Dear Editor:
We love the local farmers' market, where we buy from people we know, trust and want to support. We discover what's in season and then decide how to fix it. Beats deciding what to eat first, then buying products packed and shipped from faraway places around the planet. At the grocery store, we look for that product of the USA label.
Last week it was locally grown butternut squash for soup on our table. For the final ingredient, we sprinkled roasted pumpkin seeds on top just before serving. But, those seeds were from the store.
While eating, I studied the package label and noticed it didn't say "Product of USA" but rather "Packed in USA." Further down in smaller print I found it: "Product of China." Dang! We seriously avoid food from China. Because of rapid unregulated industrialization there, China's soils are polluted with cadmium, lead and mercury. These heavy metals are seriously dangerous to human health.
Healthy local food is something I do not take for granted. I wish people in China could eat locally grown food and trust that it would be healthy for them, too. But here in the heartland, I'm concerned by the constant drumbeat from special interests about EPA overreach in protecting our air, water and climate - frequently delivered to us from the stump by our politicians.
We need to think critically as we hear "war-on-coal," "freedom," and "liberty" being used to convince us that we should have the right to burn dirty coal that rains down heavy metals on our cropland and pumps greenhouse gases into our atmosphere. Is it really freedom to allow industrial waste to flow into our streams, lakes and ponds? Is it freedom to be more like China?
What happens when we stop looking for the "product of the USA" label on our food sacks? When we just shrug and buy pumpkin seeds from China? Who wins then?
As you go to the election booth on Nov. 4, please think about this: are you voting for a politician who is more concerned about corporate profits than your health and future? If you find a politician who actually knows something about science and environmental issues, you've found a gem. We need to do our homework, and then vote.