the coup we never knew

The earlier ***HIGH WIND WARNING*** was still in effect, and we sure got those 40-50mph winds, along with some driving rain for a short while, but the worst of it was south of York. Temps began dropping quickly into the upper-40s. I buttoned-up the condo, fired-up the furnace, and watched the news, and more old unseen episodes of "Gold Rush". I'd had enough TV around 10:30p, unplugged and called it a day.

Up at 9a on Palm Sunday, a partly-sunny, 40° start to the day. I did the usual routines, scanned the weather and news, grabbed a shave and shower, and got ready for the day. I had a load of laundry to do, garbage and recyclables to get together and take out to the curb for morning p/u, an IndyCar Race to watch live, and an F1 Race from Australia to replay on my new F1 Channel on ROKU. Plus, get something to eat. All that done by 5p, I had dinner, took a lap around the condo complex -- about ¼ mile -- and watched some old episodes of History's "The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch". I bagged it at 11p.

The garbage truck woke me at 6a, on Monday, but I rolled over and slept until 7. Up and moving, I got the heat going -- 36° outside with frost -- made coffee, had a couple smokes, and tuned into the Chris Stigall Show, 6-9a from Philly, and relaxed while checking the news and weather. I ran some quick errands, since I have a phone conference call from my W-F Bank Investments Broker, to make some changes in my multiple Brokerage Investment Accounts. All that stuff done -- guaranteed 4.88% Money Markets and guaranteed 5.09% CDs, and dumping medical stock, buying more Tesla, I left to go down south to Red Lion and Dallastown.

Traffic was light mostly, but heavy in some spots. Coming back north on Rt24, on the way home, I stopped at Royal Farms to get my 2019 Jeep Grand Cherokee HEMI V8 filled with their Ethanol-Free 90 Octane, before prices skyrocketed, thanks to the Bidet&Crime Family idiots. I met Sherry at 1:30p, and we did over a mile, and then went back to my place for a couple hours. Sherry had to get to the local bank before 5, and left at 4:40. I finished-up some work around the condo, and got some dinner.

6p news, Watters & Tucker, and History's "The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch" -- I'd watched the previous 3 seasons over 3yrs, and season 4 starts in 2 weeks. By 10:30, I was yawning -- Sherry was doing that to me all day -- and it was time to shut down. JoAnne, my cleaning lady, is in at 8:30a tomorrow.

Up at 6a to the alarm on Tuesday, it was a mild 46° and just getting light at 6:20. Nevertheless, I fired-up the heat, made coffee, scanned the news and weather. Looks like it's going to be "Donald Trump Day" in all the media. Glenn Beck, whom I used to listen to years ago, got it right: the leftists want violence from us, about Trump. They want another "Jan 6th" violence incident, or worse. They have no idea that what they've done to help Trump in 2024.

I saw the Spring's first butterfly: a White Cabbage Roller (Pieris rapae), flies, gnats, beetles, and a large bumblebee buzzing around, looking for a food (pollen) source. Plus, there are hundreds of bird chirping -- none of which I can ID without seeing them chirp -- and many, many more trees and shrubs blooming or just leafing-out. I think we're past the worst of Winter, but don't be too bold and put any tender, new plants out, just yet. Remember that "Mother Nature's In Charge; We're just Along For The Ride".

JoAnne arrived at 8:30, and I'd already moved my Jeep out of the garage so I could leave for Weis Market, for an hour or so. Temps were already at 72°, forecast to get to 79° I got the shopping done and my left lower back and hips were yelling at me. Pain. I just slumped into my office-sunroom desk chair to rest, and then unpacked the 6 bags of groceries ($127). I blame the pain on the 80mg of Atorvastatin (Lipitor®) once a day, that I've been on since 2017.

Here's the 16 page Indictment against President Trump, in simple *.PDF format, but you'll notice that "felony" is all that's listed; NO ACTUAL CRIMES ARE LISTED, except "FALSIFYING BUSINESS RECORDS IN THE FIRST DEGREE". This whole thing is total bullshit.First, my Cardiologist had me on 20mg, then 40mg and now 80mg dosages. The 80mg is extraordinarily HIGH, and way beyond anyone else I know who takes one of the several statins. There are known danger and side effects with all in the statin family. More on this after I visit a Wellspan Vascular Surgeon, and get some scans and tests done.

