{"id":1114,"date":"2008-05-20T21:45:20","date_gmt":"2008-05-21T01:45:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/s265039441.onlinehome.us\/philpaine\/?p=1114"},"modified":"2018-08-14T10:14:08","modified_gmt":"2018-08-14T14:14:08","slug":"tuesday-may-20-2008-getting-teff-and-getting-tough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=1114","title":{"rendered":"Tuesday, May 20, 2008 \u2014 Getting Teff and Getting Tough"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"http<\/a>Cana\u00addi\u00adans are notic\u00ading a dra\u00admat\u00adic rise in food prices. The price of rice has dou\u00adbled in a few months, and prod\u00aducts made of wheat are about fifty per\u00adcent more expen\u00adsive. I live on a very tight bud\u00adget, so it affects me direct\u00adly. Not as direct\u00adly, of course, as the mil\u00adlions in unluck\u00adi\u00ader coun\u00adtries who will expe\u00adri\u00adence food shortages.<\/span><\/p>\n

My par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar sur\u00advival strat\u00ade\u00adgy depends on cir\u00adcum\u00advent\u00ading glob\u00adal state-cor\u00adpo\u00adrate agribusi\u00adness. Instead of serv\u00ading my stews, chilis, and veg\u00adeta\u00adbles on rice, I am reg\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly buy\u00ading njeera<\/em> (or injera<\/em>, enji\u00adra<\/em>, etc.) at the local Ethiopian\/Somali shops. There are sev\u00ader\u00adal bak\u00aderies in Toron\u00adto that pro\u00adduce the deli\u00adcious East African sta\u00adple food, which, since it lies out\u00adside of the con\u00adtrol of glob\u00adal agri\u00adcul\u00adtur\u00adal col\u00adlec\u00adtivism, has not sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant\u00adly risen in price. Not only does it taste delight\u00adful, but it is high\u00adly nutri\u00adtious. And the dish\u00ades I put on the njeera? They are made, as much as I can man\u00adage, from sea\u00adson\u00adal local pro\u00adduce. Giv\u00aden a choice between pay\u00ading mon\u00adey to an hon\u00adest Cana\u00addi\u00adan farmer and pay\u00ading mon\u00adey to some loath\u00adsome glob\u00adal gang\u00adster who hires death squads to ter\u00adror\u00adize serfs, I know what choice is both moral and patriotic.<\/span><\/p>\n

Njeera is made from teff<\/em>, a grain only grown by tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal meth\u00adods in Africa. Teff has excel\u00adlent amino acid and lysine lev\u00adels. One cup of cooked teff con\u00adtains 387 mil\u00adligrams of cal\u00adci\u00adum (more, pro\u00adpor\u00adtion\u00adate\u00adly, than milk), and 15 mil\u00adligrams of iron (twice as much iron as wheat and bar\u00adley). Teff is high in pro\u00adtein as well as fiber. It is a rich source of meta\u00adbol\u00adic cop\u00adper, phos\u00adpho\u00adrus, boron, and zinc. Shift\u00ading from pas\u00adta and rice to njeera, my gro\u00adcery bill is no high\u00ader, and I\u2019m enjoy\u00ading my meals more. I\u2019m sure that, inevitably, oil-dri\u00adven increas\u00ades in trans\u00adporta\u00adtion costs will push up the price of njeera. So will scarci\u00adty, if many oth\u00ader peo\u00adple pur\u00adsue the same strat\u00ade\u00adgy as I do. So is there some way for us to ben\u00ade\u00adfit more per\u00adma\u00adnent\u00adly from this excel\u00adlent crop, which has escaped the glob\u00adal col\u00adlec\u00adtiviza\u00adtion of agriculture?<\/span><\/p>\n

