, obesity prevalence among children and adolescents has almost tripled.
• There are significant racial and ethnic disparities in obesity prevalence among U.S. children and adolescents. In 2007—2008, Hispanic boys, aged 2 to 19 years, were significantly more likely to be obese than non-Hispanic white boys, and non-Hispanic black girls were significantly more likely to be obese than non-Hispanic white girls.

Obesity rates among low-income preschool children

• 1 of 7 low-income, preschool-aged children is obese.
• County obesity rates are variable within states. Even states with the lowest prevalence of obesity have counties where many low-income children are obese and at risk for chronic disease.

Costs : Financial & Quality of Life: The rising cost of health care for obesity and type2 diabetes is estimated to rise to over $400 billion over the next 5 years. 1/3 of Americans are obese and will be 40% within 10 years. Obesity is now the #1 Threat to the Health, Welfare & Future of Our Country.

Dr.Oz stated he considers obesity a ‘national security crisis.” In addition, when you think about young people choosing to join the military, the odds are many are obese. Military experts are concerned about this obesity trend and costs are skyrocketing to correct this issue, which can be resolved at the school age level.

Rueters reports “The startling economic costs of obesity could become the epidemic’s second-hand smoke. Only when scientists discovered that nonsmokers were developing lung cancer and other diseases from breathing smoke-filled air did policymakers get serious about fighting the habit, in particular by establishing nonsmoking zones. The costs that smoking added to Medicaid also spurred action.” They also reported in April 2012 that, “U.S. hospitals are ripping out wall-mounted toilets and replacing them with floor models to better support obese patients.”

NOW is the time for policymakers to get serious about fighting all of the economic cost of obesity.

We have to find a ways to buy local, healthy foods, focus on local growth of fresh indoor and outdoor gardens and stop the affects of long distance transportation of food on our health and the environment.   How can all of these food-issues & problems lead us to healthy solutions?

We believe benefits lie in partnering and creating big ideas that can work to fix these problems, including:

1. Assemble a top level team of doctors, nutritionists, economists, environmentalists, farmers, technology visionaries and technicians
2. “Buy & Grow Local Healthy foods” for our schools, building local jobs for local companies and farmers,
3. Implement mandatory nutrition study programs in schools,
4. Work to get farmers to diversify the crops they grow,
5. Invest in innovation technology to improve local farming, transportation and reduce costs of production,
6. Create a demand for healthy food that will continue to drive the market in a healthier direction, save lives and reduce soaring health care costs.
7. While we are promoting healthy school food we also encourage physical fitness to be provided daily in-classroom. Non-Equipment movement activities can include stretching, yoga, other mechanics and body alignment movements will improve health.

Solution:

Politicians/policy makers must take a stand!  We ask for you to:

*assemble top level teams now

*author necessary Bill(s) mandating the essential human right of healthy school food and essential nutrition education for our nation’s children,

*work in tandem with stakeholders, including large food businesses to create an environment for everyone to flourish as a business model, while eliminating the risk of unhealthy food in schools.

CANUDigIt.org Campaign Welcomed at Home Grown Village, FARMAID 2012, Hershey Pennsylvania

Wow, it’s been since 2002 that I have been to FarmAid!   What a difference 10 years makes!  From working since 2000 on Peace issues with bands like Little Feet  (Amazing band!!!!) and Ben Taylor (James & Carley’s son), and others, we are now invited to showcase our charity work promoting farm2table access, with a special focus on cleaning up what we are serving in public schools and promoting FoodDay.org USA.  And the music!  Come on, Willie Nelson, Dave Mathews, John Mellencamp and Neil Young! Come on!  It doesn’t get any better does it?

Farm 2 School Healthy Food Access:  Students need a voice, so we are working on a petition to invite big-food business and legislature to step up and make the choice for healthy school foods for American students.  We will be posting the Petition soon and hope you will join in.

