Monsanto seems intent on taking over the food supply of the entire world. Their sterile, toxic seeds are in every corner of the globe. Hungary recently made headlines for burning 1000 acres of fields of GMO crops to the ground. Dozens of nations have banned, or at the very least, regulated, GMO crops and products. The heat is on the monolithic seed corporation, and it’s time to turn the temperature up even more in North America. The federal government has made no secret of their support of Monsanto, so it’s up to us, the consumers, to starve them out.
The best way to do that, according to the founder of Eat Local Grown, Rick Davis, is to “Starve Monsanto, feed a farmer.”
Every dollar we put into the pockets of small farmers is a dollar that Monsanto doesn’t receive. By cutting off the funding for Monsanto through consumer choices, we can starve this beast out.
Davis is passionate about the place of farmer’s markets in this checkout counter revolution:
Money is all that matters. So let’s use our money more wisely to get the changes we want. First step- stop buying GMO and conventionally grown food. Move those dollars to supporting local sustainable farmers!
I realize that’s difficult and impossible for many. But if we had a shift of just 10% of peoples shopping income going to Farmers Markets it would make a HUGE difference. The sad reality is that most small family farms are required to have at least one family member work outside of the farm just to make ends meet. It’s not because they don’t do a good job growing healthy food, it’s because there’s just not enough awareness of the benefits (nutrition, helping the environment, building community, etc).
Every bite of food that you feed your family is a vote, either for Monsanto and their GMOs, or against them. This means that every single one of us can effect the necessary change by voting with our forks and wallets.
We can all take steps to grow at least some of the food that we consume, through traditional gardens, containers on the patio or balcony, or even a sunny window. But for city dwellers or those who live in an area otherwise not conducive to farming, it isn’t feasible to think that they can grow every single bite that they eat. Not to worry, though, because activism is as easy as heading to your local farmer’s market instead of the grocery store. (You can find farmer’s markets in your area HERE.)
Here are 10 ways to starve a multi-national GMO conglomerate even when you don’t have room to farm – and the best news of all is that ANYONE can get started as soon as lunch time!
- Stop shopping at grocery stores. With farmer’s markets, roadside stands in the country, vegetable gardens,privately owned butcher shops, and mail order sources for bulk purchases of organic grains, there is no reason you need to ever set foot in another chilly, fluorescent-lit, chemical warfare zone again!
- Eat seasonally. Seasonal eating has a host of benefits. It’s healthier, it’s cheaper, and it’s far easier to find in-season foods locally grown.
- Join a CSA. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Basically when you join a CSA, you are buying shares in the harvest. This is a great way to support local farmers. You pay in advance and then as the harvest comes in, it is divided among shareholders. Each CSA is different – some divvy up only produce, while others share eggs and dairy products as well.
- Make the farmer’s market a weekly destination. Grab the kids and some reusable bags and head out to your local farmer’s market. Not only can you shop for vibrant, fresh-picked fruits and veggies, but many markets also offer home-baked goods, jams and jellies, and local meats. Be sure that you are buying directly from farmers, though. Some vendors buy from the same markets that the grocery stores do, which defeats the whole purpose. Talk to the vendor and learn about the origin of the offerings – you just may strike up a wonderful friendship!
- Buy directly from the farm. If you live in a more rural area, shopping locally can be as easy as visiting a neighboring farm. Some set up roadside stands, others rely on the honor system, and others have small shops with their freshly harvested offerings.
- Visit a pick-your-own farm. A great outing for the whole family is a pick-your-own farm. Even better, the price for fresh berries or apples is often lower when you provide your own labor. A morning spent in the field picking strawberries is both educational and a fun way to bond with your children. You can find a PYO farm in your area HERE.
- Learn to preserve food. Many of us live in a climate doesn’t allow for fresh harvests year-round. The good news is, you can acquire fresh produce in large quantities (like bushel baskets) for a far better price than a weekly supply. Canning, freezing, and dehydrating are three great ways to preserve that fresh picked goodness to enjoy in the middle of winter, while still avoiding the grocery store and it’s Monsanto-filled shelves.
