Finally, I am proud to be an American!

I would really like to focus today's blog on Obama and the USA.....WOO HOO!!!! We did it! We elected (by a LANDSLIDE) a minority and progressive President to the United States of America! I was getting so tired of snobby Europeans having so much material to laugh at the citizens of the USA, no matter how many times I say, "Hey! We didn't really elect him!" When has any country in the world elected a minority (racial, population) and PROGRESSIVE president! Once again, and this is our first chance at doing it JUSTLY, we have a chance to be a good role model to nations who idolize the West.

Now, while I am obviously as ecstatic as the next girl (and thousands on down the line, around the world!) it is OUR DUTY in a democratic society to continue to push and demand from our leaders the change we want. The Obama administration can't be charged with fixing the massive damage done over the last...well, hundreds of years, really. I personally like something I read down here the other day, in a local magazine...It's like Obama just stumbled upon a mess of honey and oil and was handed a roll of toilet paper to clean it up...

But while we can't expect him to do it alone, we can remind him of the promises his campaign made to us. In alignment with his economic reform goals aimed specifically at helping the middle class citizen (by this point in time, an endangered species), Obama has outlined several actions needed, all of which are desperately needed. Its our job not to let these problems get bypassed because of the vague language that is used by politicos.

The first of which is to limit subsidy payments to farms grossing over $250,000 and to bust up the monopolies that have been established by mega-agribusinesses that set up several different names and accounts for their total landholdings, in order to scoot through the loopholes set out to protect the bastards. Subsidies should go to smaller farms or farms trying to diversify their crops, not millionares who don't understand the land, don't know how to farm, and work in an office in downtown Chicago, sewing only unfair profit. He also promised in his Iowa campaign speech that he would strengthen anti-monopoly laws in the meatpacking industry, which is so huge and powerful that small-time producers have no power in the market and most are forced to produce in an hyper industrialized manner: CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) are terrible for people working in them (i.e. not much different today than in Upton Sinclair's version of the industry, The Jungle), and who live around them due to chemical contamination and absolutely devaluement of animals lives (California voters voted to ban CAFOs in this election--but BOO on the Prop 8 decision!).

My personal favorite promise: Country of Origin Labelling! Seriously, if Americans can care more about their caloric intake than the injustice they do when they consume goods...then we truly are hopeless. With country of origin awareness, we have the oppurtunity to make the world smaller and globalized in a positive way. We can say no to slave wages and child labor abroad (Mars M&M Corp in Ivory Coast, Disney in Haiti, and a million other examples) as well as deforestation and climate change from cattle and plantations (McDonalds in Nicaragua, Sugar and Corn for Biofuels in Brazil, and once again millions of more examples exist) and we can ensure that what goods we CAN produce at home, we DO produce at home, eventually allowing subsistence farming to take root again in places its been ripped from the ground (i.e. HERE, Lago Atitlan, Guatemala)...which will help us to create a more sustainable method of development (please, everyone, don't forget that pres. debate promise of creating GREEN COLLAR JOBS!)

Two of the most obscure promises made by the campaign, with regards to the food movement is to "encourage organic and local agriculture" and also to "encourage young people to farm." These are EXCELLENT moves, now how are they gonna do that? For one, they have to help move the organic labelling to smaller farmers--organic agriculture is sometimes just as bad as conventionally grown foods, with respects to the monocultured way it is planted, the miles it has to travel and the socio-economic prejudice it holds. Organic agriculture CAN feed the masses, especially if you use permaculture methods of growing many things in the same area, and it should be only for people who can afford to go to Whole Foods. Healthy food belongs to everyone. And in regards to encouraging young people to farm...why is this just listed on the rural America agenda? Urban settings are ideal for learning agricultural techniques and more importantly, its where the young people are, and where there going--its where more schools are, more immigrants with farming knowledge and the desire to be included, more unused lots and its where more green space is needed ( http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7714950.stm ). Make them a part of the solution! Do not allow urban America to continue to (mostly, unknowingly) drain the nations resources without giving back!

Interesting sites to read about if your interested in learning more about the above mentioned topics:

www.cdc.gov/cafos/
www.epa.gov/region7/water/cafo/index.htm
www.sweatshopwatch.org
www.cityfarmers.org
www.urbangreenspaces.org


Thanks for reading!