Garden/Farm Freedom In Jeopardy

I don't want to write too much about this because it is not my area of expertise, but for a few years I've been hearing about the horrible practices of the giant U.S. seed/pesticide company Monsanto and I want to make others--who may not have heard--aware.

Here is one article about Monsanto's raid on small farmers and now, seed cleaners--who make it possible to save and plant seeds that are not from Monsanto: Raid on Seeds (life itself) ... by Monsanto. The Pennsylvania Dept. of Agriculture recently raided a small Mennonite Farm, and in Ohio the Ag. Dept. raided an organic farm with a SWAT team. Departments of Agriculture in every state are held captive by huge AgriCorporations like Monsanto because of, of course, huge campaign donations. Read the article for more.

You can also keep tabs on Monsanto at the website Millions Against Monsanto. If you have time, watch the video at the top of the page. I watched it and it's frightening. It's about Monsanto's Genetically Engineered seeds and the extremely sketchy science behind GE seeds/foods, and their lack of concern for the eaters of the world--that means you and me and all of us, of course! That site has actions you can take.

Other ways you can fight back are to support local farmers in your area--farmers you can actually talk to and buy directly from like at your farmer's market. And you can grow your own garden, using seeds that are heirloom and non-hybrid since you can then save the seeds yourself and you will be beholden to no single company for your food security. Some great places to buy heirloom seeds are Fedco, Baker Creek Heirloom Seed, High Mowing Seeds, Seed Savers (based in Iowa near where we used to live), and Seeds of Change (owned by a large corporation, but a "corporate good guy" in as far as I can tell--often their seeds are available in stores so you can pick some up more easily). If you click on any of the links, you can order online or request a catalog. And do order early this year, as many seed companies experienced high demand/low supply last year and expect this year to be even crazier.

Rhonda Jean over at Down To Earth blog has written this great post on seed-saving so you can learn to save your own from next summer's garden veggies. It was her post and this post by Anais at Path to Freedom that inspired me to write this. There are also many good books out there on this--both at the library and to purchase. I'd recommend the Storey Publishing book called Seed Sowing and Saving.

Seriously folks, this is a huge issue. How do you feel about the idea of one huge corporation, or even a few corporations, owning all the world's food supply? Because that's what they're trying to do. Food, like health care in America, has become profit-driven. And it's not the small farmers who are making the profits. It's a very sick system, and it's time to make a change. I wish Michael Moore would do a movie on it to bring about people's awareness. Barring that, Michael Pollan has certainly been writing a lot of books and newspaper essays and appearing on TV talking about this issue. At the top of my blog there are links to some of his work, particularly his Letter to President Obama. Also, read In Defense of Food and An Omnivore's Dilemma.

And here's another good page about Michael Pollan's work, where you can also watch a video of Bill Moyers interviewing him: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/11282008/profile.html. There is a drive to get President Obama to name Michael Pollan as Ag. Secretary, but Pollan says he doesn't want the job and it's highly unlikely even Mr. Obama can circumvent the usual powers that be on this. But we do know Mr. Obama has read the letter and works of Pollan, and there is a lot of hope that things may start to change.

You, the citizens of the world, will have to start making the changes in your own homes and lives first. This is truly a grassroots effort. As the saying goes: Start Now. Be the Change.