I took 2 50mg Tramadol, a 30mg Flexoril, 5mg Valium and sipped coffee while trying to rest , listening to "Bonehead Bongino", who came of after the "CP Show" was over at 12noon. I scanned the news and jumped on www.FR.com, to see what was happening. I took another 5mg Valium and laid down on the LR couch, for a snooze and elevate my leg.

No, I never drank Budweiser or Bud Light, in my life. It's just pisswater. And now that they have a subhuman tranny faggot POS "it" on their cans of piss, I would avoid it at all costs. I hope their sales tank-off to zero.

I got a peaceful 2hr nap, and the hip's sharp pain turned into a lower, dull, throbbing pain. I had WMAL-FM/ DC on, and was listening to the fat slob sambo boy Manhattan DA read the 16-page, 34 felony count indictments document, against Trump, for falsifying business record in violation of Federal Election. It's more than just a weak case. Heh. It was 80° and blue skies, but cirrus clouds were moving into the area, indication a coming change of weather.

The war on farmers has begun, as had the Great Reset. Prep yourself and family, if you already haven't. It's going to be a very bad Summer and Fall.

After an early dinner, the pain got worse, and I took a 500mg Tylenol Extra Strength to see if that would help (it didn't), watched Fox News, Watters & Tucker. I watched Trump's speech after he returned from the shithole NYC, to Mar-A-Lago, and he nailed it. (Here it is, in case you missed it.) We're in a revolution with the leftists, communists, fascists, socialists, Marxists, anarchists and they have almost all the power to destroy America, which they're doing a step at a time. They've also out-organized us, in almost every way. This is truly commie Osambo's v3.0 term. My BP was spiking, so I switched-over to Discovery+ "Gold Rush" until 11p, and called it Yankee Doodle.

I woke up before the 6a alarm, on Wednesday, just as it was getting a little light outside. (I already miss the days of dawn not breaking until after 7:15a, and sleeping late.) 56°. so I didn't bother with the inside heat, as it was still 73° from last evening. I fired-up the computer, coffee and scanned the news sites. I tuned into the "C Stigall Show" from 6-9, had a light breakfast and relaxed with my Kona Coffee. The "CP Show" from 9-12, came on and I listened to it for an hour, before getting some errands done. I'll catch his morning's podcasts later this afternoon.

I left at 10a, for York Building Products Co, in East York, to check their selection of pavers and brick; no go with them to match Mom & Dad's front and back sidewalks' special pavers, with a charcoal border. It was very warm and humid, so I turned-on the AC at 65°. Next, I drove to Havover to Hanover Architectural Products Co, where their sidewalk pavers were originally ordered and installed, 13yrs ago. That was a l-o-n-g drive via country shortcut roads, avoiding Rt30 traffic, to get there. Finally home by 3pm, I was tired of traffic and driving, and it was good to relax. So good, that I fell asleep on the LR couch for 2+ Hours. High for the day was a very warm and humid 83°.

Back up at 7p, I buttoned-up the condo, had Chicken Parmesan and Spaghetti Marinara for dinner, watched Watters & Tucker, and more old episodes of "Gold Rush". 11:30 came too soon; lights out.

I slept-in until 8:45a on Thursday, a cloudy 45° morning, with severe t-storms on the way, for the afternoon. The AC was still set at 72°, to rid the humidity, I made and enjoyed coffee with my first daily Marlboro®, and tuned in the "CP Show". Nothing on the day's to-do list, except a load of laundry, so I just lounged around until 11.