- Join a food co-0p. According to Localharvest.org, “Food cooperatives are worker or customer owned businesses that provide grocery items of the highest quality and best value to their members. Coops can take the shape of retail stores or buying clubs. All food coops are committed to consumer education, product quality, and member control, and usually support their local communities by selling produce grown locally by family farms.” Food co-ops can be found HERE and HERE.
- Support restaurants that buy locally. The locavore movement is catching on. If you choose to go out to dinner, opt for restaurants that have seasonal menus based on local harvests. You can find a list of such eateries HERE.
- Educate friends, family, and the local community. Extend the activism beyond your own kitchen by helping to promote the local options. Lots of people have no idea what to do with swiss chard or rutabagas. Volunteer to teach a cooking class that focuses on seasonal foods. Write up flyers to be inserted with co-op or CSA baskets with instructions on how to prepare that months’ harvest. Submit seasonal recipes to your local paper. Educate, educate, educate, on the benefits and importance of locally grown, non-GMO food.
Grass roots activism like Occupy Monsanto and the March Against Monsanto have built a tidal wave of momentum against the genetically modified ingredients contaminating our supplies. We, everyday, ordinary people, can keep the movement going by remembering that the real votes are counted at the cash register.
Good ideas here – Monsanto to me is the most evil corrupt corporation in the world (I always see it as Mr Burns company from the Simpsons). The sooner these evil faceless b******s are stopped the better. You can bet your bottom dollar that they and their families would not dream of eating or even touching anything made by their evil labs. All organic and heirloom seed for them eh?
Exactly! Thank you for saying so!
“Seeds of Sour Grapes Being Sewn by the System” by Pheonyx Roldan Smith
“Barack Obama recently signed a bill into law that was written by the billion-dollar corporation that will benefit from it. The Monsanto Protection Act allows Monsanto to override United States federal courts on the issue of planting experimental genetically engineered crops all across the US. The government has no power whatsoever to stop Monsanto and other biotechnology corporations from planting and harvesting. After Obama signed H.R. 933, the provision was final, there can be no litigation against these corporations at all. Corrupt food corporations are now allowed to plant and sell their genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and genetically engineered (GE) seeds. It wasn’t long ago that Monsanto rejected multiple studies on GMO crop risk. We are seeing the power of the fact that multinational corporations own the government.” -via http://www.collective-evolution.com/2013/03/29/obama-signs-monsanto-protection-act
Apparently this report IS true. I just googled “did Obama Sign Monsanto Protection Act?” (aka “Section 735”) to make sure AND it actually happened back in March of this year. Although, I can’t see how this bill could be constitutionally legal (of course, we are talking about the U.S. here and we deal with that issue all the time, now don’t we?), I’m sure it will have to go through due process requiring U.S. citizens to take the powers that be all the way up to the Supreme Court and over ruling this law (assuming the SC hasn’t been bought by Monsanto as well. oh wait, it sorta has… Clarence Thomas… former Monsanto lawyer… hmmmmm.)
However, a most recent report at the top of the google search dated May 17th states the “Monsanto Protection Act” might be repealed in Senate. The article more clearly states…
“Deep within the nearly 600-page spending bill, Section 735 includes language that lets biotech companies that experiment with genetically-engineered and genetically-modified crops test and sell lab-made products even if legal action is taken against them.
The provision would strip federal courts of the authority to halt the sale and planting of an illegal, potentially hazardous GE crop while the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) assesses those potential hazards,” dozens of farmers wrote the House of Representatives before the bill was passed in March. Further, it would compel USDA to allow continued planting of that same crop upon request, even if in the course of its assessment the Department finds that it poses previously unrecognized risks.
But despite pleas from agriculturalists around the world, both the Senate and House approved the spending bill — with Section 735 in tow — and the act was signed into law just days later by US President Barack Obama.” -via http://rt.com/usa/protection-repeal-act-monsanto-444
Now, those of you who know me know I don’t like to get political. However, I’m also part Filipino and Filipinos LOVE to eat. So, when you start messing with our food like Monsanto has been doing and is now trying to skirt around the legal issues that there Genetically Modified Foods (that’s what GMO stands for folks, for some of you who may just be becoming aware of this subject just now… sleep under rocks much? I love you.), then I’ve got something to say about it.
Of course, I’m paying attention to all this unfolding half-way around the world, but the GMO issue has become a world-wide epidemic and whole countries are taking a stand and actually BANNING Monsanto seed and presence within their own countries (http://www.examiner.com/article/what-countries-have-banned-gmo-crops), and what I love about all of this is that it really causing people to look/wake up and pay attention and literally come together on this very important issue… our food source!
Of course, for many of us that live in the western more industrialized world, we have choices! Starving nations and third-world, war-torn, politically-corrupt, poverty-stricken nations, admittedly not so much. For now anyway. But what choices do we have, you say? Well for one, pay attention to what you buy. I know it’s hard and full disclosure of whether or not something is GMO (aka “Genetically Engineered” or GE). If you shop at a big-box, corporate grocery store, here’s a quick tip to tell if your produce is on the up and up by paying attention to the barcodes…
Using Price Look-up Codes (PLUs), the Nutshell. PLU codes are four digit numbers that identify different types of produce.
-For example, #4011 is the code for a standard yellow banana.
-The number 9 prefix added to a PLU signifies that an item is organic. For example, #94011 is the code for an organic yellow banana.
-A number 8 prefix added to a PLU signifies that an item is genetically engineered (GE). For example, #84011 is the code for a genetically engineered yellow banana.
-PLU codes and their organic prefixes are in wide use but GE codes are rare at best.
You can read more and watch a simply to understand video at http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2012/11/20/food-labeling-how-to-identify-conventional-organic-and-gmo-produce if you really want to educate yourself on how to identify what safe(r) for you and your family.
However, since labeling GMO/GE foods is not currently required, the next best option would be to know your food source. Who grows it, where they grow, it and how. Enter in your local farmers’ market which are popping up more and more all over the place. You don’t have to live in the rural countryside to have access to fresh produce any longer. Although that’d be great, and I do highly recommend it if you can swing it. However, for all you city-dwellers, with the growth in urban gardening and a resurgence of smaller, collective farming co-ops near major cities (thanks Monsanto!), people from Atlanta, to San Francisco to New York City can now find fresh organic produce, flowers, honey, herbs, breads, and even free-range grain/grass fed eggs and meat at least once or twice a week, especially on weekends. It’s going to take you a little work to make some changes, and it may not be as “convenient” as running down to the local corporate grocery store for a quick restock, but plan ahead and shop a couple times of in the week, and remember that this is your life we’re talking about.
Okay, option numero tres… I know some of you reading this have big beautiful back yards. Probably manicured once or twice a week in the summer time. There’s no doubt a flower garden somewhere with a lovely birdbath for those lazy days of enjoying doing nothing but watching nature play in your well-kept back yard. Well, how about a vegetable garden?! Think about getting your hands dirty and perhaps even getting the kids and spouse involved! Don’t, can’t, won’t do it on your own? Then find a friend! Surely there’s someone you know who just can’t wait to play in the dirt and would most likely be happier than a kid with cake to show you the ropes and help you design the perfect little patch of potatoes, pumpkins or parsnips any time.
Got a green thumb that wants to be itched but would rather be a part of something a little larger? Join or start your own local gardening group and share in the labor as well as the rewards of having your own fresh produce. Live in the city? Don’t have a yard? Noooooooo problem… “Americans cultivate an estimated 18,000 community gardens, and now more of their growing is taking place in city lots and building rooftops. Urban gardeners see numerous benefits, from a heightened sense of empowerment to a lighter grocery bill to lowered crime rates.” -via http://civileats.com/2013/03/26/five-tips-for-launching-an-urban-garden.
Look, the world wide web is your friend. Use it. All this information was pulled up in a matter of minutes, some even within a few seconds, just to get you this far. (You’re welcome. I love you.) And all I was going to do was make a little comment about Obama and his marriage with Monsanto at the moment. Change is going to take a little time and a lot of effort on all of our parts. The problem didn’t get created over night, and the solutions will require a shift in our overall consciousness in how we do things.
The Truth is, most of us have gotten pretty lazy, yes? Come on, admit it. Grocery stores, convenience stores, fast food restaurants, microwaves (btw, please stop using those), frozen foods… all of it has made living in the modern era quite “easy”. However, while you are were sleeping and not paying attention, someone altered the source and safety of the food you require to live by in order to enjoy all these modern conveniences. So, what are we to do?
Well, for starters, it’s time to pay attention. Join a movement of increased global consciousness and say no to companies like Monsanto. You can write your congress person, but I’m going to tell you right now that that MIGHT work, but not likely. I mean if it did, the “Monsanto Protection Act” would not have passed and we would not be having this discussion at the moment. As difficult as it may be for some f you to accept even still right now, DOLLARS MAKE DIFFERENCES. The politicians know this. The corporations know this. The lobbyists know this. Now it’s truly time that YOU know this.
Every dollar that you spend casts a vote. Spend it on Genetically Modified foods from the local grocery store and you tell the grocer and the supplier that you are IN on GMO’s! It’s really quite simple. Spend your dollars at the gas pump instead of biking or carpooling or taking public transport, then you send a message to your local petroleum company that you are IN on gas-guzzling and to bring on more please! The only reason the supply exists is because you/I/we have created demand for it. It may have been an unconscious demand in the beginning, that’s true. They didn’t tell us they were going to genetically modify our foods and/or bully, buy up or run out of business small farmers around the world. No, and when the signs began to appear, we still thought, “No, that’s not possible. Is it?” Well, kids, play time is over, and the time to speak up is now.
Sure, keep marching against Monsanto! No problem. It raises awareness for those who still might be sleeping under their own rocks. Sure, keep writing and calling your congress people and even the president. Be a fly in their ointment and let them know you are paying attention. However, take away the source for their demand and you will take away their ability to supply. Look corporations (and politicians mostly) speak one language… money, dollars, green backs… you name it. And with every dollar you cast a vote. every single day. Vote local. Vote sustainable. Vote green. Vote non-GMO. Vote with your heart and your mind and feed your body something other than what they have to sell you… a bill of goods that grows more sour and rotten by the minute. Now who’s really in for that?? I didn’t think so.
Oh, and did I say that I love you? Good, the reason why I’m even taking the time to do this is because I do. Please pass this information along to the people you love, too. Together, we truly are making a difference. Together, there is nothing we can not change. Until next time, Pheonyx
Image Source: http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/cornfield-sao-paulo
Shared via On Common Ground and theOCGproject.com online community and resource site for the awakened and awakening alike via facebook at https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151719162454809&set=a.10150906432229809.498747.175146369808&type=1&relevant_count=1
Pheonyx, the “Monsanto Protection Act” is not an act, it is a rider on the Farm Bill. Due to the sequester the Farm Bill must either be passed again later this year or expire. Senator Bennet of Colorado and four or six other Senators have introduced an amendment to remove the “Monsanto Protection Act,” although that term is not used in it because it’s just a nickname for people to quickly grasp what it does. I have to say it’s not looking awfully good for it. You can look up Think Progress and or MoveOn/SignOn and there are petitions about the issue, and you may not be political, but any signing and forwarding of these you can do cannot hurt. Unfortunately these days if you care what you eat you need to be political, even if it is single-issue political.
Daisy, l just read this and thought you would find it interesting/concerning.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/nadiaarumugam/2013/05/31/illegal-genetically-modified-wheat-found-in-oregon-farm-should-we-be-worried/
Also since they make Roundup (which has at least 34 peer reviewed studies linking it to various diseases), talk to your local park board, city, etc and educate them on why they should stop spraying that stuff.
