Editor’s note: This op-ed is by Steve Farnham, a resident of Plainfield.
If you didn’t read Carl Etnier’s April 12 article, “Scores testify in favor of GE food labeling bill,” do so. It’s great news that this bill is receiving so much attention, even if it is, as Will Allen suggested, moving at a glacial pace. Behind all the excitement, however, lurks a really sad state of affairs.
As I read through the article, I thought, “Yeah, whatever, it ain’t gonna happen. No law requiring the labeling of GMOs will survive. Monsanto will see to that.” And sure enough, my prognostication proved redundant, before I even finished reading. Because two-thirds the way through, I read that Rachel Lattimore (the Rachel Harris of the Biotech Scumbag Association) was all over it.
Why do we even bother? Let’s just rename Vermont Entergy-Monsanto-Metro-Gazland (any other corporate mafias want in?), and go home. The whole world has been colonized by the vilest, greediest scum the human race has to offer. They own the Congress, the Oval Office (no matter the origin of the robot in it), the courts, and three-quarters of the state legislatures. The Constitution is no longer worth the paper it’s printed on, the will of we, the people, doesn’t mean squat, none of this is going to change until blue blood flows in the streets, and good luck with that — they own the military and the police too.
All the “sacred” vocabulary has been stolen. “All natural” doesn’t mean jack anymore, and “organic” has been significantly watered down. (Up to 5 percent of a product labelled “organic” is exempted from the labelling requirement — thanks to corporate Ag.)
Luckily, there is a better way. Employ our own people and farmers. Grow our own food. Process our own food. Develop our own vocabulary. Huh? Yup, that’s what I said (typed): Develop our own vocabulary. Don’t say it’s rBST- free or BGH-free or GMO-free. Monsanto won’t allow that. Write that it’s “free of little green men,” or that it’s “free of purple leprechauns.” Don’t write “organic” on the label. Instead, label it as “spooky-grown,” or “grown deep throat.” We’ve got the www. We can tell people what the (code) words mean; most Vermonters will know by word of mouth, we can change the words seasonally to bugger the competition, and who cares about corporate Ag? Screw ’em!
I’m so fed up with fighting corporate mafia crooks (and losing). We have to shut down Yankee any way we can. We have to keep Gaz Metro from owning the state’s transmission network — these are important. But fight over labeling rights and requirements? Defend the definition of certain “sacred” words, and defend our right to say that certain foods do not contain certain combinations of the letters B, G, H, M, O, r, S, and T? What a waste of effort! That dog won’t hunt. We have bigger aquatic vertebrae to sauté, and there are other ways to flay this feline that makes the corporate boys irrelevant. Let’s choose a canine that catches. Pick our battles. Under the radar man, under the radar! What I want is food that’s grown deep throat, and contains no purple leprechauns, now!
