Interconnectedness of Social Justice

Hi All!

I wrote this about a month ago and forgot to post it... Again I apologize for the rant. Hopefully it will breed discussion and amusement :)

In my attempts to escape from reality a while today I ended up watching Food Inc. An AMAZING film documenting what the US food industry has become. For those of you who have netflix accounts it is one of the films you can stream for free to your comp instantly, for all others it is worth renting.

I feel like that film alone gives me a good reason to say why I am a vegetarian. Our meat industry is dripping with injustice toward the animals, yes my bleeding heart cares about the animals, but also towards the human beings working in the industry. Ignoring the unhealthy product that we now are recognizing as meat. The meat industry has been getting much more attention recently I feel. The New York Times have featured it multiple times since I have been in El Paso. It really scares me what my grandchildren will be eating, or if food as we know it will seek to exist at the point. Yet another good reason to not reproduce :-P. Random side note on that topic, did you know turkeys all must be artificially inseminated because we have modified them to have big breasts so they can't reproduce. One of my roommates enjoys sharing this fact with us anytime another is eating turkey of any kind.

I may not have grown up on a farm but at least I know what one looks like. I have picked berries off a bush with my own hands and shoved them greedily into my mouth til my lips matched those very berries. It terrifies me that soon that will not happen. I guess I am a person who ties all my actions very closely to the moral implications of them and what sort of effect they are having on the world but how could one not? If by what I choose to eat I am choosing to make someone's life healthier and happier or condemning them to a modern day slavery where they will probably be injured and then out of a job binding them and their families in a life of poverty, is the decision really all that difficult?

Yes, I will acknowledge not everyone has the monetary ability to decide on their consumption based on the moral implications but for those of us that have monetary cushion, it seems to make sense to make moral food decisions instead of buying some commodity item.

This movie also reminded me how all social justice issues are so interconnected. It touches on how many immigrants who are coming with or without documents to this country do so because they were forced to by our foreign policy decisions, ie NAFTA/CAFTA. These folks are then exploited to provide us with cheap food. It just doesn't make sense to me.

I also think of the connection to the current healthcare crisis. The number of 'health problems' we have in this country seems to have a direct correlation to the high fructose corn syrup and other processed foods we consume. Those individuals that most tax our healthcare system are those who end up in the emergency rooms, unable to pay, or with severe chronic conditions. Arguably those who are economically poor most often fall into this category because the only foods they can afford (both economically and based on the expendable time they have) is food which is not healthy. This leads to many health problems, a large number of which drastically correlate to obesity and poor eating habits that exist in our country, throughout all economic levels. This then leads to our insurance companies getting bogged down with all the major healthcare issues relating to obesity alone. But what are we doing about it?

All this goes to say our food industry can be tied to two of the most debated domestic policy issues today. But that is never brought up in the debate because the food industry has such a strong lobby. To end, so as not to continue my rant as probably only about ten of you are enjoying this :). It makes me think how we should all question if the bills our government are attempting to pass are simply band-aids for a gushing wound or the forethought to prevent that wound from reopening.

I hope you have enjoyed knowing what goes on in Karen's head often while she should be sleeping :) It is a troubling place :-P Love you all! Take Care!

525,600 Minutes

Hello friends and family,

I hope this finds all of you well and that you had a good new year and holiday season. I will soon blog again on my life at the border, currently it entails ear infections, sinus infection and my body generally waging war against me. I am writing to ask for your prayers. As many of you have no doubt seen on the news one of my fellow '09 UP classmates didn't survive the Haitian earthquake that occurred on Tuesday. Molly Hightower, the laughing lady in the picture, was a good dormmate and friend to me throughout my college career. She was working at an orphanage in Haiti. Whether singing Disney songs or telling of the latest dilemma she had encountered, her smile and love for all were contagious. I ask you for your prayers for her family, friends, and those in Haiti in this particularly difficult time. Especially for another friend and classmate, Rachel, who survived the collapse of the building Molly was in.
Molly was a fellow blogger of her service adventures, and much better than I at updating the blog, if any of you would like to read more about her and her experiences. Also if any of you were wanting to donate to the Haiti relief efforts, Friends of the Orphans, the organization Molly was working with is taking donations. Thank you for your prayers, thoughts, crossed fingers, and love. As always with tragedies like this I am reminded how much the people in my life mean to me. Thanks for being such great friends and family. I love you all.

-Karen