It’s now May and it’s still on the chilly side. Landscapers are out the working in the chill but when the heat comes, they’ll wish it was chilly again. It will be warm for a few days next week but then chilly again. This is the weather we feel.
But there’s also climate we don’t feel. A recent study shows that carbon pollution over the last 20 years or so has actually made our food less nutritious. Although plants depend on carbon dioxide, it doesn’t mean that more carbon produces better plants. And the effects of using pesticides containing glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, doesn’t help either.
This year the renewal of the Farm Bill is up, and the question of whether we protect farmworkers from harmful pesticides is on the tables, not to mention questions about how we treat the animals that supply our meat. The moral question is how we treat the least of these. Corporate agriculture doesn’t care but we should. The House passed bill now goes to the Senate
Prayer for the Day
The earth groans, O Lord, as we mistreat her,
The result of negligence and the desire for profit;
Farmworkers needing protection from poisons in the fields,
Often neglected as we search for cheaper foods.
May we not forget those who raise our crops,
Often without voice as they are bound by corporate power.
In the name of the One who cares for all,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Stripping pesticide liability language out of the farm bill proves that grass-roots pressure can break through even the most entrenched corporate influence.
Vani Hari, “the Food Babe”
A consciousness is growing in our country, there are more and more people realizing that we have the power to win this fight, if only we can wake more people up, get more folks off the sidelines.
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), on supporting cancer survivor against Monsanto
The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof,
The world and those who live in it;
For God has founded it upon the seas,
And established it on the rivers.
Psalm 24: 1-2