Sunday, March 6, 2011

PESTICIDES & "The Circle of Poison"


As I read the article "The Circle of Poison," I am dumbfounded. I can't believe that people choose money over life. The powerful, rich corporations who control the lives of so many underprivileged people are willing to let them die for the sake of money.
As we learn more and more about the FDA, I more often begin to question their validity. It seems to me that the FDA is there just for show, not to protect anyone. The article explained that the FDA rarely seizes or refuses any shipments. Rather, they take a sample of the product and send the rest off to the market. The article even explained that there have been highly dangerous amounts of pesticides in the food that went to the market and then into our bodies. There really was no point in even taking a sample of the product, because either way they could not recall it. These pesticides can lead to cancer. How is the FDA (aka the government) allowing it's own people to get cancer. Our government and we as people are ignoring all of the facts. Not only our the vegetables we consume everyday ridden with carcinogens, but so are many other types of foods and drinks. Although the FDA is allowing this to happen, we cannot blame them solely. We have to also blame ourselves. We do not think about what we eat, we ignore the warning signs, and we do what is convenient. The reality is that we know we are ruining ourselves. If anyone thinks this is false, they are ignoring the evidence. Another reason why I was intrigued by this article is because it was advocating that people become informed and do something about this problem. I respect that the article not only presented the facts, but it went to great lengths to reveal them. The article explained how secretive not only the American government and corporations were, but even third world countries would not reveal their dirty secrets. Why? Money of course, they didn't want to scare off the precious tourists who so diligently and ignorantly pour money into their hands.
After reading this article I am beginning to further question how our world has gotten this far. We are ruining everything that this earth has given us. Since they day the earth was created, we had everything that we needed to survive. But we still want more more more. It has never been enough. I took a break from writing this journal and looked out my window and just watched the rain come down in sheets. It is so natural and pure and beautiful. And we are destroying all of this natural beauty. But more truthfully, we are destroying ourselves. We are a part of the earth, and while we continue to kill it, we kill ourselves.

3 comments:

  1. so in this entry you answer some of my questions from my previous comment- yes, it is for $ ...hard to believe isn't it ! The image you chose is pretty alarming- where did you get it? Can you comment on it as well?

    I like your last few lines - there are very passionate ...
    It is so natural and pure and beautiful. And we are destroying all of this natural beauty. But more truthfully, we are destroying ourselves. We are a part of the earth, and while we continue to kill it, we kill ourselves.

    Does it remind you fo the book we read in Deviance - How Shall I Live My Life? This si a good question for you to think about now..while you are coming to terms with how messed up the world is ..what are you going to do to at least not make it worse...perhaps make it a tiny bit better..? What are your thoughts?
    Here is web site you should check out..
    http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/

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  2. yes, pheobe this article did stem from what we learned in deviance. it was inspired by the quote "man is a part of nature, and his war against nature is inevitably a war against himself."
    This is something I have come to realize over the past couple of semesters and it is something that will be stamped into the back of my head forever. Every time I throw something in the garbage, I feel a stabbing pang of guilt in my stomach. It is an unpleasant feeling, but I am glad it's there, because it keeps me thinking about what I really need to use. Do I need to use a two rolls of paper towels every week? No. There are ways to reduce. Do I need to throw out old food? No, I can just buy less of it. I am constantly reminding myself of the ways that I can reduce my impact. I have learned that the slow food promotes sustainability, and I will now be able to utilize what I learned over the past couple of months to make less of a negative impact on the earth.

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  3. HI again- I also struggle with waste guilt and try to recycle and compsot (good for old food guilt!) as much as I can...sadly today there were no corn utensiles at the co-op.....ok, gald the the R. Carlson quote lives on :-)

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