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I honestly try not to get on my political soapbox while writing this blog, but there are occasions when I am compelled and sometimes even obligated to yank out my apple crate, stand on the virtual street corner, and scream at the top of my lungs. If you don't care about food, food security, your children, your community, your personal rights and freedoms, or the sovereignty of our nation, then please don't bother to read any further. If you even think that what I'm about to rant about might possibly be the least bit related to anything you hold sacred about being a American citizen then I suggest you at least read what I have to say, do a little further research about what I am saying so you can find out The Truth for yourself, gather some confidence in your actions with a little inspiration from Thomas Jefferson, then do something about it right now. My family thanks you on behalf of our two year old daughter for being a patriotic American and for standing up for her and all of the other members of our communities who cannot speak out for themselves in a time of crisis. And I thank you for lending me your ear and keeping an open mind.
I've been slowly picking my way through H.R.875, H.R.814, H.R.759 and S.425 this past week to try to get a grasp on these proposed pieces of legislation and all of the ruckus they are causing. Go ahead. Do a Google search on either one. I also recommend doing a Google Blog Search since the mainstream media is unlikely to pick this story up anytime soon. The amount of outrage and cries for action are increasing by the day. Farmers are fearing for their future. I'm not going to try to summarize that for you here and now. You need to spend a few minutes searching for that on your own and reading what folks who are much smarter and better educated than I am have to say about the subject of food safety (check out this interview with Dr. Marion Nestle @ the Expatriate's Kitchen Blog). You also need to at least try, as I have, to read some of the proposed legislation yourself and decide if you see what I saw when I read it.
Let me tell you folks, if these bills are allowed to hit the Capitol floor as they are currently written, we are in for a world of hurt. We'll be feeding our children soylent green before the end of the next decade. Our nation's food security will have been compromised beyond the point of any hope of rescue. It is your duty as an American citizen to start writing, calling, e-mailing, tweeting, blogging and anything else you think of to get every man, woman, and child of this great nation to express their unilateral and absolute refusal to acknowledge this sort of draconian law as being even remotely acceptable. We must then contact our congressional representatives en mass and make sure that they have no doubt that we will ride their asses right out of town if they sell our personal freedoms, our states' rights, and our national sovereignty to the multinational, petrochemical agribusiness entities who are backing these two bills with every bit of political capitol they've got. This is a blatant and aggressive attempt to bring the future of good, ethical food policy and the opportunity for any further effort to create a strong, independent, localized system of food security to an end forever. The gloves are off and they are preparing to strike a death blow to our small farmers, CSAs, independent plant breeders, independent seedsmen, farmers' markets, artisan cheese makers, heritage livestock preservationists, Slow Foodies, local food reliant restaurateurs and added value producers, urban farms, SPIN farmers, community gardens, school gardens, farm to school food programs, low-income food garden programs, food co-ops...the list is so long and if you are still reading this you are probably on the list.
If I lived in Ohio, Colorado, Michigan, or Connecticut I'd be demanding information regarding campaign contributions, business association, and familial ties to large agribusiness entities to, DeGette, Dingell, Brown, and DeLauro (actually here's some info on DeLauro Monsanto is husband's client and agribusiness campaign contributions). I'd also work my tail off to make sure they were never elected again to be so much as the secretary for the PTA. Representative Dingell, Representative DeGette, Senator Sherrod Brown-OH and Representative Rosa DeLauro-CT are nothing but the same corporate kowtowing, self-centered, ignorant pigs that have spoiled and stunk up the government of our nation for far too long. I sure as heck hope that our newly elected president is able to see that the emperor isn't wearing any clothes if any of these bills hit his desk. If not, there is little hope left for this country other than to continue our rapid devolution into an Orwellian nightmare of despair, fear, and corporate controlled authoritarianism. At least at this chilly midnight hour I still find inspiration the words of the great Thomas Jefferson and I hope you do as well...
The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it always to be kept alive.
The will of the people is the only legitimate foundation of any government, and to protect its free expression should be our first object.
We in America do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate.
I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.
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Glenn~
ReplyDeleteAll I can say is that I knew you were in the mix of people who read and rant! And good on you! I have been watching, reading, and collating a stack of info on these and other items for some time now - having read and re-read the original legislation to see if I had gone mad. And, I admit, that my interest started because of the revolving door political sham that we have as a government. Last time I checked, Monsanto IS our government for all intents and purposes. But that is another story (kind of).
Let's just say that I am all for consumer safety. Given the way that the FDA has "worked", I doubt that the creation of a food safety admin is going to help, especially not crafted as is by those whose interest is in supply line control rather than safety.
These pieces of pending legislation mean we say goodbye to farmer's markets, small producers, and any local endeavor, or say hallo to resistance. I say fight. And fight loudly. And,remember to ask where the money is coming from to fund this bit of "more of the same."
Hallo again! I am sure that you see that the disinformation campaigns are in full swing...It is not funny at all that, after having read and reread these items, there is consistent commentary that the bills are only "half bad." It is amazing to have lived through and watched revolving door corporate/government/lobbying processes get ignored again.
ReplyDeleteWhen I get called paranoid, I just laugh anymore. While the public wrangles over specific wording, they lose the gist of what these bills represent - the lever long enough to move the moon. In this case, the moon happens to be prying seeds from the hands of mid and small scale farmers. While everyone freaks out that they may not be able to grow a garden (which is the hogwash / misrepresentation part of these bills), the real problem of yet another attack on independent farmers is ignored.
So, in plain speak, the bills don't attack farmer's markets! They attack the farmers that supply the farmers markets...
Anyone interested in Monsanto tactics - have a search through center for media and democracy or through corporate watch. If, after that, you find these vague bills still in the interest of farmers, food, and people then all the more power to you. For my part, I still stand by my own ability to read and watch 20 plus years of corporate malfeasance wend its way into legislation...