It's Not Just A Health Thing....

"When the American spirit was in its youth, 

The language of America was different:

Liberty, sir, was the primary object."

~Patrick Henry

I got to thinking last night....

Many people look upon eating non-conventional foods as merely a way to be healthier, and yes it is. But I also know a lot of people who feel that since everyone is going to eventually die one way or another, it doesn't really matter whether you eat organically or conventionally. There are two ways I could take this post now. One is that I could start going on and on and on about how much better organic food is; but I'm not. The other direction is one of the ultimate reasons why I choose to try to eat locally/homegrown, and why many people choose to really know where their food comes from.

It's a matter of liberty and American rights. And what we are being denied.

America as a nation likes to wallow in its pride. "We are the best country", "We are a free nation and have more freedoms than any other country" Etc... Yet, in in the midst of our purring, we are being blatantly denied of the most basic of all freedoms. What we can and can't eat.

 It's a matter of liberty: Shouldn't I, as a "free American" be able to decide if I want raw milk or not? Shouldn't I, as a "civilian of one of the greatest nations" be able to choose if I want genetically modified soy or not? 

No. I am not allowed.

That's too much freedom, sayeth the government. They want to keep their money right where they've got it: In their pockets. Whoever has the most money, controls the food system. Which is why we now have Monsanto running the show, and now we have hybrid tomatoes sitting on our grocery store shelves that have fish genes canonized into them, so that they will withstand colder temperatures, and we have corn that has human genes mixed into it. Have you had your daily helping of cannibalism today? When I go to the grocery store to buy a tomato, I want a tomato!! Not something that has fish (sometimes even pig!) genes that cause health problems, and affect the taste. At this rate, who knows, candy just might be healthier! 

So Americans cry foul. We want to know what foods have been genetically modified! We want to make the decision ourselves as to whether we want to eat your mutated foods!

No, that's too much freedom, sayeth the government. But once again, it goes back to money.Monsanto has got a toehold in the food system and owns the money. Therefore, he stays. And so we watch as he modifies our soy, corn, canola, and now alfalfa (what are organic dairy farmers supposed to do now!?)

Where are my rights? Eh? Where'd they go? Something's not right when small farmers live in terror that at any given moment, FDA and USDA can raid their farms, loot their homes and even assault their families, because they have been selling clean raw milk for thirty years without one single health problem. It's raw milk, sayeth the government. It must be purged from this country so that people can instead have the safe alternative of pasteurized, hormone laced, antibiotic pumped, lifeless milk in a plastic jug that has a sticker of cows grazing serenely in a clover pasture, stuck on it. Give me a break. I've seen enough downer cows (cows that are too ill too stand anymore) to know which milk is safer. 

But we have no freedoms to choose. Oh sure, we can (and many do) buy "bootlegger milk" (raw milk that is sold underneath the detection of the government), but how often do you see raw milk for sale in the grocery store? Ya' don't. We lost our freedoms to that choice, and now just have to make the decision of, "Do I want 2% milk this week, or skim milk?" as we stroll down the dairy aisle in the store. The government owns the dairies across the nation, and they want no competition against them. 

We are consumers now. We eat what is put before us, and the government chooses what that will be. We may think that we are a free country, but is a free country really a country where people are not allowed to make the most basic of all decisions?

I have tried calling my state senator to plead with him about a cause that was about to go into action (S510 for those who are wondering) and e-mailed him as well. But I don't have the big bucks that grab the attention. I'm just a tiny consumer who "obviously doesn't know what is "safe food" and what is not." Humph. 

America: A government of the people, written by the people, for the people.

Huh? Of the people, by the people, for the people? Only if you have the money!! This country ain't as free as we imagine it! The government doesn't want us to know what's going on with our food system. They don't want us to know that a high percentage of our grocery store beef is actually from dairy cows who are so sick that they can no longer stand. They don't want us to know what beef is cloned and what it not. They don't want us to know that when going through the slaughter line, most animals are still alive while being scalded and skinned. Or that our GM'd food causes tumors, cancer and heart problems in lab rats. Or that our vegetables are no longer really vegetables. Or that FDA says that store bought granola bars can have up to 15% of rat feces in them and still be considered "safe" to eat.

It's a national game of secrecy, and you can only know about it if you have the money and are on their side.

If you haven't noticed yet, this is one of my "hot buttons", it's one of the things in life that really gets under my skin. I am sick and tired of hearing about "America the free", as we watch our liberties being signed away, and we can't do anything about it. Should I be proud of this country? I keep on going back and forth on this question. Yes, we may have freedoms that other countries do not (freedom to worship as we choose, freedom to homeschool) but how long will those freedoms last? If we are already being denied the freedom of choice in the matter of food, how long will it take before our other liberties are snatched from us?

The food debate is ultimately about liberty. It's about our rights that we should have. The government needs to back off a ways; I don't need any help choosing my food, thank you! And yet, I'm not so dumb as to believe that one day, things will be better and the government won't have such a death grip on things. Nope. As long as they get their money, they're happy.

There. I said it. You have no idea how long I have wanted to say aaallll of the above. I apologize if I have offended you, or over stepped my bounds in the writing world, but I felt the need to say this.

P.S. Buying bootlegger milk is really fun, you should try it sometime! ;)