Food Power Game

The food power game involves industry, government, farmers, the environment, and ultimately consumer food safety.

The depth of coercion within the American government, judiciary, agencies which were formerly created to protect the people but which currently function to support industry, is insidious and researchable.  The Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations have been complicit in furthering the "FOOD-AS-A-WEAPON - WORLDWIDE CAMPAIGN" which is ultimately benefiting Monsanto and the other chemical food players.

1 - There are NO FOOD SAFTEY LAWS in the USA, which are allowed to curtail this campaign.

2 - There are NO FOOD SAFTEY TESTING PROGRAMS, published to allow the American people to make educated decisions and avoid genetically engineered foods.

3 - There are NO FOOD SAFETY INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISTIC REPORTS published or broadcast in the main media that curtail this campaign. What limits and controls the media in American "free press", is advertising investments.

It might be suggested that the USA review of the food safety testing done in the UK, which prompted their restriction of GE in their foodstuff. It was interesting that when the UK and the EU member countries ban GE, Unilever, one of the largest food producers, made a concerted effort to produce non-GE foods for sale there. For example, McDonald's and other US food chains, selling in the UK and EU, do not offer GE foods. In the USA, however, these companies and others continue to sell GM foods.

When we observe the ongoing war, waged by the American food industry, in order to avoid labeling foods containing GE we it is obvious that "freedom of choice" in America is "controlled."  Americans are not allowed to know when foods they are eating contain GE ingredients because the industry knows they would choose to avoid them.  Unlike animals, which, have been observed to avoid GE foods when given a choice, humans cannot easily detect them.

You can see that, if people were allowed to NOT BUY GE foods, the farmers could move forward to healing the land and farming without fear of the T-Rex industries that are currently feeding on them - worldwide.

The Rule of Three and the Right to Life

What is the 'Rule of Three' and why is it important?

This is a simple, yet complex, rule.  A person is very likely facing death if deprived of three minutes of air, three days of water or thirty days of food.  While there may be incidents of people who have survived, in spite of this rule, few choose to test its validity.

This rule should remind people how dependent they are upon these basic elements and how vulnerable they are should these elements be used as weapons of control.  In developing countries, the reminder is often more acute and often experienced daily. In developed countries, such as the USA, it is often less obvious and, therefore, more ominous.

While humans draw lines on maps claiming territory, water and air do not obeyed such boarders. Even human attempts at controlling food proves challenging. An example is how genetically modified crops, created from seeds made in laboratories to withstand toxic pesticides, have created super-weeds. Through natures process of cross-pollination in the fields, the new super-weeds, impervious to pesticides, become destructive and have proven how man and nature war to control natural life. Most often nature wins.

Since the dawn of civilization, powerful entities used air, water and food, as weapons of control. For example, when damns withhold a river, it withholds water from life downstream, which can create a killing drought or life taking floods.  An example is the mighty Mississippi River. It fights for its freedom over damns and locks on one end and levies around the sunken city of New Orleans, at the other end, often wreaking mayhem in its path. Many other rivers flood because of industrial farming techniques. Monoculture crops, such as corn and soybeans, planted in rows, create trenches that siphon rainwater swiftly into rivers, instead of allowing it to seep into the soil to replenish subterranean aquifers. The result is devastating episodes of flooding in cities along the rivers of the plains and depletion of aquifers from where many cities draw their drinking water.

Environmentalists, fighting against the air and water polluters, coal and oil, are scoffed at as idealists in the face of a perceived need for energy. Yet, with all the energy coal and oil can produce, without a sustaining breath of clean air or pure drinking water, under the Rule of Three, life ends or is diminished by illness from pollution and expires slowly.

Food is the third component of the Rule of Three. If you wonder how food controls and is controlled, let us examine the apple.

Few people have experienced the sweet, strawberry flavor of a Chenanago Strawberry Apple. Most people do not know that they have been around since 1850, when grafting produced this jewel of Chenango County, New York. It cannot survive the rough handling of industrial processing so today, it is found only in private orchards. Until recently, the old Granny Smith (1868, Australia) apple suffered a similar state of affairs. However, once it was discovered that the Granny Smith would withstand green picking and processing, it was introduced as a 'new' apple and added to the boring group of Delicious, Macintosh and a limited few others sold from the mass-food industrial assembly line. When people no longer realize the multitude of choices they could have, their desires have been controlled. In the case of apples, the control is for the convenience of an industry focused on profiting from a fruit that withstands hard handling, packaging, and distribution methods. The result is that most apple lovers do not even know what they are missing.

