Re: [sudo-discuss] DystopiaNews: Veggie-meat: you don't have to eat bugs.

Investors in veggie meat are not altruistic angels anymore. It's drawing plenty of main stream interest --- Romy Ilano Founder of Snowyla http://www.snowyla.com romy(a)snowyla.com On May 15, 2013, at 17:31, GtwoG PublicOhOne <g2g-public01(a)att.net> wrote: > > > For the second day in a row, the BBC runs an article promoting the > virtues of eating bugs, this time on their Travel blog: > > http://www.bbc.com/travel/blog/20130513-is-crawly-cuisine-the-future > > Pictured is a handful of moth larvae grubs found in Australia: plump > translucent white squirmy things that look like hairless caterpillars or > overgrown maggots. The caption says that they are "...said to have a > crispy skin with a yellow 'eggy' centre when roasted." > > Mmm-mmm-good, right? > > The article goes on to say, "According to the UN report, 'consumer > disgust' remains a large barrier in many Western countries – but for > some two billion people across the world, eating insects is really no > big deal." > > Unsaid: five billion people in the world right now don't eat bugs. > Though, the Beeb does get credit for mentioning "consumer disgust," also > known as the vomit-reflex, even if only as a "barrier," with the > implication that it's something to be overcome, like the desire for > freedom & privacy. > > As I mentioned yesterday, there are plenty of other solutions to feeding > a world that's overpopulated by a factor of two and overconsuming beyond > any sustainable limit. One of them is veggie-meat: vegetable matter > that's cooked up to be almost identical to the meat we already eat. > > For this we turn to another regular source of Dystopian News, namely > Wired magazine. Yes, "real geeks don't read Wired," but Wired is > actually a good place to keep your finger on the pulse of the corporate > oligarchy and the promoters of the computer-as-God religion. > Occasionally they run something that's actually good news, such as the > following: > > http://www.wired.com/business/2013/05/future-meat/ > > Beyond Meat is a new company that produces veggie-meat that's a drop-in > replacement for chicken in many recipes. They share the market with > other companies such as Tofurkey and Boca Burgers. At present most of > these products are found in the Vegan aisle in supermarkets, but the > goal of these companies is to put them right next to the meat products > in the meat section. > > Veggie-meat tastes good and has great potential to stretch the world's > food supply. Unlike the moth grubs pictured in the Beeb article, it's > something you'd choose to eat and enjoy eating. > > So far the oligarchy is ignoring veggie-meat. Funding for veggie-meat > companies typically comes from "angel investors" who consider themselves > rebels and often have altruistic motives alongside the profit motive. > > The oligarchy's mission, should you choose to acquiesce, is to make you > submit. Eating bugs is not about preventing hunger, it's about cultural > shock & awe: getting you to do something that grosses you out and makes > you want to throw up, the easier to get you to submit to other > depredations over time. > > But as Beyond Meat shows, you don't have to submit, as long as you're > willing to think for yourself, and exercise your own free will. > > -G. > > > ===== > > > > On 13-05-14-Tue 12:07 AM, GtwoG PublicOhOne wrote: >> YOs- >> >> The oligarchy has its own vision of the World of Tomorrow, and the world >> they're preparing for us to live in whether we like it or not. I'll be >> writing occasional pieces about items in the news, to point out what's >> behind the chirpy spin. This is the first of many. Fasten your seat >> belts and keep a barf bag handy. >> >> -G. >> >> >> Let Them Eat Bugs. >> >> The United Nations today released a report that touted the benefits of >> eating insects as a solution to world hunger. >> http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-22508439 >> >> Hint: it's not really about hunger, it's about making you submit. >> >> Humans have four main categories for things they could potentially put >> in their mouths: Food, Not-food, Dirt, and People (cannibalism). (The >> categories "Medicine," "Drugs," and "Poison" serve a different set of >> purposes.) >> >> Food is stuff you want to eat: such as a piece of fruit. Not-Food is >> stuff you don't want to eat, but the thought of eating it doesn't gross >> you out: such as a piece of paper. Dirt is stuff you don't want to eat, >> and the thought of eating it does gross you out: such as a turd. And >> the thought of eating people (cannibalism) also grosses you out: such as >> roast leg of human. >> >> Much of this is cultural. In American culture, cow is Food (beef); in >> Hindu culture such as in India, cow is People (reincarnation of human >> souls). In some regions of Africa, fish is Dirt. To Muslims and Jews, >> pork is Dirt, and to Jews, shellfish is also