All the news that I heard and read was about some POS faggot tranny getting multi-million dollar contracts from Budweiser and Nike, and I was way past sick of it. Even Chris Plante was talking about it. Here's the 36 companies, so far, who are affiliated with the degenerate, deviant "wokeness" crap. If everyone would just IGNORE the subhuman filth, "it" would go away. Lavishing attention and money on "it", just makes it worse. Why is this so hard to figure out? IT'S THE CULTURAL & INFORMATION DOMINANCE OF THE LEFT! Pretty simple, isn't it? And WE let it happen. Our political enemy is extraordinarily well-organized. Democrats have organized the bureaucracy, social and news media, prosecutors, teachers' unions, entertainment, and, perhaps most important, ballot collectors. Democrats move in lockstep with great speed and fury. That's the strength Barry Osambo brought to the Democrat Party. It has proven to be invaluable for them. We're in Osambo v3.0, since 11.08.20.

In 2 weeks, I'll be re-visiting my Cardio-Vascular Surgeon's office again, but will have a battery of tests for circulation and nerves, in my hips, legs and feet. Until then, all I have is the 50mg Tramadol, 5mg Valium, 30mg Flexoril and 300mg Gabapentin to help with the pain, which I have during mile-plus walks with Sherry, and especially in the morning. I'm not a candidate for surgery under General Anesthesia, so hopefully the tests won't indicate that course of action. After my pain meds took effect, I had breakfast, and took the other 19-pill regimen. Meh.

BTW, Happy Maundy Thursday, or Holy Thursday. It is the day during Holy Week that commemorates the Washing of the Feet and Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles, as described in the canonical gospels. It is the fifth day of Holy Week, preceded by Holy Wednesday and followed by Good Friday. The Last Supper is the final meal that, in the Gospel accounts, Jesus shared with his apostles in Jerusalem before his crucifixion. The Last Supper is commemorated by us Christians, especially on Holy Thursday (today).

I had 2 Amazon deliveries, while I was out spraying small, emerging weeds in the front and back gardens. I also ran out of Osmocote® Fertilizer, and will havew to run over to SKH Garden Center and p/u a couple of new containers. Temps were already up to 75°, and the returning trees, shrubs and perennials were loving the warmth. T-storms are on-the-way, for late afternoon and evening.

I tried ordering 2 cases of Yoder's Canned Bacon, from several websites, and over an hour of problems, significantly raising my BP, so I quit. I have 1 case left in my Prep Stuff, in the basement, so maybe I'll try another day.

I grabbed a 2hr snooze on the LR couch, did paperwork, had some dinner and watched Fox News, Watters & Carlson, and some of History's last season's episodes of "The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch". Lights out at 11p.

Tomorrow starts a new week here in the "Journal", and with the exception of a mid-week haircut, it's clear so far. That'll change before this Easter Weekend's over. Happy Easter -- He Is Risen!

The Devastation Is Deeper and Wider Than We Know.

Three years ago, Covid-19 struck the world. In the face of a rapidly evolving public health crisis, governments and institutions implemented policies to mitigate the spread of the virus. Today, we can look back and see the unintended consequences of these policies, which have had a lasting impact on public trust and our society.

Firstly, the healthcare system experienced significant disruption as a result of the disease but arguably more so from Covid policies themselves. Medical errors increased in hospitals due to the constraints on healthcare resources and mandates. Millions of cancer screenings were missed, potentially causing a future surge in late-stage cancer cases. HIV testing was disrupted, leading to delayed diagnoses and treatment. Additionally, the pressure to report Covid deaths led to inaccurate death counts, prompting more fear and furthering egregious policies.

Many of the Covid models that informed these policies proved to be flawed or unreliable, further eroding trust in the institutions that promoted them. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) faced multiple controversies, including accusations of hiding data, unreliable data, and tracking millions of Americans’ phone locations. Additionally, the influence of unions on CDC policy raised concerns about political interference in public health decisions.

Privacy and censorship concerns related to Covid policies also loom large. Governments and private companies used Covid apps to expand surveillance, stop protests, and profit from user information. Reports of CDC collusion with Big Tech have prompted multiple hearings on Capitol Hill.

These concerns were exacerbated by evidence of collusion between the CDC, the White House, and Big Tech companies to suppress free speech and control the narrative surrounding the pandemic. The Twitter blacklisting of Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a respected medical expert, is just one example of how dissenting voices were silenced.

The massive spending on Covid relief programs also had significant consequences. In Canada, billions were wasted in poorly managed programs. Similarly, in the United States, billions in aid went to hospitals that didn’t need the funds, raising questions about the allocation and oversight of such spending.

