The right to live without fear
Everyone at this point is aware of the airline terrorism plot, metro/train bombs, etc. I’m reading this article from BBC News about the remote possibility of agro-terrorism in the US.
Craig Watz, an FBI special agent who runs the agro-terrorism conference, says that when he talks at lunches or dinners, he emphasises how people need to change the way they think about food.
“How many people thought about the safety or security of food, who handled it, who prepared it, where it came from?” he asks.
“We do have to be vigilant not only getting on an airplane or in buses or train systems, but we also have to be vigilant in who’s handling our food.”
I think the first two statements make important points, but outside of “terrorism.” (Personally I think there should be more emphasis on a term they’ve started using, “extremists.”) We really don’t know where our food comes from most of the time. We don’t know what’s been put on our fruits & vegetables. Industralized food often means a lack of nutrition, so we’re forgetting that food EQUALS nutrition, not food equals edible stuff we can shove in our mouths to satisfy a hunger.
Vigilance. Why are people now living in fear? Shouldn’t we have a right to live without fear? Especially if your country and city isn’t a torn-up warzone. They have made their point. We’re scared stiff, to the point where two dark-skinned men speaking what *sounds like* Arabic and being indecisive about where to stand in line to board a plane causes people to be suspicious, panic, and have them removed from the flight. My friend’s 3-year-old son could not bring along his favourite electronic game on his 9 hour flight. In 2000, airport security in Rome AND Vancouver did not notice my friend’s Swiss army knife in his carry-on — he didn’t know it was there, either.
If we feel the need to watch our back everywhere we go, then that means there is no trust in other people, in the system, and in the government. And I don’t trust the system that defines a good fruit as more pith and less fibre & taste (= $$$); that instills a form of hypochondria then says, here we can fix that with this drug; that purposely diminishes our health and circumvents preventative (and natural) care in favour of treatment with chemicals (= $$$). They like to claim, oh how we’ve conquered so many diseases, eradicated diseases, found cures for preventable diseases! Humans have never seen such better health! While on the other side, we have obesity epidemics; AIDS epidemics; cancer epidemics; heart disease, diabetes, and some BS “disease” called IBS. Has your kid got ADD/ADHD? No problem, here’s a drug (that will make you forget how much diet can change). The companies who tout vitamin & mineral supplements SHOULD be making a killing because we sure aren’t getting enough of it from our food — and not getting enough of it means we’re more susceptible to disease, especially in the long term.
The BBC article mentions an organic farmer as a rarity. I’m hoping in 50 years that non-organic farmers will be a rarity. For some quick, easy-to-read information on the benefits of eating organic, please take a look at my project from last semester.
I do not fear people’s actions when I’m on public transit. I do not watch my back everywhere I go. I trust my neighbours, and would like to trust my government. I know that I am extremely fortunate to live in a country where I can live as I do, yet at the same time I know there’s a breakdown somewhere that brings us down in other ways that we can’t see, but we can change.
And yes, I am disappointed, passionate, angry, dejected. I’m going to go eat some yummy organic peanut butter or make some organic popcorn… I think it’ll make me feel better and know I won’t have to be cynical forever.