How to Save the World
That's the name of an eloquent progressive weblog written by Canadian activist, author, and blogger Dave Pollard. He's written a very cogent analysis of the political power of agribusiness and Big Food and how it conflicts with public interests (one look need no further than the recent pet food, spinach, and Taco Bell scares for proof.)
As Pollard puts it:
So in the case of agribusiness, it is in the interest of the food production oligopoly to squeeze out all family farms and replace them with massive factory farms that inflict unimaginable suffering on farm animals and deplete the soil until it is dust and needs to be 'replenished' with oil-based fertilizers and soaked in oil-based chemical pesticides and herbicides. In order to be viable, agribusiness (in North America alone) then needs to be subsidized to the tune of $150B/year. To keep costs down and profits up, the agribusiness oligopoly uses the cheapest possible ingredients (notably corn, corn sugars and other low-nutrition 'fillers') and adds dangerous chemicals that make foods look better than they really are, taste different than they really do, addict the customer on sugar and salt, and have the micronutrients processed out of them.
The real problem is the media and political influence agribusiness can roll out: "The oligopoly has a lot more resources to apply to tip the balance in their favour.... They can muzzle the mainstream media, which depend heavily on them for advertising dollars, not to investigate or report on agribusiness misdeeds (fortunately we still have Oligopoly Watch). They can get politicians to simply ignore the regulations, citing a shortage of inspectors. This is perfect for politicians: They can placate the public by passing stiff regulations that seemingly favour the public interest, and at the same time placate the oligopoly by ignoring the regulations."
Thanks for the hat tip, Dave, and I recommend that the rest of you explore this inventive site, which is unusually concept-rich.
