This week, the Huffington Post published an important article about Occupy our Food Supply, a Global Day of Action, on February 27, 2012.  That’s tomorrow.

The authors, Anna Lappe and Willie Nelson, point out that our food system has become so consolidated that:

–Only 3 companies (Tyson, Cargill, and JBS) process almost 3/4 of the beef in the U.S., 

–One company (Monsanto) sells 90 percent of the soybean seed and 80 percent of the corn seed, 

–Four companies are responsible for close to 90 percent of the global trade in grain, and 

–25% of food dollars are spent at Walmart.  

And only 10 companies are responsible for the manufacture of 20,000 of the 40,000 items in the average supermarket.

This massive consolidation of the food supply puts everyone who relies on it at risk.  It’s dangerous, and I’m not exaggerating.  The choices about which items fill the shelves in our supermarkets are made with the goal of increasing profits.  Of course this makes sense.  After all, the business of business is to make a profit.  Then what’s the problem?  The problem is that profits are being made not in support of our health and our safety, but at their expense.  

Haven’t you always heard that it’s not safe to put all your eggs in one basket?  It’s not safe to eat a restrictive diet that consists primarily of items produced by just a few entities.  It’s not healthy to eat so many “food-like items” made of just a few extremely inexpensive ingredients, and sold at the highest price that the market will bear.  And it’s not smart to allow all our knowledge about how to bring food to our tables, hard won over the course of a thousand generations, to be forgotten in a single century. 

So what can we do about this?  Tomorrow, Monday, February 27th, farmers, gardeners, chefs, students and teachers, parents and children from all over the world will start community gardens, host seed exchanges, enter supermarkets to label products containing genetically engineered ingredients, and build community alliances to support locally owned grocery stores.

We can and must reclaim our food supply.  Start by supporting local food enterprises.  Grow some of your own herbs, or vegetables, even if it’s just tomatoes this year.  Maybe next year you’ll branch out and try some peppers and cucumbers, too.  Make a compost pile, even if you never actually use it.  It’ll decrease the amount of garbage you generate, and will improve the quality of the soil in one little spot of your backyard.  Build a hen house, if you have the room, the interest, and a bit of an adventurous spirit.  [Today, I am proud to report, my daughter and a young friend went out to the coop and returned with four beautiful eggs.] 

I support the call to all of us who “eat food, grow food, [and] love food” to Occupy our Food Supply.  

You can read the original article here.

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If you’ve never been on “Your Health is on Your Plate” before, and you’re not sure where to start, visit Lets Start at the Very Beginning to get a jumpstart on preventing diabetes and obesity in yourself and the ones you love!!

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