Dear President OBAMA,


Without a doubt, we are need of serious help. We, the people of America, are in a food crisis. Our foods are processed, worthless hunks of trash; even less nutritious than chalk or glue. Our agricultural and food system is deceitful. It is becoming, instead of the hand that helps and feeds us, an oversized hungry mouth that will chew us alive and be our downfall, as well as the destruction of the Earth. Our nation is in a food crisis, and action must be taken now.

The industrial machine is causing thousands of people to die of three of the nation’s top killers; Heart Attacks, Strokes, and type 2 diabetes cancer… all factors of diet, and three factors of obesity. Obesity is a huge caused by the American Diet. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that one in three American children born in 2000 will develop Type 2 diabetes because of obesity.
Do you ever wonder what is in the foods you eat? The answer is corn. From Juicy Juice to frozen foods... from antibiotics to adhesives... from baked goods to the wax on produce... paper to pet foods; Corn is everywhere. Corn is one of the three grains that makes up 80% of all human caloric consumption.

However, this is not the “healthy” corn: this is the stuff that is processed and processed until there is nothing natural or healthy about it. It is disguised in almost everything that we eat. High fructose corn syrup, ethanol, dextrose: are all made of corn. We eat so much corn that we are basically little tortilla chips that can walk and talk.

Most food is fat, sugar, and corn. It is tearing apart our people. The industrial food processing plants feed us their toxins and poisons while we sit, eating, unaware of what is really in our groceries. The government needs to put regulations on the ingredients in our food. We need to slowly wean ourselves off of corn, and come closer to nature.

Furthermore, we must educate Americans about where their food comes from, and how it was made. I suggest infomercials and public service announcements, to help take the garbage off our grocery stores’ shelves. We need to educate the American people, so they can make better choices about what foods they eat, and fix the American Diet...

But food….What is food? That is something that the government needs to define… Is food something we eat? If so, if paper food? Glue? Chalk? Undernourished children sometimes eat chalk, because it contains calcium and vitamin D. Chalk is certainly more nutritious than the petroleum soaked worthless thing we call a Twinkie, or the diet soda, which certainly couldn’t be found anywhere in nature. We don’t have a definition of food today… If we had one, the industrial beasts could be controlled.
Foods stamps, or food assistance dollars, are given to struggling people by the government as help so they can afford nutritional food… But as I said before, what is food? Red wine and beer have more calories and nutritional content that diet soda… but diet soda today constitutes as a food, which can be bought using food stamps. This makes no sense… I believe that we need a definition of food, and the policies on Food Stamps need to be adjusted. With a definition, we could truly help out people at risk and help them buy real food… not junk food.

A “food” should be something that is edible and contains a certain amount of energy inside, and a certain amount of nutrients. Struggling people should also be given more food stamps to help pay for the costs of nutritious food. Americans will eat real food, and we will all become healthier.

We need to get closer to nature, to know what we are eating. One way we can do this individually is by building a garden. Did you know that if most Americans were to have a home garden (tomatoes, cucumbers, beans) the stuff that you expect to see on the dinner table- that 20% of the fuel used for transporting food would not be used? We could slash almost a quarter of all the fossil fuels used for transporting food. And with that quarter, the prices of GOOD food would go down, and our Mother Nature would be able to breathe easier.

Did you know that 19% of all American oil consumption is used for transporting our foods? And we use 20% of the world’s petroleum. With a little home garden we could change so much.... We could get rid of 5% of the entire world’s oil consumption just by making a little effort to build a home garden. Individually, we could help cut the amount of oil that we use. Individually, we can help make a difference.
But there is still more that is in desperate need of fixing, so many things that the federal government has to put a stop to.
Like the cruelty of animals.

Cattle.

Chickens.

Pigs.

We eat meat; it is part of our nature. But is torturing them, locking them in miniscule prison cells, letting them wallow in their own fecal matter… Is that our nature? Is that what we want? These cows, they live… if the word life can even be used for these poor creatures….. In packed, suffocating rooms being injected with hormones to make them grow faster.

So they can be slaughtered, never to see the light of day?

Is this what we want?

Chickens that are s with so many hormones that their bodies grow too fast for their legs, and they cannot support their own weight?

Is this what we want?

Even organic, free range animals don’t have it much better. They have “access to pasture.” What does that mean? Many organic companies like Petaluma Farms have their chickens live in a great big room just like their industrial counterparts…and only get to go outside a week or two before they die. And even then, when they are finally allowed to go outside, there is only a twenty foot grassy square. But why bother, these chickens ask? They don’t even go outside, for fear of lack of safety.

We need something solid… no more access to pasture. We need a definition of what is ETHICAL TREATMENT OF ANIMALS (another thing the government will have to think up) and see if these companies fit requirements. And no more ‘Access to pasture…. I believe that every cow deserves free space to roam.

To help reinforce this law, we will need some sort of meat inspection corps… an Elite Livestock Ethics and Treatment Squad. (ELETS) Cattle that go to McDonalds are so full of poisons and hormones that sometimes they go blind. Again, I ask, is that what we want?
We cannot allow this. We, individually, can make a difference by becoming vegetarian or vegan, or looking to see how our food is made, and what is in it. You can buy locally with honest farmers, who treat their livestock humanely. This is better for you, and for the livestock. Studies have shown that the meats that we eat affect our behavior, stress level, hormones, and moods. The foods we eat, especially the meats, affect what hormones and chemicals are created in our brains. Science Daily suggests that pregnant woman’s moods, and the health of the baby is directly affected by the mother’s diet. Happy cows make happy people….It’s true
If we have stressed, harassed, and unhealthy cows, we will be affected, and it will wreak havoc on our psychological health. We need to get back to nature, to know what we are eating, and allow the cows to experience life happily and closer to how it would be in the wild. I believe that there should be a maximum of 12 cows per acre.

The government needs to be stricter with these industrial giants, or we will all be sucked into the void…politicians and all. The government needs to inspect more, and to define “ethical treatment of animals” and “food.” Otherwise they can keep doing what they want, while our government turns their backs. They shouldn’t be allowed to do this… we cannot let them do this.
Otherwise, less fortunate families will keep eating unhealthy food, and will suffer. The food stamps must have a higher value, and they must only allow the users to buy nutritious food.
This will be very hard, but we must do this. Individually, we must make an effort to produce our own food by starting a home garden, by becoming vegetarian or vegan, or by purchasing food from local farmers markets. If we do this, we will feel healthier, happier, and we will have a sense of satisfaction that comes with knowing. Together, we can help make a difference, and make this country better for us all: humans, and animals. We can help Mother Nature breathe easier, and push back the industrial giants.
Together, we can make a difference if we all stop supporting McDonalds and other fast food places. They are mistreating us, the consumers, and the poor animals that they anguish. None of us should have to suffer.

Sincerely,

Cris I.