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?

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?