Or…6 Bands….6 Kegs….6 Hours.

This blog is usually devoted to my GMO adventures, but to break things up a bit, I’m going to show pictures of the Tin Angel 3 year Anniversary Party.

We featured the photos of Sandria Miller who had the presence of mind to document the 80’s punk scene in SLC. Here are some memorabilia.

Here’s Sandria with husband Fred and Christian Doom

We had food in the cafe but also sold sandwiches out of our Trailer which was the very first Tin Angel.

LionFish opened the show.

Then Bloodworm Followed

Next came Victims Willing

We also had a skate ramp built By Cameron and Scotty just for the party

Even Chef Jerry got to grind a bit

Next came Wanna!Gotta!Gimme!

Next was Jon Shuman. He was joined for a couple of songs by brother Poo P Dee

Jon Shuman was in many bands back in the day. Most notably Massacre Guys and Box Car kids.

Here he is with family and Greg Worm.

Last band was Black Hole

They hadn’t played out in 6 months and they played all new material.

It was a family affair with a whole kids area that had art projects and ballons.

Here are the people that work with us at the Tin Angel and who helped make this the greatest party ever.

I didn’t get a shot of all the people helping…sorry Libby sorry Jeb…but here’s a good one of Katie..

She’s third from the bottom.

My husband Christian was a big help too. He secured the P.A. and hauled the gear.

Our Door guy, Owen, was amazing and made it possible for all of us to relax.

That’s him behind me….I was sooo excited!

Here are some shots of people just having fun…

Some of our talented friends decided to utilize the sidewalk chalk and decorate our parking lot…

So now the party is over…crowd is gone and it’s time for clean up.

Why wash the dishes when you can just break them all and sweep them up?

Jerry is Greek, it’s in his blood! He brought out all of the chipped china that we couldn’t use anymore and let us break it all.

However, he may have done it to stave off the furniture throwing that ensued during cleanup - hey, it’s made of metal and like therapy.

Why carry a table when you can kick and flip it?

Thank you to all the bands, friends and family members that came and hung out with us on our Birthday. Tin Angel Cafe opened 4/11/2007. It was a true 3 year anniversary.

A big thank you to Keifer Thomas, Sandria Miller and Laura Besterfeldt for supplementing my photo collection. I lost my camera about 50 times and missed some great photo ops.

If anyone else has photos to share send them my way.

I haven’t changed as a person. I am still Robin A. Fairchild. The only thing that has changed is my diet and now I have one more bitchin’ tattoo.

I am not preaching - you do not have to believe what I have written or believe the information I have provided. You do not have to change  your diet. I still love you. When you invite me over for dinner, I will not ask you where your food came from, I will eat it happily - because I love you and you are feeding me and I am in your home. If you bake me cookies, you do not have to explain what sugar or flour you used. I will eat them and be happy because I love you.

This is my choice. I believe in what I am doing and you are welcome to ask questions and we can discuss the issue as far as I am able, however, if you do not choose to change your diet or your way of thinking - if you think “I don’t care if squid DNA is in my tomato” (thanks Phil) - it’s ok, I still love you because you are my friend and that is your choice.

My husband still eats Doritos…still drinks CokeaCola. He can do what he wants, eat what he wants, and be who he is. I still love him. It’s ok.  In turn, he supports me because he loves me - he reads labels with me in the store and talks about the issue and watches the films - he listens to me and nods at the proper time - as much as you can expect from a partner - he reads my blog and posts it where he can to support my “soapbox” because this is my choice and he loves me. It’s ok.

I do not want defensive. I do not want my friends to worry about me. I have been thinking about this issue for quite some time. It is important to me and I choose to be this impassioned about it because it is important to me. Carrot Godzilla is not only the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, it is a life changing experience for me.  Just me.  It’s my choice. And I know you love me. And it’s Ok.

Thank you.

Was the saying on a T-shirt my mom wore when I was a child. I would often ponder it’s meaning, but it always puzzled me. We were poor farmers, living off the land and part of a community that supported each other even through political differences. We were brought up to value material possessions, not collect them. I would sit and wonder what it meant…why would you want the most toys? why wouldn’t you share them with everyone else? and if you did end up with the most toys just to die….it made no sense. 

Now that I’m older, I understand it to be true greed. I now know, that some will step over you to get more, that people will put others in danger’s way to collect more things or make more money. But I still don’t understand how these choices can make you a happier person…or a winner for that matter.

