With two sets of new neighbors, I've been watching them make this transition. Doubly difficult, because coming from a land of 220V power, they're having to replace all their electric appliances. Both have said the same thing: they're sick of buying stuff.
They're also having to deal with cultural differences (remember the stick of butter story?). And the realm of food is riddled with cultural differences. British Neighbor isn't too terribly worried about food, they have no real restrictions on their diet--they're terribly normal people. But she was shocked to hear that if she bought conventional products containing corn or soy, she was likely consuming GMOs. Irish Neighbor, has very young children, and needed to find a source for good milk, since the her oldest (still very small) hasn't taken to the taste of infant formula in this country. She was absolutely floored when I told her that the only way to absolutely avoid rBST in the milk is to buy organic.
These are normal, intelligent, educated people who would like to know what they are eating, yet a huge corporation (Montsano is heavily into manufacturing genetically modified seed and bovine hormones) has put their considerable bottom line ahead of people. Compounding the problem, politicians of every persuasion bend to the power of money talking.
Margaret Mead reminds us that change does not come from above: it comes from below. So, when corporations start listening (hear that, Senators?) you can bet the peanut gallery is getting pretty loud. Yesterday brought two news stories that warmed my heart: Safeway milk free of bovine hormone and Big Business Pushes Bush On Carbon Caps. That's right, pressure from the masses is prompting changes that benefit consumers. No, wait, people are voting with their dollars, and these corporations don't want to harm their bottom line. Can legislators be far behind?
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