FEB 27, 2012 – Willie Nelson, along with author and Rainforest Action Network board member Anna Lappe, recently wrote an Op Ed and in it they laid out their reasons for why we have to occupy our food system. This is all part of Willie's campaign "Occupy the Food System" which we have been blogging about a lot recently. OTFS is an coalition of over 90 organizations and Occupy groups from around the world fighting uber-large corporate agri-businesses such as Monsanto who they feel are destroying our food system and making us unhealthy. They write, “Corporate control of our food system has led to the loss of millions of family farmers, the destruction of soil fertility, the pollution of our water, and health epidemics including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and even certain forms of cancer. More and more, the choices that determine the food on our shelves are made by corporations concerned less with protecting our health, our environment, or our jobs than with profit margins and executive bonuses.” You can read the entire HuffPo Op Ed here.
Today they launch a campaign to occupy unused, vacant bank-owned lots and start community gardens and set up small seed exchanges in front of the Stock Exchange. They want to fight for “labeling products on grocery store shelves that contain genetically engineered ingredients" and build "community alliances to support locally owned grocery stores and resist Walmart megastores; and fighting back against industrial giants Monsanto and Cargill.” To take part and learn more, check out the Rainforest Action Network's website here.
