Food for Thought

Even more food for thought.......
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June 30, 2008 IssueCopyright © 2007 The American Conservative

http://amconmag.com/2008/2008_06_30/article.html

"Food for Thought-
Renewing the culinary culture should be a conservative cause. "
by John Schwenkler

"Alice Waters might not seem like a conservative. A veteran of Berkeley’s Free Speech Movement, who once cooked a $25,000-a-seat fundraising dinner for Bill Clinton, she eagerly compares her campaign for “edible schoolyards”—where children work with instructors to grow, prepare, and eat fresh produce—to John F. Kennedy’s attempt to improve physical fitness through mandatory exercise. Her dream of organic, locally and sustainably produced food in every school cafeteria, class credit for lunch hour, and required gardening time and cooking classes is as utopian as they come. The name she has given her gastronomic movement, the “Delicious Revolution,” strikes the ear as one part fuzzy-headed Marxism, the other Brooksian bobo-speak. This woman is not, as they say, one of us."
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John Schwenkler is a doctoral candidate in philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley.
The American Conservative welcomes letters to the editor.Send letters to: letters@amconmag.com

What is needed is not more food, ......

but less greed.

In these days where millions of people on this planet, mostly women and children, are starving, and in many cases have gone to making mud pies to eat, this is absolute insanity!

Over caviar and sea urchin, G8 leaders mull food crisis
Tuesday, 8 July 2008

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/over-caviar-and-sea-urchin-g8-leaders-mull-food-crisis-862051.html

"World leaders are not renowned for their modest wine selections or reticence at the G8
summit's cheese board. True to form, discussing the global food crisis, spiralling
grocery prices in the developed world and starvation in Africa was clearly hungry work
that left their stomachs rumbling."

A Goatkeeper's Prayer

I thank you Lord for giving me a simple lot in life.
Born a farmer's daughter and became a laborer's wife.
I don't socialize and visit as my neighbors do,
but when I'm caring for my herd Lord,
I feel closest to you.
I've spent nights in the stable till nearing morning's light,
Caring for a pregnant doe, just trying to calm her fright.
I've delivered her baby kids, and placed them by her side.
These simple things Lord, have given me a sense of pride.
So when you call me home, Lord, to be with Papaw and you,
I wonder if you'd have a little herd

that needs some tending to?
I don't need a lot of riches like silver and gold,
Just a lot of little kids to tend and hold.
Oh, listen to me Lord, trying to tell you what to do....
You created me so no one knows me as well as you.
So whatever you have in mind for me will be just fine.
I'll say goodnight now and ask you Lord to keep an eye
on me and mine.

By Irma Brown
Bellville Acres Dairy Goats

I Am Only a Farmer

I am only a farmer.
I know the sun better then anyone.
And the soil.
And the wind.
And the rain.
I am the one who works with them.
Who loves them.
And who sometimes fears them.

I am only a farmer.
I am the sower of seeds.
I am the tender of stock.
I am the reaper of harvest.
I am sweat. And tears. And pride.

I am only a Farmer.
I am the one who feeds the young.
And the old.
The weak. And the strong.
I am black earth of spring.
The green hills of Summer.
The harvest gold of autumn
And the cold white stillness of winter.

I am only a farmer.
I am warm memories of the past.
The steely reality of the present.
And the hopeful dream of the future.
I am an optimist. A thinker.
A watcher. And a doer.

I am only a farmer.
I live in a complex world.
Made of simple things.
They are my source of joy.
And hope. And comfort.
I have walked the morning fogs.
I have paused for the Summer song of the meadowlark.
And I have savored the breeze off freshly cut hay.
I have paused, remembering, by the stream I knew as a child.
I have felt the power of a thousand storms.
And rejoiced in the fresh world left in their wake.

I am only a farmer.
I am accountant. Chemist. And doctor.
I am midwife. And mechanic.
I am seller. Trader. And buyer.
Helper. Comforter.
And partner to my spouse.
And teacher to my children.

I am only a farmer.
Not a person of riches.
But one of great wealth.
I have learned to treasure life.
And all things living.
To respect their maker.
And my own.
I am humbled by the earth's bounty.
And awed by endless rebirth.
I am fascinated by the marvelous intricacies of my world.
And enriched by their beauty.

I am only a farmer.
If one can be truly free, then I am.
The day. The Week. The month.
They have been entrusted to me.
They are mine to spend.
They are mine to invest.
They are mine to use wisely.
It is a solitary profession I have chosen.
Or perhaps, been chosen for.
Where no promises are given
No excuses taken.
I have but one man to answer to.
One man to depend upon.
One man to confide in.
And the quiet of the years, I have learned to know him well

I am only a farmer.
I am perseverance.
I am creativity. And courage.

I am only a farmer.
I am confidence.
And ingenuity.
And intelligence.

I am only a farmer.
A seeker of excellence.
And I will endure.
---Author unknown