Food, Inc.

I just finished watching the documentary, Food, Inc. If you haven't watched it, you should.

It's not enough to be aware of what you're putting into your mouth. That's important. The fact that what you eat may be destroying your body and contributing to the healthcare crisis that everyone seems so concerned about is important.

But what is more important is the fact that our government is doing EVERYTHING THEY CAN to make it as close to impossible as they legally can for you to do anything about it.

The government is in bed with big business. I think the most recent decisions coming out of the Supreme Court have demonstrated that. But this movie illustrated just how insidious this encroachment has become. Many of the heads of the government agencies designed to protect the interests of the consumers are now being run by ex-employees of the very businesses they are supposed to protect us from!

And not the types of employees that understand what it's like to be a average consumer, and might have just enough experience in the industry to want to affect change. These people are the ones that made huge amounts of money from their ex-employers as CEO's or VP's or attorneys. They may still (I'm speculating here) have an interest in keeping those bridges unburned for future reference or employment. Hell, they may even still be making money from those jobs (still speculating, so you don't need to send hate mail).

So how are they supposed to be objective? What incentive do they have to think about you and me, rather than their own bank account?

Did you know that the FDA actually tried to shut down a production plant for consistently producing infected food products, but that company sued the FDA and WON!! There is now legal precedent that states that the FDA does not have the legal authority to shut down a food production facility. I thought that was their JOB!

I'm sorry I'm shouting. This boils my blood like nothing else.

Land of the free... That is the country that we are supposed to be living in. That's what our young men and women are fighting and dying to protect. Would they fight for the right of major corporations to value profit over people?

What happens when you don't get to choose (in this case) the food you put on your table? It's already difficult to know what you're eating. What happens when the choice is taken away? That may sound dramatic, but large corporations have staff dedicated to finding ways of putting competitors out of business. Especially if they know their competitors are small and unable to fight back. Soon there won't be a choice to make. What then?

We can't all be farmers. We can't all be self-sustaining entities. We must depend on others to provide for some parts of our life. I have no problem with those companies, that are providing something for me that I need, to make a profit. I am a capitalist at heart, the kind that believes in the balance of economics. (Wikipedia tells me there are many kinds.)

What I don't agree with is bullying, and the government jumping on the bully band-wagon.

The basis of capitalism as I understand it is for demand to drive supply. Consumers demand what they want by choosing the items to purchase, and the corporations do what they must to meet that demand or die trying. When the corporations get big enough to decide what they want us to buy, and then squeeze out anyone who might offer a different or better option, capitalism dies.

Government was designed to protect the people from oppressors. Who's fighting for us? Where are our representatives?

In case I haven't mentioned it...

...I finished my thesis!

You have no idea how good that feels! I was grinning for a week after getting the entire thing signed off by my academic advisor and the Department of Education. I have an appointment to meet with the Office of Graduate Studies in a week, and once they sign off, that's all she wrote!

I still have work to do on the website itself. The design I paid a website designer to create is crap, and he needs to change it. It's been frustrating working with him, because he knows so little about the business he decided to start. But he's not arguing about the need to change it, and he was cheap, so I'm not complaining (much). I guess you get what you pay for!

I couldn't believe how thick my paper was, once I had printed it. I had never printed the whole thing. I took my son with me when I went to pick it up from the Department of Education. On the way home I told him that I had written the whole thing, and he said "no, you used your computer!" So I said that yes, I had not written it out long-hand, but all the words came out of my head, and he was duly impressed. He kept saying how proud of me he was, and then insisted on showing his grandma and telling her that I wrote that whole thing! It was quite cute.

Anyway, I will be graduating in May, and having a grand party on May 22nd. Everyone I know is invited. I can't believe I'm actually done, and I have no idea what I'm going to do with the degree now that I have it, but whatever! I needed something more to do, right?

Don't Ask, Don't Tell...

I didn't realize that under this law servicemen/women were actually being DISHONORABLY discharged from the military because of sexual preference. This is mind boggling to me.

What does "don't ask, don't tell" mean to you? To me it means "I won't ask because it's none of my business, and you don't have to tell me even if I do." So how are these discharges occurring?

