Why We Fight!

How does it make you feel when you find out that that Monsanto is suing the pants off family farmers for saving seeds? That Procter and Gamble can be certified as a “fair trade” company?

Did you know that Dagobah organic chocolate is owned by Hershey’s now? That Kellogg’s owns Gardenburger, and that Cascadian Farm is really General Mills? You do know that organic companies are getting gobbled up like bar snacks, don’t you?

Did you know that Big Organic food manufacturers worked a back room deal in Congress so that non-organic ingredients can be used in USDA certified organic foods under “emergency situations”?

How about this? Did you know that millionaire corn farmers get subsidized by tax dollars? Or that American farmers are planting more corn than ever and Americans are consuming four times as much corn sweetener as they did a generation ago?

Did you know that the cost of soda and crappy fast food has been plummeting in real dollars while the cost of fruits and veggies has been skyrocketing? Did you know the US Farm Bill promotes that?

We think this all stinks to high heaven. Not only do these corporations have all the money, but then they deliberately trick consumers by playing a shell game about who they are, or pick fights with small farmers and citizens who’re roughly a thousandth their own size, or game the federal government like its a referee in a pro wrestling match.

Doesn’t that just piss you off to no end?

Well, we’re pissed. There’s a vicious food fight going on in this country and it’s not going well, so we’re ready put on our masks, lace up the stomping boots, and jump in the ring. We’re bored with lofty discussions about alternative food systems. We want to shout. We wwant to cajole. We want to take some action — how about you?

If so, it’s a simple choice about whose side we should be on. Ready for the options?

A) David

B) Goliath

In this corner, we have the champ. Huge. Megalithic. Arms the size of a national trucking network, shoulders wide as a thousand-acre factory style farm, and stomach muscles rippling with vast credit and buying power.

And in this corner, we have the challenger. All he’s got is a used pick-up, fifty acres, and a steely gaze.

We like a spirited fight against long odds, so we side with the challenger, the small food grower and creator in her long shot match against giant food companies who are literally working to buy her up or put her out of business.

If we don’t fight this fight alongside the challenger, look what we have: A handful of companies that create the vast majority of your food, with fewer, less interesting choices every year. These companies demolish rural America by bringing in feedlots for cattle and pig towns with their lovely manure lagoons, drive out small farmers, and drive down wages until whole communities screwed. That, and the health of America as a whole is threatened by centralizing the food system so that just one nasty germ in the national meat bucket or the national tomato packing plant can sicken thousands upon thousands of people.

Most insulting of all, the Food Goliaths lie through their teeth to us, showing us slick marketing initiatives starring themselves as small farmers. When they do this, they take from the small farmer the one advantage he has: His identity as the challenger.

Well, we’re here to unmask that marauder. We’re here to sort through the lying, cheating and stealing, because we think more small farmers with better access to market and fewer corporate shell-games is exactly what this country needs. More small farmers would bring:

1. 1. better choices to shoppers,
   2. safer, healthier food
   3. a thriving, independent rural class, worldwide

So this site is dedicated to the good fight, the fair fight, the food fight, and we need fighters to join us and lots of them — huge numbers, with noisy voices. If you’ve ever read the paper and said to yourself, “But what can I do?” Then you’ve found a place to vent energy and force some changes on the world. We need

*  irrationally enthusiastic activists who are willing to be called to action at a moment’s notice

*  food fighters who will stay informed, attend rallies, write letters, spread the word and show up for real action on behalf of small farmers and fair food

* writers and videographers who will tell stories about what’s happening in your local food scene.

* testimonials about great food, recipes, victories, profiles of courageous small farmers, or fights that the rest of us may need to join.

If you’d like to write for us or post videos on Fair Food Fight, please contact El Dragon through his profile.

It’s time to get in the ring!