۩National Consumer Protection Week March 6-12 & National Agriculture Week March 20-26 ۩National Consumer Protection

Week March 6-12 & National Agriculture Week March 20-26

Story Leaflet to “organize” our garden—doing away with herbicides, pesticides, She reluctantly agreed. “Okay, I’ll take that box right there.”
Expert: Son of a Farmer, Child of the Earth: A path to Agriculture’s and commercial fertilizers. Our cotton crop was off to a horrible start I collected the money and left. Five minutes later, I called her
Higher Consciousness by Eric Herm. {104-108} due to drought, but our garden was thriving. back. “Okay, 75 cents a pound, and the overwhelming sense of peace
The day began like so many before. I woke up with a that you’re not supporting terrorists when you purchase onions.” I
“Great West Texas Organic Onion Quest” general sense of optimism that I’d make the world a better place as I had to appeal to her deep-down American Values.
contemplated America’s continuing downfall over a cup of coffee. ‘Okay,” she laughed. “I’ll call you next week.”
If we truly are what we eat, should we not be much more Yes, today would be the day I’d make everything better. I saddled up And just like that, my first regular customer was born. Alas, I
in tune with what enters our body and becomes part of our whole? In my War Pony (which happened to be a Dodge Diesel pickup), called was not so fortunate at the rest of the restaurants in town.
a sense, we become part of everything we produce. Our harvest not upon my trusty sidekick Angler (Siberian Husky), and we headed “We’re not on that health –kick here,” one owner snubbed.
only rewards us personally but all who partake in what is harvested. north out of town toward the vast brown of barren fields. That time “No, we’re not interested.”
If we bless our crops with proper minerals, nutrients, and love while of the year the cotton should’ve been boot-high, but it was up to “We can’t afford that.”
Mother Nature adds her blessings of rain and sunshine, how much pinkie-toe high at best. That windy morning, pondering the immense “The prices are better at Wal-Mart.”
more fulfilling is our purpose? disappearing act of the American farmer, I headed to our garden to Damn you, Sam Walton!
Rather than focusing on more product for less price, we must harvest our sweet onions-pulling, cutting, carrying, stacking. Six A couple of owners even sent their teenage children out to
focus on replenishing the soil. The weakening of our nation’s soil farmers getting back to the fundamentals of agriculture. Sweet deal with me. The word “no” only made my stronger. I ate one onion
contributes to an unavoidable chain reaction leading to the onions. Yes, nourishment for the body, pollution for the breath. for courage and one for spite.
destruction of energy and Life as we know it. A depleted soil begets Dad drove up, got out of his pickup, and stared at the piles of Most Americans want the cheapest thing they can get…and
our food’s lack of nutrients. Food without proper mineralization onions. that includes food. This is why the American farmer is having such a
begets bodies lacking the energy and minds lacking the clarity to live “Do you want an onion? We’re almost out,” I laughed, hard time competing. Are the majority truly aware of agriculture’s
a fulfilling life. Perhaps we’ve deprived our bodies of crucial glaring across some 2,000 pounds of breath fresheners. significant role in feeding their families? Are they interested in the
vitamins and minerals for so long, our minds are unwilling to accept “What are you going to do with all of them?” Dad asked quality of the foods they put into their bodies? Where their food
the obvious as truth. Instead, we will believe much of what the Hell, we hadn’t really thought that far ahead originates from? Does it matter to them if it is laced with toxic
talking heads on television say, or take advice that will affect our “Sell’em.” chemicals, human feces, or pixie dust? Does it matter if it came from
entire lives from a complete stranger with a white coat and a paper “To whom?” 4,000 miles away across countless borders? Does it matter if it was
certificate on their office wall…………..{} Hmm, he had a point. I made a few calls. Okay, I made one grown and harvested using slave labor? We’ve applied this ‘the
An unhealthy soil grows unhealthy plants. We eat the call. A friend’s mother ran a café in Big Spring. Surely she’d buy cheaper, the better’ logic to our food supply, and we’re getting
unhealthy and chemically laced plants, which become a part of as some. My logic was simple. We would depend on our fellow exactly what we’re paying for- very little.
