Saturday, January 13, 2007

Bleh

Sorry the spice of the day may or may not return.

I watched a very interesting video, entitled The Future of Food, recently. It has set me off axis and I am frustrated about large commerce even more now than ever. The film is by Deborah Koons Garcia. Here are a couple of quotes from the press:

"If you eat food, you need to see The Future of Food..."
--- Newstarget.com

"This stylish film is not just for food faddists and nutritionists.
It is a look at something we might not want to see: Monsanto, Roundup and Roundup-resistant seeds, collectively wreaking havoc on American farmers and our agricultural neighbors around the world. In the end, this documentary is a eloquent call to action."
--- The Telluride Daily Planet

The Future of Food is a film everyone should see. I think the reason for my frustration is that so many people don't know or don't care to educate themselves about this issue. I have read about the monster Monsanto for a couple of years now. It frightens me to think our political system is so corrupt that we allow big business to kill the ability to grow food at all.

What do I mean by that? In the film it is explained that Monsanto now owns 95% of all seed companies. It also explains that Monsanto has developed a seed they call terminal seeds. What that is, is that the seed will yield one crop and then die. It does not produce seed to reproduce itself. It is not a natural phenomenon for plant life to not reproduce. Monsanto has developed these seeds because they want to force farmers to have to buy from them. If you control the food supply, you control the world, in my opinion.

I urge you to rent this movie. It's been around quite sometime and I am surprised I haven't seen it. However, I do understand the reason not to purchase GMO foods. The film does a good job of explaining it in terms understandable to all. Monsanto and companies like them need to be stopped.

The slow food movement is a beginning. We should all try to eat local. Take the 100 mile diet challenge. We must all do something.

I am thinking the idea of moving to my own land and having a farm is a good idea. I certainly will never use a round-up ready product on the farm. I just hope the wind doesn't blow from a neighboring farm that does.