Fools and Food

 

Say no to GMO’s - or at the very least we ought to have the right to know!

The recent vote down against the labeling of GMO foods in California’s Prop 37 once again goes to show how a little misdirection by big business and a little bit of fear about the cost of eating and the economic effect of things goes a long way in fooling the public. So unfortunately here is another perfect opportunity to discuss the nature of ignorance versus knowledge and how being a fool is different than being a Fool.

First though, here is the simple and challenging truth about your food: if you don’t know what you are eating, you are likely eating food laden with GMO’s and grown in unsustainable, chemically laden ways. The reasoning is that it is cheaper and easier for farmers to grow mass amounts of GMO crops loaded with pesticides and herbicides than it is to grow non-GMO’s organically.  But it doesn’t need to be that way — it’s merely the way things became over time, it’s the business model that took off and took over in recent decades. Scientific research brought about some new discoveries and with a growing population there was a need to meet the public demand for more food. However we really don’t have proper impact studies to gauge precisely what the full impact of GMO’s are on the environment or our bodies.

Yet several studies reveal that GMO’s could be responsible for the wide spread Colony Collapse Disorder that is killing off bees. Meanwhile health issues ranging from disorders and diseases, to cancers and obesity problems continues to rise. You would think that such concerns would make people stop and reconsider the situation, but when big money is involved, the lobbyists and corporate machinery churns on - at the entire world’s expense.

The big uncertainty is exactly just how much harm GMO’s and pesticides do to your bodies when you eat them. However we do know that such things harm the natural environment!  It is more important than ever that we think twice about what we shove into our mouths and bodies, and where that food came from and how it will affect our bodies, our immune systems, our entire well-being.

There are indeed other practices and methods of sustainable agriculture that are being developed to meet the needs of the masses, but big business profits really don’t want it any other way. Derailing Prop 37 was a rather simple feat for them - they merely had to outspend the proponents of the bill.  They created enough worry about what the economic impact of the bill could be. The economy trumps our concerns about our health, once again revealing that money is practically a god in good ol’ consumer America. In general we are all like ostriches, who would rather keep our head buried in the sand than wake up to the hard, cold truth that GMO’s are everywhere in the country. We’d rather stay ignorant than pay a bit more to be informed.

Somewhere along the line, wisdom became uncool. Perhaps its because as life gets more complicated, as we hurtle along in a more confusing and daunting web of complexity we are desperately yearning ways to embrace more simplicity. We think ignorance is bliss. We think playing the fool will help solve our problems, and while I say that is a good intuitive response to follow — we need to careful about what type of fool we’re playing, for there is a difference! The lower-case fool ignores facts, ignores reason, and ignores taking responsibility. The capital F Fool, is more about doing things that seem outrageous and thinking outside of the box, the Fool is more about taking risks and changing the paradigm, the Fool is more about cultivating an essence of holy innocence that is peaceful and sincere.

Those difference and many more elements will be explored in “The Happy Happy ReBegin Day Celebration!” on December 29th from 7-11pm. Mark your calendars - for it will be a very festive AND informative evening of performance art starring April Hava Shenkman and yours truly.

In the meantime, is it too foolish to hope that sometime in the next four years we’ll receive proper food labeling on a national level? Or will the administration do something completely Foolish and truly change the way our agricultural system works so that it is safe? It may seem crazy and seem like a bad thing to do for the sake of the economy, but in the long run it could be the wisest thing we could do for the long term health of our citizens and the entire ecosystem of the world.

We need more Fools!

4-H & 4-F’s

This week I share part of the performance I did at Highways Performance Space for November’s Queer Mondays (the last monday of the month) - what follows is the abbreviated written form of the essence of that piece and the slide show that played at the end. The slideshow with music by Jonsi, displayed many photos from the summer at Dirty Face Creek Farm (website coming in 2012) in Iowa as I danced around (it was kind of "corny"). In-joy the video and performance text about the 4-F's:




The Thanksgiving weekend got me thinking about how grateful I am for the experiences of growing up in 4-H and the foundation of experiences and principles it conveys. The 4-H’s pledge reveals what the H’s stand for: “I pledge my Head to clearer thinking, my Heart to greater loyalty, my Hands to larger services, and my Health to better living — for my club, my community, my country, and my world.”
It also got me to thinking that I am also a firm believer of and grateful for the experience of 4-F’s as well, which I find also provides an important basis for a life of art.

The first one is FARMING, and I’m not just talking about physical farming, but metaphorical farming. We would do well in our lives and creativity to plant seeds of many varieties. For we need to have a well balanced diet and as a precaution because we should not expect that every crop will always succeed (for there are always unexpected things like weather, bugs, or blight). We need to do our best to nurture and be tender to the fragile sprouts, giving them a chance to develop until they are strong. The soil/Earth needs to be tended with care. Water and minerals must be provided, but not too much! Natural fertilizer is made from compost, which is basically from waste products. It must be noted how the cycle of death and life are intertwined. As the “plants” grow we should enjoy the beauty of their blooms and take time to smell the flowers — and witness/participate in the process of pollination. Spiritual pollination is a process of sharing ideas, inspiration, influence, encouragement, and advice and we have all depended on it to create the society and culture we now have. As our metaphorical crops mature, we harvest the results and have what we need to feed ourselves and others with our sharing. Feeding our souls, minds, and bodies. Farming is an important element we participate in to grow.

The second F is for FISHING. Metaphorically speaking it is partly how one comes up with new ideas, using a mix of imagination, faith, skill, and luck. It is about casting out a line into the waters of the unknown, into the waters of the unconscious and catching something from there and bringing it forth into a tangible form. Sometimes as artists we cast our lines and might only get a nibble, but we must keep at the practice. You never know when the big one may come, or get away. Fishing comes in handy in situations when you are starving or feeling stuck. Putting out a line could produce something that takes you a whole new direction. But remember, to fish, you must put something out on your hook: so start with an intention, a prayer, a hope, or a plea — it helps increase your chances to have a juicy morsel as bait.  See what happens, but patience and faith are required. When the line starts to “vibrate” you must yank on the hook and bring it in - one can’t be casual about it or the fish will get away. It takes work to reel in the prize! Keep at it until the idea of whatever form the fish arrives is tangible.

The third F is really two of them and stands for both FRIENDS & FAMILY. We cannot do without them! We need them for support, for love and guidance, for community, for sharing of harvests and fish, for a variety of elements. But sometimes we get stuck being too dependent or independent from them, and we must learn to be inter-dependent. Families often come with dysfunction, but they provide lessons for us, and if they get to difficult, remember we can create our families. There is freedom from where we are born into if we need it. Family members can be whomever we choose for us that nurtures us when we need it and pushes us gently to grow beyond what we could do without.

The fourth F stands for FUN!  It’s an essential nutrient of the soul in order to stay young at heart. We need to make sure we get enough, but not too much. Just the right balance, giving us the energy to keep going and enjoy life. Sometimes you may have to force it in order to move beyond a challenging situation. Everything has it’s time and place, but fun is the magic that makes life worth living and comes in many forms! That's part of the fun - exploring them and finding out how it makes you feel!


Of course I can imagine many more F’s and many more letters to explore in a life of art!