How nature will take revenge

Here we go again, another possible pandemic is roaming our lands. I find it ironic this comes as a surprise to a lot of people and people even (in the White House press-conference) ask whether it might have something to do with a “Bio-Terrorist” attack. I can only sit back and giggle. Sorry.

The fact that people are dying due to this evolved ‘flu’ is, obviously, very sad. Yet, it is also so incredibly clear that we, as humans, are the single reason for this to happen. With our ‘continuous growth’ paradigm, a mostly western issue, we have created ourselves the need to keep growing, otherwise we would ‘stagnate’. But what exactly would stagnate? Human satisfaction of the current moment? Self-development? The planet?

No. I don’t think so.

A striking illustration of our misconduct, I find, is the existence of ‘mega-farms’. These farms sometimes ‘house’ up to 10.000 cows, who do not get any ‘outdoor-activity’ or ‘raise’ chickens in 40 days (from chick to full-grown chicken), which would, from a natural point of view, normally would take between 90-110 days. The idea is that a chicken that grows twice as fast, will be replaced by a new chicken that can than again, be sold, thus, making twice the money you would with a normal chicken. Good thinking, right?

Ehm.

Well, in a way, sure, we live in a society that is based upon economic continuity and growth, thus having a turnover that goes against organic development seem reasonably feasible. The only problem is, it comes at a cost. The ‘normal’ chicken we eat is pumped with hormones stimulating growth, these hormones, of which the use is denied by the USDA (here), are implemented not only in the animals, but also in the humans that eat them. This, just the same as eating veggies that are sprayed with chemicals, or soil in which they grow is fertilized with non-natural products to limit the degeneration of the soil because of exhaustion, is simply not beneficial for human bodies.

The consequences of our ‘waging war upon the planet’ (argument put forward by Daniel Quinn in his book Ishmael), we can see all around us. Rapid development of obesity as a ‘decease’ (come on…), 2 in 4 children in the UK is now officially diagnosed with overweight, the staggering idea that Coca Cola in some countries is cheaper than water, (an interesting article I found recently about the effects of Coca Cola upon the human body, here), the rise of several animal viruses within the last 5 years (Mad-Cow-decease, Bird-flue, Pork-plague) and now the ones that are potentially also threatening human life; SARS, Swine Flue and it wouldn’t surprise me we’ll be facing another one, but one that actually does kill more than the 903 confirmed cases worldwide (4-5-2009). I mean, on a daily base there are still 15,000 children dying of diarrhea due to the lack of clean drinking water.

I’m sorry I just can’t get worked up about this ‘possible pandemic’. Except for the idea that it is so deeply rooted in our societies, “You are what you eat” type deal, this does worry me, because how to stop something when when a society is based upon the principle that most things and problems are never something directly associated with people themselves but every problem is faced with an attitude in which people say “well, but what can I do about it?”

Well, first of all think about what you eat, your own eating patterns have enormous impact upon, among others, environment, animal ‘guardianship’, social structures (fair trade, all that) and most directly, your own health (you care about that I assume).

Next to that you can ask your local supermarket to actually offer food that has been produced within ‘sustainable boundaries’ and with respect towards the animals we use as food.

So to start, my supermarket is Albert Heijn, if you wish to ask them to elevate the standards of their ‘footprint’ go here, I’ve prepared a text for you (in Dutch) if you don’t feel like typing.

Geachte heer/mevrouw,

Ik wil op deze manier aandacht vragen voor de, in mijn ogen, vreemde verdeling van ‘biologisch voedsel’ en ‘normaal voedsel’ binnen uw assortiment. Daarnaast is de prijsstelling van het gezondere en sociaal ‘eerlijkere’ (ook tegenover dieren) ten opzichte van ‘het doorsnee voedsel’, mijns inziens, contra-productief voor het stimuleren van een gezondere levensstandaard van uw klanten (waar u met uw “Gezonde Keuze” producten wel de indruk wekt dat dit een interessepunt van uw bedrijf is), als wel positief voor het in stand houden van de zogenaamde ‘megafarms’ die op vele manieren geen boodschap hebben aan dierenwelzijn of de milieutechnische consequenties die het runnen van een boerderij als deze heeft.

Ik begrijp dat u een beurs genoteerd bedrijf bent en als zodanig winst dient te maken om de aandeelhouders gelukkig te houden, alsmede ‘de Holding’. Maar, mijns inziens, de toekomst van zowel onze planeet, als onze maatschappij heeft bedrijven als u nodig om de huidige omslag te maken die we nodig hebben om als planeet gezond en zonder ons te hoeven schamen voor ons gedrag ten opzichte van andere diersoorten de toekomst in te helpen.

Hopende in de nabije toekomst een verandering in uw strategie ten opzichte van voedsel verstrekking tegemoed te mogen zien, wens ik u alle goeds.

Hoogachtend,

(Your name)

Well, long story, hope you understand my point though. And please take this little action in order to actively contribute to a ‘better future’ for planet, humanity and animals.

Love & Peace,

Len