One of the most significant consequences of Covid policies has been the impact on child health and development. Lockdowns led to a distressing increase in infant abuse and a surge in anxiety among children. Notably, the restrictions had a devastating impact on teenagers, as well as causing developmental delays in babies.

The Covid regulations also led to a rise in child labor worldwide, with millions of additional child marriages predicted as a consequence of the pandemic. These policies contributed to a significant crisis in child development.

Furthermore, the development of children was negatively impacted by masks and isolation, as evidenced by issues stemming from Covid’s social distancing, such as speech and expression difficulties. The incidence of child abuse increased significantly during lockdown periods, and the cancellation of sports activities had a severe impact on children. The reporting of abuse was also diminished by lockdowns, and the implementation of Covid regulations led to an increase in cases of child sexual abuse.

The consequences of Covid regulations on education were equally severe. Learning loss was a significant outcome of lockdowns, as remote learning proved to be unsatisfactory and even a complete failure. The learning of 1.6 billion children was disrupted due to Covid regulations, worsening the global learning crisis. Students were greatly affected by the disastrous impact of lockdowns, leaving them ill-equipped for the future.

Despite evidence showing that immunocompromised children have a low risk of contracting Covid and that it is uncommon for children to experience Long COVID, the debate around vaccination and its effectiveness in children continues. The UK has initiated compensation payments for vaccine-related injuries, and some experts advise against children receiving boosters due to potential risks.

Interestingly, interacting with children has been shown to improve Covid outcomes, suggesting that isolation measures may not have been the most effective approach. However, vaccination rates for other diseases among children are still declining, raising concerns about future public health challenges – and loss of trust in health institutions.

The Covid policies and their aftermath have had far-reaching impacts on our society. People now have lowered trust in public institutions, raised worries about privacy and freedom of speech, and the financial ramifications will persist for a long time. As we face the challenges posed by this pandemic and its policy outcomes, it’s vital to draw lessons from these missteps so future responses are more balanced, open, and successful in tackling public health crises without compromising civic rights and public confidence.

© 3.21.21023 by Justin Hart, "Brownstone Institute".

American Banana Republic.

News of the indictment against former President Donald Trump came yesterday afternoon like a shot heard ‘round the world—but this one heralds the triumph of tyranny rather than liberty. A grand jury empaneled by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has indicted Trump on charges that, while under seal, are likely related to payments Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen made to Stormy Daniels prior to Trump running for president.

The irony is not lost on us that Bragg’s entire modus ooerperandi as DA is decidedly against enforcing the criminal law in New York City. He has actively shirked his responsibilities and failed to press charges regarding all manner of crime, from subway fare evasion to robbery to assault. Suddenly, what was an expired misdemeanor that Bragg’s predecessor—and even Bragg himself until recently—declined to prosecute has become a grave threat to “our democracy.” Nor have we forgotten the staying power of New York State chief judge Sol Wachtler’s famous dictum, popularized by Tom Wolfe, that “a grand jury would ‘indict a ham sandwich,’ if that’s what you wanted.”

But what is new, beyond the milestone of the first indictment of a former American president, is the motive and the means behind it. Yes, the partisan Left will finally live out its fantasy of a Blue Day of Vengeance: Trump fingerprinted, perp walked, perhaps even “frog marched,” as they love to say, in full view of the cameras and—thanks to the media they control—the world. Behind the spectacle, however, the machinery dismantling the vestiges of the Republic grinds on. While some focus on how the indictment will rally Republicans around Trump’s renomination, and others calculate fresh odds for Florida governor Ron DeSantis, the regime accelerates its acquisition and consolidation of unprecedented and un-American political, cultural, financial, and coercive power.

The latest episode of the Orange Man soap opera is of a piece, and a critical one at that, with the regime’s march toward mastery. Like it or not, Trump has willingly become a symbol and stand-in for the vast swath of American people the regime sees, and ever more nakedly treats, as an enemy to be persecuted, prosecuted, censored, surveilled, and demoralized across the full spectrum of public and private life: in short, to be stripped of its constitutionally guaranteed form of government, and forcibly onboarded into a new and alien system of complete and automated control.

