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TODAY's PLANT YOUR DREAM BLOG
Food issues I Want ABC I-Team to Investigat

March 20, 2010


I am a week before the beginning
Passover, and then Easter, a time of resurrection.

Passover is about going through the narrow place.
The narrow place is the broken place that does not
see the whole of things. Most of us do not see the whole
of things. Easter is about once again seeing the whole
and rising up from the dead.

Truly, this is a time in the life of our species that
asks we both come out of the narrow place as well
as have a moment of awakening. These are times
when there are hours when I wonder
if we as a species are more dead than alive.
Diseases that were once abnormal are now normal.
We are wanting to install systems
of health reform that will certainly bankrupt our nation
unless we address some deeper prevention issues.

The basis of much of what I am seeing is that
we do not see what the other person is doing.
We have lost the beat with nature.
We are disconnected from one another.
We are not living all of one piece.
Our lives are like patchwork, to borrow an idea
from Martin Buber, a jewish scholar.

This brokenness, this narrow viewing
is a crime. It is a crying shame.

I cannot say why I see so much. I do not like what
I have been seeing of late. I do not like connecting
the dots.

I am very concerned about the state of the world.

I am here to help. I have been laying aside priorities
to take on others.

I have a sense I am needed now to participate in helping
to move national policy and international relationships
from the direction we may be headed to view a bigger picture.

I am not blaming anyone for the conditions that we
find ourselves in the world.

it goes back to the nature of how we each live.
We live in boxes. Living in a box is to live in a very narrow place.

I do not want to lose your attention right now.
It is important that you understand where I am coming from.


HOME FROM THE NATURAL PRODUCT EXPO WEST

I am a few days home from the National Product Expo West.
#expowest, March 11-14, 2010.

There were extreme expenses up there, the normal
expense of putting out $325 or so for an inexpensive room,
as well as an unexpected expense of $600.00 that came from
going way too fast and not watching where I was driving.
I am in a moment when I need financial support.
If I stop and do cleanup, all I need is here for me.
The question is, will I slow down to clean up.
I would rather go out and have some spiritual nurturing
this Sabbat morning. I miss you. I miss your
companionship.


QUESTIONS

Here is another question.
Are you watching where you are driving?

Are you aware that both of us are living in Grace right now?

If you are reading this Plant Your Dream Blog, you are one
of the lucky ones, even if you are lying in bed right now
crippled or have some health condition of severity that is
calling your attention.

We each have higher talents.
This is a time when we need to exercise our higher talents.


BEING AN INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER

I for one could be an investigate reporter.
I have the credentials. Writing every day here
puts me in a position where I can be found,
if someone is looking.

I do not like what I am seeing on the internet that
allows us now to piece together, to connect the dots
in ways that in previous times were more difficult to see.
Connecting the dots today is not a pretty picture,
even for an eternal optimist who believes
that everything is going to come out all right.


I found myself putting some hours yesterday
into researching the recent history of the I-Team at
ABC news, and the reports of a very sharp reporter
Robert Baskin. In a number of reports she has asked
"some very serious questions about organic labeling."

You can catch a few of her I-Team Invetigative reports
on this Plant Your Dream Blog,
http://curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=1592691


There are three or more reports from
Robert Baskin that identified that
Whole Foods Market and Washington D.C. regulators in
the USDA were lax in doing their homework.
They allowed pesticide laden ingredients from China
to get into products. There were
also reports bringing it to light that Whole Foods Market
was buying food labeled organic from China. The lable
on one product, made in China, could easily have
mislead shoppers that is was California grown, when
it came from China. It was
questionable if some of this food was truly organic.
It was questionable if Whole Foods Market was being
upfront with their small print that said the food was
from China. Whole Foods Market
took to heart was being spoken. They benefited from
the errors they made. They made corrections.

It was easy for Roberta Baskin to jump
from one issue to another in her reports.