While it orig\u00adi\u00adnates in Africa, teff might eas\u00adi\u00adly grow in Cana\u00adda. Opti\u00admum teff pro\u00adduc\u00adtion occurs at alti\u00adtudes of 1800 to 2100 m, in a grow\u00ading sea\u00adson rain\u00adfall of 450 to 550 mm, and a tem\u00adper\u00ada\u00adture range of 10\u201327 \u00b0C. It thrives in both drought-stressed and moist soils. Since it is day\u00adlight-sen\u00adsi\u00adtive, grow\u00ading best where there is 12 hours of day\u00adlight, the high-lat\u00adi\u00adtude, dry moun\u00adtain val\u00adleys of Canada\u2019s West might be ide\u00adal for the crop. Will it work? I don\u2019t know, but it is one of many strate\u00adgies we might explore if we are to reduce our vul\u00adner\u00ada\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty. Besides, East African teff is need\u00aded to feed East Africans. If we can gen\u00ader\u00adate our own sup\u00adplies, then we will not be behold\u00aden to tyrants for it, and we can all the more hon\u00adourably and effi\u00adcient\u00adly sup\u00adport ourselves.<\/span><\/p>\n

We must become food-inde\u00adpen\u00addent. If we can\u00adnot pro\u00adduce enough food to feed our\u00adselves, in this vast coun\u00adtry, then we will always remain slaves to an inter\u00adna\u00adtion\u00adal car\u00adtel of food pirates. Export\u00ading huge quan\u00adti\u00adties of wheat, beef, and pork, then pay\u00ading pre\u00admi\u00adum prices to some\u00adone else to buy them back, is a suck\u00ader\u2019s game. There\u2019s no harm in import\u00ading bananas and oranges, which require a dif\u00adfer\u00adent cli\u00admate to grow, but there\u2019s no good rea\u00adson why nine\u00adty per\u00adcent of what we eat should\u00adn\u2019t come from our own back yard, with no out\u00adsiders claim\u00ading a goug\u00ading cut of it for doing noth\u00ading. If we don\u2019t con\u00adtrol it, we should\u00adn\u2019t depend on it. And if it nec\u00ades\u00adsary for our sur\u00advival, we should be in charge. That\u2019s the essence of inde\u00adpen\u00addence, the cor\u00adner\u00adstone of free\u00addom. Oth\u00ader\u00adwise, we are just chumps, ser\u00advants, help\u00adless boobs. Don\u2019t let Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive dou\u00adble-talk obscure that plain truth.<\/span><\/p>\n

Inter\u00adna\u00adtion\u00adal trade in agri\u00adcul\u00adtur\u00adal goods is per\u00adfect\u00adly fine, when pros\u00adper\u00adous and pro\u00adduc\u00adtive local, self-suf\u00adfi\u00adcient farm\u00ading in dif\u00adfer\u00adent places pro\u00adduces excess\u00ades that can be trad\u00aded for mutu\u00adal ben\u00ade\u00adfit. But that is not what is hap\u00adpen\u00ading. What is hap\u00adpen\u00ading is that mil\u00adlions of peo\u00adple are being forced \u2014 at gun\u00adpoint \u2014 off their own land, by wealthy, vio\u00adlent crim\u00adi\u00adnals, wield\u00ading the pow\u00ader of the State. Poten\u00adtial\u00adly self-sus\u00adtain\u00ading pro\u00adduc\u00adtion is being con\u00advert\u00aded into col\u00adlec\u00adtivized agri\u00adcul\u00adture. The impov\u00ader\u00adished, land\u00adless sur\u00advivors of this col\u00adlec\u00adtiviza\u00adtion are forced to buy import\u00aded food at exor\u00adbi\u00adtant state-con\u00adtrolled prices, or starve. In oth\u00ader words, glob\u00adal cor\u00adpo\u00adrate agribusi\u00adness is Com\u00admu\u00adnist agri\u00adcul\u00adture all over again. This process has absolute\u00adly noth\u00ading to do with \u201cfree mar\u00adkets\u201d, no mat\u00adter what its slimy pro\u00adpa\u00adgan\u00addists claim. It has noth\u00ading to do with democ\u00adra\u00adcy. This is a process that emerges, like the ide\u00adol\u00ado\u00adgy of Chair\u00adman Mao, from the bar\u00adrel of a gun.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cana\u00addi\u00adans are notic\u00ading a dra\u00admat\u00adic rise in food prices. The price of rice has dou\u00adbled in a few months, and prod\u00aducts made of wheat are about fifty per\u00adcent more expen\u00adsive. I live on a very tight bud\u00adget, so it affects \u2026<\/p>\n

Read more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-blog","category-as-blog-2008"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1114"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8552,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1114\/revisions\/8552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}