Danny Jensen
November 12, 2008 | 5:28 pm EST
photo: maritimelight, Creative Commons
I just had the privilege of hearing Andrew Kimbrell, founder and director of the Center for Food Safety (CFS), speak at the Hazon conference today. He’s able to deliver alarming news about the state of our food system in an engaging, humorous manner that leaves you hanging on the edge of your seat. Under his leadership, the center has had several important legal victories, most recently the Supreme Court decided in their favor against Monsanto (yea! Thank you CFS!). However, we’re involved in a major battle to change the industrial food system whose corporate forces are pushing for cloned meats and dairy in our food system, genetically modified organisms, inhumane treatment of animals (10 BILLION animals are killed every year in our industrial meat factories) and increased use of pesticides.
However, there are many personal changes we can make along with supporting the legislative and advocacy efforts of groups like Center for Food Safety and Hazon to develop a more equitable, environmentally sound, sustainable food system. Those things are important but leave out a missing element which explains why we’re gotten into the mess we’re in now. Overwhelmingly, we are disconnected to our environment and food sources. This spiritual disconnection has enabled for the dominant agri-business system of food production in the US.
He also remarked that we shouldn’t consider ourselves “consumers” but “creators.” By choosing an interactive way of engaging in our society as creators, we will not just passively c0nsume but be active participants in our society. In the Jewish tradition, God asks us to be his partners in his creation of the world and to be its ongoing keepers in its ever evolving creation. Perhaps Kimbrell’s idea of consumers vs. creators is a way to re-energize our relationship with God (or however you connect spiritually) and all that has been created for us. By reframing our connection with the world, we can take on more responsibility and accountability for our actions and duties. If we become morally and spiritually in-tune with our food systems, we will realize that the terrible treatment of farm workers and meat processors, the inhumane treatment of farm animals, the tons of toxic pesticides applied to the foods we eat and the use of genetically modified organisms is not putting us in the highest spiritual or religious place but the lowest. We’re at a serious juncture, and we all have the opportunity to become creators so that we can connect with each other, our food sources and our spiritual/religious traditions.
takepart to learn more about the Center for Food Safety.
Today’s Feeding the World Conference in London will address the hotly debated use of genetically modified(GM) crops to address the global food crisis (apologies to British readers who didn’t get the word sooner). While proponents of GM crops argue that the benefits of increased yields and nutritional value outweigh concerns over genetic manipulation, recent studies are reinforcing support for organic solutions to global food concerns. I fully believe that GM crops are not the answer, and that we can find ways address the problems of worldwide hunger through organic methods. There are too many risks involved with GM crops, which place control of food in the hands of a few multinational corporations and reduces food security. Many people argue that we already produce enough food to feed everyone and that the real problem lies in the politics of distribution.
Here is an excerpt from a panel discussion at the Slow Food Conference some of us attended over Labor Day weekend, with Vandana Shiva laying it down about GM technology:
takepart and learn more with Participant Media’s upcoming film Food, Inc.
Those sweet little kisses from Hersheys might actually be con artists stringing you along. With alluring language about how they create a wonderful experience and are a little product with a big future they are actually a relationship gone bad once you discover the hidden truths of your mate. What’s so bad about a KISS from Hershey’s? Well, it’s a modern element that has been added to the century-old recipe: Genetically Modified Sugar Beet. This Monsanto Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) has a staggering amount of toxic chemicals (allowed by our FDA) and is one more way that Monsanto is quietly trying to put GMOs into as much of our diets as possible. Brazilians have already told Hershey’s and Monsanto that they don’t want to eat GMOs in their kisses. Help to stop the global assault of our food by Monsanto. Start today! takepart by telling Hersheys to say no to Monsanto’s GM Sugar Beets today!
(Photo: define23’s Flickr Photostream)
Moooove over rBGH, Monsanto wants to get rid of you. As Gina reported earlier, reports that Monsnato is looking to getter a better image and “gain consumer acceptance,” They are going to need an awfully good publicist. Let’s be honest, Monsanto controls our food chain and they are the furthest thing from a good corporate citizen.
But any step in the right direction has to be celebrated- especially one that brings us closer to rBGH-free milk
takepart with Food and Water Watch and sign their petition to help maintain this momentum.
Related:
Monsanto Looks to Sell Dairy Hormone Business
Monsanto’s Harvest of Fear
Biotech food villain Monsanto is trying to change their public image by deciding to do away with the part of their company that produces an artificial growth hormone for dairy cows.
On the surface this is good news, as it signals that consumers are purchasing dairy from non-hormone treated cattle and this retailers are not carrying products without the unnatural hormones. The bad news? With the dairy business out of the way, Monsanto plans to focus more on “its thriving business of selling seeds and developing ways to improve crops.”
If you give a watch to the trailer below (or read here) I’m sure you’ll see that that is in no way good news:
The TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. Check out some of our most popular stories of the week, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites!
Katie Halper:
Necklacing Returns to South Africa, Tutu Calls for Peace, and History Repeats Itself
Ted Kennedy’s Malignant Brain Tumor: Sad News, But the Work Goes On
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Nicole Hughes:
Bush’s Food Aid Package Promotes Use of GMOs
Gas Prices Exceed Those of 1973 Oil Crisis
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Greenhouse Gas Emissions Could Cost US 38 Trillion Annually
USDA Budget Squeeze Forces Agency to Stop Tracking Pesticide Use
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Jon Popham:
Brooklyn Bridge Birthday Celebration!
Smokey the Bear: Environmental Icon
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Giulia Rozzi:
Suicide Tourism in New York City
Kristin Davis and Her Solar Powered Home
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Gina Telaroli:
Media That Matters Film Festival Premieres on May 28th
Top 10 Ways Indiana Jones Saved the World: Part #1
The Bush administration has added controversial language to a $770 million world food aid package that would promote the use of genetically modified crops (GMOs) in nations suffering from food shortages. The use of GMOs is a widely disputed issue in both the US and abroad, with some countries in Europe banning them entirely. Proponents say that GMOs can create higher crop yields and survive harsher climates than regular crops.
Opponents say GMOs can cause allergies and other medical problems in those who consume them. They also contend that this additional language to the food aid package is really meant to benefit agro-business firms like Monsanto, one of the biggest chemical companies in the world, and the technology provider for 90 percent of the world’s genetically engineered crops.
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The World According to Monsanto 1 of 4 27min
How the use of rBGH, aka recombinant bovine growth hormone, affects human health is unclear. We do know that it’s bad for the cows, causing all kinds of health problems, including painful udder infections.No wonder consumers prefer to buy milk that’s labeled “rBGH-free.” In fact, so many people are paying a premium for rBGH-free milk that sales of dairy products from farmers who use the Monsanto-made hormone are suffering.So now Monsanto’s fighting back by pushing the state of Pennsylvania to ban, beginning on February 1st, the use of milk carton labels that tell you whether that milk comes from cows treated with rBGH. Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Ag—a former dairy farmer himself”insists the ban is necessary to protect “confused consumers.”
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Andy Kondrat:
