“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it’s not.” ~ The Lorax, by Dr. Suess

“I am convinced that creativity is a priori to the integrity of the universe and that life is regenerative and conformity meaningless.” — Richard Buckminster Fuller (I Seem to Be a Verb)

You never can tell when you do an act Just what the result will be; But with every deed you are sowing a seed, Though the harvest you may not see. Each kindly act is an acorn dropped In God’s productive soil; You may not know, yet the tree shall grow And shelter the brows that toil.

You never can tell what your thoughts will do In bringing you hate or love; For thoughts are things, and their airy wings Are swifter than carrier doves. They follow the law of the universe— Each thing must create its kind; And they speed o’er the track to bring you back Whatever went out from your mind.

You Never Can Tell (1895) Ella Wheeler Wilcox

[Click above cover to read a comprehensive article about our food]

My summary: Can we afford the consequences of cheap food? Food where animals eat corn they can not digest and live in quarters where they can hardly move, so they are given antibiotics to combat the problems that result. Our food system uses 19% of fossil fuel resources. Fertilizers that flood our waterways and affect our drinking water and the environment. Creating dead zones where there is no life, such as in certain parts of the Gulf of Mexico.

Many of us assume this is the way it must be so we don’t think about it. They don’t think about the chickens crowded in cages laying production lines of eggs. Creating antibiotic resisted bacteria. They don’t think about our soil becoming depleted.They don’t think about how our food production is connected to our huge cost of “health care”. Or how our food is less nutritious so many people have to eat more calories to get more nutrition.

Genetically modified corn is in almost everything we eat including beef and soda. Corn is subsidised by our government. So the cheap food made from corn is paid for in other ways. The federal government has paid the corn industry 50 billion dollars in the past decade.

While corn is subsided fruits and veggies must stand on their own. Fruits and veggies are lower in calories and higher in nutrition. While the grain based government subsidized food is high calorie low nutrition (basically shallow food that lies to you).

Concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOS) are places where large numbers of animals (1,000’s of cattle and 10 of thousands of chickens or little piggies) are kept all smooshed together waiting to be slaughtered. Their manure placed in open air lagoons and leeches into our waterways. It creates toxic conditions for everyone nearby. 70% of antimicrobial drugs in American are actually given to animals not people. Otherwise these critters would not survive to the time they are slaughtered.

Solutions: Grass fed cattle instead of grain fed cattle. Cattle that is on a pasture not a concentrated feeding operation. Where they do not need drugs to thrive. Organic food at a local level rather than mono-crops that are shipped all over the world. Local food that is more nutritious and usually yummier (it’s picked ripe and does not spend weeks on the road). Rather than a soul-less industry food production we have community farms that are a part of us, it is a part of our soul (soul food).

Industrial food production is mechanized so that it reduces the need to employ humans. The work is painful, awful, and dehumanizing. Diverse family farms need humans and they are great places to be. It is a place of community of sustenance and of beauty.

Basically we the people are what will create change. We can be the change and not wait for the right policy to happen. American’s are becoming more educated about their food. We are becoming conscious and mindful of what impact our choices or actions have. We have to be, the consequences such (environmental impacts, health affects like obesity heart disease, high tax burden) are in our face.

Found here in Portland

Recently there have been studies that show that drinking green tea may be good for your brain. How? Green tea contains catechin, a bioflavonoid. This is a powerful antioxidant that helps prevent damage from free radicals to the brain. This damage can lead to problems such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Green tea is also one of a handful of substances that can reduce levels of nitric oxide (NO) in the brain. NO is an important neurotransmitter that contributes to memory formation, but too much nitric oxide can cause certain neurodegenerative disorders. Some research even indicates that green tea may protect against Parkinson’s disease by cleaning up excess iron in the nervous system. Other studies have suggested that the antioxidant characteristics of green tea may also help to prevent against certain types of cancers, heart problems, high cholesterol and hypertension.

Black teas have most of the beneficial elements of green tea, but to a lesser extent depending on how the tea is processed. For people sensitive to caffeine, there are many decaffeinated brands on the market that preserve the positive properties of the tea.

The Board meeting (March 30th 7pm) was amzing. There where 100’s of people there in support of LEP.

To get the full story see this Oregonian Article http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2009/03/portland_school_board_closes_p.html