Very few people realize how much power they wield a consumer.  Every dollar you spend is a vote for a product, and the policies that go with it.   You might think that what you spend hardly makes a difference, but every dollar counts. 

There’s a fortune in anything, even toothpicks, if you sell enough!  It takes buyers; no buyers, no business.

Not too many decades ago, product names told you who stood behind a product you purchased.  Brands were built by earning a reputation and trust. Nowhere, was there greater brand loyalty, than in the grocery store.  That loyalty has been stretched.

Over time little companies were gobbled up and merged.  By the late 1990’s many came to be part of famed tobacco giant, Phillip Morris.  They have Nabisco and Kraft, Maxwell House, Hebrew National and a very, long list of old, familiar names. 

How many consumers might change their purchase, support a different brand, or skip a product all together if Joe Camel were part of the packaging as a reminder who profits.

You could argue that it’s public information; anyone who wants to know can find out.  Fair enough, not the full, forthright, honesty I like, but it’s available.

What if someone were to say, that you had no right to know who made your food or what was put into it. What would you say to that? Probably something along the lines of, “Are you *&#@$#$@%*#!!!    

What could be more obvious than the right to know what is in your food?  Why in the world hide who made it?  Right?  Not in America, not in 2007.  You have few food rights.  Congress gave those rights away in 1994.  They got together with industry, the only true bipartisan effort they manage, and invented a new category of food.  Since every bad idea, deserves a spiffy name, they called it a “Biotechnology Policy”. 

The new “Policy” was introduced as regulatory relief.  How anyone needed relief before they ever had rules is something no one in Washington worried about.  The goal was to move any laws limiting “innovation”.  That sounds reasonable, but that’s not how they wrote the laws. 

What the regulatory relief did was grant a special freedom to create experimental foods.  The creators would have no one to answer to, no independent health reviews, nobody’s business what they were doing it was all based on trust.  That’s a lot of trust because companies are on their honor, to do the right thing, to consult with the government, to update USDA on their progress. 

You may wonder why the new “biotech food” wasn’t handled by the FDA.  Food and drugs sure seems like it would be the place for an experimental food. Common sense has nothing to do with Congress and no place in corrupt policy.  What the lobbying lawyers did was rewrite the rules to call the experimental food the same. 

“Substantially equivalent”, or close enough for government work.  The giant loophole policy, let new genetically modified foods skip health study requirements.  So, who was chosen as the shining corporate star with a long enough history, of ethical business practices, to give them a blank check?  Who could Congress rely on to they feed to the public? 

Corrupt Congress gave this to gift to Monsnato the maker of PCB’s and Agent Orange and known for falsifying toxic effects, altering findings, negligence and fraud.  Since 1994 the small farms have been forced into bankruptcy as the government gives all the subsidies to the Monsanto crops. They’re not alone in cashing in on taxpayers.

Monsanto teamed up with a few, giant factory farm operations like ADM.  Agribusiness lives on tax dollars. ADM is the biggest corporate welfare beneficiary in American history. The two biggest money-maker crops, are corn and soy. 

Together the agribusiness shifted America’s diets to corn and soy.  If you’d like more about the possible health effects of Monsanto gmo’s, or details about what they are, where they grow, check my documentary site, Roundup Ready Nation and you should find an answer.  If not, write to me and we’ll try to figure it out.

My theme was the power in your grocery cart.  For all the power Congress has taken away from consumers right to know, we know where the stuff probably is.  Over 90% of America’s soy is Monsanto’s.  One dollar at a time you can hold food providers responsible for informing you what is in your food. 

For heavens sake, Saudi Arabia and China have gmo labeling, how bad are things when China’s rights are better than ours?  If they don’t want to disclose the ingredients, simply look for the corn and soy that is not labeled Organic and assume that money spent for that goes to Monsanto.  Leave it on the shelf.  No customer, no business.

If agribusiness wants to use corn and soy to take over all the small farms you have the power to stop them by buying local and fair trade products.  You can develop a relationship with a smaller business and help feed someone who isn’t getting a handout from Washington.  You don’t need to make a dramatic change.  Every dollar counts, so an apple juice instead of a corn syrup beverage and maybe a visit to a local grower, like the ones you can find at a green market of with groups like Local Harvest.  Maybe a mail order jar of honey from a beekeeper in the woods.  It doesn’t matter what things you choose as long as you remember, there is power in every one of those dollars.  Every one is a vote.  Vote for, what is best for your health, and your future.  Enjoy and eat well!!

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