Our Best Protection – Knowledge and the Right to Decide for Ourselves

The people are speaking, and they are sure ready for legislation and other initiatives that protect agriculture, small producers, consumption behaviors, and farming practices that don’t have negative repercussions for our health, the environment, and many generations to come.

What all of this discussion is going to come down to is not the laws that are passed, but rather, how the enforcement is being carried out and how we can use our consumption vote (by how you purchase things) to influence agriculture and farming practices – because laws only do as much as the power to interpret and enforce them.

The GMO-labeling proposition in California did not pass (Proposition 37) – how can consumers fight back?  They can vet their farmers and producers, actually get to know who is growing their food, and support small and micro-producers who have to be transparent and accountable to their customers.  Difficult?  Yes.  Would this actually make a difference and create influence in the marketplace?  Yes.

We can fight, we can lobby, we can work on influencing law – but NONE of it has the power as cold hard cash and showing what you want by using your money on it.  It would be hard to raise the millions of dollars raised to lobby or influence elections – you are up against multinational corporations that already have our food supply in a stranglehold – thank you to both Democrats and Republicans in the Congress.  It would be much easier to convince a million people to slightly change their purchasing activities – which would instantly change the market.  You send a signal with your purchasing power.  And it is the true grass-roots way to fight back.

Even when state-wide amendments pass, like the Right to Farm Amendment in North Dakota, and the Marijuana Legalization/Regulation Amendment in Colorado – there are entities already discussing how to interpret and enforce these Constitutional amendments with statutory law – a task automatically subjectively influenced by those interpreting the words of the amendment and the law.

Want to fight it?  Buy what you believe in, send money to people who engage in practices that you believe in, and remember that ALL LAWS created by any Congress are subject to the interpretation and enforcement of statutory agencies that may not have your own personal health in their best interest.  You have to do what is best for you – use your pocketbook to show people the power that you have.  Know your farmer, know your producer, and carry on this good fight for protecting agriculture with your own personal purchasing power.

– Tisha Casida