A “Cure All Crop” is one that is marketed as a solution to world hunger, environmental concerns, and an alternative protein source to meat. These crops include, hemp, soy, spirulina, and bamboo.

Many of the people who perpetuate the modern myths of “Cure-All Crops” live in Urban areas and have never lived Rurally. They simply do not understand what is involved in large scale agricultural production and processing. They don’t understand that some Organic food production can have negative effects on various ecosystems and “Sentient Beings”. They don’t understand that “Cruelty-Free” does not exist and never will. Try to explain to a mouse that has been ripped in half by a plow why eating a tofu burger is better than eating hamburger. Tell the forest animals why their homes are being destroyed to produce a soy bean field. Explain to fish that have had their lake ruined by an excess of fertilizer (even organic fertilizer), and soil erosion, why a “Hemp Based Imitation Leather Belt” is better than the real thing? For Vegetarians and Vegans of the world “Cruelty Free”, “Vegan Friendly” and “Organic” have become the trigger commands of deceptive marketers. Where as, with Human Omnivores, deceptive marketers use such trigger commands as “Free Range” and “Hormone Free”.

Vegetarianism vs. Omnivorism is a Personal Choice

I was a vegetarian for many years and no longer am. I stopped Veggin’ it Up for health reasons at first. Now I see vegetarianism as the same sort of threat environmentally, as are people who blindly stick to meat and potatoes. Vegetarianism vs Omnivorism is a matter of personal, religious, or spiritual conviction. Promoting Vegetarianism as a solution or “The Solution” to environmental issues is irresponsible and dangerous. Especially when much of the argument for converting to vegetarianism in regards to environmental issues hinges on a very limited number of crops, or an increase in production of a specific crops, such as Soy or Hemp. Humans are omnivores, they can eat less meat, (or be more selective where their meat comes from), but to covert everyone to a vegetarian, or vegan, lifestyle will have other implications on the planet.

Thinking Green With Your Own Brain

People need to do independent research about the agricultural industry as whole. Don’t take my word or anyone’s word as an absolute truth. Just consider what I am about to present to you with an open mind and use it as a springboard for your own research. Find out what is really Green Friendly in all areas from your diet to your clothing. Don’t let Green Friendly become just a trigger command for deceptive marketers. What was destroyed to grow your flooring or your food?

A Deceptive Harvest

Let us look at a dangerous new comer to the “Coffee Shop” Environmentalist’s bag of lunacy, our ancient friend bamboo. While bamboo is not so much being pushed as a food alternative, it is being marketed as a new fiber source. I love bamboo, but, cutting down rain forests to plant bamboo so that people can have “Environmentally Friendly Flooring” or other such products is simply idiotic. Anyone who has ever worked with Bamboo understands that they can be very invasive and this disallows responsible large scale production in areas where they are not native.

A better alternative, especially for flooring and wood products, would be the use of naturally fallen salvaged or rationally harvested trees. This also helps to provide income for indigenous people’s which reduces clear cutting even further. When suggesting harvesting and salvaging, one will often be faced with the response “What if the locals get greedy and cut down trees they aren’t suppose to?”. Let’s think this out logically. Should we clear cut a rain forest to plant bamboo as an alternative to rain forest or other woods, instead of promoting salvaging and harvesting, of because of the fear that a rain forest resident will get greedy and cut down a few trees? Yes, the harvesting/salvaging system will require proper laws and careful monitoring. However, dealing with a few “Tree Poachers” breaking the law, is a much better option than cutting down the whole forest and replacing it with bamboo crops under the pretense of “Saving The Planet”.

Why Cattle are Not the Enemy

What about cattle production? Surely that does far more damage to the environment than Soy? Proper raising of cattle on the prairie or pampas is far less damaging to those ecosystems than planting any type of crop could ever be.

Range raised cattle are not the problem, feedlot cattle are, because land is cleared to raise food for them, destroying the rain forest to make room for cattle is another problem. Converting large tracts of prairie or pampas land to plant soy, or any crop for that matter, is not that different from clear cutting a rain forest to make room for cattle. Beyond this I will say the consumption of Beef by many in the developed world, needs to be reduced greatly, and we need to get away from the industrialization of the meat industry, and agriculture on a whole. Meat based protein needs to be obtained by the use of rational ecosystem specific agriculture. This can be achieved by learning from various agricultural systems of the past to create a new and better model for the future. Specifically, in regards to meat production, “Micro-Livestock” and “Aquaculture” need to be fully explored on an ecosystem by ecosystem basis including that of the urban sprawl of North America, Europe, and some Asian Countries. We would be best to control urban sprawl and introduce urban agriculture, in the form of Permaculture.

House of Cards, Not Monopoly

Being good stewards of Earth is like making a house of cards as it requires everyone to work together even those watching. If some people, groups, or industries view it as a game of Monopoly we all suffer. Myopic and Monopoly, are related words in that they are used to express things that focus on a single goal or thought. All Industries or Ideological Groups that attempt to create a monopoly by promoting myopic thoughts or “solutions” should be exposed as dangers. The only way to abolish these dangerous villians is through education and a free flow of knowledge. Violence should never be used against these myopic Industries or Idealogical Groups as it only makes martyrs out of these false prophets and profiteers. Free flow of knowledge exposes those who masquerade as saints, as the demons they truly are. There are No “Cure-All Crops”. As good stewards of the planet we need to make multiple systems work together to keep the environment intact and maintain our home Planet Earth.