Fast-forward 10 years, and from peace to ECOChallenge2020 to OurECOWorld.org CanUDigIt Campaign, we hope you will join us as we produce our first TweetChat from FarmAid September 22nd 12-4 EST.  We will be asking for your ideas on how we can heal through nutrition! And ask you to join in with your most burning questions.  We will have guest Chefs and more so please oin us at http://twebevent.com/CanUDigItorg!  Or Tweet #CanUDigItorg/

Growing Chicago Gardens – sponsored by GMC & NeighborSpace.  

September 12, 2012 We proudly were part of this fun day of planting, where volunteers like us came out to travel to Lowes Garden store, picking up beautiful arbors, planter boxes, roses, lavender and other plants to help finish a well started community effort at Morganway Community Garden on 78th & Morgan Street.

A big thrill for us was the chance for my friend and volunteer Angela to drive the amazing Sierra Truck to Loews for the pick up.  Angela is a petite one, and seeing her in that luxury truck for her first-time truck drive was something she will never forget. What a great sport she was. And photos are on their way to her family in Romania who will surely get a big kick out of the Angela’s photos.  Knowing her the way I do, her family there probably wouldn’t expect anything less from her!

Together, we spent the afternoon digging in the soil and planting, but it was us who truly got the most out of this day to make these garden additions for this community.  Lots of neighbors stopped by in appreciation and conversations.  It is this garden that provides a place of peace in their neighborhood. It’s truly a place for community to come together. And we left it a little better for them at the end of the day.

I know that without companies like GMC and Loews and a host of volunteers this work would be more difficult and the accomplishments so much less.  I appreciate the sponsors who make it possible for me and my friend Angela too do something positive in farming in this community.  The more we can get people connected to community gardens and farm2table and farm2school efforts, the more our city comes together in harmony.  Thanks to all who made this happen.

Jeannette Kravitz,

Executive Director, sponsorKIDS Charities 

Christine Sturges, a hairdresser from California, is one of the plaintiffs in a suit against ConAgra involving its Pam cooking spray.By STEPHANIE STROM

Ever since, the lawyers have been searching for big paydays in business, scoring more modest wins against car companies, drug makers, brokerage firms and insurers. Now, they have found the next target: food manufacturers.

More than a dozen lawyers who took on the tobacco companies have filed 25 cases against industry players like ConAgra Foods, PepsiCo, Heinz, General Mills and Chobani that stock pantry shelves and refrigerators across America.

The suits, filed over the last four months, assert that food makers are misleading consumers and violating federal regulations by wrongly labeling products and ingredients. While there has been a barrage of litigation against the industry in recent years, the tobacco lawyers are moving particularly aggressively. They are asking a federal court in California to halt ConAgra’s sales of Pam cooking spray, Swiss Miss cocoa products and some Hunt’s canned tomatoes.

“It’s a crime — and that makes it a crime to sell it,” said Mr. Barrett, citing what he contends is the mislabeling of those products. “That means these products should be taken off the shelves.”

The food companies counter that the suits are without merit, another example of litigation gone wild and driven largely by the lawyers’ financial motivations. Mr. Barrett said his group could seek damages amounting to four years of sales of mislabeled products — which could total many billions of dollars.

“It’s difficult to take some of these claims seriously, for instance, that a consumer was deceived into believing that a chocolate hazelnut spread for bread was healthy for children,” said Kristen E. Polovoy, an industry lawyer at Montgomery McCracken, referring to a lawsuit that two mothers brought against the maker of Nutella. “I think the courts are starting to look at the implausibility of some of these suits.”

A federal judge in California in 2009 dismissed a case against PepsiCo, which accused the company of false advertising because Cap’n Crunch’s Crunch Berries cereal does not contain real berries. He ruled that “a reasonable consumer would not be deceived into believing that the product in the instant case contained a fruit that does not exist.”

While the lawyers are being questioned about their motives, they are not alone in pursuing the food industry.

In recent weeks, the Center for Science in the Public Interest has sued General Mills and McNeil Nutritionals over their claims on Nature Valley and Splenda Essentials products, and warned Welch’s it would sue unless the company changed the wording on its juice and fruit snacks. The Federal Trade Commission won settlements from companies like Dannon and Pom Wonderful for claims about their products’ health benefits. And PepsiCo and Coca-Cola face lawsuits over claims that their orange juice products are “100% natural.”