and in the process lower our energy levels. Rather than filling our residents in the area to purchase our chemical-free goods. It was a
bodies with all the elements that once existed in healthy topsoil, we brilliant plan. {pg105}
are devoid of so many minerals and vitamins we can’t function on all I mean, everyone loves onions, right? I thought so, too. My Statistics from the USDA reveal that today’s food has 30-
cylinders mentally, physically, or spiritually. We’re disconnected. first three stops were all a success, selling close to 30 pounds. But 70% less nutritional value than food 50 years ago. We can talk all we
Our source of reconnection is the energy within the Earth-topsoil. the café was my first real sales pitch. “Locally grown-no chemicals, want about freedom or power, but a nation is only as strong and
The awakening needed within our bodies must come from our soul only organic fertilizer.” healthy as its own soil and food supply. A nation that can neither
or spirit or higher consciousness. Yet we’re so out of whack, out of The café owner was hesitant. “How much do you want for feed nor clothe itself is powerless and frail. The collapse of any
touch, we can’t seem to grasp this concept nearly as easily as we them?” society or empire throughout history can be linked to its diminished
should. We’re too busy concerning our minds with the next best “A dollar twenty-five a pound.” resources. This is the greatest lesson we’ve refused to learn in out
iPhone, Gucci purse, Ford pickup or American Idol winner. We “Well,” she wrinkled her nose. ‘I’ll take some, but I can get a times of high-tech gadgets and gotta-have-it-now philosophies. We
delude ourselves that our ticket to bliss is now purchased via 50-pound bag at Wal-Mart for 15 dollars.” continue to gorge ourselves with an excessive amount of soulless
consumerism and entertainment. Nourishment of body and soul has Damn Wal-Mart and their low, low prices. “Yes, but do you food, leading our bodies down the path of obesity diabetes, and other
taken a backseat to this great zeal focused on pacifying our minds. know where they come from?” severe health problems. While our bellies are full, we’re starving to
I can sum up much of our problem with purchasing and “No.” death. We’re malnourished yet severely overweight. This starts with
eating healthy food in this country with a story. It was to be my “Exactly. They don’t have the same rules for chemicals there. our soil. By talking about our soil we are literally getting to the root
“great West Texas organic onion quest.” The year was 2006 and We use no chemicals-nothing. Only organic fertilizers, and grown of many of our problems.
early summer, which translates to jungle hot. I’d been working hard right here down the road.”

۩National Consumer Protection Week March 6-12 & National Agriculture Week March 20-26 ۩National Consumer Protection Week March 6-12 & National Agriculture Week March 20-26
۩National Consumer Protection Week March 6-12 & National Agriculture Week March 20-26 ۩National Consumer Protection Week March 6-12 & National Agriculture Week March 20-26
The breakdown in the way we eat in America has
come hand-in-hand with a breakdown in the way we farm.
Both industries-food and agriculture-have been caught in a
race to the bottom that has favored bigness and cheapness
over sustainability and health. Federal policy has reinforced
this through subsidies of big commodities, but culture has
reinforced it too. Consumers see a 32-ounce soda and they
buy it. Schools see cheap meat and they serve it to their
students, without asking (or teaching them to ask) where it
comes from. Farmers see a herbicide-tolerant crop that’s
easy to grow, and they plant it. I think some of this is
human nature and some of it is American culture and some
of it is what’s rewarded by our economy, but taken
altogether it’s turned the thing we most fundamentally need
for our survival---food—into something we treat like a
plastic toy. So long as it’s cheap and it’s here to enjoy
today, why bother having long-term care? {King Corn; Curt
Ellis & Ian Cheney; pg 109}
Undisturbed topsoil has thousands and thousands, millions and Deception: Exposing Industry and Government Lies about the Safety
millions of years worth of natural goodies mixed into its vast
richness, thanks to volcanic eruptions, glacier melting’s, free-ranging Available at St. Johnsbury Athenaeum: [As well as an ARTICLE
animal herds (like the buffalo), and cosmic dust. That combination
of Nature’s brilliant recipe bestowed us with the gift of completely
healthy soil. The plow and chemical farming destroyed most of that
precious resource by the mid-1900’s. As more and more pristine
forest, prairie, and pasture is turned under, we destroy the magnetic
properties of the soil along with Nature’s wondrous recipe. We also
expose all that life in the soil to direct sunlight, which kills it.