It was easy to put down
Whole Foods Market and its support for local and organic
and raise questions that inferred that the majority
of organic food the store sold was questionable.
It was easy to raise in the mind of the shopper if
they had been spending money for organic food
and really getting something of less quality and purity.
It was also clear, that either through intent or sloppy
journalism, there was a crossing over of issues that
could easily mislead the T.V. viewer.

These reports came out in 2008 and were broadcast
at that time, and rebroadcast.
I imagine they had a big impact on
the stock of Whole Foods Market at the time. These
reports were raising some very important issues.

These reports first came to my attention this week
a few years after the fact.
The reports are not marked with dates, so someone
who comes upon them, might still decide to buy
or not buy from Whole Food imagining that the conditions
that were addressed were not remedied.

Only a deep researcher would see more of the whole story.
Perhaps there are elements at work that would prefer
that each of us do not see the whole picture.


LOOKING AT THE BIG PICTURE:
THE GOOD THAT WHOLE FOODS MARKET DOES

I am close enough to the workings of Whole Foods
Market to understand much of the good works of the company
as well as see some of its blindspots. We all have blindspots.
The intentions of most people in every aspect of food production
as an example are driven by good motives. I say this
not only about those in the organic field, but those who are
dedicated to feeding the poor through GE and GMO foods.
I say this in behalf of many farmers who grow using pesticides.
They were taught no better. They are in a circle of wanting
to survive and thrive. We all get caught in cycles and find
it hard get out of Eqypt--slavery--to use the metaphor
of Passover.

I worked closely with Whole Foods Market between 2005-2008.
I noted a number of forward looking endeavors that I want to
point out.

WFM had a composting project that took most of their green waste
and cardboard and turned it into compost. If every supermarket
in our nation followed their example, we could transform
the soil of the earth. WFM was also heavily invested
in alternative energy locally and supporting wind power.
They were consciously using profits to support others
through their Whole Planet Foundation. You cannot shop
in our local Hillcrest WFM without being greeting by
numbers of opportunities to donate to help others.

WFM serves a clientele that had money. They have high prices
relatively speaking and a shopper can get most of their needs met
whatever they want to eat. For me, shopping at the store,
can be a religious experience. I know many of the companies
whose products are on the shelf. I see them at the Natural Products
Expo West. The staff and Team members at our store are
personal friends. I know them by name. They know my name.
This matters to me.

The profits from WFM help the lives of many people.
WFM goes to the ends of the earth to help poor people
and set them up in business through its micro loan programs.
It also made funds available to local farmers during the years
I would shop there. Our local store went out of its way to bring together
local vendors and educate its customer base about local foods,
and local organic foods.

WFM, by its mission and purpose wants to make a profit for his stockholders
as well as create a good livelihood for its many employees.
This is healthy. This is a healthy national model and I support
this model as well as support a coop model.

I personally benefited from my association with WFM during
my closer years with our local Hillcrest WFM. I was friends
with the store team manager who said yes to every one of my ideas.
Had he stayed at this store, today we would have had a local
farmers market that merely wanted to help the local farmers.
He was willing to have local farm produce for sale to support
the local farmers without wanting any profit.

The President of the region at that time was a personal friend,
from hippy days. He was my original avocado sandwich maker.

From the local store team leader,
I got a "Yes" when I wanted to bring fresh picked local organic strawberries
into the store and arrange for them to be sold. I do not
believe there are too many others stores of any kind--let alone
a corporate store-- that could say that they had local. organic strawberries that were growing in the field that morning, sold, and eaten that afternoon.
I will never forget the experience offering these berries grown
by J.R. Organics who was a Whole Food Market vendor at that time.
During those years, there were times I took a busride to local organic
farms with other shoppers. Each WFM has autonomy to some extent.
Our store clearly supported the local, organic economy.

