Did you know that smoking causes cancer?

Photo credit: Compassionate Action for Animals (CAA)

Photo credit: prttynpink1120

File this under "Whodathunkit?" or "You don't say," or "Doh!!!" whatever expression you use to convey the total obviousness of any given comment.

Another good title for this piece would be Malcolm X's quote about chickens coming home to roost, which is perhaps more apropos, since this is the result of the industrial food system's insistence on raising animals on factory farms.

In any event, I still think it's good to publicize the results of our unnatural and unhealthy and unethical and unjust factory farming practices, however obvious one thinks the inevitable outcomes of such practices are.

Of particular interest might be the one comment posted on the Globe and Mail's site, which I totally disagree with. If I were a conspiracy-minded person, I'd say it was written by a representative of the industrial food system masquerading as a private citizen, but you can draw your own conclusions...

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health/new-health/paul-taylor/agricultural-folly-spawns-superbugs/article2348184/

Occupy the Food Movement

Anna Lappé

Check out this  interesting and thought-provoking post from Eric Holt-Giménez of Food First about how the Occupy Movement and the Food Movement could combine in a significant intersection that could really make concrete differences in the control of our food system:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-holt-gimenez/occupy-the-food-supply-co_b_1299421.html

Also this post from Anna Lappé and Willie Nelson (yes, that Willie Nelson) about occupying the food system:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/willie-nelson/occupy-food_b_1299401.html

and lastly a link to the Rainforest Action Network, which is promoting Global Occupy the Food System Day (which happens to be today):

http://www.ran.org/occupy-our-food-supply

Demand an organic farm bill

Join me in telling Congress, "I want an Organic Farm Bill" to help meet the serious challenges of the 21st century. It's time that U.S. agricultural policy in the farm bill shift from its focus of creating cheap commodities and artificially propping up income for farmers toward implementing best agricultural practices for sustainable and organic production. Share your ideas of how to make the Farm Bill better serve farmers, eaters and the environment!

Farmers need your voice today. Please spread the word.

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/sign/your_organic_farm_bill/?referring_akid=.92252.M13cg7&source=mailto

Are you smarter than Congress?

On most things, I'm sure you probably are. Congress (collectively speaking) sets a pretty low bar, after all.

However, in this instance, this is actually not a rhetorical question, but a short quiz from American Jewish World Service to see how much you know about the Farm Bill, which is coming up for renewal later this year. Take it and see how you do, and then tell your friends to come visit my blog (which is very lonely out here in the abyss of cyberspace) and take the quiz themselves.

http://www.ajws.org/farmbillquiz