Fine Balance Wellness

Don’t you love those unexpected moments when life seems so good and so simple that it fills you with great joy? I had just that feeling after spending the afternoon volunteering at the produce distribution at my local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). It was another great week as we received a beautiful selection of produce including three varieties of eggplant, beautiful green tomatoes, carrots, four varieties of squash, fennel, fava beans, 2 1/2 pounds of peaches, 4 pounds of plums, maple yogurt, eggs and non-homogenized milk — all for under $30.  (I am including such detail to help sway those of you who are only thinking about joining a CSA to take action!)

It was wonderful to meet fellow CSA members and to see the diversity of people all driven by one desire – access to amazing, affordable, healthy food. But beyond the self-serving aspect of participating in a CSA, I also  witnessed a true community driving change in this great city. People cared about one another in a way that seems rare nowadays. As volunteers, it was an unspoken commitment to take great care when bagging this week’s fruit allotment to not bruise a single peach or break the skin of a single plum. It’s a generosity of spirit I can’t say I’ve seen at my beloved Fairway market (and trust me, Fairway shoppers really care about their food as well). In the wonderful fulfillment I experienced volunteering for such a profound community movement in the way we receive our food, I couldn’t help to still be saddened by some of the incredible injustices currently taking place across the United States with regard to our food system.

Food, Inc.
Last weekend I watched Food, Inc., an incredible documentary about the wretched state of the American food system. Michael Pollen fans are able to visually experience some of the horrific conditions of feed lots and slaughter houses across the country. You witness pigs slaughtered by mechanically crushing them together, cows and chickens who have been grown so fast and furiously using synthetic growth hormones that their legs are not able to support them. You may know E.Coli originates from the bowels of improperly fed animals, but did you know that if a cow is taken off a feed lot and placed on green pasture for only 5 days almost all traces of E.Coli are removed? 5 days! Yet in the big world of agribusiness, 5 days is time they are not willing to sacrifice for the health of their customers.

Since the beginning of time, seeds, whether from a flower or cabbage have been saved. It is nature’s way of preserving all of the essential ingredients to sprout new life the following season. Big businesses, like Monsanto, now use patent law to prevent any farmer from saving their own seeds to be used the following harvest season. Food, Inc. details the story of Moe Parr, operator of a seed cleaning business in Indiana where, at the end of each harvest, he would clean seeds for farms to store over the winter months to rid the seeds of any spores of mold or other contaminants that may cause the seeds to rot during the winter months. This practice, that has existed since at least the beginning of agricultural man, was grounds for Monsanto to initiate a law suit against Moe Parr in 2007. Monsanto claimed that Moe had encouraged farmers of genetically modified (GM) soybean to save their seed.

Given Monsanto’s patent law over the GM Round-Up Ready soybean (yes it’s genetically modified and ready to withstand that toxic spray that instantly initiates death in the weeds in your yard), it is against the law for Moe Parr or anyone to clean and reuse the seed. But the real trouble here revolves around the issue of seed ownership and cross-pollination. At no other time in history have patents on seeds existed. Throughout history they have been a product of nature and nature does a fine job of helping them spread.  It has been found seeds can cross-pollinate with non-GM seeds more than 26km away. What happens if genetically modified seed from a GM farm cross-pollinates with seed on a non-GM farm?  According to Monsanto, the originally non-GM farm has now infringed on the patent for the genetically modified seed! This means the farmer is legally obligated to forgo profits from that year’s harvest and it is impossible to ever remove all traces of the GM seed. For the previously non-GM farmer the only solution to continue to operate his farm is to purchase GM seeds from a company like Monsanto. And since Monsanto owns the patent on the seed they can require that the seed is not cleaned at the end of the harvest and must be repurchased the following year.

Cast Your Vote
We all have two very important tools. The first is knowledge. Understanding what happens to the food you’re eating is the first line of defense in protecting you and your family. The second is every time you spend a dollar on any type of food item you are making a vote. You either get to vote for the large business who patents seeds and builds forced consumer bases (and did I mention the seeds like corn and soy that make up most items in the American diet aren’t that good for you?) or you can vote for the business that supports the animals and the land it runs, values its customers health and satisfaction and builds community. I imagine Moe Parr’s whole life has probably been turned a bit upside down. Monsanto forced him out of business, he exasperated his savings in legal fees and many of his former friends and farming partners, who are now, freely or not, Monsanto customers are not allowed to speak to him. I am saddened by part of his journey but I am so grateful his story can be shared so more of us can learn from his trials. Are you ready to vote with the choices you make about food?