Today is Food Day and I would like to use this opportunity to link food issues and Occupy Wall Street. Many people are already doing this, as this poster and the following links from Marion Nestle’s site, Food Politics, shows.
Mother Jones: Foodies, Get Thee to Occupy Wall Street (<-If you only read one article read this one!!)
The Slow Food USA blog: Occupy Wall Street: What’s Food Got to do with it?
Civil Eats: Why the Food Movement Should Occupy Wall Street
These articles do a great job of discussing the global economy and how it affects our food choices, but you may already know this. If you have ever worked all day and are too tired to make food or are out late and the only thing open is fast food- you probably know this intuitively. We work more and have more technology than ever yet less time to spend learning about nutrition and cooking food. Why? I think for the same reasons that Wall Street is being occupied. We work to create wealth, yet don’t benefit as much as we should. The wealth we create travels upward to those who already have more than us. Want some proof? Business Insider compiled a fantastic set of graphs: What Wall Street Protesters Are So Angry About.
In addition to Will Potter giving us 5 Reasons Why Environmentalists and Animal Activists Should Occupy Wall Street, the Declaration of the Occupation says:
# They [Corporations] have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless animals, and actively hide these practices.
How cool is that? And at OccupyLA there is even an affinity group called Occupiers for Animals.
Why are we protesting and what does it mean? I think Chris Hedges (Pultizer Prize winning war correspondent!) says it best in this video. Someone of his caliber, who has seen wars and uprisings all over the world in the previous three decades, getting this emotional over Occupy really captures its importance. Brought tears to my eyes.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-1TdemR7_Q&]
And from today’s Democracy Now! with Michael Moore and Cornell West:
OCCUPY LONDON PROTESTER: There is a political vacuum in the country at the moment. It doesn’t matter who you vote for, doesn’t matter what party gets in. The essential decisions are made, and what’s decided really is the same, no matter if it’s Labour or left, right, middle. You know, it’s all just middle now. So when there is no real choice there, because everything is the same, the people, I believe, feel like their voice has been taken away. And when you’re in a situation where your voice has been taken away, you have to make your voice.
Or is it now Class War as Frank Rich says in this 5-page New York Times article?
This is a lot to think about and sometimes it’s hard to grasp the importance of the current situation. But a movement is here, if we want it. All of us can help in some way. Education is a part of the equation (pass these resources on to your skeptical friend!), but action is most important. Like my first post about Occupy Wall Street said, let’s stop working toward temporary solutions and cut to the root of the matter.
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