Dirt. In some parts of the >> world, insects are Food, but to most of us in America, insects are Dirt. >> >> The fact that culture plays a role does not change the fact that the >> thought of eating something you've been raised to regard as Dirt (or >> People), triggers feelings of disgust and often an involuntary vomit >> reflex. Try eating breakfast while looking at the results of a picture >> search for "feces". >> >> It's not about world hunger. >> >> The wealthy nations presently throw away enough food to feed the hungry >> of the world. Beyond that, even a slight reduction in meat consumption >> would be sufficient to free up enough vegetable calories and protein to >> do the job. >> >> In terms of ecological impacts, the root causes of hunger are >> overpopulation (animals including humans multiply up to the limits of >> their food supply) and overconsumption (e.g. Americans are about 5% of >> the world's people, consuming about 28% of the world's resources). >> There is no real empirical need to persuade you to eat wormburgers >> ("would you like flies with that?"). >> >> However, the oligarchy has no desire to offend Big Church by supporting >> family planning and birth control. And the oligarchy has no desire to >> offend its own major religion, Big Capitalism, by supporting lower >> consumption levels as a cultural value. Why piss off your cronies, when >> you can manipulate the masses and open up a whole new "market" with vast >> opportunities for profit...? >> >> Notice what wasn't said. >> >> The UN didn't say "encourage family planning." The UN didn't say "equal >> rights for women" or even "equal education for women", which are known >> to reduce birth rates to sustainable levels and increase economic >> security as women gain choices and power. The UN didn't say "wealthy >> nations should reduce waste." The UN didn't say "eat a little less meat >> each week." >> >> Also the UN didn't say "stop growing corn to produce alcohol to put in >> your gas tanks, and use that land to grow food for humans." And the UN >> didn't say "let's find ways to turn algae into food," algae being an >> abundant source of vegetable matter, usually thought of as Not-Food but >> rarely thought of as Dirt. How do you feel about eating a burger made >> from algae? How do you feel about eating a burger made from beetles? >> >> This is a useful technique for analyzing media: looking at what isn't >> said, the problems that aren't mentioned, the solutions that aren't >> discussed, the proposals that aren't on the table. Very often the >> exclusion zone isn't obvious. Would you have thought of algae? >> >> What it's really about: shock & awe. >> >> Envision the headline, "UN urges Muslims to eat pork to fight world >> hunger!" or "UN urges Jews to eat shellfish to fight world hunger!" The >> outrage would be obvious. Even if you happen to like pork or shellfish, >> the thought of your Jewish and Muslim friends being somehow obligated >> (typically by economic pressure) to eat them, would make you want to >> stand with them and fight for their right to say No. >> >> Eating bugs is part of the cultural "shock and awe" treatment on the >> American public, along with "no more privacy" and "free speech zones" >> and mass foreclosures and domestic drones. If you can be forced (not by >> threat of prison, but by threat of economic consequences if you don't >> "choose" to do as you're told) to violate one of your most visceral >> personal and cultural limits, a limit that's backed up by your vomit >> reflex, you aren't going to resist when they try to force you to do >> other things against your will. >> >> Your will does not matter to the oligarchy. Only their will matters. >> And their goal is to impose their will upon yours by every means >> possible. If they get you to "like it" or at least "adapt," it becomes >> that much easier to get you to "like it" or "adapt" to the next thing >> and then the next. >> >> It's like getting people to "accept" pervasive domestic surveillance by >> first getting them to "accept" torture as policy. If people don't >> revolt against the biggest outrage of all, they aren't going to revolt >> against the next smaller one, and the next after that. Failure to >> revolt is acceptance by acquiescence. >> >> Ultimately it's not about the bugs, or even the algae. It's about >> getting you to submit: "You are going to do what we tell you. And you >> are going to like it. Because we say so." >> >> As far as the oligarchy is concerned, it's all about human husbandry: >> YOU are Food. >> >> -G. (creative commons; non-commercial use, with attribution) >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> sudo-discuss mailing list >> sudo-discuss(a)lists.sudoroom.org >> http://lists.sudoroom.org/listinfo/sudo-discuss > _______________________________________________ > sudo-discuss mailing list > sudo-discuss(a)lists.sudoroom.org > http://lists.sudoroom.org/listinfo/sudo-discuss