I recently tweeted the following facts, but the limits of a tweet were not enough to really spell out the situation. So here is the blog form of my recent regurgitation, all inspired by the movie Food Inc, which is one of the most important movies you can watch in your life:
So, I am not a big issue man. I usually see both sides to every story and, for the most part, am rather diplomatic. I think protests and such campaigns are useless because they send a short-lived message. However, this issue, which the vast majority of us should find ourselves on ONE side of, is nothing we need to protest over, or march. We just need to change they way we spend. Simple economics, the power of the consumer, can change big corporations… hey! that’s pretty bipartisan! Free markets and taking down The Man. Okay, so here we go.
I’ll put the solution first: Buy local grown products. It is a simple rule that will allow you to protest through the Power of the Consumer the following objections to the way these corporations run. Buy free-range meat. Buy organic veggies only when they are in season. Read labels. Dairy products organic too: no growth hormones. Buying the other stuff is 1) bad for you and 2) supports the way these corporations control their workers and their animals.
- Monsanto is a seed company that controls about 90% of the market. They manipulate farmers, have patents on seeds (because they genetically modified them in a lab. oh, and patenting life used to be illegal, until their lobbying efforts kicked in), and are basically ruining the way food has been for thousands of years.
- They sue farmers if their patented seeds are found in that farmers crop (something the farmer has NO control of because short of building a dome over your field, you can’t shield your crop from the wind).
- They sue the bigger farmers just to send a signal to the others: Don’t fuck with us. The farmers most always have to settle because court fees are too much.
- Monsanto is trying to STOP dairies that DO NOT inject their cows with growth hormone from advertising that on the bottle. Read that again. This company is trying to stop other companies from labeling their products with truthful information. This is the “but but what they do is bad for what i do!” kind of bullshit that should get you kicked out of law school.
- Monsanto genetically modifies their seeds. The health effects are unknown, but birth defects can occur (Gerber has stopped using GM products in their food as a result). Genetically modified products must be labeled in Europe, but because of Monsanto’s influence in the FDA and Congress, such labels are not required in the USA.
And here’s the skinny on the meat packing industry.
- These companies bus immigrants into the U.S., and use the “you’re here illegally” style blackmail to treat them horribly and get near-free labor. Then, when the cops come, these companies have an “agreement” where the immigrants get shipped back home, and the company doesn’t get tied up in litigation.
- These companies feed their cattle corn. This fattens the cows quicker and makes them less healthy. I’m not getting all PETA on you, regardless of animal treatment, why would you want to eat an unhealthy animal? do you eat bruised veggies? nope..
Virtually everything you find in your local supermarket is from one of these companies. There are 4 meat-packing companies controlling 70% of the market. Monsanto controls most of the farms in America. You can’t avoid it. Corn is in EVERYTHING. The only way to get these companies to change their practices is by pressuring them with competition. Protesting is useless, congress is already in their corner. Pressuring these companies by buying local, organic foods is the only way.
Often health-advice falls on deaf ears. That is why I chose the “do this because its politically and morally the right thing to do”. It should go without mention that buying organic is the natural way to eat. Its the way food was intended to be. Its not special, or different. Its more expensive, but it is the way your body is built to eat. The other crap is from a lab, but mass-marketing has made it cheaper. So, do your body right.
Check out the movie. www.foodincmovie.com