For patriotic Americans everywhere, Trump’s pending surrender to the authorities portends an uncomfortable truth we must confront if we want to have any hope of reclaiming our long-held, hard-earned rights as a self-governing people. The prosecution of Trump is the tip of the spear in the regime’s effort to reground its sovereignty and authority in a new “rules-based” domestic order impenetrable to citizen politics, from the creation of Central Bank Digital Currencies and banning of cryptocurrencies to the official religious establishment of the “trans community” as “people who shape our nation’s soul” in the aftermath of its storming of multiple state capitals and the targeted terroristic slaughter of Christian schoolchildren by one of its members. For centuries, perhaps millennia, despotism was associated with stagnation and lethargy. Today’s tyrannical regime is characterized by the blinding speed with which it terraforms its people.

All this does not spring from Trump’s indictment, but, rather, the reverse. This latest attempt at an all-but-literal kill shot against the sitting president’s leading rival for the presidency reveals that the regime’s new mode is to use the law as a means to extralegal ends, rewarding its favorites and punishing its foes according to its grand post-constitutional design.

Yesterday and today, it is Trump who is attacked “six ways from Sunday” by the coordinated borg that includes the alphabet soup of administrative agencies, its pliant members of Congress, its Big Tech franchises, its farrago of allied “non-governmental” organizations at home and abroad, and those corporate and individual interests who pour in funds and personnel. Today and tomorrow, it is you. We applaud Governor Ron DeSantis, who has properly identified Bragg’s gambit as “un-American” and made it clear that “Florida will not assist in an extradition request given the questionable circumstances at issue with this Soros-backed Manhattan prosecutor and his political agenda.” We also need more from all patriotic public officials and private citizens.

Regardless of all subsidiary details about who supports which candidate and what scenarios might benefit which factions, at bottom is the inescapable reality that the crusade against Trump is a pitched battle in the war to overthrow, once and for all, the Republic. As Trump himself lucidly put it in 2019, while facing his first impeachment, “they’re not after me, they’re after you; I’m just in the way.” That’s true even if Trump is not your first choice for ‘24—even if you long to see him recede in the rear-view mirror safely over the horizon of public life. The regime may not ever let him return to power, but it will not allow him to live in peace, either. It seeks an unconditional victory through the unconditional humiliation of its enemies.

As the threat concerns the fate of the Republic, not just the Republican nominee, Americans must not only grasp the stakes but act with commensurate courage and speed. Even if officials in Washington find it within them to rebuff and rein in the regime, the decisive field is at the state level, where the people and their duly elected governors and representatives must set about securing citizens’ foundational rights and freedoms across business, commerce, education, finance, religion, family, and technology, in public and private life, online and off.

The “altars of freedom,” as Abraham Lincoln once called them in a letter to a Civil War widow, are being desecrated by design. Salvaging republican government as it was handed down to us from the American Founders might no longer be possible. But the only way to find out is to perform the sacred duty we owe ourselves and our posterity to try.

© 1.31.2023, by The Editors, "American Mind".

The Great Food Reset Has Begun. The Global War On Farmers.

France is in flames. Israel is erupting. America is facing a second January 6. In the Netherlands, however, the political establishment is reeling from an entirely different type of protest — one that, perhaps more than any other raging today, threatens to destabilise the global order. The victory of the Farmer-Citizen Movement (BBB) in the recent provincial elections represents an extraordinary result for an anti-establishment party that was formed just over three years ago. But then again, these are not ordinary times.

The BBB grew out of the mass demonstrations against the Dutch government’s proposal to cut nitrogen emissions by 50% in the country’s farming sector by 2030 — a target designed to comply with the European Union’s emission-reduction rules. While large farming companies have the means to meet these goals —- by using less nitrogen fertiliser and reducing the number of their livestock —- smaller, often family-owned farms would be forced to sell or shutter. Indeed, according to a heavily redacted European Commission document, this is precisely the strategy’s goal: “extensifying agriculture, notably through buying out or terminating farms, with the aim of reducing livestock”; this would “first be on a voluntary basis, but mandatory buyout is not excluded if necessary”.

