Have you ever had a moment where you stop and realize that our food system is broken? This food system has been presented to you your whole life as “good” and “abundant” and “healthy” and “fun”. Yeah… all lies.
I’m in a moment like that. This moment has been developing for me for a while. There is plenty of information about foods that are healthy, or at least healthier than others. My food lifestyle has been changing and evolving for a long time. It is my desire to live better. Food is fundamental to that quest.
I’m 40. I grew up in the 80’s. Those were good times. GMO foods were not on the market yet, but these more simple times has their own set of lies. I will not blame my parents for this. They did what they could for us. They were fed the lies, too. It’s unfortunate that we (this culture) have not only been fed lies, but mostly accepted these lies without much of a fight. The Industrial Revolution and the American Free Market are good things, but it has also led to lots of pollution. The pollution I’m angry about right now is that in our bodies! We have allowed –directly or indirectly — our fundamental needs to become polluted. For what? So, we can have pretty packages on the store shelves? So some company can make more money? Was it all innocent and now we are just waking up, or did those “in charge” know better in the first place?
Sometime in 1994 the first GMO foods hit the shelves of our grocery stores. This came in the form of the Flavr Savr Tomato. Since then the GMO industry, largely led by the large biotechnology company Monsanto, has polluted our food system in more ways than just the tomato. The list is long and getting longer. Some cheeses, apples, corn, soy, papaya, potato, zuchinni, vegetable oils… are all affected directly by GMO food.
There are many other foods that are affected in a more indirect way. Think about how many products have some form of any of those products in there. Basic ingredients like starches and sugars are in most of our grocery store selections.
Here’s where I’m more and more challenged. Things like GMO foods disturb me. The more I learn, the more I feel like I’m being lied too. When I go to the fresh produce section of my local grocery to buy corn, zucchini or yellow squash… I feel like that should be healthy fresh options for my family. Yet, these products are very common GMO foods. If I’m not buying “Organic” foods then I’m likely buying something that can be destroying our bodies from the inside out. To further complicate the lie is that “Organic” doesn’t really mean that it’s good and free from pollution. If it doesn’t say “100% Organic” then it is up to 30% polluted with GMO or other non-organic goods according to FDA standards.
By the way, I hate the government labels. “Organic” is a sweet marketing word. It sounds so good. But it just becomes another lie. The regulations on the word have made it unachievable for many small scale farmers. It becomes another lie because the word “Organic”, is being used makes buyers believe that anything that isn’t labeled with that word is bad. Remember the small scale farmer that can’t afford to put that word on his products? Yes, his products likely are better for you than those that are labeled.
Our loving government passed the Monsanto Protection Act. This act protects those creating and peddling the GMO products, but damages the pursuit of small scale farmers. Large corporations gain protection and legislation caters to protecting their interests. Small-scale farmers are faced more and more with regulations that they can’t keep up with. Many responsible small-scale farms are pressured to conform (to nearly impossible requirements) or close up shop. Aside from the regulations is just keeping up with price points. Farming isn’t very profitable in the first place. The cost of operating a small scale farm is rising with every new regulation aimed at benefiting these uncaring Goliath farms. It’s the small scale farmer that typically cares to produce foods that are actually healthy for you. Many won’t even use common pesticides and herbicides.
These are the farms that I want growing food for my family!
Those companies that maintain thousands of acres of monocrops (not diverse or healthy) mainly care about profits… and they get it.
Take action…
Sites:
http://www.nongmoproject.org/
http://www.fooddemocracynow.org/
http://www.osgata.org/
http://www.organicconsumers.org/
Buy/Swap Heirloom Seeds…
Here’s a short list to get you started.
http://www.rareseeds.com/
http://www.seedsavers.org/
http://www.heirloomseeds.com/
http://www.territorialseed.com/
Support your local growers. Get to know them. Take that extra time and money to their establishments. Show them that you care about how they provide quality healthy REAL foods for your family.
Thank you for supporting me by visiting my blog. I hope to see you around here more often. Please leave comments to continue the conversation. Add to my very short list of action sites or seed companies. Have a great day!
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The term organic once had real meaning until government stole it from the people and corrupted it . I predict that the word permaculture will be next, if it hasn’t been already . There are organizations that think you have to be certified by them to be able to practice permaculture commercially .