The latest playbook — like the one that paid off in the wave of tobacco litigation — could prove potent, as the food companies’ own lawyers have warned.

Other plaintiffs’ lawyers have largely taken aim at food products marketed as “healthy” or “natural,” subjective claims that can be easily disputed by expert witnesses. Unlike foods labeled “organic,” there are no federal standards for foods that are called “healthy” or “natural.”

The new batch of litigation argues that food companies are violating specific rules about ingredients and labels. Mr. Barrett’s group, for example, has brought a case against Chobani, the Greek yogurt maker, for listing “evaporated cane juice,” as an ingredient in its pomegranate-flavored yogurt. The Food and Drug Administration has repeatedly warned companies not to use the term because it is “false and misleading,” according to the suit.

“If you’re going to put sugar in your yogurt, why not just say it’s sugar?” said Pierce Gore, a lawyer affiliated with Mr. Barrett’s group.

Food companies dispute the accusations, defending their packaging and marketing. Nicki Briggs, a spokeswoman for Chobani, said the lawsuit was “frivolous” and “without merit.

Even so, such cases are raising concerns within the industry.

At a recent food and beverage conference attended by more than 100 lawyers, Madeleine M. McDonough, a lawyer at Shook, Hardy & Bacon who is co-chairwoman of the agribusiness and food safety practice, warned in a session on fraud litigation that it was imperative for companies to comply with federal regulation. “Otherwise, we are dead in the water,” she said, according to two lawyers present, including J. Price Coleman, who is working with Mr. Barrett’s group.

If the lawsuits prove successful, the liability could be sizable. The lawyers are looking to base damages on products’ sales. While companies do not typically break out figures for individual items, Chobani’s revenues are expected to total $1.5 billion this year. The lawsuit filed by Mr. Barrett cites 18 flavors of yogurt, more than half its line.

The lawyers are being selective about where these suits are filed. Most have been filed in California, where consumer protection laws tend to favor plaintiffs. Food companies are already fighting a legal battle there, spending tens of millions of dollars to stop a ballot initiative that would require them to specify genetically modified ingredients.

The lawyers who took on Big Tobacco decided the time was ripe to go after Big Food. Consumers are increasingly conscious of their eating habits as rates of heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, obesity and other health problems rise. State and local governments are also becoming alarmed at the escalating costs of caring for people with those diseases and are putting pressure on food companies.

“People want to put good, healthy, nutritious food in their bodies,” said Keith M. Fleischman, a former federal and state prosecutor who is now working with the tobacco lawyers group. “They are very aware of what’s on labels.”

Plaintiffs’ lawyers realize that critics may counter that their lawsuits do not have real victims.

Mr. Barrett fought tobacco cases for years on behalf of smokers dying of cancer — and lost because juries agreed with the tobacco companies that smoking was a personal choice. Not until he and Richard Scruggs sued on behalf of states, which had spent hundreds of millions of dollars caring for sick smokers, did they win their record settlement.

“Food companies will argue that these are harmless crimes — the tobacco companies said the same thing,” Mr. Barrett said. “But to diabetics and some other people, sugar is just as deadly as poison.”

Consumers like Christine Sturges, one of the plaintiffs in a suit against ConAgra, has gluten allergies and reads labels vigilantly.

When she heard about a lawsuit involving the Pam cooking spray, she took a closer look. “There was nothing scary on it, just this innocuous word, ‘propellant,’ ” said Ms. Sturges, a hairdresser from Los Gatos, Calif.

After digging deeper, she learned that “propellant” included petroleum gas, propane and butane. “I’d been spraying that on muffin tins to make muffins for my grandchildren — oh my God!”

The only way Ms. Sturges could have known what the “propellant” consists of was to have read the materials data safety sheet that ConAgra files separately with the government, according to Mr. Gore.

The suit also claims, among other things, that Swiss Miss and Hunt’s labels bear improper claims about nutrients and antioxidant properties.

“We researched regulations and labels for two years before filing our first case, and our cases don’t remotely resemble the Cap’n Crunch’s Crunch Berries case,” Mr. Gore said. “Frankly, that one made me laugh.”