Growing Food Is A Revolutionary Act - The CryptoFood Of Our Local Economy

in #future-food8 years ago (edited)

Food is vital to our survival. Surrendering the responsibility of producing it to corporations that care more about their wealth, than your health is kind of crazy and irresponsible.

The importance of knowing where the food on our tables comes from is underscored by growing concerns from consumers of the safety and validity of the foods big business serves us.

tomatoandpeppers1b465.jpg

Our current industrialized, plastic-wrapped, chemical-dowsed, gene-modified, commodity-speculating world of food production, robs our resources, pollutes our environment, taxes our finances and dilutes our nutrition.

Companies like Monsanto sprout perennial reports, skewed with corporate promises of cheaper, more nutritious food, but at what cost; clean air, clean water, our health?

Profits from the worlds top, six, major food corporations have grown, as profits for farmers producing food commodities have dropped dramatically due to overproduction. Lower profits coupled with higher labor, fuel and seed costs have forced food producers into large conglomerants, pooling resources to tighten their grip on our access to food.

Hungry for profits, companies merger with visions of completely controlling the worlds food supply from seed to table, losing sight of foods' function to nourish us.

Turning seven cents worth of GMO corn into five dollars of market value looks good on the books for shareholders, but nowhere in those books will one find scribbled a full accounting of the diminished legacy we're leaving behind.

While good for consumers, cheap food prices hide the true costs to our environment, water, taxes, health, energy, transportation and diversity through a labyrinthine web of government regulations, bought and paid for by the very culprits of corporate crimes our government agencies were appointed to protect us from.

The revolving door between agrochemical companies and governments spins like a carousel out of control and elected officials bully their way into line with meal tickets in hand, dizzy from spinning webs of influence into lining their pockets. When life itself is patentable and available for license, is it any wonder profits would take precedence over good sense.

Over production starves economies as easily as scarcity, by flooding markets with food that costs more to produce then farmers can sell it for with the result of squeezing the food chain of every last morsel of profit, until the farmer begs for financial relief.

Governments response is to float large farms with subsidies, literally purchasing commodities from farmers and giving it away to food banks.

In just one example, according to the USDA (or US-Duh):

The USDA recently provided a $20 million bailout to cheese producers and reports have surfaced that milk producers have been dumping excess milk on fields.

2016 agricultural reports confirm this is the "Least Profitable Year In 20 Years" across the board in all commodity markets excluding alcohol, which remains stable. I'll drink to that.

Guess who gets the bailout bill from government for this "cheap food"?

I'm not condemning giving to food banks. Our farm gives to local food banks and CSA's (Community Supported Agriculture). My point is the insatiable appetite of food corporations can't see past this fiscal quarter and I wouldn't trust them with my food or in my kitchen.

artichokes58312.jpg

Our health and nutrition are not a subject of these corporations focus groups. Never have been and never will be, regardless of how they packaged it. A long history of documented deceit, corruption and payoffs can attest to this.

If consumption of their products cause health problems to their customers, then they will diversify into health care and pharmaceutical industries and are already quickly moving in that direction.

For more information on how pharmaceutical and agrochemical companies are morphing into one, read @corbettreport's post, BayerSanto: What The Merger REALLY Means for the control of our food supply.

Global food czars' parrot mission statements of "Feeding the world", ignoring that we can already feed the 10 billion people expected to inhabit this planet by the year 2050. Our problems are not rooted in limitations to our ability to produce food, but in failure to distribute it equitably. Manufacturing fears of future food scarcity leads us to relinquish control of our food supply to big government.

Today, now more than ever, growing your own food or supporting local growers that do, not only makes sense to regain control of what we are eating, but it's imperative to decentralizing this monopolistic control of our food choices.

lettucea6c7a.jpg

Ninety percent of the food on a typical grocery store shelf has been grown and processed in ways that I'm certain your grandmother would not approve of, injected with hormones and insecticides, drenched in unpronounceable chemicals and genetically modified to survive applications of poisons, all in the name of larger markets and longer shelf lives.

