Big thanks to the Sitka Conservation Society for hosting the first ever Sitka Food Movie Extravaganza this past weekend. As a Certified Foodie as well as a movie-loving guy who’s usually too busy to sit down and watch a movie, I blocked out the weekend to watch the following food related movies: Ingredients, The End of the Line, Two Angry Moms, Food Fight, Bitter Seeds, Food Stamped, and The Economics of Happiness.
Each was excellent! And each deserves a full review. But for now I’m going to place them all together in a large bowl, mix them up a bit, and present them as I might a rich, colorful, organic salad.
Our food system has run amuck. Corporate greed, government subsidies, globalization, and deregulation have resulted in massive job losses, suicides, poor health, obesity, pollution, extinctions, waste, and the like.
The solution? Return to the foods of our great-grandparents. Eat from the garden, and when possible, eat from a local garden. And if you eat animals, choose local, natural, and humane as much as possible.
David and I enjoyed sitting in on a Roundtable Discussion Saturday evening focused on Sitka’s Food Resiliency. Great people, skills, knowledge, and passion!
David and I have chosen to promote GMO awareness as we run across America. So I’ll leave you with these thoughts:
Some 250,000 Indian farmers have committed suicide in recent years. There are many reasons for this ongoing tragedy. One main reason is Monsanto. Monsanto—the same company that told us that Agent Orange, PCBs, DDT are safe—powered its way into Indian cotton fields, replacing conventional cotton with patented genetically modified cotton.
Indian farmers live on the edge of life and ruin. A rainstorm can make the difference between barely enough and not nearly enough. With promises of higher yields, farmers buy Bt cotton seeds which, in fact, produces less cotton in variable weather conditions. Less cotton means less money to pay back high interest loans, and less money to purchase another season’s worth of high priced Bt cotton seeds. (Saving seeds violates the Monsanto license.) The shame of financial ruin drives Indian farmers to commit suicide at a rate of one every half hour. Drinking Monsanto pesticide is a common method.
India’s Supreme Court is now considering a ten-year moratorium on GM crop trials. Other countries have already banned GMOs. Over 50 countries require labeling of GM ingredients.
Why can’t we get GMOs labeled in the US? Because Monsanto lobbyists and employees infest the halls of the US government like mealy worms infest the fields of Indian Bt cotton.
Monsanto is a worldwide plague. Don’t believe their promises of increased yields, decreased pesticide use, or feeding the world. Don’t drink their pesticide.
Institute For Responsible Technology has been leading the fight against GMOs and Monsanto for many, many years. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Please watch the following excerpt from the movie, Genetic Roulette, to learn more about the devastating effects of Bt cotton in India.
David and I are running the country because it’s not right that Monsanto is running the country.
We would love to have you join us in our adventure.
Run with us!
