"Tofu?" my vegan running partner spat. "I hope it is not genetically modified," he added. And that was it. Suddenly my whole world order collapsed. In order to explain, I need to expose a little of my personal biography. After high school I worked for a short time in a slaughterhouse. The chickens were taken at dawn to a large courtyard. There, they were met by the elderly slaughterer for a "personal interview." At the end of the interview they were taken on a hook and on to a conveyor to their next stations of fate. But the old slaughterer was really old, and his hands not as steady as in the past. More than once the blade slit the throats of the chickens, but did not complete the job. They still twitched and cackled in the yard. My job was to finish the job. To ensure that not even one should reach the curved hook before returning her soul to the creator of all chickens. In those days, where I basically "warranted death," this process eventually led me to adopt a strict vegetarian lifestyle through the past decades began to sprout.
"Where do you get your protein? " Few are who still concerned about me wondered. "Cheese and eggs," I replied. I tried to eat free-range eggs as much as I could, and goat cheese when possible.
Lately, I did not feel well about my nutrition. So I turned inside and did the searching within myself. Eventually I came to the conclusion that products of animal origin are not for me. Gently and naturally I turned from vegetarianism to veganism and I thought that I had finally reached the long-awaited culinary truce. I drink green smoothies, eat richly colored salads and I have completely given up on all the "whites" -- flour, rice, sugar. I have adopted a whole sesame tahini and really "appetizing" sawdust recipes and I feel wonderful, with the world and myself.
I had just begun this when this friend of mine came and ravaged all my feelings. "Tofu, modified?" Oh, dear. I had not imagined veganism to be strictly and nervously rigorous, equal to the rabbinical Kosher supervision. Sometimes even more scrupulous and fanatical. I was left no choice but to learn the permitted and prohibited of my new world. Apparently standing opposite the vegan paradise I had reached, is a horrible enemy -- genetically modified food. It is rumored that the head of the enemy, the main culprit, is a multinational corporation that up until a year ago, I had not even know its name -- Monsanto. It is a multinational corporation for Agricultural Biotechnology originated in the United States. The company's long arms reach -- according to various sources -- from nuclear and chemical weapons to the most dangerous pesticides, filthy wars, cruelty and into to the kitchen and refrigerator of almost every one of us. In recent decades the sale of genetically modified seeds and pesticides is the core income of the company. And in some areas in the world it is a monopolistic producer. Just as an illustration -- Monsanto provided up to 90 percent of the seeds for the crops of certain genetically modified organisms (GMO).
Everyone has the right to their own opinion on genetically modified food. Supporters say that without the optimization of engineering there is no way to provide for the hunger of the hungry of the world. The opposition, as I, will argue vehemently: Who knows what is the immediate and delayed damage of this food. To the human and the animal, the plant and the environment. This frightening Monsanto has become the distinct iconic enemy of many; to environment lovers, ecological fighters and social activists worldwide.
I read somewhere that during the protests that accompanied the UN Conference on Climate Change -- the Copenhagen Conference -- some years ago, the company "won" the "Angry Mermaid prize." A dubious title as the world's largest polluter.
When I first learned of the existing threat -- I confess -- I got nervous. What will I do alone, a lone vegan, against this big monster? In my nightmares I already imagined them destroying me like they did in the forests in Vietnam, or spraying me with pesticides, like a tiny insect in a cotton field. Or me being re-engineered and turned into... a GMO meat eater, who chews cattle raised on their modified toxins. All is lost, I was going to give up. Thank heaven, last weekend a light of hope lit up again at the end of this dark tunnel. Millions around the world (two in Tel Aviv included...) took to the streets against Monsanto and saved me from my loneliness.
One of the things that highly impressed me in this worldwide protest. was its global coordination and almost harmony. A global protests against the global economy. Demonstrations everywhere around the globe against the engineering entity, that is everywhere between our digestive system and the political systems of many countries and governments. And when I was asked to add my voice to the growing protest, I stumbled onto the new and unfamiliar VEWS. I just wanted to get to the next meal in peace and on the way I discovered the next thing in communication, press, reporting and social responsibility. Although I have only just found it and have not yet feverishly investigated, but it seems like... IT. Apparently I can't even eat in peace. Because to eat right is a social protest in itself and I wasn't aware of me being that creed. And the social protest is probably going to be VEWS.
Its founders promise it to be the moral platform of the new era in mobile and social networking. Press that belongs to its readers and not its rulers. A free press of free people, liberated from the "Bermuda Triangle" sinkhole of Money, Power and Media. This is what they explain themselves, and it convinced me. I looked at the world map on the app, seeing what's happening that very moment, all activists everywhere together and my loneliness vanished without a trace. So I downloaded it, installed and now I'm reporting from the field. In short I came because of genetically modified tofu and stayed because of VEWS.
Hang on, it's going to be interesting.