Sunday, August 31, 2014

Sunday Rant And Also Pictures


That's a blooming lily in my little garden bed beside the kitchen. It knocks me out.

Sunday. Yeah. Whatever.

The pancakes were epic. Sweet potato, peach and pecan.

All right- here's another thing about Facebook I hate- everyone wants to gain complete knowledge on a subject by watching one fifty-second video. Or one half-truthful tiny article. No one, it would seem, wants to actually like, research anything. And of course no one wants to be open-minded about anything. Nope. Everyone has an opinion and can find that fifty-second video to prove it and they post that and there you go.
Told you I was right!
Case in point. GMO's. Bad. Right? All the right-thinking people say so. And it sure does seem wrong. Injecting genes into plants? Patenting those plants? Controlling the market of them? Unnatural and weird. Yes indeed.
But last week I took the time to read an article in the New Yorker. It took me all afternoon because the boys were here and I just tucked the magazine into my back pocket, folded up, and pulled it out and read every time they got involved in something which did not require my complete attention. It's not a short article. You can read it here, if you have any desire whatsoever and you probably don't. But the point of the matter is that the article goes into some detail about a few different sorts of genetically modified crops and how they can very much increase the outcome of harvest and points out that the world is facing a severe hunger problem and that creating plants which need less water, less pesticides and less fertilizer is not necessarily a bad thing.
I'm not saying that everything printed in the New Yorker is unbiased and scientifically true, I'm just saying that the articles are written after a lot of research and interviewing and thought. And an article like that requires some damn pages and a lot of words and it takes some time to read them.
So after I read the article I realized several things, one being that this is not a black-and-white issue and that we here in the United States (or at least a lot of us) do indeed have the luxury of being able to afford and eat non-GMO food if we so choose. Although I do realize that labeling is a real issue. I saw a blurb on FB about "how to afford non-GMO food," and the comments posted under it were so damn preachy-preachy. "You tell me you can't afford to eat non-GMO and I see you putting junk food and beer in your cart and I know that's not true."
Say what?
Another thing it made me realize is that I don't know shit about the science of the whole matter. Really. I don't. But if I want to made judgements, I need to learn something. I can't just blindly strike out and call Monsanto evil. They may well be. Or they may end up saving the planet. I don't know.
What I do know is that if people spent a lot less time on FB (and I'm including myself here) and a little more time in the dirt, they could grow some of their own non-GMO food themselves.
Even someone with only a small patio can grow a few tomatoes and peppers in pots.
But no, we all want someone else to grow our food and they damn well better grow it the way nature intended, and be affordable (but certainly not on factory farms), but of course, nothing we eat today is anything like what our Paleo ancestors ate because everything has been altered by humans in one way or another and selectively bred over the eons for more yield, more sweetness, more of the part of the plant we want. Throw in the fact that we humans have changed the very atmosphere and soil of the planet and you have a whole other ball of wax to consider.
Come to think about it, probably only wild game and fungi are relatively unchanged although of course, the wild game we eat feed on different sorts of wild grains and nuts and grasses than the wild game back tens of thousands of years ago.

Well, anyway. I don't know shit as I have pointed out so many times already.

But at least I KNOW I don't know shit and that leaves me at least a tiny bit of mind-space to try and learn a little bit.

And yes, I do realize that I am being preachy-preachy and judgemental myself. This are not qualities about myself which I am proud of. But I am also not a person to take anything on blind faith whether that be religion or shit on Facebook.

Okay. Rant over. For now.

Surprisingly, I have no real bruising resulting from my fall. Is that weird? I think so. Also, I'm barely sore. I must be an excellent faller. I'm so proud of myself.
We should all be good at something.

I got the real camera out this morning because it's a beautiful day. It rained last night and everything is looking especially shiny and fine.


Not sure what this plant is but the blossom looks like fireworks to me.


Crepe myrtle, oak tree, Spanish moss, and resurrection fern.


Light in sago palm fronds.


Buddha, happy no matter what.


Pine cone lily blossom before it reddens. 


Elvis in about-to-crow mode.


Missy. Still broody. Sitting on exactly NO eggs. But fiercely.


Mermaids in my bathroom.

Happy Sunday from Lloyd, y'all. Or at least, a Sunday which is as good as a Sunday can be. 

Love...Ms. Moon

15 comments:

  1. I did read the entire article you posted, and thank you. While I agree to a point that GMO's may not be all bad, I will reserve judgement until we actually no longer have starving people all over the world. If they are that great, then why is that still happening? Oh, right. Politics and big business. Ha.

    But the Facebook. I spend too much time on here, but I don't form opinions based on anything I see on it. If it interests me, I will read more. I do enjoy looking things up and calling bullshit on them, though, which probably makes me a not very nice person.

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  2. Love the rant. Makes me curious and want to know more, so I will read the article, too. Also love the photos. You live in such a pretty place, inside and out.

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  3. I am happy to see that there is indeed a place where the sun shines today. Thank you for the pictures and your thoughts.

    I admit that I am awfully biased when it comes to GMO and the whole claim about world hunger, especially when this is backed financially by large corporations.

    I have worked as interpreter and translator at a couple of international summits and have met some amazing people, scientists, politicians, activists and especially, peasant farmers (women) from all over.