I believe the longer the shelf life a food has, the shorter the life will be of one who consumes it. Technology is evolving faster everyday, but our digestive system keeps its' own pace.

Appealing to a government that has been financially compromised by big business, is like a having a sheep and two wolves decide what's for lunch. Growing your own food is a revolutionary act against this assault, a "revolutionary plot", if you will.

Starting A Revolutionary Plot

Supporting or producing local, organic food producers, shares similarities with cryptocurrencies, in that they both are decentralized.

Knowing your farmer and the source of your food or growing it yourself, is the only way to ensure it was produced in a wholesome manner.

Redirecting our food dollars to growers in the local community, weens us from the indifferent control of greedy corporations and subsidizes farmers who demonstrate good land husbandry and environmentally sound practices, while insuring us of good health for us and our environment.

The demand for locally produced food is growing, as more communities realize that our foods have been compromised and personal responsibility as usual, is the only real solution to restoring wholesomeness to our food supplies.

CryotoFood

Growing food to sell in your local community is a blessing, but trading it for goods and services provides for many of our needs on the farm. Money is good, but bartering is the icing on the cake.

In our community we trade food with our local bakers, dairies, butchers, mechanics, carpenters, bookkeepers and for labor on the farm; avoiding taxes and building connections you won't find at a big grocery store.

crookneckandbeansee2c1.jpg

The empirical data I've collected on the farm contradicts claims that it is too hard to grow your own and much cheaper to buy it. This many be true for people living in cities, but even they can vote with their dollars.

I've lived in many metropolises and visited even more, but my choice to move to the country is mainly motivated by a deep realization that food, being the currency of a good life, is not something to be left in the hands of corporate pirates., just as our investment decisions should not be delegated to "experts" who's only goal is to make a commission.

Food is more than a commodity, more than an investment, more than something to gather around with friends and family. Food is a tangible asset and in the hands of good managers, a boon to the local economy and trade.

Steemit appeals to me for the same reasons, creating value that is determined by the community, not some Wall Street banker and his cronies.

Central banks share their monopolistic intentions with agrochemical companies, investing in furthering their control of how and what we eat. Local farmers and those who support them are the revolutionaries that seize back that control over the food system and keep it locally and securely in our hands.

Thanks for reading and following

luzcyphersigfileblue90893.png

@luzcypher

Sort:  

I totally agree. Being able to grow your own food allows you to be less dependent on the entrenched system. However, something to consider: the only reason giant corporations are able to achieve such a monopoly on our food supply is the legitimacy given to them by government. Laws like the Food Safety Modernization Act tend to hurt the smaller farms that can't afford the associated costs and prop up the big corporation that can afford it. Take away the government backed legitimacy and you have an inferior product which people would probably be less inclined to buy when they knew how it was produced. Without government legitimacy you also allow for more competition. Potentially creating farmers out people who might not have started farming otherwise. Anyway, great post. Just thought I'd a slightly different perspective on the cause of the entrenched food monopoly.

Good comment (and good post luzcypher). It stuns me that people can't see that this is intended to happen. Everyone benefits from localizing production--it means less monocultured land, less transport cost and pollution, more community connection. The only entities that benefit are corporations. That we continue to be so short-sighted is frankly amazing.

The corporations definitely benefit from centralization on a massive scale but they aren't the only ones. What about the lobbyists & politicians lining their pockets from licensing fees, legal fees, penalties and other forms of extortion? I'm not sure its really short sightedness that's the real issue. Its like a magic trick. It's sleight of hand. Everyday, all day you're hit with stories meant to divide you from your neighbor. That's just the distraction the real story is happening behind closed doors.

Check out my series on Freedom. I intend of doing a post about how corporations fit into a free society and where the real problems with corporatism lie.

Agreed. The ironic thing about our current system is it doesn't produce more food as promised and creates environmental problems that were non existent a few short decades ago. Greed has poluted the whole food chain. Choosing local organic food frees us from this dependency.