I believe people are inherently good. I trust that in all of us is a little voice that guides us to do what is right for mankind. Not only to better mankind - but to at least keep humans alive and thriving. There should be a little red light that goes on when a person does something to hurt our species….right?

That is why it is hard for me when looking at films and reading articles about what Monsanto is doing. I have to believe that they THINK they are doing good things. I often wonder how a person working there, knowing that there is poison going into our soil, and ultimately us, can look themselves in the mirror. Where is the social responsibility? It’s very difficult to think that greed can be responsible for putting mankind in this much danger. But the information sure does point that way. Why would a seed be modified to not reproduce? so the farmer will have to buy more next year. Why would a seed be modified to only grow when sprayed with “Round-up”? so that farmers have to also buy your own weed killing product. How in the hell do these “modifications” better the environment, the production and therefore mankind? they don’t. I think I could be a little bit supportive if we were in dire straights - if there was a global famine, or if we were not able to grow conventional crops for some reason. This science would be very beneficial in those cases. And very well could come in handy some day. But only after PROPER research and development. No one knows how these crops will effect our own genes and our society as a whole. We are involved in a global human experiment. Here is an article written about some of Monsanto philosophies regarding humanity. http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_20185.cfm.

Monsanto is going global; distributing biotech seeds to Iraq, Africa, India, and Brazil when it is proven that biotech seeds have destroyed third world communities, and they do not produce the yield that normal seeds produce. http://twilightearth.com/environment-archive-2/the-world-according-to-monsanto-full-documentary/

Many of the films and articles about the Evils of Monsanto seem fanatical in their claims, some present the facts in a light which is best suited to their cause which was pointed out to me by my neighbor, Phil. The link above is a full length film, thoroughly researched and presents the information justly and shows how they found documentation, etc. Basically, you can find the same FDA studies that show GMO’s pose a threat to humans, animals, our planet, and our economic development as was presented to the government in a case to label GMO food products. You can also find for yourself the ‘revolving door’ of politicians in the upper ranks of our government and the FDA and Monsanto shareholders and board members.

How can we survive on a planet without biodiversity? May I point out the potato famine in Ireland in 1740? There were 100’s of different potatoes planted in the country through the ages. They decided to plant just one variety, the one that seemed to be the most sturdy and the most productive only to have the crops destroyed by potato blight. So much for the most sturdy. There is also the case in India where GM cotton is being grown today. The GM cotton is falling prey to it’s own disease never seen in cotton before and Monsanto has bought up most of the seed companies in that country making it almost impossible to buy anything but GM cotton seeds. They also charge 4 times more for the GM cotton seeds which force farmer’s to borrow money at high interest, go into debt and now there is the highest suicide rate ever recorded.  

I know in my heart that this is wrong. That one company owning the seeds to produce our food is wrong. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Without being regulated, we are once again guinea pigs in the experiment of greed being presented with a face of human interest and preservation.

We have the power to fight - we are the consumer. Buy Organic. Become informed. Plant your own food. Encourage your local farmers to resist pressures put on them by the corporate farms and Monsanto. Volunteer at your local Slow Food chapter - or better yet, volunteer at your favorite local farm. They are happy to accept the help and it’s a great feeling to really know where your food comes from and to even help plant the crops. Write your congressperson to lobby for the labeling of GMO’s and let’s be persistent.

Next….buying nongmo food on a budget.

My friend, Nikki, asked me how the heck we could get companies to label their products with GMO information. It sounds like a daunting task - one that takes lots of money and lobbyists.  I was not afraid, however, because in the short time that GMO’s have been in our mass produced food products, there hasn’t been much regulation and there needs to be. We can’t just sit back and let this happen! We are being experimented on and our food supply is in danger. I started to research the political aspect of the ‘machine’ and also tried to get a list of products that support this technology, ones that I would no longer support.

I Googled Monsanto because I wanted to know more about the company and try to find something about them that wasn’t evil. I didn’t. I read the whole thing and came up empty. The only useful information that I didn’t feel was propaganda, was a link to the USDA website that offers updates on regulation and concerns.  There was also a financial/stockholder tab and a list of who was on the Board of Directors currently - McDonald’s CEO, former Sara Lee CEO, and Lockheed Martin - there are more, but these stood out to me. The thing I couldn’t find were the products they support or have under their umbrella. There were seed companies and weed killer brands, etc, but I was hoping for a more complete list. But I guess that’s why I “Googled” Monsanto and not just typed in monsanto.com - I also wanted to see what else came up.

That’s where the Good News portion of this blog comes in. A ray of hope.

responsibletechnology.org, truefoodnow.org, and nongmoshoppingguide.com are must see websites.

