Leslie with Keep the Beet Media Star at the San Diego County Fair
July 5. Keep the Beet is encouraging everyone to plant a growing
beet in a container as a way of building confidence that we can each
grow a bit of our own food. Get a locally grown organic beet where possible. Pot it.
Keep the beet. Eat the beet greens.
Enter Plant Parenthood, she sez.
---
I am not a person who leans toward protesting.
I lean more toward making friends.
I lean more toward connection, understanding,
ethics, and doing the right thing.
When I error, I go deep within.
I assess what I have been doing.
I make amends. When called for,
I apologize or ask for forgiveness.
Asking forgiveness is part of the ethics of the Jewish Tradition.
It is also part of the ethics of many other traditions.
I find that more and more there is a conciousness that finds
value in seeing the Earth as a living organism with a mind of her own.
The Gaia Hypothesis is accepted as truth in one form or another in many
traditions. This is part of my tradition, and yet out of respect,
I state my tradition but I am not pushing my tradition onto others.
I would rather make friends with those in Science that fight Science.
I am in gratitude for the benefits of Medical Engineering that has personally
given me the ability to be walking when the odds are I would not be walking today
if it were not for science and engineering. I have other friends I am grateful
I can call up on the phone. Had it not been for Stem Cell advancements,
they would not be on the other end of the phone today.
My relationship with taking a moderate stance in regard to social change
goes backs decades.
I just returned from the Second Annual Athletic Hall of Fall Induction Ceremony at
Los Angeles Valley College. I have not been back to that part of my life for 40 years.
I was amazed to be in the presence of world class athletes who were esteemed
for milestones, endurance, breakthroughs, and beating what others would have
called the odds.
I do not believe we have the odds against us
as far as the potential for social change or for creating a more beautiful world.
On the other hand, I love challenge. I prefer to be accepted, but I will take myself into
challenging places with the intent of making connection.
At Los Angeles Valley College in the 1960's the students were
in uproar. I was calling for Unity and Dialogue. I was the Commissioner
of Men's Athletics. I worked from within the System and felt that
when we all talked we could create more understanding.
A few weeks ago I attended the BIO International Conference.
BIO stands for Biotechnology Industry Organization. The word bio,
as in biology, is becoming more and more associated with Biotech
as many define the term.
BIO has billions of dollars at its fingertips. BIO is in the schools through working
with top school science teachers. BIO is in government.
The Biotech movement is also invested in Agriculture. One of its investments is GM Foods,
Genetically Modified Foods.
I have other approaches to farming that I prefer.
I have other friends who make a living in these other approaches to farming.
I am sure before long, I will make more friends in both camps,
and we will sit down and talk. I say this because dialogue is inevitable
if we are all to find a way to live our lives on this earth.
I believe we will all sit down and help each other plot out the best course of action
for our planet and its people as as whole.
BIO's CEO is James C. Greenwood. He was a former Congressman.
When I was at BIO I spend an intimate press conference
with the Secretary of Education. You can find Super Ripe Images of both Greenwood
and the Secretary, Margaret Spelling, on other Plant Your Dream Blogs.
The point I want to make:
There is a great dialogue that is needed now between all those who are invested
in Biotech.
I now accept that those who are invested in the Organic natural food movement
are basically in the Biotech Tradition as well. The difference is the approach we
are making to genetic modification. We see different places where we want to invest dollars.
Luther Burbank, one of the greatest creators
of new foods of his day, certainly knew a lot about plant breeding. He simply
took a more natural approach to developing over 800 new strains of plants,
including many popular varieties of potato, plums, prunes, berries, trees, and flowers.
Burbank applied the wisdom of Charles Darwin to his methods. Today Modern
Science-based Biotech is taking us into a world of genetic modification where some of the long
term effects are not clearly seen.
We may have the power, but it is is only through dialogue that the consequences
of our actions can better be assessed. We need people in science as well as in other
fields in on this dialogue. The inventions of science have more than
industrial considerations. There are ethical as well as environmental considerations
that need to discussed.
Through attending BIO, I am beginning to develop personal relationship
with scientists who are invested in this field.
I want to grow more of this kind of personal relationship.
As Your Enchanted Gardener I will continue to open a dialogue between those
in a science based biotech and those in a natural product based biotech.
I am not into burning bridges.
I am not into burning fields.
There are themes inspired by this dialogue that will show up in THE ULTIMATE PLANT LOVER
the book I am now putting together for HCI. HCI stands for Health Commuications, Inc.
This is the publishing relationship I have been cultivating for 14 years. HCI published
the CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL SERIES, and will continue to publish many books
in this series.
There are many other ideas I want to express
RE: A necessary and vital dialogue between those in the various
fields of biotech.
It is good to know where we stand.
It is good to share where we stand.
Gaia likes this kind of communication.
RELATED PLANT YOUR DREAM BLOGS
Keep up with the Adventures
of Keep the Beet Media Star on the Plant Your Dream Blog
http://www.curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=1150542
Jr Organics Farmers' Markets:
http://www.jrorganicsfarm.com/market.php
JR Organics CSA:
http://www.jrorganicsfarm.com/
GM Fields Burned in France:
http://curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=1208391
Keep the Beet latest outing:
http://curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=1209751
Burning GM FIelds:
http://curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=1208952
Professor Ralf Rawitch:
http://curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=1198071
Homeland Security and the Biotech Revolution:
http://curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=1198071
Breatiful People of BIO;
http://www.curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=1196636
Luther Burbank, plant breeder:
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/inventors/page/b/burbank.shtml
First Draft
8:55 AM
July 6, 2008