If you read the text of the legislation, barring open sex acts in front of an audience (which no one wants to see happening in the military no matter what your sexual preference), a statement of fact by the accused, or trying to participate in a same-sex marriage, these men and women should not be being discharged. However, since its inception in 1993, there have been over 13,500 discharges.

Like the rest of the U.S. population that doesn't really care about the sex life of the people that are giving their lives to protect this country, I think I just assumed that "don't ask, don't tell" meant just that, and I didn't see why anything needed to be changed. Apparently, my definition appears to be a little too literal.

I'm not talking about the oppressive nature of this law and the fact that having to hide your personal life from every person you ever come in contact with for the length of your service term is grossly unfair. I'm not going into that because I know that's my opinion, and not everyone thinks that fair for one is fair for all. That's a civil rights argument that has been going on for as long as this country has been a country.

I'm talking about a person risking his/her life to serve a country that is willing to fire them at a moment's notice, rescind any benefits that they may have worked for during their service up to that point, and possibly harm their chances for future employment.

That's the part that is unbelievable to me.

And the fact that the very people they are serving don't seem to have an opinion on it. Or maybe, like me, they weren't aware of what was going on. Either way, unbelievable.

Happy Beginnings...

My husband asked me this morning if I was looking forward to a great day today. I looked at him like he was insane or on drugs! Since when was he so chipper at 6:30 in the morning??

He said I should start my day in a positive mood, and I realized that that used to be a given for me, but now it seems absurd. When did I get so cynical and depressed? My life is wonderful. I have so much to be thankful for. I don't think I have ever been in such a good place.

I wonder if being happy is a choice. Can I just decide to look on the bright side, and then feel the effects throughout my day?

If so, here's my bright side. I am within a couple days of completing my thesis! This huge monumental objective of getting my Master's is within sight. I will be graduating in two months. Woohoo!! It's hard to believe I'm SO CLOSE to being done!

My husband and I found a mutually pleasing solution to my co-signing mistake. We still need to sell the cars, but we are on our way to putting that behind us.

My son decided NOT to move out of the house. My husband had a discussion with him, and he understands that chores are just a part of living in a household, and everyone needs to do their part to contribute to the well-being of the family. Phew. He may be only seven, but he's pretty resourceful. He may have figured out a way to make it on his own...

Oh! And I started on the actual cutting and sewing of my bedroom bed cover and window coverings. I think, when it is done, it will be beautiful!

Here's to a bigger, brighter tomorrow.

March 3rd...

is my little sister's birthday. But since I doubt she reads this blog, I'm pretty sure she won't care that this isn't about her. :-)

What it is about is an e-mail I received from Organic Valley. I'm on their mailing list so I can get coupons for milk as often as possible. Since we go through about six gallons of organic milk a week, any little bit helps.

They sent me an e-mail this morning asking for a moment of my time to write the USDA about their plan to approve a genetically engineered alfalfa for commercial use. Today is the last day the USDA will be accepting input on this subject.

This was an excerpt from their e-mail:

You may not think about alfalfa much when you're drinking organic milk, but organic alfalfa is important to organic farming, as a nourishing animal feed that's also a nitrogen-fixing soil enhancer. Once GE alfalfa is introduced, its contamination of non-GE plants - including organic - is all but inevitable. And because alfalfa is fed to dairy cows and other livestock, contamination puts organic dairy and meat at risk, too! Learn more

In their EIS, the USDA states "There is no evidence that consumers care about GE contamination of organic alfalfa." We know that you do care. Let's not be Monsanto's guinea pigs!

Then they included a plea and a link to leave a comment on the USDA website, and then to let them know that I did so.

So, as requested, I left a comment, then followed up with an e-mail to the sender. This is an excerpt from that e-mail:

I doubt the effectiveness of speaking my piece to a government more interested in staying in the good graces of big business than in representing the people, but at least I made an effort.

She replied and told me that the whole organic movement (Organic Rule... I don't know if that means anything) is a result of public interest and demand.

So I'm doing an informal poll. I've never done anything like this before, so I'm not sure what kind of response I'll get, but here goes...

I've become increasingly riled up about the trend of our government, and increasingly convinced that my voice really doesn't make a difference. So, this is my question....

Do you think you have a say? Do you think your vote, or comment, or e-mail, or phone call, or letter makes any difference?