Christopher Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus proves its universality yet again!
Not so long ago, food enthusiasts were debating the importance of organic farming against conventional farming. Whether organic was necessary… the importance of buying more expensive yet less perfect looking produce… whether organic was just another trend the industry was pushing our way as a fashionable statement of a prestigious lifestyle… and some even going the extent of slamming the organic movement as yet another conspiracy theory to get the gullible of us to “pay more for less”…. these were all points in the organic debate.
Corporate Farming: Food For Money Not Survival! Photo by Jupiter image
Simultaneously, farmers were bombarded with the lure of corporate-driven agriculture, tempted by the promise of sustainability and the smell of exponential money and growth potential… These farmers, especially owners of small farms, never dreamt of being able to make it bigger than Wall Street. Yet there they were being offered magic seeds with the potential of generating millions for them and their families to savour and live a life of comfort and no worries. Little did they know that these monstrous corporations were going to burry them with tons of paperwork, and files upon files of contracts that give them no way back. It was more or less like signing a contract with the devil, where you are promised all things you can ever dream of at thesmall price of never being able to change your mind!
The debate continued, at times it even took on a more heated characteristic, and people went to the streets. Some strongly in favour for organic, others for conventional farming and the new kid on the farming block: those who are in favour of scientific advancement. Media frenzies, congressional debates, corporation promotions and flooding the powerful with money prizes, while firing conscience from research centres… Slogans, labels, and abbreviations of long and ambiguous words were being thrown left right and centre, all of which sounding very bizarre even to the least average of minds, as after all what exactly are we talking about? Tomatoes or a chemical compound of a chemical weapon?!
…And on goes the food fight of our lives, while we head to the supermarkets, half awake every morning, picking the produce with which we will nurture and show our love to our families…
While many have come to learn that organic farming is not just important, it is in fact vital to the existence and well being of our environment and consequently to our own existence and continuity, others are still strongly with lab-created seeds or worse yet those who are ignorantly indifferent… the problem is, GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms) which are carried out on produce and becoming mainstreamed in the name of scientific advancement – however, without sufficient backing of research that confirms they are not hazardous, and worse yet much research confirming its health hazards and deadly effects on both ourselves and the environment – have made the originally debated “conventional farming” sound like a picnic in the park!
GMO is not just affecting the environment with chemical hazards, it is altering our genes changing our makeup as humans, creating gene mutations, frankengerms, new diseases for which there is no cure, killing the soil and earth’s microorganism makeup which is what makes earth a planet that supports life!
Wheat Plains used to naturally and organically grow, now they are regulated!
GMO is changing the plants and species, eventually changing the whole environmental makeup. We are now losing species and organisms faster than ever before. Many life forms have become extinct and ironically we are speeding up this process by creating frankenspecies that are attacking the original ecosystem of earth. But here is where the trouble is: the ecosystem is created in a cyclic way, where the existence of all living things is reliant on that of the rest. Take away a specific group and you eventually take away all the rest!
Could this become the 6th mass extinction of mankind? Think about it, it is very possible. Better yet, listen to the scientists whose specialty allows them to make these conclusions and explain them to us. Or have we become so arrogant that we know all, and need no proof? Have we become the astroids that hit earth way back in history leading to extinction? At least then, it was out of our control, while now, we are asking for it!
A so unfamiliar world
I remember growing up in Amman, and between the houses wherever there was a piece of unoccupied land wheat would naturally and organically grow. So much so, that we used to run in those plains between the many bushes of wheat, hide while others would seek. The wheat heads and beards would stick to our clothes and we would spend some time picking them back out… It was so much fun.
Back then, wheat was one major produce that Jordan cultivated and harvest season was beautiful as you would see all these farmers with reapers manually harvesting the wheat as the sun travelled through the sky to set at the back of those plains. Beautiful! But then came regulation, and wheat became a product that is not supported, farmers could not live on cultivating wheat! All of a sudden we were importing wheat from the furthest stretch of earth, while it naturally grew on our land and was left to burn under the sun! Not only that, but those imported wheat providers cheated us into consuming what is potentially deadly produce without giving us a choice! Bizarre logic, that is all I can say!
Vincent Van Gogh Painting of Wheat Field with reaper and peasant, 1885
Remember
Every time you walk through the isles of the supermarket, every time you hold an apple, smell an orange, slice a tomato or set to bake some bread… remember… that all the produce, all the fruit and vegetables, grains and seeds… all have come from thousands of years of farmers sharing their seeds. This is how produce travelled through the world, the farmers simply shared seeds, that were in return planted in new areas and either flourished or not, because the natural environment was seasonal, local and organic.
Just saying…
Throughout history we have always worked with nature. Now we are attempting to control nature, forgetting that it is way mightier than we are. If we do not contain our arrogance, nature will consume us and will destroy us!
Be activated
We need to wake up and become more aware of the World Food Issues caused by corporate-driven agriculture and the corruption of its corporations. You have to become activated and think of what we are handing down to our children and their children and the generations to come. Knowledge is power and the lack of knowledge is a lack of power. You cannot rely on the same corporate-driven, mainstream media for knowledge. You must dig deeper and know the truth. Least of all we must stand up for our human right of choice and that applies to the type of food we want to consume and mind you GMO foods are not always labeled as GMO!
Therefore support your local farmers, those organic small farms who are fighting against the spread of this contamination, who are really fighting the food fight of our lives! Produce and animals must be naturally and organically raised, not chemically engineered and tube-fed a diet of hormones and antibiotics… Boycott this chemical war and eat real food for the good of yourself, your family and the environment in which you live… I know I do the part that I can for this, and hope you too will do the same for your family.
Learn more about this cause, what is GMO, why is it hazardous and farming today… watch the video at the beginning of the post, it is very informative…
I would really love to hear your thoughts about this, and would appreciate any information you can provide about today’s food issues and how to deal with today’s agro-politics, so do leave a comment and share your thoughts with me. Also do let me know if you feel this whole issue is exaggerated and need not be considered. This is a conversation and one we must have to be able to better choose what we consume, offer our families and even offer our customers… Talk to me, leave a comment.
Related Links:
If you live in the UAE organic farmers are enriching the food scene so make sure to support them.
The Farmers’ Market On The Terrace, (Nov-April) you get to buy beautiful farm-fresh, local organic produce from the farmers (no middlemen). Excellent quality produce + getting to know the people who grow your food. I also sell my Mooneh products there every Friday, so make sure to come.
Greenheart Organic Farms is a very good example of local organic farming.
The Organic Cafe also offer organic foods, produce and other organic grocery items.
You can also buy OBE organic Australian Beef at Prime Gourmet and Carrefour.