Thanks for commenting. The real value that comes from sharing food locally, comes from the local communitys' own determination of that value, much like using voting on Steemit. Removing prices on our produce and letting the people visiting us decide its value has actually increased our bottom line. Funny how that has played out. Its very liberating.

You absolutely right. The current food system is biased towards big business. All the more reason to support local food economies. Growing and bartering self produced food is like, as the inner-city, guerilla-farmer Ron Finley puts it, "Growing your own food is like printing your own money."

Agreed. The ironic thing about our current system is it doesn't produce more food as promised and creates environmental problems that were non existent a few short decades ago. Greed has poluted the whole food chain. Choosing local organic food frees us from this dependency.

I really like the idea of food as more than a commodity/necessity. It can be the medium of social connection, and historically probably has in most cultures.

Me too. Its so rewarding bartering self created value within the community and cutting out the middle man. You just gave me another idea for post, thanks.

Thank you for the article. The quality of or food is an important issue that must be understood. Unfortunately, many are clueless.

My wife and I realize that we are what we eat, and that good food is less expensive than illness or doctors. It is my opinion that those who control these giant corporations such as Monsanto and Bayer could care less if their poison nutrient deficient food causes illness and disease, or of the horrible effects of the chemical pharmaceuticals used to treat these illnesses. As the links in James Corbett's article explains, Bayer has a very long and nasty history, and I am sure that they make great profit from human suffering, as they did at Auschwitz.

You nailed the point, its cheaper to buy into organic food than the cost of illness caused by eating tainted food. Solutions will not come from corporate sponsored government, but from you and me and the choices we make. Monsanto is deplorable and has no business controling our food, but they do. We need to subsidize growers of wholsome food and chip away at the corporate profits and our dependency. Thanks for your comment.

I wish I had started an allotment when I was younger and fitter. My father grew his own vegetables and salad in our back garden. I don't have the room or energy to do it now.

Thanks for reading and replying to my post. We still can choose to eat foods grown with integrity, as someone in your local area is sure to be doing. If the 54 in your username is your age, we're close yo the same age. Eating homegrown food will energize you.

Your more than welcome, I wish more people would leave comments, its nice to get to know others on here. I am 52, scary age :(

I dont know, 50s is the new 30s. Thanks again.

Really? 50 feels like being 90

Eat better, it will change your world.

@karenb54, I am 49, but due to 15 years of military service I feel like I am 79 when I don't eat REAL food.

@luzcypher is right, when I make a salad, and it has freshly picked items from my back yard in it, within an hour I feel energized!

If you have a balcony, or windows that open, you can grow food!

Get some windows sill or balcony rail planters small enough for you to lift, then find someone in your area that composts, trade your kitchen scraps for compost, get some good organic potting soil, mix your compost into it, then plant herbs you like, and lettuce, radish, beets, chard, even short rooted carrots.

Once the planter is done, don't water it, it will be a lot lighter that way, put it in place, water straightaway.
This way you can water, weed and harvest standing up!

When you fully harvest the planter, take the old soil, and dump it into an emptied potting soil sack, take it outside or put it on a tarp on the kitchen floor, then smush the bag by stepping on it to break up the soil.

Sift out the old roots and clumped up material, add it to your compost material container, then mix in fresh compost and start over. This way you only have to buy fresh potting soil here and there.

You can keep all the materials in a plastic tub under the sink or in the garage.

I don't have a backyard but I do have a balcony. I would love to grow my own food. At least some of it. But I know nothing about where to start.... It would be quite helpful to do a post with pictures showing how one can start growing food when they live in an apartment!

Good post.
Thank to God in my country we have so many farmers which sells fruits and veggies all over the city and you can buy organic food even near your home not depending on your district . And prices are so cheap. I love Ukraine.

That sound so nice. I must visit your beautiful country sometime.

Absolutely)

I agree that eating locally grown produce and growing our own food is key to decentralizing and being able to gain control of what we eat. The sellers at the local farmers' market are farmers and they know their produce. They even give me tips on how to store and cook the produce. It's a win-win