Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>]

In many countries, local farms have been swallowed up by corporate giants for 
export to Europe, China, and U.S. In fact, the U.S. is now a net importer of 
food. Local farm workers are turned into wage slaves that can't afford to buy 
what they produce. This was planned by the IMF and World Bank. In other 
places local farms are turned into ethanol crops for gas guzzling nations. 
This pattern of the strong exploiting the weak has gone on since ancient 
empires and economic colonialism is now in full swing. Globalization of food, 
manufactures, and other commodities is not free trade; it's criminal abuse of 
power. There are some in power who want wars and famines to decimate the 
poorer populations and call them "useless eaters" (Kissinger), and tell us 
that if you control oil you control nations, but if you control the food you 
control the people. They know what they're doing. Big AG - cartels like ADM, 
Monsanto, Cargill etc. has consolidated control over world food supplies, 
seed, shipping, fertilizer and agricultural chemicals, and farm land. They 
won't disappear and won't give up control no matter the cost. I don't know 
the end result, but it won't be pretty, and the rich nations won't be 
blameless. We can do our part as individuals and communities to be part of 
the solution instead of contributing to the problem. That's what we do where 
we're able to. I do need my coffee tho I know the middlemen are making big 
money and the coffee plantation workers are in dire poverty. It's been said 
that how and what we eat is a highly political act. Growing our own and 
buying local is highly political. Being more self sufficient and not being 
whipsawed by the economic news, we're less vulnerable to things beyond our 
control.

paul tradingpost@lobo.net

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 4/28/2008 at 11:41 AM activism98201@verizon.net wrote:

>As tragic as this all is, I believe that it is necessary.  At first
>glance it may appear that the big folks are winning but it's really their
>death that's happening too.  Big AG is doomed to fail.  By lobbying that
>it "has lost touch with its most basic goal: that of feeding people" we're
>playing into their hands of obtaining yet further control over our food
>supplies.
>
>We shouldn't have our "representatives" in other parts of the world
>telling people what they should and shouldn't grow.  And don't believe
>that the loss of exports is going to affect people's ability to feed
>themselves ("economic health"); dollars aren't necessary.
>
>It's the people's job of feeding themselves.  If we let this hemorrhaging
>take place it'll result in more local control of food by the people
>themselves.
>
>
>-Mark Nagel
>Everett, WA
>
>
>=====================
>From: shashi.pkumar@wipro.com
>
>New from GRAIN
>28 April 2008
>http://www.grain.org/nfg/?id=565
>MAKING A KILLING FROM THE FOOD CRISIS

snip