Farmer's Markets, trending to press for a return to non-industrial food, offer an eye opening experience for adventurous eaters. They offer choices from orange, yellow, white and even purple carrots to sweet and juicy tomatoes in every size, shape, color and level of sweetness or acidity imaginable.  People who are aware of the diversity of food available, conscientious eaters, want the industrialized food system to serve people "what they desire" instead of creating their desire, through advertising and controlled availability.

Once one understands the importance and the power of these three elements, it becomes apparent that the most important activity for humankind is assuring the availability of free clean air, water and a diversified supply of clean, healthy, food for all.  It is important that governments, through agencies such as in the USA, the USDA, EPA, and FDA, to implement rules and programs to create a fair business environment for independent farmers, rather than just catering to multinational agriculture and chemical corporations.   Consumers must continue to demand honest and level competitive food production and delivery systems that protect the environment through sustainable production methods and be willing to pay for the true cost of real food.  Government money paid (subsidies) to industrialized farming operations to saturate the markets with unhealthy but cheap food is doing harm to the eater and the environment.

Protecting the air and water involves resisting use of energy forms that cause contamination.  Of particular importance is finding alternatives for coal fired electric plants and gasoline powered and oil dependent machines.  Often these industries create pockets of poor and disadvantaged communities surrounding them and condemning them to drinking contaminated water and breathing polluted air. The people are unable to protect their neighborhoods from having the industries move in, or the industries offer low income housing which, after years of manufacturing and contamination, become health risks as well. Lacking the wherewithal to fight for their rights to clean air and water, these communities become entrapped as the powerful companies subvert local, state and federal agencies to relax or avoid regulation. The cycle must be broken to protect the air and water.

Individuals must take responsibility for their actions, too. Flushing medications, using toxic chemicals around their homes, which ultimately contaminate the water system, are irresponsible acts.  Every breath, drink and bite should be a reminder of the thin and fragile the line between life and end of life can be and how important the Rule of Three is to all of humanity.

Every person, young or old, must protect his or her right to access clean air, clean water and a clean and a diverse variety of healthy food. It is a matter of the right to life.

Plastic – Miracle or Monster

Most packaging used today is not biodegradable and has a never-ending future, which may be ruining our children’s futures.

Plastic is both miracle and monster. The miracles are helmets that save lives; packaging peanuts that protect valuables in transit; utensils, trays and clear wrap for the portability and protection of food; bags for handling groceries and garbage; and indestructible toys and auto dashboards to name a few uses.

The monster is revealed, however, when birds and fish eat plastic forks and spoons, food trays, bags, and take out food packaging like lids and straws. Their stomachs fill with non-nutrient junk and they die. This is not a miracle. This is a preventable disaster. As the per capita demand for fish consumption increases, plastic is taking its toll. In the future, the need for, and loss of, seafood will create another undesired outcome.

Many of our beaches glisten with polymer pearls called ‘nurdles.” From nurdles, all forms of plastic are created, from polyvinyl siding, to food packaging, the elastic polystyrene in truck and car tires and they even find their way into our cosmetics. Nurdles are injected with chemicals to affect the attributes of the final products, making them hard, soft, flexible, brightly colored, shatterproof, etc. The monstrous side of plastic is that once created, it never, ever, degrades and then, buried in landfills or carried by the winds, it pollutes our land and water.

Most of the flotsam at sea comes from the same plastic products that make our lives so convenient. There are several areas at sea, one as large as the state of Texas, where currents create doldrums and the plastic garbage collects there. See the The Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

There is hope, however. Beyond the miraculous and monstrous sides of plastic is our American ingenuity. There are biodegradable replacements for many commonly used plastic products. Some are shown at the Natur-Tec site. There are dissolvable shipping peanuts that replace Styrofoam peanuts, biodegradable eating utensils and many other choices available. Americans discovered plastic and now we are developing the cure for its design flaw.

We can have safe, convenience products that will not destroy our planet. We can protect our children without poisoning their environment before they have children of their own. We can make this change happen. We simply have to convince our government and business leaders that we want environmentally safe, biodegradable packaging used exclusively. If we continue to send this message we will enjoy the convenience and flexibility, we have all come to expect, from products that do not have such a monstrous second face.