From Futurama
FRY: What if the secret ingredient is people?
LEELA: No, there’s already a soda like that. Soylent Cola.
FRY: Oh. How is it?
LEELA: It varies from person to person.
The current recalls on pet food are finally bringing an awareness to the vulnerabilities in our food system.
We have slowly allowed corporations to control our entire food chain. From Monsanto declaring patents on life to water privatization to factory farming.
Are any of these things actually benefiting us?
Here is a breakdown of the allergy and health alerts from this year alone.
We know that various production methods ( growth hormones, antibiotics, ground animals in feed) are causing cancers, precocious puberty, sperm decrease, testicular problems, antibiotic resistant disease, bird flu….additives and sugars are affecting children’s behaviour, adding to the rising obesity and diabetes rates.
The movement toward controlling the people by controlling the food started with closing the Commons and continues today in the form of privatization of all of life’s necessities.
We squabble regularly about politics but the real leaders are not elected, and do not answer to the public. The real leaders hold secret meetings and decide our lives for us.
Taking back control of our food is one step toward revolution, one step toward democracy and one foot back on the Commons.
The knowing where to start is always the hard part. 🙁
But like the ladies of Genoa who refused to take in their laundry I think we can start in small ways.
Grow something. Not everyone can grow a winters worth of food, but even a pot of tomatoes is a start.
Start lobbying for community gardens, community kitchens where people can pool their resources and knowledge and can and preserve the food they’ve grown.
Whenever possible shop at farmers markets and support true “family farms”.
The problem is large and complex and daunting, but like an elephant we just have to start eating it one bite at a time.
How on earth do we do that, though? Saving the food supply would take a revolution now, given the horrendous-humungous delivery systems we have developed.
What to do:
1. Shop at farmer’s markets – You get: fresher healthy local food (often organic) for lower prices, plus direct contact with farmers producing community instead of anonymity. Farmers get more money than they do selling to distributors. Bonus: lots of fuel is saved when you don’t buy January lettuce from Argentina.
2. Cook more – Buy less take-out, fast food, prepared, prepackaged, processed food. The giganto international corporate food companies make all their money on processed food (one of the most profitable is cereal). The more food you cook, the less money goes in their pockets. If it is too time consuming, try cooking extra each time you make something and freeze the leftovers so you have your own homemade TV dinners. Bonus: you will be healthier, too.
3. Pay attention to farm & food legislation – and be noisy about it. It’s hard to find out about, so this takes real work.
4. As April said, grow something. If you aren’t good at it yourself, or don’t have time, try finding CSA to support. Others will grow the food, you just help pay for it.
5. Eat less meat, and when you do, try to buy directly from local, organic family farms. Many will deliver directly to your home (in the GTA, try Beretta). Better for the planet, better for your body, better for the animals. It would be more expensive, except you’re eating less of it.
6. Teach kids to recognize real food. Try really hard to keep them away from advertising until they are old enough to understand what advertising is. They don’t need special “kids food” with cartoon characters and marshmallows in everything, although that’s what marketers want them to think. Try this guide 😉
Thanks for linking all of these concerns together–it is hard to protect ourselves, our families and our pets.
BTW your new banner is gorgeous!
That’s a great link GDkitty
The revolution has begun Woo hoo!!
and thanks (about the banner)
Just noticed this on Guerrilla News Network: The New Rules of Food