At the same time, a person
could purchase various standards of quality according to what they
wanted to spend. WFM had something for everyone, and was always
looking at new and creative ways to do business. I am sure that
in the rush to make ends meet, mistakes could have happened.
As I said before, when we go too fast, we can incur expenses
that come out of not seeing the whole picture.


MORE GOOD FROM WHOLE FOODS MARKET

In 2005, I was invited to be one of five US representatives
that were invited to a U.N. sponsored
World Environment Day activity
in Tecate, Mexico. WFM supported my trip.
Within 24 hours of my request, funds were granted to make
my trip possible.

One of the Whole Food who I meet at local Vendor Days,
donated five boxes of organic oranges These might have
been the first local organic foods that some of those kids
in Tecate ever tasted.

My point: All is not black and white here.
Through what a journalist reports and doe not report,
the industies can be made or broken.


DIGGING DEEPER...
WHAT WE CHOOSE TO INVESTIGATE
AND WHAT DO NOT CHOOSE TO INVESTIGATE


So what and why did Robert Baskin "go after" the organic
labeling laws and Whole Foods? That is a question of ethics
I would ask personally of the I-Team ABC. I am glad they
did this investigation. At the same time, I have not seen
any reports from the I-Team ABC that look at GMO labeling.
Do you realize that a high and growing percent of foods that
are in our supermarkets now contain GMO ingredients?

Do shoppers have a right to choose the ingredients
they wish? Washington right now, says this is not
an issue of importance. The FDA, that clearly
is in the position of enforcing policy, often gets
takes the lead for the research it supports from
companies are invested in particular products
and approaches to alleviating diseases.


The model of natural health that suggests that food
can be our medicine, and natural remedies work
lies well outside the scope of FDA viewpoint. While
we speak, the FDA is not being called on the carpet
for its prior activity but it now being shored up to
extend its regulatory powers over local farmers.

MORE TO LOOK AT

Here are a few more investigations I would want
Robert Baskin to do, presuming she is still with
the ABC I-Team.

Why does the FDA approve questionable chemicals in our foods
and say that they are O.K. when there are so many reports
to indicate that more research is needed?

Why did Robert Baskin go after organic labeling,
while skirting the issue of questioning chemicals approved
by the FDA and prevalent in our food supply?

How about an investigation of BPA in Cans?
Take a look at the film "Addicted to Plastic."
It was enough to stop me from eating canned goods.

BPA is short for Bisphenol-A. Many researchers conclude is
highly dangerous to eat from cans.

I admit my bias. At the Natural Product Expo West, I was
introduced to one organic company, that may be the only
company that does not have BPA in its cans. For the first
time in well over a year, I am willing to eat chile from a can.


ADMIT YOUR BIAS

I prefer we each admit our bias.
Put the facts we know on the table, and they enter into
a healthy dialogue. That is all I am asking.

Here is another investigation I want to see
from Robert Baskin or others of the ABC I-Team:

MSG

What about MSG in many foods? Within a few
hours of looking at the internet, I found Youtubes
pointing how how dangerous this can be.

Are we driving too fast to see the writing on the wall?
Are we allowing products into the mainstream of
human lifes before we really look at all sides of the
issues? Is science really doing its job?
Are we releasing products into the mainstream
and then gathering the research to see how
people fair?

is this ethically correct?

Is the FDA really doing its job?
Is USDA really doing its job, as the outstanding
investigations reports on the Organic Labeling issue?

DIgging deeper, I would want to know
how the pesticide laden ingredients got passed
through the Whole Foods system of inspection.

FOOD SAFETY ISSUE

I would want to look more deeply at what this
might be pointing out. Can we really count
on food from half way around the world to
be what they say they are?

Are we not wiser, returning to a more home grown
system of farming where we know the farmers
by name who grow our foods?


ASPARTAME IN SOFT DRINKS

I would also like Robert Baskin to look
at Asparatame in Soft Drinks, another drug
approved by the FDA. There are just too many
reports out there by other scientists that indicate
that Aspartame may be dangerous.

