Where Does Our Food Come From?

It is all too common and very astonishing that most of us in the United States cannot answer this question. Unless you live in an area that has farmer's markets, you may never meet the people that produce your food. The above title seems like such a simple question but the answer is not something that many of us want to hear. I watched a program called Food Inc. on PBS the other night and was simultaneously appalled and fascinated with the dissection of our food economy. It is amazing how the number of independent farms and slaughterhouses have dwindled following the post WWII boom. Many farms have been turned into industrial giants and most slaughterhouses are owned by a handful of corporations. Corporations whose workers do not always treat the animals very well. Our food economy depends on massive harvesting of fruits, vegetables, meats, and corn for corporations like McDonalds who are typically the biggest purchaser of beef, tomatoes, lettuce and apples. The potential for spreading disease is greatly increased when mass production becomes the primary goals to ensure a steady profit margin. The US government subsidizes farmers to grow as much corn as they can and it is added in its vaious forms to many of the products that you would find at a typical grocery store. Products like high fructose corn syrup are just one of the derivatives of corn that are contributing to the obesity and diabetic epidemics that many of our young people face today in the U.S. Corn is also a staple of the government subsidies that are given to poor people. The US Supreme court ruling that corporations could patent life set a precedent that essentially led to the proliferation of Genetically Modified Organisms. An agricultural company called monsanto owns the patent for a particular variety of soybeans and enforces this patent on a regular basis. The fact that farmers cannot save their seeds based on this law is an unfathomable reality that exists today. It was shocking learn that monsanto has its own team of private investigators that try to bully farmers into abiding by a ridiculous law for their monetary gain. Food Inc. also featured the burgeoning organic food market that many well known corporations are steadily acquiring for their portfolio. It appears to me that many people are demanding higher quality from their food. This is obvious because these smaller companies are only being acquired by large corporations simply because organic food has become very popular in recent years. If people really knew where their food came from, they would be appalled at many of the food products that are heavily promoted by mass media and highly desired by children.

Historical Trauma

Historical Trauma and Its Effects on Native American Individuals, Families, & Communities

American Indian and Alaskan Natives have experienced many traumatic events over successive generations that continue to have enduring consequences on families and communities (Campbell, 2008, p.316). A history of ethnic and cultural genocide exists within the Native American community through the U. S. Government’s policies of forced relocation, forced removal of children sent to boarding schools, and prohibition of spiritual and cultural practices. Community massacres and the introduction of European diseases also had devastating effects on Native people. The ability to fully understand the ramifications of intergenerational trauma is limited by current diagnostic models that can only account for individual trauma in the recent past. Posttraumatic stress disorder captures some of the elements of trauma experienced by American Natives but fails to provide a multidimensional framework. The Holocaust Model of Intergenerational Trauma was the beginning of understanding of this concept. The major difference for American Indian people was that the losses are not confined to a single catastrophic period; but rather they are ongoing and present (Whitbeck, Adams, Hoyt, Chen, 2004, p. 120).
Historical trauma is a collective concept referring to historically traumatic events that are transmitted intergenerationally as descendents continue to identify emotionally with ancestral suffering (Brave Heart, 1999a, 1999b as cited in Campbell p.321). Mainstream models tend to shift the focus to the negative effects that can occur but are just beginning to focus on how people maintain wellness. Perceptions of historical loss continue to be very salient in the minds of many adults in the current generation and these thoughts about historical loss appear to be associated with symptoms of emotional distress (Whitbeck, et al., p.127).
Although there is a great deal of variation in the events associated with historical trauma, it is possible to identify three distinguishing characteristics that are prevalent throughout American Indian and Alaskan Native Society (Campbell p.321). First, these events were usually widespread and witnessed by many community members. Second, the events generated high levels of collective distress and mourning in contemporary communities. Finally, outsiders with malicious and malevolent intent perpetrated the events. Responses on the individual, familial, and community levels are distinct but clearly interrelated. Individual responses are influenced by familial responses, and responses at both the individual and familial levels are dependent on the community level responses to historical trauma. Community responses are constantly reinforced by actions at the individual and family levels (Campbell p.322). Everything we do affects everyone else either implicity or explicity because we are all one global community.