It is no surprise, then, that the plans sparked massive protests by farmers, who see it as a direct attack on their livelihoods, or that the BBB’s slogan —- “No Farms, No Food” —- clearly resonated with voters. But aside from concerns about the impact of the measure on the country’s food security, and on a centuries-old rural way of life integral to Dutch national identity, the rationale behind this drastic measure is also questionable. Agriculture currently accounts for almost half of the country’s output of carbon dioxide, yet the Netherlands is responsible for less than 0.4% of the world’s emissions. No wonder many Dutch fail to see how such negligible returns justify the complete overhaul of the country’s farming sector, which is already considered one of the most sustainable in the world: over the past two decades, water dependence for key crops has been reduced by as much as 90%, and the use of chemical pesticides in greenhouses has been almost completely eliminated.

Farmers also point out that the consequences of the nitrogen cut would extend well beyond the Netherlands. The country, after all, is Europe’s largest exporter of meat and the second-largest agricultural exporter in the world, just behind the United States — in other words, the plan would cause food exports to collapse at a time when the world is already facing a food and resource shortage. We already know what this might look like. A similar ban on nitrogen fertiliser was conducted in Sri Lanka last year, with disastrous consequences: it caused an artificial food shortage that plunged nearly two million Sri Lankans into poverty, leading to an uprising that toppled the government.

Given the irrational nature of the policy, many protesting farmers believe it can’t simply be blamed on the urbanite “green elites” currently running the Dutch government. They suggest one of the underlying reasons for the move is to squeeze small farmers from the market, allowing them to be bought out by multinational agribusiness giants who recognise the immense value of the country’s land — not only is it highly fertile, but it is also strategically located with easy access to the north Atlantic coast (Rotterdam is the largest port in Europe). They also point out that prime minister Rutte is an Agenda Contributor of the World Economic Forum, which is well known for being corporate-driven, while his finance minister and Minister of Social Affairs and Employment are also tied to the body.

The struggle playing out in the Netherlands would seem to be part of a much bigger game that seeks to “reset” the international food system. Similar measures are currently being introduced or considered in several other European countries, including Belgium, Germany, Ireland and Britain (where the Government is encouraging traditional farmers to leave the industry to free up land for new “sustainable” farmers). As the second-largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, after the energy sector, agriculture has naturally ended up in the crosshairs of Net Zero advocates — that is, virtually all major international and global organisations. The solution, we are told, is “sustainable agriculture” — one of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which form their “Agenda 2030”.

This issue has now been pushed to the top of the global agenda. Last November’s G20 meeting in Bali called for “an accelerated transformation towards sustainable and resilient agriculture and food systems and supply chains” to “ensure that food systems better contribute to adaptation and mitigation to climate change”. Just a few days later, in Egypt, the COP27 annual Green Agenda Climate Summit launched its initiative aimed at promoting “a shift towards sustainable, climate-resilient, healthy diets”. Within a year, its Food and Agriculture Organization aims to launch a “roadmap” for reducing greenhouse emissions in the agricultural sector.

The endgame is hinted at in several other UN documents: reducing nitrogen use and global livestock production, lowering meat consumption, and promoting more “sustainable” sources of protein, such as plant-based or lab-grown products, and even insects. The United Nations Environment Programme, for example, has stated that global meat and dairy consumption must be reduced by 50% by 2050. Other international and multilateral organisation have presented their own plans for transforming the global food system. The EU’s Farm to Fork strategy “aims to accelerate our transition to a sustainable food system”. Meanwhile, the World Bank, in its climate change action plan for 2021-2025, says that 35% of the bank’s total funding during this period will be devoted to transforming agriculture and other key systems to deal with climate change.

Alongside these intergovernmental and multilateral bodies, a vast network of “stakeholders” is now devoted to the “greening” of agriculture and food production — private foundations, public-private partnerships, NGOs and corporations. Reset the Table, a 2020 Rockefeller Foundation report, called for moving away from a “focus on maximising shareholder returns” to “a more equitable system focused on fair returns and benefits to all stakeholders”. This may sound like a good idea, until one considers that “stakeholder capitalism” is a concept heavily promoted by the World Economic Forum, which represents the interests of the largest and most powerful corporations on the planet.