Without healthy food and water, we are nothing. We can’t
purchase our way to a healthy life without them. Our mortality is
not our greatest vulnerability, mental limitations are.
Source: Dream River Press, 2010 .dreamriverpress.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------------ saynotogmos.com Heirloom Seed Companies:
Organization:
North Country Coalition For Justice and Peace
(nccoalition@kingcon.net)Look for their newsletter for upcoming
events or email them.
‘Human Rights, not corporate rights;’
“live simply that others may simply live,” [Mahatma Gandhi]
۩National Consumer Protection Week March 6-12 & National Agriculture Week March 20-26 ۩National Consumer Protection Week March 6-12 & National Agriculture Week March 20-26
ALFA [Area Local Food Alliance] stjlocalfoodalliance.org Check lemonade is made from artificial flavors and furniture
the ALFA website for information on related events going on in the polish is made from real lemons.” ~Alfred E. Newman
area.
“St. J AlFA’s mission is to strengthen our regional food system and It's difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while
increase food sustainability and security, so that all community eating a homegrown tomato. ~Lewis Grizzard
members have access to affordable, healthy, locally produced food.”
(St. J ALFA website) “Factory farming systems have increased in size over
the past decade in spite of concerted national and
Farm to Plate Initiative http://www.vsjf.org/project- international efforts to put an end to them. Although
details/5/farm-to-plate-initiative farms and ranches have reduced in number, they have
NOFA: Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont increased in size. For instance, beef cattle feedlots now
typically have fifty thousand to one hundred thousand
For businesses supporting local: organicconsumers.org animals incarcerated in poorly drained dirt yards with
neither shade nor shelter. In many cases, dairy cow herds
Information: of three thousand to five thousand head suffer the same
conditions. These big business farms are now so
Books: The Town that Food Saved: How one town commonplace that only about 10 percent to 15 percent of
found vitality in local food by Ben Hewitt [2010]; our meat, dairy, and poultry products come from smaller
Eating with a Conscious: The Bioethics for Consumers ; Seeds of “family” farm operations. If this trend continues, some
fifty thousand or so mega-farm complexes will be the
of the Genetically Engineered Foods Your Eating by Jeffery Smith. main source of consumables for U. S. Consumers and for
export markets. This situation is a far cry from the four
COLLECTION] million family farms and ranches that fed the nation only
twenty years ago.” (Eating with a conscious: The
Movies: The Future of Food, and The Real Dirt on Farmer John Bioethics of Food; Michael W. Fox; pg 24)
are available at the Catamount Arts in St. Johnsbury.
King Corn & Food Inc are available at the St. Johnsbury
Athenaeum
*Special thanks goes to the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum and to
“Chemicals, n: Noxious substances from which modern Catamount Arts for their assistance in this project. This packet
foods are made.” ~Author Unknown was compiled by J. A. Grech with help from staff at the St.
Johnsbury Athenaeum. For PDF file for Story Leaflet email
Websites: Centerforfoodsafty.org; gm.watch.org; real_f_i_g@hotmail.com.
organic consumers.org; .percyschmeiser.com;
highmowingseeds.com; bountifulgardens.org; for businesses
supporting local foods visit: organicconsumers.org
Check out the Recommendation
Leaflet to choose from broader
“We are living in a
selection of recommendations and
world today
additional experts.
where