The Revolution will begin our food supply
Over the past 12 days, the Obama administration has unbelievably chosen to approve two biotech crops, Roundup Ready genetically modified (GMO) alfalfa and Roundup Ready genetically modified (GMO) sugar beets. Obama’s recent approval of them will allow them to be planted as early as this spring, despite widespread acknowledgement that these crops are certain to contaminate both conventional and organic farmers non-GMO crops. Their approval only benefits one company — Monsanto.
These decisions are a devastating blow to our democracy and the basic rights of farmers to choose how they want to grow food on their land and the rights of consumers who increasingly choose organic and sustainably grown food for its positive health and environmental impacts. Click here to join us in telling President Obama that it’s time to stand up to Monsanto and reject these GMO crops today.
Third World Countries Depend on First World Markets Now what do we do? We’ve built market relationships in Mexico and other countries, where they sell everything from avocados to bananas to the U.S. Should we now stop buying their products in order to buy local? How much damage would that do to their farming economies? It’s not so clear, according to Linda….
Your comments welcome.
Do you know how many different cows are in one hamburger? Feed Lots in Kansas, USA
Question #1: When you are eating a hamburger, you’re not eating beef from one cow, you’re eating a beef mixture from how many cows? Let us know your answer and we’ll tell you after we get 20 responses.
Question #2: Why do you think there is a hedgerow of trees along the feedlot bordering the highway?
The first in a series of video posts about Your Food Supply
#1 The Trip West: An Experiential Rude Awakening By Randy and Amanda Richards
This was Amanda’s first trip across the U.S., so we thought we’d drive. Destination? Colorado, where we would house-sit for a fellow Mountain Spirit board member. We thought we’d stay off the interstates, instead, crossing rural routes, starting with Indiana Route 24, then Missouri Route 36 west of Macon. Shortly after departing we decided to listen to The Omnivore’s Dilemma, a book on tape by Michael Pollan.
Want to know what’s in your food?
As we traveled through Indiana, Missouri, and then Kansas, the book narrated our trip with views of tightly packed cornfields, and more corn, and then more corn. It turns out, about the only thing the U.S. is growing is corn, at least from what we saw. Sure there are apples in Washington, and spinach, avocados etc, in California, but in the Midwest, there’s corn, and a lot of it. We did see some soybean fields, but nothing much else than corn. We certainly didn’t see many pastoral scenes of cows grazing on open pastures. But we did see lots and lots of corn. As we listened to Pollan’s book, we were shocked to learn where all this corn is ending up in the food supply, plus how many bushels per acre of corn the farmers were squeezing out of the land. Read his book for the stark details of our homogenized food supply, and as you do, imagine seeing it in front of your eyes, passing by the window of your car. It was eery for us. I’ve driven across the U.S. probably over 45 or 50 times, and each time I’ve felt grateful to do so, and very cognizant of my impact by doing so.
I won’t go into detail about all we learned in Pollan’s book. Buy his book. However, one of the major topics he covered was how corn is not only a food, but a commodity, that is in almost all our food in a wide variety of forms. Corn drives the modern industrial food machine, being sent to beef feedlots where cows are forced to eat corn. Grass is their natural diet. Monsanto’s Roundup Ready genetically Modified Corn was another scary thing we learned about, plus how our farmers are forced work for fewer and fewer dollars, while ADM and the other monopolies make the money.
So starts our video series, rows and rows of corn, somewhere in Kansas on Route 36, but it could be anywhere in the Midwest. Stay tuned for Your Food Supply #2, for a feedlot and processing plant scene west of Dodge City Kansas, which may shock you.
Coming soon: New series of blog posts will open your eyes.
Keep an eye out for a new series of video and text posts starting here in a few days. We think you’ll like it.
We’ve just traveled across the U.S.A, listening to an Omnivore’s Dilemma by Micheal Pollan. It was experiential education at its best, and a sobering experience.
What’s more it led to some great footage and interviews here in Durango, CO with local farmers and restaurateurs. Stay tuned for this informative series of blog posts on your food supply.
The U.S. citizens’ perspective of the world might not be quite as bad as depicted in this map, but I feel it may be close. While although “we are all one”, and Americans have the best of intentions, the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.
In a recent NPR interview, a few large truck and SUV drivers were asked if there were any connection to their driving habits and the Gulf oil spill, and, did they feel any remorse. They said “no”, they still needed “to get to work, and deliver the farm goods”. We’re all part of this problem, even the Amish, most of who don’t drive. They still need and send deliveries sent by truck. As Tolle asks, “Are you cleaning up the mess or contributing to the problem?
Back to the American perspective. This map illustrates the longstanding isolation and provincial perspective that seems unique to the USA. Just across the border in Quebec, the world view is, more worldly. The U.S. is a young country full of many, but not all, who still think we’re on top of the world. It’s understandable. Our continent stands alone, our controlled media* and corporatocracy has perpetuated a tunnel vision for many years that is catching up to us. This narrow vision that has been sold to us, effects not only our global view, but our environmental abuse, and our imperialistic tendencies.
At Mountain Spirit Institute, our mission is to broaden the American perspective. See our programs on Peru and the USA/Peruvian Music Exchange where a bit of Peru was brought into the schools and communities in the Northern U.S.
What do you think about this map? We invite your comments.
*“Cause when they own the information Oh, they can bend it all they want”. John Mayer Thanks to Amanda Richards for sending this map my way. She was a little apprehensive about my posting this, but I thought, “Heck, our readers have a good sense of humor”.
Dr. Andrea Heckman an expert on Quechua weavings, will show a documentary film at the South American Explorers Club in Cusco, Peru on Thursday June 10th at 7 p.m. The film tells the story of Quechua villagers near the sacred peak of Ausangate.
Set against a backdrop of high Andean lakes and mountains, it shows a harsh existence but also a deep interconnectedness with the natural forces and their ritual relationships to the mountain, revealed in various festivals, weaving and other traditions.
If you’re in Cusco, and want see the film, contact the SAE in Cusco.
In the last few years, interesting graffiti has been popping up through out South America. “Vegan Straightedge” and “Vegan Revolution” can be found on street corners if one searches. It’s a fascinating movement and even more intriguing that it is spreading through South America.
“Meatless Mondays” have caught on in the United States and may be making a jump down south. Che Guevara’s granddaughter (left) showed her support for the cause last year by posing for a PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, ad.
Image: The granddaughter of Cuban revolutionary leader Ernesto “Che” Guevara is at the forefront of another revolution — for vegetarianism. Read more..
While countries around the world continue to watch their economies collapse, and Goldman-Sachs leaders testify to Congress about how they manipulated both their shareholders and the American public, we are also faced with a tragic oil spill on our most fragile coastlines.
The sad truth is that oil, greed and fake accounting work hand in hand to empower those who have — and significantly disempower those who do not.
In my book, Hoodwinked I talk about the 30,000 Ecuadorians who filed a lawsuit against Texaco (since purchased by Chevron). The company destroyed vast sections of rain forest and the toxic wastes from its operations allegedly killed many people and made many more chronically sick. (more…)
The Revolution will begin our food supply
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