The Institute for Responsible Technology has information on the dangers of GMO’s, and includes a list of foods that are mainly GMO’s, like Soy, Corn, Canola, and Cotton. It also had a food additives list that are too numerous for this posting, but include items from the ingredients list on your bag of Doritos sitting in your pantry. It is helpful, straightforward and full of information.

Truefoodnow.org is a grassroots movement more on the political side of the situation. They lobby for regulation and labeling and have, just recently, had the Supreme Court agree to hear their case on the financial and health dangers of  genetically modified alfalfa. This is a ground- breaking event and there are ways for you to weigh in your opinion and help financially if you so choose.

Both websites had access to the NoGMO Pocket Guide and links to nongmoshoppingguide.com. This is a website totally geared for education around the products that are supporting this technology and hints for safe shopping, etc.

These all gave me hope especially to know there are 85K people supporting truefoodnow.org and their efforts to stop Monsanto on the government level. We at least need labeling to make it easier for the regular shopper to make an educated decision about what they buy and put in their body or their children’s body.

I know that these crops are dangerous to our environment and also a financial danger to farmer’s etc, but I don’t think I realized the danger to our whole economy. I’m still researching this part of the pie and will update my investigation.

I watched The Future of Food a couple of years ago and it is what started me on my path to GMO removal. You can download it off the site or go to Hulu.com - it’s about how Monsanto is putting a patent on seeds and suing farmers that have it growing on their land, whether they intended to or not. Putting a patent on living things was illegal until the 70’s when a man discovered a bacteria that would eat an oil spill in the ocean. He was the first to patent a living thing and Monsanto has been buying seeds ever since. The film really gives you a clue to how evil and greedy they really are and about how many of our top government officials are involved.

My friend Katie turned me onto Our Daily Bread it’s about how food production has become so mechanized - basically there is no love in mass produced food products. But we’ve all known this for some time.

One to not miss, however, is Baraka. An artful film by Ron Fricke made in 1992 shows the industrialization of our world and how we are all mechanized and functioning as cogs. It doesn’t have anything to do with Monsanto or GMO’s, but it is well done and uplifting.

I just didn’t want to end the blog on a negative note.

This looked like an interesting product to me and I got excited when I saw it. 100% natural Eco-Grain sounded like it was a great idea and I was congratulating Sara Lee for offering such a thing on a mass produced level. It gave me hope!  It even says “helping to preserve the earth one field at a time” on the pretty green label. I fell for it and after purchasing, eating and reading the label more, I decided to research online.

I Googled ‘Eco-Grain’ and one of the first sites that came up, was this one http://www.cornucopia.org/eco-grain/eco-grain-fact-sheet.html - It shows the comparison between this product and just buying good ol’ Organic and states that this product “could have” GMO’s involved.

Here is another one with an article saying Sara Lee made false claims with this product in saying it was more sustainable than Organic Products. They even had the balls to say that organic farming destroyed undeveloped land. http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/02/27/2001258/sara-lees-claims-on-eco-grain.html

Lying to corner the Organic Market is not a new ploy, by any means, but it was a lesson in my own gullibility. In my quest, I must surely be more cautious and aware that things aren’t always what they seem and organic and locally baked bread is the best choice. (I think)

To Carrot Godzilla. It is a 3D art piece done by Elmer Preslee and I named it such because being an angry vegetable, it still seemed to be sending a message. The ol’ “Nature points out the Folly of Man” adage come to life on a different level and so poignant for what is happening with our food supply right now.  Made of Resin and objects, it represents, for me, the future of Genetically Modified Organisms. I fell in love with Carrot Godzilla the first time I saw it for two reasons. 1) I love Godzilla and 2) It scared the hell out of me.

I began this blog to assess this fear on all levels and to educate myself through research and interaction with other concerned citizens. We need to fully arm ourselves with information in order to fight what is happening. Greed has taken over our food supply production so much that it has become out of control. The general public has access to this information, but it is not something generally discussed on your local and national news programs or print material.

I am also in the process of cutting all GMO’s out of my diet. This seems easy, doesn’t it? Almost all mass produced products that we have become reliant on for sustenance has some sort of GMO involved. Corn Syrup is the easiest example I can give right now - look at the labels on all the food products in your pantry right now. How many have Corn Syrup in them? More than you ever thought from products that aren’t even sweet.

I hope to educate myself, make a difference, and get healthy through this experience. Please be patient as I am not a writer, but wish to share my process with the world. Your comments and knowledge are welcome and all opinions will be considered.