Full of Grace
- Spring has officially sprung! My vegetable garden has been planned and my seedlings are doing well, waiting for it to be warm enough to be planted outside.
- Gotta love Vermont - The U.S. food industry is fighting a fierce battle over requiring labels for ingredients made with genetically modified organisms. I am very grateful it is losing—to Vermont! The U.S. Senate voted 48-49 last Friday against a bill that would have blocked Vermont from passing their labeling law which goes into effect on July 1st. I am hopeful more states will follow suit as I think people have a right to know what they are eating. Strangely, I have read all over the internet, people not understanding the dangers of GMOs. My guess is that they have never grown their own food and must believe that quantity trumps quality. But if you have ever compared a homegrown heirloom tomato to a store bought GMO tomato, you would understand. If we continue down this path we might as well feed people cardboard - it probably has more nutritional value. Hillary’s close relationship to and support for Monsanto is one of the biggest reasons I am still in Bernie's camp. If we destroy our food supply, little else will matter.
- Croptrust.org. This international organization is securely storing seeds from all over the world in an underground vault to safeguard crop diversity against a very uncertain future. It is so sad that this needs to be done, but I am so very grateful that someone thought of, and implemented this. Especially because with the advent of genetically modified organisms, seed sovereignty is threatened by patents - calling seeds "intellectual property". That’s right, Monsanto actually owns the patents for our food supply. The seeds from their fruits and vegetables will not germinate so it guarantees that farmers will always require their seeds.
- Here is the northeast it is maple syrup time. We went for an all you can eat pancake breakfast (reminding myself that "all-you-can-eat" does not mean "all-you-should-eat") where they serve the syrup warm, straight from the boiler, with maple butter. What an amazing gift these trees give us!
- Lastly I am incredibly grateful for my relationship to the natural world and all the gifts and lessons it has given me. That I get to walk in among trees, and sleep under stars, and grow my own food, and smell the amazing smells of Spring is something I no longer take for granted. Give me spots on my apples but give me the birds and the bees. Please!
Whoever controls the weather or the food, controls the world.
ReplyDeleteI sat next to a guy who was developing GMO on an airplane in the late '80s or early '90s. (I don't remember the timing, but it was the first time I'd heard of it.) We ended up in such a big fight that we had to be separated. (Apparently we got loud and my yelling "you're going to kill us all" was ill-timed as we were on an airplane.) I am grateful for croptrust and also heirloom seed people who are helping bring back vegetables that we've lost somewhere along the way.
ReplyDeleteLooks like California is going to matter in the primaries this year, a rare occurrence. Will make sure I vote.
There is a couple of weeks in the year when VT sugaring houses open to the public. Last year I went and saw sugaring done and got to ask the head sugarmaker a ton of questions about it. The whole place smelled of maple syrup. So wonderful. (My brother still has part of a bottle left, too, that I sent him from going.) Do you know about tapmytrees.com? It seems like something you'd like.
Just listened to the album Hits from Joni one my drive down here. My favourite song of hers. :)
*Blogger may be forcing me to be anonymous, but it's Illustr8d.
Look at you! Seeds sprouted and ready to go! I'm impressed.
ReplyDeleteYes, the state of agriculture is deplorable. The thing that chaps my hide is the manipulation of earnest voters by scare tactic advertising. That's all down to Monsanto, of course. Obfuscation, confusion, outright lies... jeez, you'd think they were republicans or something! It's shameful. And, yes, you are right: if the food supply is destroyed, nothing else matters. Sigh.
There are many seed saving organizations out there, and they are all doing a vital job of protecting our resources. I just feel despair sometimes when I look at issues like these. Where are the people with common sense? Does no one at Monsanto think further than corporate profit?
Now I'm going to think about maple syrup because that is yummy and it makes everyone happy. Yay for Maple Syrup!
Mmmm maple syrup.
ReplyDeleteSadly, experts say that because of global warming, the maple trees in New England will be gone within 50 years. I can't even imagine fall foliage within the bright red of maples much less the impact on our ecosystem. It is beyond my comprehension that this is happening.
ReplyDeletefinally, the bulbs i planted last fall have survived the squirrels and chipmunks and in this little yard in ptown they are arriving. every year for many years i've planted bulbs, but this year they've survived!
ReplyDeletei didn't know about the maple trees. i cannot believe that, 8. it would be an epic forever loss.
hope all is well with you. happy happy spring xo
love
kj
So freaking sad.
ReplyDeleteA few years ago I passed (why? I don't recall) on going to one of the local nature center's Maple Syrup Festivals. They are generally held early to mid-March. I just found out the event was held last Saturday. True, I am not the most natural of nature girls, but that is something I would like to experience. So...noting to subscribe for alerts or what-have-you. Thanks for the mention that sparked a memory. :-)
I hope "we" don't care too late...
ReplyDeleteYour seeds are looking good... Can't wait to have fresh, locally grown produce...