What we are eating in Point Roberts now are apples, plums, and pears, all in great abundance. And kale and zucchini, pouring out of every backyard garden. All very good and we will miss them when they're finished. Which they will be very soon, although we do have one apple tree at our house whose fruits come in November.
But, the question about what we are eating is really directed to another issue. One of the things that amazes me about recent years is the requirement that the vast public, often unprepared to apply even what they know, get itself educated on some brand new topic. It seems only a few years ago that I was listening to riots in Seattle on the radio and realizing that I needed to learn, quickly, a whole lot more about what globalization of trade really meant for our lives. It wasn't a few years ago, and we've certainly all learned (or I hope we have) what it meant, in terms of its implications for all our lives. And innumerable topics similar since then. Did you mention 'fracking'? It's a constant feature on my facebook page because I have a long-time friend who is deeply involved politically in the issue, so she educates me along the way.
What do we need to know next? Genetically modified organisms (GMO), I think, and the way they affect the food supply. I don't know much of anything about it. Generally, the public is instinctively wary of genetically modifying things. It may be because it seems like we're messing with basic stuff. On the other hand, when we're genetically targeting cancer cells, that seems like a good thing. Similarly, we tend to love/trust things that are natural. But what's more natural than malaria? So natural/unnatural is not really a good standard for making judgments.
If you don't know anything about this, as I don't, you could try attending the movie tomorrow/Friday night at the Firehall. It's made by those who worry about GMO's, but that's okay: it's a film with a viewpoint and it makes its viewpoint clear. It's a starting point, not an ending point, in learning about this issue. If you're planning to be alive for the next 5 or 10 years, it's probably worth spending an hour or two learning about GMO's.
The film, "GMO OMG" (this means "Genetically Modified Organisms Oh, My God," in text talk), will be shown at the Firehall, 2030 Benson, at 6 pm on Friday, September 6. There'll be a panel discussion afterwords.
Here's a brief description from the organizers:
"(T)he film seeks to educate the audience about what GMO's presence in our food means for the average consumer. The average person may not know what the term GMO means but is certainly eating GMOs, and probably at every meal. For those who may not know, Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are created when scientists take DNA from one species and insert it into another in a way that would never occur naturally."
Update: because of limited seating capacity, you need to rsvp if you are planning to go to the film. RSVP by clicking the link below:
https://docs.google.com/
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