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!

Farmers & Markets

After seeing firsthand the amount of care and respect that organic farmers within the Iowa community have for the food they make, for their fellow farmer, and the Earth in general – it becomes even more important for me to attempt having a more personal connection to the food I eat. For me that also means knowing more about how the food was raised, where it comes from, and who the people are involved – sometimes challenging information to gather. All the more reason I am making more of an effort to gather a larger percentage of organic food from farmer’s markets and ask more questions about the food being sold.

I was thrilled to witness this summer how the Iowa City Farmer’s Market on Saturday mornings had grown from the scant booths while I attended college in 90’s, into a real “happening” community event, with music and festivities.

It’s more than just a place to buy things, but a social gathering, a place to mix and mingle with like-minded people, and a way to deepen the story of connection to the food and goods for sale. It’s fostered a Wednesday night spin-off and there are now numerous farmer markets spread out across town on different evenings. It’s a good sign that the organic farming community has grown in the region that there are people who recognize the importance of local, healthy eating!

As I looked at what prices various farmers were selling vegetables, I realized as a nation we really don’t pay the full price for our food. I’ve heard people complain and gripe about the rising cost of food or how expensive organics are, but in truth we pay so little of the actual cost that raising and preparing food requires. Much of the conventional food grown is subsidized by the government, so we’re not paying the correct price on non-organic food, which just makes it seem that organic is that much pricier. When you factor in the amount of environmental toxins that get pumped into the ground and wash into the water supply and the amount of energy, gas, and other resources required to get conventional food into our hands – we certainly aren’t paying the full price for it in cash, but in environmental damage and health problems. We know this, right? And yet it continues...

I found some disturbing “intel” during my time in Iowa. It begins though with some good news: a lot of conventional farmers in the region are doing well financially. I am genuinely glad to know they are making good money in such a challenging occupation. But this boon is thanks, in part, thanks to growing corn used for Ethanol fuel – not food. You may have heard, though, that Ethanol is proven to offer very little real environmental returns when you consider all the energy it takes to grow the corn. When I hear that more and more small farms have been bought out by giant agribusinesses…when I discover more farmers are growing corn year after year for the profit margin, thereby ignoring the wisdom of rotating crops for soil health and conservation…when I hear a lot more chemicals and GMOs are involved in making sure there are big yields for the big financial gains…my head starts to spin.

I’m so proud to be from Iowa and the rich history of farming it has, but I am deeply, deeply saddened by the modern industry to which it has been tainted. I do not blame the farmers – many of them I call family!  I know they are doing what they can to make a good living. I am concerned by our society, so caught up in growth, progress, comfort, convenience and advancements in technology that it ignores conscious care of our environment – unless being “green” can turn a profit too, which we know it can. It seems that nothing motivates our nation more than economic concerns. Which means it’s going to require a lot of re-educating and re-considering how things are done, and there are some good people at work doing just that.

It's my sincere wish that family farms make a fortune through organic farming - they deserve it. The re-evolution of the farm industry is underway, but it needs our support! We can grumble all we like about the cost of food, but in a capitalistic driven market, we vote with our dollars. Place more of our money into the hands of a friendly organic farmer at a market than the unseen faces of corporate food production.  We get delicious, conscientiously produced food out of it too. It’s time to truly know and be what we eat!