Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

This week how to save your kids from sugar, pesticides dangerous for unborn children, and lavender works as well as valium.

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Links of the week

• How I Saved My Kids From Sugar – Absolutely astounding the sheer volume of sugar that kids are offered outside of the home, from well-meaning family members to misguided health workers. Yoni Freedhoff explains what health-conscious parents can do. (The Walrus)
• Ban entire pesticide class to protect children’s health, experts say – Reduced IQs, attention deficits, autism and cancer. New study shows the dangers of organophosphates, especially to children in utero. (The Guardian)
• Superfoods Are a Marketing Ploy – Blueberries and macadamia nuts are great and all, but they aren’t magic, explains Marion Nestle. (The Atlantic)
• Forget switching Halloween treats for a toy. This dietitian says: Let them eat candy – Depriving your children isn’t any more effective than depriving yourself. Remember that daily habits are far more important than any single day of indulgence. (Washington Post)
• Refraining From Letting Ourselves Numb Out – How much of your behavior is driven by fear and avoidance? Most of us do this at least a little bit, some of us do it a lot. It’s worth some self-reflection. (Zen Habits)
• 6.9 million pounds of beef are recalled for possible salmonella. Check your freezer. – FYI. (Vox)
• Stop Putting These Things in the Dishwasher – You’re probably guilty of at least a couple of these. (Serious Eats)
• Lavender’s Soothing Scent Could Be More Than Just Folk Medicine – Cool. Though I still recommend caution with using lavender topically in large doses, especially for young children, as it can act as an estrogen mimic. (NY Times)
• Will Getting The Flu Shot Actually Make You Sick? – Um… no. Your immune system may respond (that’s the point) with some mild symptoms and you may not have gotten your shot soon enough (it takes 2 weeks to upregulate your immunity), but there is no active virus in a vaccine so it is not possible the shot made you sick. (Huffpo)
• Being Fit May Be as Good for You as Not Smoking – Duh. (NY Times)
• Roasted Cabbage with Walnuts, Parmesan, and Balsamic – Yum! I’m always down for new cabbage experiments. (Alexandra Cooks)

What inspired you this week?