Archive for the ‘Food Politics’ Category

Most of you may already have seen the video of dolphins and whales dying in the Gulf that was on TV last night (www.oilslick.blogspot.com) (if you haven’t seen it and you don’t want to have your heart broken, don’t go there).

Weston Price in his writings often used the phrase “the animal life of the sea” to describe the creatures that sustained native people living in traditional coastal societies before the coming of modern culture. These people and the sea mammals and fish that touched every aspect of their lives shared a deep spiritual relationship. The people worshiped the animals they hunted for survival, loved them as brothers and sisters in their unified world.

These feelings of oneness with animals and the natural world are still in us, embedded in our collective consciousness, part of our very essence. That is why those of us who are in touch with those feelings are so especially sad now as we watch the horrors unfold.

When I was a little boy, six or seven years old, my mom and grandma got me my first puppy. I named him Flip. A couple of weeks later he got distemper and despite our best efforts, he died in his little bed a few days later. For weeks, I cried in bed every night. One night my mom came in and found me crying and asked me what was wrong.

“Flip died,” I said.

“I know, honey,” she said. “We’ll get you another puppy. I promise.”

And they did, and that puppy lived a long time.

Last night, and this morning, I cried. There is no one to tell me there will be another puppy. A deal with the devil spews black poison from hell, destroying the animal life of the sea and with it our connection with that life.

The madness of the modern world seems unstoppable. But one of the things we can do is to carefully control how we spend our money for food. By refusing to buy corporate food – the packaged products that fill supermarkets, and conventionally raised meat, dairy and produce – we can starve at least some of the corporate monsters who pollute every aspect of our lives. Support small farmers, buy raw milk and natural meats and organic produce. Consume less and save more for the rainy days that the madness makes inevitable. Take control of your health through careful eating and opt out of corporate disease care. Support the people and the organizations you believe in.

Your children’s lives depend on it.