    While there is no definite answer - as always - a main conclusion of most of the ongoing research and debate at these conferences is that diversified small farming and regional markets are key to fulfilling future food needs. GMO in agriculture - based on marketing concepts of our industrialised society - is too controversial and inefficient in less developed areas, which is where most agriculture is happening on our planet and where most of the world's population depends on it.

    If you want to read more, a good way to get facts is here: http://www.greenfacts.org/en/agriculture-iaastd/


    If you want to watch a bit more than a five second clip: http://youtu.be/6VEZYQF9WlE

    And I love Vandana Shiva, she is up there with Ina May Gaskins in my hall of fame. Check her out on youtube.

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  4. Reading this just after I finish shoveling my weight in 'gluten-free' mega cheese goldfish... and I'm supposed to be off dairy. Of course, I didn't have to admit that... but I do myself being very contradictory at times.
    Yes, labeling!! We should just have all the information if we want it. While I do still tend to think Monsanto=Evil more than not, I very much understand your rant and it makes sense. I did not read the article, but may still, depends on whether I get any new FB comments to check out in the meantime. I sooo get what you mean about that. Total love-hate relationship with that place.

    We have a small garden here in NJ. This year, my husband planted a few varieties of tomatoes and peppers, cucumbers, butternut squash and assorted herbs. You are right, even in a small space you can grow good things.

    Visiting again from Birdie's place.
    ~Mary

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  5. The pinecone lily! And the hens are looking fabulous today.

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  6. Those pictures are breathtaking. Thank you! And I really really mean it. When you share pics like that of your world it makes mine better, more beautiful too. GMOs confuse me.

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  7. Kori- I do the same thing with the calling bullshit. Snopes is like one of my favorite sites. So yeah, I'm evil too.

    Andrea- I am incredibly blessed with where I live. Just unbelievably so.

    Sabine- This post was definitely not a defense of GMO's or Monsanto. It was simply me pointing out that we do indeed need to educate ourselves beyond tiny blurbs. Thanks for the links. You HAVE obviously educated yourself and thank you for sharing.

    Crystal Chick (Mary)- Hello and welcome! Glad you dropped by. You sound as if you and I might have a bit in common. Now whether this is a good thing or a bad thing, I will not say. But let me ask you a question- how ARE gluten-free Mega cheese goldfish?

    Jo- You are so diplomatic. Thank you.

    Jill- Aw. I'm so glad you like the pictures. I like you. You know that.

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  8. It looks practically tropical there Ms Moon, beautiful. & props to you for being a great faller - I hope you put that on your CV/resume right away ;)

    I know what you mean about Facebook. I rarely put stuff but I’ve contemplated deactivating it countless times (if it wasn’t for the fact it was an ideal way to stay in touch with friends/family back home). I find myself hating people that I genuinely like in real life just because of what they put on FB. It’s like an unadulterated, unfiltered output for people’s minds and that isn’t a good thing. I know I’m extreme in how open minded I am but I find myself wanting to edcaute everyone on there which comes across as argumentative.

    Like they say, you can’t argue with stupid. I just find myself scrolling that bit quicker!

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  9. The gluten-free mega cheese Goldfish package says they are made with smiles (I kid you not) and whole grain yellow corn meal... plus a bunch of other stuff that, quite frankly, doesn't sound too healthy. They are 'puffed extra crunchy' ... which I found to be true. I liked them, initially, but the key is (as with many things in life) moderation. As I went back in for a few too many handfuls, I can't say I liked the feeling of all that modified cheese and whatever ingredients 'natural flavors' might mean.

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  10. I found the New Yorker piece strangely unsatisfying and incomplete. While I began taking a second look at the charisma of Vananda Shiva after hearing Stuart Brand rather viciously slam her a few years ago, I think of her fondly when I pass our local Seed Bank, which is located in a former bank building in the middle of town.

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  11. A- I think seed banks are completely and utterly awesome.

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  12. I feel sort of sorry for Missy. I guess the urge to procreate runs strong. She is a good hen.

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  13. Oh the pictures!!! I read that article, too. Super interesting. I'd say the jury is still out.

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  14. First, that pink fireworks flower is a jacobina.

    http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/643/#b

    Second, re. Facebook, I agree that people spout off a lot of half-truths and ill-substantiated opinions. I always take what I read on Facebook with several truckloads of salt.

    But having said that -- and having confessed that I have not yet read that New Yorker article -- my concern with GMO is the potential to alter the genetic makeup of the natural systems on our planet. Seems to me that when you start manipulating DNA artificially it can gave some sketchy unintended results. At least with hybridizing, any changes occur in tiny baby steps.

    Also, while Monsanto may well devise ways to feed more people more efficiently, my question is -- to what end? So there can be even MORE of us? Is that really what our planet needs? I'm not against the efficient production of food, but it must go hand-in-hand with efficient control of our population. So far humans haven't proved very capable of that, which is why we wind up with wars and starvation and chaos. This will sound harsh, but the existing limitations on our food production will at least help limit our population.

    (I really need to read that article!)

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  15. I am troubled by the GMO seeds. Monsanto's ubiquitous Roundup Ready soybeans, engineered to withstand its own blockbuster herbicide, contain more herbicide residues than their non-GMO counterparts. And the GM beans are nutritionally inferior. What we ingest may indeed be causing a lot more healthy problems than we imagine.

    It's hard to wrap my mind around the machinations of big business farming and the problems that come with it. Are we helping or really doing real damage to our own genome?

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.