American Delusions.

Slow yourself down for moment, take a deep breath, forget about all of the other hassels in life for just this short amount of time. Ok?

I want you to consider something, that is: What makes you think that the American Experience is going to continue, unchanged, for your life time?

What makes you think that our ‘standard of living’ is inviolate and will only get better?

There appears to be a belief in this country that our fancy big houses, our massive SUV's and monster 4x4 trucks, our microwaves, our fancy big screen flat LCD Plasma TV’s will only get bigger an better. There appears to be a belief in this country that our politicians and our community leaders, our CEO’s and our American Spirit, would never let us down. They will work tirelessly to bring us consumers all the goodies we want. There appears to be a belief in this country that our economy will grow for ever, we can all successfully invest in the stock market, we can always find good jobs, get health care, send our kids to college, and then retire to a life of leisure. “ Sure we have problems, but good ole American know how and perserverance will get us through”, they say. ‘We Americans are just plain better than everybody else and we have a system of government second to none!” , they sneer.

Have ya read any history? At all?

The truth is that no civilization, no economic system, no great and glorious people last for long. The Romans, the Mayans, Aztecs, Egyptians lasted for thousands of years. America has been around for less than three hundred. No, that dosen't mean we have a long way to go, instead, due to massive blunders are the part of our government and corporations, we may be just about finished.

Here are some FACTS that you really should pay attention to, and then consider the above comments:

Miles traveled by a typical plate of food in US; 1,500miles

Miles traveled by typical plate of food from CSA
Or farmer’s market: 45 miles

Percentage change in international trade
in foor since 1980: +200

Percentage change in international trade in food
since 1970: +1,800

Percentage of US commodity transport devoted to
Agricultural products: 30

Percentage of US energy consumption used
by the food system: 20

Rand of food system’s contribution
to greenhouse gas emissions compared with
other sectors of economy: 1

Last Year that the North Pole Melted: 2001

Years since previous time the North Pole Melted: 50,000,000

Percentage change in US use of pesticides since 1945: +3,200

Percentage of American children
with measurable amounts of pesticide in their urine: 90

Estimated number of farmers killed annually
by pesticides, worldwide: 30,000

Percentage of supermarket beef and poultry
found contaminated with salmonella: 20

Percentage change in Salmonella poisoning cases
in US since 1980: +100

Pounds of contaminated beef recalled
by ConAgra in 2002: 19,000,000

Amount of antibiotics used un US on livestock
for human consumption, in tons: 12,000

Rank of ‘antibiotics used in US on livestock’
among reasons for antibiotic resistance
to food-borne pathogens: 1

Miles of rivers in US polluted by runoff from hog, chicken,
And cattle factory farms: 35,000

Percentage of meals eaten in US that are ‘fast food’: 25

Number of new processed foods marketed each year in US: 10,000

Estimated percentage of processed foods containing
Genetically engineered ingredients: 67

Percentage change in number of US farmers since 1950: -65

Percentage of US food dollar going to input
Suppliers, middlemen, and marketers: 91

Percentage of US food dollar going to typical farmer: 9

Percentage of food dollar going to CSA or
Farmer’s Market Farmer: 80

Percentage change in revenue generated
for local economy from buying local food: +44

Number of reasons to buy global food rather than local food: 0

Information from International Society for Ecology and Culture

Do Ya see any trends here?

Ya think something might be a bit out of whack?

Here is my point in a nutshell. Americans believe that we have a standard of living and a standard of government that will go on forever. Americans think they have found the golden horn of plenty. Americans, like people throughout history who have found themselves living in the lap of luxury, have become convinced that what we have will never go away. This is wrong. There are a number of factors, yeah FACTS, that will hit this culture like a sap to the skull.

I think anyone would agree that access to plentiful and safe food is a major requirement for sustained living. Looking at the data above it is easy to see that our food sources are hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away from our homes. When you have a supply line that stretches over that much distance you are asking for deep trouble. There is so much that can and will go wrong. Not the least of which is that fuel costs to tranports this food are soaring and will only go higher, there fore making much or our food more expensive, and sometimes difficult to get.

That ain't good news. And what is worse, we have designed our food delivery system to benefit the middleman, the CEO, the Shareholder, but not the farmer or the consumer( at least in the long run). What is now cheap and plentiful food, is on the verge of becoming a scarcity.

Not only is our food coming from farmers outside of our own country, but it is increasing polluted with pesticides, herbicides, and genetic alterations that may negatively impact generations of children. Additionally, our system of food production is creating vast amounts of pollution to soil, fresh water, and the atmosphere. This ain't so good. WE are poisoning ourselves and our planet at a prodigious rate.

This above data is not wishful thinking, nor is it composed of created lies to frighten you, it is a reflection of what is really happening right now in this country. If you think the politicans are going to correct these serious flaws in our system you are dead wrong. It was the politicians that aided and abetted the flaws in the first place. Do you think the wealthy are going to come to your aid? Suddenly the wealthy and powerful realize that the average American Joe and Jane, and Little Tommy, are in danger and move to cut their profits to save the day? Fat chance. People are rich because they don't give a shit for anyone else and hoard their money and their advantages. They made their fortunes taking advantage of others, not being charitable or humanistic.

So, listen up, we, the average Americans, are in deep trouble here. Where will our food come from? How much will it cost? Will it be available? Have we already destroyed our own farming system in this country? Lastly, even if we get our abundant food, will it poison us, rather than nourish us?

If, after reading this, you aren't seriously contemplating a major garden for yourself, then you have sadly missed the facts here. Also, buy your food products from local farmers as much as you can. Support farmers directly. Buy at farmers markets or directly from the farmer when you can. This keeps them in business, gives them the reward they worked so hard for, and it keeps our own food system close to hand.

Oh, one other thing, kill your television...it's lying to you.