We Must TAKE Our Country Back!

Whether it’s health care, the cost of education, our environment or global trade, Corporate America is holding us all hostage to the almighty dollar. Greed continues to trump need as corporations make record profits while more and more Americans fall into poverty every year. Congress allows industry to write policy, and legislators don’t even read the bills they enact. The average person would lose their job for gross negligence. The pharmaceutical/insurance lobbies make billions on the grief of others, systematically denying people essential treatment or drugs in order to save a buck. Half of our taxpayer money goes to the Pentagon who “loses” over a trillion dollars and “it’s nothing but a thing” yet we have to beg to fund health care for our children. Agri-Business dominates at the expense of our environment and health as 85% of our food is now genetically modified, our meat is ridden with hormones and antibiotics, and pesticides have permeated the water table. Global trade agreements allow corporations to exploit for profit with no safeguards in place for workers or the environment.

It is our moral imperative to stand up and say no more! John Edwards seems to be the only candidate that understands that we have to make an aggressive push to take our country back – the key word being “take”. While it is important to be able to bring everyone to the table, we can’t continue to allow Corporate America to eat all the food.

Which comes down to, follow the money…

Edwards and Obama are my two top picks but there are some important distinctions to be made here. I think Obama is awesome and I will support him whole heartedly if he gets the Democratic nod, but as an activist, and more importantly as a mother and your sister, there is way too much at stake in this election, not only for our country but for the planet. Corporate America will never give up their stranglehold on America or the rest of the world so we must TAKE IT from them! There is no negotiating a moral standard… and frankly, that’s what this election is about.

There are two main issues that concern me about Obama; the fact that he voted for the Peru Trade agreement (more of the same of what ails us), and more egregiously, the fact that he is promoting nuclear energy. Coincidentally, Obama has accepted a lot of money from Exelon Nuclear and only stopped taking corporate monies this past year once he decided to run for President. I commend him for that recent decision but I am horrified that he is promoting  nuclear power.

The current energy bill before Congress may have 10 billion dollars allocated toward renewable energy, and that rocks, but if you look at the whole pie, it’s too little too late! 25 billion is allocated for guaranteed loans to build new nuclear sites and billions more for coal fired plants. I mean, this is what I am talking about people… Corporate America writing OUR policy! Do ya’ll remember all the hoopla about storing the nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain? Do you want that in your backyard? Is it OK as long as it’s stored in someone else’s backyard (out of sight, out of mind)? Do you really think our Earth Mother will be served by that? We need to save Her in order to save ourselves. Almost everything we do generates some form of waste by-product. Instead of adding to it, especially nuclear waste, we need to use our considerable ingenuity to invent our way out of this mess. It is our only true hope.  What we absolutely cannot afford is more of the same… business as usual.

Corporate America has had the resources and the necessary information to create new technologies for decades.  Rather than doing the right thing, and truly be leaders of innovation, much of their resources have been spent preventing said technologies from entering the marketplace because, God forbid, that could hurt their bottom line. If their shareholders weren't so blinded by their own greed, they would be able to recognize the incredible opportunity that is presenting itself NOW. Corporate America and our elected officials could simply CHOOSE to lead this necessary technological revolution, but it remains to be seen.... so it's up to us.

We must TAKE our country back!

Eat Local and Win

By Kurt Friese

You know I'm always harping on people to eat more local, sustainable
food.  And I know, you already do.

But now, if you'll pledge to eat just 1 pound of local food each week,
you could win prizes like a new grill or a landscape makeover.

Did you know that food in the U.S. typically travels more than 1500
miles and generates five to 17 times more carbon emissions than food
grown locally?

If you pledge to eat at least one pound of local food each week – and
invite your friends to do the same – the folks at New dream will show
you the positive impact of your action and give you a shot at some
great prizes, including a $6000 eco-makeover for your yard!

Pledge to eat local today.  Go to:

http://c3.newdream.org/campaigns/c3/register/78d1cb1fcdd3003b46bb2f1fa017ab53/

Simply click, or cut'n'paste into the URL field of your browser

From the Inconvenient Truth to Step It Up to the recent Live Earth
concerts, climate change is top-of-mind for millions of Americans.
People who never before considered the impact of their consumer
choices are now asking, "besides telling legislators to do their part,
what can someone like me do?"

And even those who disagree on the climate change issue can see the
benefits of eating locally - it's fresher and tastes better, and you
can shake the hand that raised the food.  That's important.

Click to pledge to eat a pound of local food, and eat well at
the same time!  Getting rewarded for stuff you do anyway?  That's
pretty sweet.


Peace,
Kmf

By Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture

The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture is hosting a seminar on Thursday, July 19, featuring the managers of two successful farmer-owned cooperatives that distribute seasonal produce on the East and West coasts.

The seminar, which is open to the public, will be 3 to 5 p.m. in Curtiss Hall Auditorium on the ISU campus in Ames. The purpose of the seminar is to explore and discuss food distribution networks in other parts of the country that may be models for Iowa farmers.

Featured speakers include Anya Fernald, who directs the Growers Collaborative that distributes produce from small family-owned farms to public and private schools, colleges, hospitals, and corporate cafeterias in the Sacramento/Bay areas of central and southern California. The collaborative uses an on-line purchasing system and is operated by the Community Alliance with Family Farmers based in Davis, California.

Joining Fernald will be Christopher Fullerton, who currently works for the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture located in Millheim, Pennsylvania. Prior to coming to PASA, Fullerton worked 14 years for the Tuscarora Organic Growers Co-op that serves the Washington, D.C., and mid-Atlantic areas. Formed in 1988, the coop works with more than 25 producers to bring an estimated 50,000 cases of produce from farm to city, offering locally grown, certified organic produce all 12 months of the year. 

For more information about the program, contact Rich Pirog, who directs the Leopold Center's Marketing and Food Systems Initiative, at (515) 294-1854, or rspirog@iastate.edu.
##Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture
Iowa State University/209 Curtiss Hall
Ames, IA 50011-1050
(515) 294-3711; FAX: (515) 294-9696