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Thursday, May 13, 2010

Is Access to Good Food a Basic Human Right?

I watched the documentary Food, Inc. last night.  My reactions were to be stunned, moved, appalled, angry, sad, and more committed than ever to choosing locally produced foods.

Yesterday, I also learned that FDA doesn't trust me to make the best decisions about my food choices.  The article "The FDA vs. Raw Milk and the Constitution" asserts that the FDA does not take the position that we, the public, have any right to choose what we eat or drink.  The Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund (FCLDF) sued the FDA, challenging the FDA ban on interstate raw milk sales.  The FCLDF believes the ban to be un-Constitutional.

Today, I read that there is yet another outbreak of E. coli 0145 is beginning to sweep across the country.  Watch Food, Inc. and you'll learn why this keeps happening.

Today, I am wondering if my idea of what America is and what it means to be an American has been a horrible ruse.  The actions of our elected and appointed government leaders do not show to be in the best interests of actual people - the individual.  The interests seem to be totally on the side of multi-national corporations because that is where the money is.  Is access to good, healthy, non-altered food a basic human right?  Or is eating simply a luxury?

Abraham Maslow's Theory of Human Motivation gave us his "Hierarchy of Needs".  At the very bottom of the hierarchy are the physiological needs of humans:  water, air, food, and sleep.  I am not aware of anyone challenging his theory or his hierarchy.  Does anyone think that humans can survive long without any one of those needs being met?  If food is a physiological need, underpinning our ability to work our way up that hierarchy to the need for safety and security, the need for love and belonging, to obtain self-esteem and achieve self-actualization, how can we not be allowed to choose what food we eat?

I think we are becoming the inhabitants of the ship Axiom from the movie Wall-E without having to leave the planet.  The foods we eat are not fostering a healthy, responsible society.  We are lulled into complacency by not knowing what is really going on behind the scenes and not knowing who is controlling our food supply.

Ask yourself, does it matter to you that the food choices that are put before us are not as nutritious as food was just 50 years ago?  The broccoli might look the same, but the vitamin and mineral content is lower in density than the broccoli your grandparents ate.  And I wonder if the broccoli looks the same?  I'll bet it's unnaturally green or unnaturally large.  I know the meat from grass-fed animals is different in color and odor than the corn-fed, corporate giant meats.   For more information about the nutrition differences in organic v. non-organic vegetables, read Victoria Boutenko's article "Why is Organic Produce Important" on her Green Smoothie Revolution blog.

Do you really know where the meat you buy is raised? Where it lives? How it is treated? How it is processed? Do you know how the plants you eat are raised? How they are processed? Do you care?

Do you care that our sons and daughters are eating foods that have been genetically altered for economic reasons and not to provide better health for the population?

Does it bother you that children are eating meats laden with hormones and antibiotics?

And do you care that cows don't graze on fresh grass, they way G-d intended, but eat corn instead?

What about the chickens raised by large corporations that grow preternaturally large in about half the time as chickens that are allowed to grow and mature on Nature's schedule?  Apparently, the Almighty did not make the chicken good enough, so we mortals have had to "re-engineer" it.  It seems that a preference for large breasts extends to the chicken we eat, too.

The more I learn, the more committed I am to the food choices we are making in our family.   The more I learn, the more concerned I become about the welfare of our nation.  The more I learn, the more I feel that America has subtly and quietly changed into something far removed from what our Founding Fathers hoped to build.

We have allowed these changes to take place without paying attention to what we are doing to our own bodies, our families, our communities, our Nation.  We gave the government, government agencies, and corporations the power they have over our food supply.  We will have to be the ones to take back control over our basic right to the food we want to eat.

I will vote every time I buy locally produced foods.  I will cast my ballot with each vegetable that comes from my garden.  I will renew my commitment with each bite I take.  What will you do?


Additional Recommended Reading:
Green Eyes On:  Your Doctor Says, "Eat Local, Eat Organic" - even the AMA has changed their tune!

Handy Guide to Buying Organic - great card to keep in your wallet!

1 comment:

  1. Nice writing, Mimi. I am concerned about these issues, and the future generation of eaters in America. Last week, Carolyn (my Kindergartener) brought home a book that had each child in it, with a picture (s)he drew and some of their favorite things, including their favorite food. Not one child (even Carolyn) listed a fruit or vegetable. They listed corn dogs, nachos, pizza, chicken nuggets, etc. It really makes me sad, and I don't think that the busy parents that feed their kids this stuff day in and day out realize what a disservice they are doing to thier children. I just keep trying to keep our family on track-I'm not perfect at all, but I do keep trying. After all, what could be more important than what we eat?

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