We vote with our wallets every week. We buy foods from Natural Grocery Store (First stop) then to other health food stores, then to the organic sections of the main food chains. We buy 90% raw foods and prepare them ourselves. We would love to have farmers markets where we live but they are hard to find, the article does give us some other ideas.
We find that we are healthier when we eat organic, California Certified Organic and Non GMO’s. I am not able to digest those super gluten wheat based products, so I don’t eat hardly any wheat based products at all, exept for items marked Gluten Free and Organic.
I’ve planted 18 apple trees, 4 cherry trees, and 4 almonds. I have another 2 acres I’ll plant if I can get this first batch of trees started (I live at 6400 feet). We don’t have a long gardeneing season, so as I get more cash, I’ll then set up a green house.
I use to shop at Whole Foods, but not any more.
One word of caution, not all farmer’s markets are such. Here in Jacksonville, FL, our largest “farmer’s market” is about 90% conventionally grown foodstuffs sold at a price lower than the traditional supermarkets. There are a couple of local items to be found and one organic farmer, but overall, you might be better going to a more health orientated store, like Grassroots Natural Market or Whole Foods (although, buyer beware here, too).
Please remember to check into the grass fed & finished meat. Chicken and pork are cheaper because of cheap grain (GMO). Find and buy your beef, goat, pork, etc from farmers who have a Joel Salatin type farm. This whole fight is also a mind set that pervades not only farming, but also medicine. Does health come by killing the bugs that come because the environment is suitable to them. Could the root cause be the soil? Please read ‘Folks, This Ain’t Normal’ by Joel Salatin. He covers a lot of ground with great action steps. Also check, http://www.eatwild.com. Thanks!
I used to think all the produce at the whole foods markets, trader joes, etc were organic until I started looking at the barcode labels. Your 10 steps give tangible, usable advice that we can all do. Thanks.
The only way is to not eat anything but locally produced foods and non farmed fish/grass fed beef. Most of the meat in this country is produced using GMO grains. Anything you buy that is not 100% Organic is likely to contain gmos.
Someone I know who shops at Whole Foods is of the belief that everything sold there is organic. When I told her not true, that if it doesn’t say organic it’s not, she didn’t appear convinced. Why? … I have no idea. People believe what they want to believe.
I too buy most everything raw. It’s great supporting local farmers, but often times their produce isn’t organic. And even organic foods can be GMO — that’s why the non-GMO label matters.
The only meat I buy occasionally is organic chicken raised locally. The company’s website tells me their chickens are free-range and enjoy an outdoor life and are given no antibiotics. I recently e-mailed them asking what their chickens are fed, where their feed comes from, and could they assure consumers their chicken feed is non-GMO. Here’s the reply I got: “All of our feed made at our feed mill is used with certified organic ingredients and all non-GMO as well.” That doesn’t tell me much! I got no answer as to what exactly their chickens are fed. In an age where the consumer is constantly lied to, an answer like that is not reassuring in the least. I told them so and have had no reply.
We have a shrinking natural food supply and need to fight back. Many of us are not in a position to grow our own food. If we have to shop at our local supermarket and they don’t carry a non-GMO product we want, we should let them know. Supermarkets do bring in items if enough customers demand it. If more of us let them know we won’t buy something because it’s GM, my experience has been that they take note. Our local supermarkets will only wake up with our prodding.
Please keep in mind…since they have their own mill they probably take in crops from multiple suppliers at any given time of the year. They’ve most likely contracted with these suppliers and know the different crops are organic/non-gmo. But its most likely a difficult question for them to answer specifically depending on the season.. the exact content and mixture of the feed. There has to be some level of trust between us producers and us consumers. Do your research, make your best decision, then pray over your food!
Thank you for this information. And all the comments on here too!
Having the power to provide food for yourself and your family is only enabled
through acquiring the proper skills. Its about time that the
government started to investigate these organic suppliers and supermarkets to see
who is ripping us off. Look for symbols such as the Soil Association symbol for your guarantee of the highest organic standards.
7% since 2004. Organic items can today be found at supermarkets and grocery
stores.