Keep your car’s tires inflated. Low air pressure means more drag, which means more energy lost. Save your gas money!
I have long felt that trade in our "new world order" global economy is broken. Oh, sure, that’s not the Government’s view–to them all is hunky and dory. Much is riding on global trade, even if it is ridiculous and useless, but I think it is more about lining pockets than benifiting nations.
Yesterday I stumbled upon this BBC article on how Brittain reached a point in April where it was "ecologically bankrupt"–in otherwords, Brittain consumes more than it produces. The article is well worth a read, but the most interesting statistics in the piece relect what I was writing about above:
- In 2004, the UK exported 1,500 tonnes of fresh potatoes to Germany, and imported 1,500 tonnes of the same product from the same country
- Imported 465 tonnes of gingerbread, but exported 460 tonnes of the same produce
- Sent 10,200 tonnes of milk and cream to France, yet imported 9,900 tonnes of the dairy goods from France
This roundy-round of goods is extremely wasteful. Benefits no one–especially in terms of wasted fuel for transportation, security checks, packaging and the inevitable waste it all produces. The first two points are very clear and very silly. I guess for the third point you have to be a "foodie" (God I hate that term, can’t we come up with something better which isn’t as snobby as Gourmand?). Surely the milk and cream sent to France is the best Britain has to offer–the products Britian is known for: double-cream, clotted cream, rich and delicious, high butter-fat content goodness, the likes of which is hard to find in the modern world. That is the hope on that front, anyway. And surely the products France is shipping back are the dangerous, hopefully illegal, raw-milk cheeses from goats, sheep and cows. If not that, then some damn-fine Brie’s and Port Salut. That dairy exchange is okay–but Spuds for Spuds, or Gingerbread People for same??
I am sure there are countless other, similar instances of waste around the globe–take the USA, please! We import 40% of our Beef. We export a tremendous amount as well. Why? Better for the Farmers–says the USDA. Or is this, perhaps, because Americans are too cheap to pay a fair amount for their own food? We’d much rather build a consumer nation based on imported electronics than eat the best the land has to offer.
I mention the beef thing, not only because it bothers me tremendously, or that the USDA is using beef exports as a justification for its Fascist NAIS plan, but because we ship out high quality meats but import low-grade beef from countries whose regulations are not as strict as ours. This is surely a recipe for disaster.
Not only does importation of inferior meats mean as waste of fuel and resources, but also the possibility of disease entering the system. Not to mention chemical and drug-laden products–But we already know the USDA doesn’t really care that much about that, or for the people who will eat it, or for letting consumers know where the meat is coming from.
As the global agendy is pushed, the one Godless Nation formed, the Amero pushed and trade expanded and as our foods are increasingly imported while the USDA plumps up export income figures, while our farmers are being cheated, stop and take a deep breath. Pause and think about what we can do to prevent this from happening before it all flushes down the whole. Exhale and go and do it–Raise you fist in the air, sing a line from "We’re Not going to Take it", head to the Farmer’s Market, local Co-Op, neighborhood roadside stand, local farm. Start buying local. Get others to join in the fun. Spread the love by harassing your Congressman or local government to be supportive of local commerce and products. Show people how important all this is before it gets lost. And live well, knowing you’ve been part of the difference.
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