Here are my previous posts on this. No point in reinventing the wheel (unless you’re the government). Please compare and contrast these posts to the story being told in the Zero today. The Zero reports that this plan is just to help out farmers (here). Sure, Zero, sure. (Hey, how’s that David Wu story coming along???)
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Government Take Over of Food, Restaurants, (Land?) in Offing for Multnomah County. Food As a “Right.”
working, able bodied people will have to do virtually nothing to support themselves. If you think times are financially tight now, just wait till Multnomah County becomes an even bigger welfare magnet than it already is. As Margaret Thatcher once observed, “The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other peoples’ money.”
Multnomah County, like much of the country, is at a critical juncture in fixing its food system. Currently, we have a two-track food system: those who can afford it have access to sustainable, locally grown, healthful foods, while the poor have few healthful food options in their communities, and even fewer economic resources to purchase such foods. Hunger, food insecurity, and health disparities result from a system that perpetuates economic inequality and social injustice. The scales must be rebalanced.
Among the groups urging more government involvement–if not takeover–of the food available in Multnomah County are those whose fortunes will rise with the government’s increased involvement.
• About 36,000 people in Multnomah County access emergency
food boxes each month.
• Only a small portion of the food we consume is locally grown.
• Over half of all adults in Multnomah County are overweight or obese.
• Chronic disease such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke is on the rise.
• About 30% of Multnomah County children receive food through the SNAP food assistance program.
• The average age of an Oregon farmer is 58 years.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Hippies, “Social Justice” Groups, The Usual Suspects: The Groups Behind the Multnomah Food Action Plan
The Multnomah Food Action Plan (discussed in a previous post here; find the plan here) in short seeks to control the food sold and eaten in the region–for our own health, of course. These goals sound aspirational but government will make decisions based on these aspirations and you’ll have to live with them. Think pie in the sky emission standards aspirations which translate to $20,000,000.00 in sewer fees being ripped off for bike paths and you get the picture of what happens with government aspirations and guidelines. Government’s ‘want – to’s’ often become our ‘have – to’s.’
Protect Grand Island!
Our newest farm is on Grand Island, a beautiful little island in the Willamette River with a strong agricultural heritage and a promising agricultural future. Recently a rock company applied to convert 225 acres of prime farmland into a gravel quarry. Help us protect the farms on Grand Island!
Meantime, over at “The Dirt” they’re imagining a life without carbon. I’m not kidding. They may be farmers or dirt lovers or something but don’t know much about the “carbon” they want to get rid of. They’re part of the TransitionPDX which is, in turn, affiliated with other groups. You see, if you LOOK like there are MORE groups out there agitating for the take over of the food production around here they’ll be accorded more power than you.
Among the groups urging more government involvement–if not takeover–of the food available in Multnomah County are those whose fortunes will rise with the government’s increased involvement including Whole Foods and New Seasons. With a possible government mandate coming down on food requirements, these two grocery stores will be situated to reap the benefits versus Safeway which may have to find new vendors and would be put at a disadvantage with new requirements. There’s something in it for them. Nothing wrong with that as long as you know that altruism isn’t the only thing motivating them.
Their objective?
“Inherent within the challenges of peak oil and climate change is an extraordinary opportunity to reinvent, rethink, and rebuild the world around us.” – Rob Hopkins, The Transition Handbook.
Metro; City of Portland; Portland/Multnomah Food Policy Council; 47th Avenue Farm; Bright Neighbor; Burgerville; CNRG; Cogan Owens Cogan, LLC; Community Food Security Coalition; East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District; Ecotrust Food and Farms; Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon; Growing Gardens; Hacienda Community Development; Loaves and Fishes; Montavilla Farmers Market; Native American Youth and Families Center; New Seasons Market; Oregon Food Bank; Oregon State University Extension Service; Portland Farmers Market; Portland Permaculture Guild; Portland Public Schools: Portland State University Institute of Metropolitan Studies; ReCode Oregon; The Dirt; Transition PDX; Upstream Public Health; Village Gardens, Janus Youth Programs, Inc.; Whole Foods