Farm Workers Viven!

Just home for a few hours after I had no patients until late afternoon. It's the Cesar Chavez federal holiday and the CSUC students are off and partying up a storm, many in these cheap "sombreros" which are deeply offensive in light of the history and current struggles of California's farm workers. It is certainly understandable that they are enjoying the warm sunny weather but it shows such a huge disconnect between people who eat produce and those that plant, tend and harvest it that I had to make mention. There is a wonderful 4 part series called Pastures of Plenty that is available from www.coastridge.com and it should be ethically required for all of us who shop commercially for foodstuffs. Between the clinic in Hamilton City and Chico, the river is still very high. This is the view from the outdoor seating at Scotty's Landing where I sat in the sun, took in some radiation exposure and read the News and Review. I left the clinic in time to complete the international prayer for the waters of Fukushima; in time to hear that milk here in California is testing with elevated levels of radio-isotopes... but remembering it was the contamination of milk that led Women's Strike for Peace in the early 1960s to move us to the Test Ban Treaties. We have so much to do-- stop nukes, convert to non-fossil fuels, end the wars, respect the workers, sustain good jobs and housing for all... somehow it is all coherent and achievable if we can just get some critical mass of human will and energy. My respect to all those working for social justice. Love across time and space to the legacy of Cesar Chavez.