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Letters

Letters image
Parent Issue
Day
11
Month
April
Year
1975
OCR Text

Letters

"The insane food policies of the U.S. government are directly responsible for brain-damaged children, starvation and thousands of deaths in other parts of the world."

People,

While I am flattered that Ellen Hoffman named me as the originator of the idea of food day in her article in your last issue, it just isn't so. Michael Jacobson of the Center for Science in the Public Interest is the person that started Food Day. Hoffman met both Jacobson and I at the same moment and her confusion is understandable.

In my true identity I have written on the food crisis for another local publication. I would like to compliment both Hoffman and especially Michael Castleman for their articles on the world food situation in your last issue. Together they sum up the issues very well.

It is essential that people become aware of the insane food policies of the United States government and the gluttonous overconsumption of food and energy by most Americans. These are directly responsible for brain damaged children, starvation and thousands of deaths in other parts of the world.

There are things that we can do both individually and collectively to end this suffering. Every time you eat the overprocessed, overpackaged, energy wasting shit that General Mills, MacDonalds, and other corporations push at you, you are helping to perpetuate a system that literally starves people to death.

Eating is a political act. And as never before if you aren't part of the solution you are part of the problem.

Michael Shapiro
Ann Arbor

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Dear Sun,

The Peoples Bicentennial Commission is a group of citizens who feel the necessity of celebrating the 200th anniversary of the American Revolution in a meaningful way. We recognize the Bicentennial Era as a time to rededicate ourselves to the principles on which our country was founded. These include the equality of all persons, the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and the right of citizens to define and construct political and economic institutions through which true democracy can function.

As we examine our contemporary economic institutions, we find corporate giants monopolizing virtually every industry, the price of this centralized power being inefficient and energy wasteful production and distribution of goods, high cost to consume, and the demise of the morale of the American worker.

In response to the contradiction we witness between our nation's founding principles and the dehumanizing effects of modern corporate society, the Ann Arbor Peoples Bicentennial Committee of Correspondence (A2PBC2) is sponsoring on Saturday, April 19, a Patriots Convocation and Parade to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Shots Heard 'Round the World, the beginning of the American Revolution. Patriots will gather at the tree in front of the recently demolished Nickel's House on Maynard near E. William to dedicate Michigan's first Liberty Tree. In honor of Food Day, which occurs April 17, we will issue our Declaration of Food Rights and Grievances and proclaim MacDonald's, Burger King, and Gino's as co-holders of the title "Tory fo the Month." The parade will then proceed to the Nichols Arboreteum for a bring-your-own picnic. All citizens and patriots are invited to participate.

In the Spirit of '76,
Sue Wyborski
Ann Arbor Peoples Bicentennial Committee of Correspondence

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"Soon after the coop movement started in 1844, it was said capitalism would die of its own excess and consumer cooperation would replace it."

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Dear Folks,

Thank you for your good, if brief, coverage of Food Week meetings. There were many important things said at those meetings, perhaps one of the most important being Ralph Nader's remarks on consumer cooperatives (food, housing, newspapers, etc.) Nader now champions consumer coops as the "big push" in the people's fight for marketplace justice. With this (and the people's) support, that form of business can permeate this economy, bringing relief and dignity to consumers. So many of us are involved in consumer coops now--we know both the rewards and the struggle. It is important to note that Nader received applause from his large audience when he said that the Cooperative League of the USA is presently creating legislation to establish a bank for cooperatives, which would alleviate some of the struggle by providing start-up capital for coops.

In his remarks. Nader also emphasized our group the North American Student Cooperative Organization as a resource for coop information. NASCO has plentiful resources for study and for sale on all aspects of cooperatives, including the proposed Bank for Cooperatives. We can also help you find local coops in which to participate. People interested in consumer coops are invited to come by any time to the Michigan Union, room 4312, or to call us at 663-0889. And if you are looking for a place to spend your volunteer energy, we can really use you, and offer you a lot of information in return.

It was said, soon after the coop movement started in 1844 that capitalism would simply die of its own excess, and that consumer cooperation would be there to replace it. The events of today constantly remind us of those words--capitalism under attack, and more coops organizing all the time

Margaret Lamb, Coordinater, NASCO
Ann Arbor

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