Then again, we have the bigger sacred cow--labeling
of GMO ingredients.

At least give the shopper a chance to choose.

ETHICAL JOURALISM ISSUES

I would ask what determines who and what
Roberta Baskin investigates? How much do the interests
of parent company ABC and their investments determine
what industries they want to see prosper
and what industries they would prefer do not prosper?

At this point, I only have questions.

UNDERSCORING MY POINT

From my perspective, I want to underscore,
I am more in favor of dialogue
that against any kind particular kind of agriculture.


USDA OPINION COMMENTS

The USDA recently took a position that GE Foods, Conventional
Foods, and Organic Foods can co-exist, and should co-exist.
This came up when we were looking at the issue of GE Alfalfa.
The UDSA concluded in its 1500 pages that most consumers
really did not care. Did the consumers have an opportunity
to see the far reaching effects of GE Alfalfa unleashed?

Does the USDA really imagine that a $23 billion a year
industry--the organic industry--does not have enough
consumer dollars being spent that these consumers do not
care? Does the USDA industry imagine that a more than
96 Billion dollar a year industry that is natural does not
want to know what is in their food ingredients?


I SEE GOOD INTENTIONS IN ALL CAMPS

I am development allies in all these camps. both GE
Foods, Conventional, as well as Organic. I see good
intentions in all camps.

I merely am asking, how does the USDA see
all these forms of agriculture co-existing?
Looking at the facts, and the Organic Rules,
Organic is no longer organic when the drift from
GE foods permeates these crops. Alfalfa is a perennial
grain. Once it is released, we may not be able
to return to the former standard that has existed
for eons.

is it O.K. to follow up and turn our new technologies
into profits before we see the bigger picture?
Are we cloosing short term economic gain, and long
term human hazard to health?

Are these not questions we need to investigate
in dialogue before we step out as we are?


HERE IS ANOTHER QUESTION
FOR THE ABC ITEAM REGARDING
THE s.510, THE FOOD SAFETY MODERNIZATION
ACT

#s.510, the Food Safety Moderization Act,
will soon pass through the Senate, and more than
likely pass. Journalists from the ABC i-Team might
look at the behind the scenes intent here.

Here are a few of the questions I would want to know:

How safe is our food supply and food safety in the hands
of a few companies turning food into a commodity?

What is driving our investments and the direction
of our thinking regarding Food Safety and
Food Security?

How important would it be to support a farming economy
that calls for the creation of 1000's more small farmers
so food is decentralized and community grown locally,
here at home and abroad?

In our move to head toward support of science and high
end technology, are we missing the boat in support
for low tech and science in the public interest?

How important is preserving the bio-diversity of our
Seed Supply and gene pool?

These are all ethical issues that are in my thoughts
this morning. I would like to see them in the national
conversation. I would like to see science, ethics, and food
come and sit around the same table.

I would like Roberta Baskin to be sitting at the table
as well.


7:47 AM-11:07 AM
March 20, 2010



ROBERTA BASKIN NOW A PUBLIC SERVANT
in OBAMA ADMINISTRATION

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/federal-eye/2009/08/roberta_baskin_joins_hhs...


"Roberta Baskin Joins HHS as Adviser
The revolving door spins again!

This time it's former television reporter Roberta Baskin, who will join the Department of Health and Human Service's office of inspector general as a senior communications adviser in mid-August. Inspector General Daniel Levinson announced the hire in a memo to staffers today, according to spokesman Marc Wolfson."



I-Team Investigates: Pesticide-laced Organic Foods Follow Up
http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0808/541588.html


ROBERTA BASKIN BIO FROM WIKIPEDIA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberta_Baskin

CONTAINER GARDENING
AND PRESERVATION OF SEEDS.
UN lOOKS AT SOME OF THE ISSUES

http://curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=1592991


INTRO TO DIALOGUE ON SCIENCE ETHICS, AND FOOD
http://curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=1587342




 

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