The Rockefeller Foundation has very close ties to the WEF, which is itself encouraging farmers to embrace “climate-smart” methods in order to make the “transition to net-zero, nature-positive food systems by 2030”. The WEF is also a big believer in the need to drastically reduce cattle farming and meat consumption and switch to “alternative proteins”.

Arguably the most influential public-private organisation specifically “dedicated to transforming our global food system” is the EAT-Lancet Commission, which is largely modelled around the Davos “multistakeholderist” approach. This is based on the premise that global policymaking should be shaped by a wide range of unelected “stakeholders”, such as academic institutions and multinational corporations, working hand-in-glove with governments. This network, cofounded by the Wellcome Trust, consists of UN agencies, world-leading universities, and corporations such as Google and Nestlé. EAT’s founder and president, Gunhild Stordalen, a Norwegian philanthropist who is married to one of the country’s richest men, has described her intention to organise a “Davos for food”.

EAT’s work was initially supported by the World Health Organization, but in 2019 the WHO withdrew its endorsement after Gian Lorenzo Cornado, Italy’s ambassador and permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, questioned the scientific basis for the dietary regime being pushed by EAT — which is focused on promoting plant-based foods and excluding meat and other animal-based foods. Cornado argued that “a standard diet for the whole planet” that ignores age, sex, health and eating habits “has no scientific justification at all” and “would mean the destruction of millenary healthy traditional diets which are a full part of the cultural heritage and social harmony in many nations”.

Perhaps more important, said Cornado, is the fact that the dietary regime advised by the commission “is also nutritionally deficient and therefore dangerous to human health” and “would certainly lead to economic depression, especially in developing countries”. He also raised concerns that “the total or nearly total elimination of foods of animal origin” would destroy cattle farming and many other activities related to the production of meat and dairy products. Despite these concerns, raised by a leading member of the world’s top public health body and shared by a network representing 200 million small-scale farmers in 81 countries, EAT continues to play a central role in the global push for the radical transformation of food systems. At the 2021 United Nations Food Systems Summit, which originated from a partnership between the WEF and the UN Secretary-General, Stordalen was given a leading role.

This complete blurring of the boundaries between the public and the private-corporate spheres in the agricultural and food sectors is also happening in other areas — with Bill Gates standing somewhere in the middle. Alongside healthcare, agriculture is the main focus of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which finances several initiatives whose stated aim is to increase food security and promote sustainable farming, such as Gates Ag One, CGIAR and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa. Civil society organisations, however, have accused the Foundation of using its influence to promote multinational corporate interests in the Global South and to push for ineffective (but very profitable) high-tech solutions which have largely failed to increase global food production. Nor are Gates’s “sustainable” agricultural activities limited to developing countries. As well as investing in plant-based protein companies, such as Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, Gates has been buying huge amounts of farmland in the US, to the point of becoming the biggest private owner of farmland in the country.

The problem with the globalist trend he embodies is obvious: ultimately, small and medium-scale farming is more sustainable than large-scale industrial farming, as it is typically associated with greater biodiversity and the protection of landscape features. Small farms also provide a whole range of other public goods: they help to maintain lively rural and remote areas, preserve regional identities, and offer employment in regions with fewer job opportunities. But most importantly, small farms feed the world. A 2017 study found that the “peasant food web” —- the diverse network of small-scale producers disconnected from Big Agriculture —- feeds more than half of the world’s population using only 25% of the world’s agricultural resources.

Traditional farming, though, is suffering an unprecedented attack. Small and medium-scale farmers are being subjected to social and economic conditions in which they simply cannot survive. Peasant farms are disappearing at an alarming rate across Europe and other regions, to the benefit of the world’s food oligarchs —- and all this is being done in the name of sustainability. At a time when almost a billion people around the world are still affected by hunger, the lesson of the Dutch farmers could not be more urgent, or inspiring. For now, at least, there is still time to resist the Great Food Reset.

© 3.28.2023, by Thomas Fazi, "UnHerd".