American children served dirt in schools

I’m sure that caught the attention of many of you for several reasons. Some are concerned parents, uncles, aunts and grandparents. Some of you are just decent people. Well the above title for this post on Vass is false. It is there to highlight something important though. The concern and rage you may have felt at the thought of American kids being given dirt to eat. Were this true there would be an outrage throughout the nation. So I must ask, where is the rage and emotion or even significant media coverage on the outrage that has occurred to Kenya?

For those not familiar, Kenyan children were offered dog food to eat as a replacement for real food by a ‘Samaritan’ from New Zealand. This is not false nor a joke. Christine Drummond offered 42 tons of dog food for relief in Kenya because she could not feasibly send dog biscuits. Drummond had the idea pop into her head after speaking to people who went to Kenya, and rather than send the ‘meal’ labeled as Mighty Mix dog food biscuits powder, she re-labeled them as NZ’s Raw Dry Nourish with plans to distribute via Mercy Mission charity. Isn’t she a saint?

Gaynor Siviter, a dog food agent, thinks it’s a wonderful idea saying, “The dogs thrive on it. They have energy, put on weight. It's bizarre but if it's edible and it works for these people then it's a brilliant idea. It beats eating rice.” Brian Tracey had comments on idea, though it seems that MSNBC may have second thoughts on letting it spread as it takes 3 tries or more to bring up the article (for me anyway). Tracey seems to offer the thought that the cultural offense of reference to a dog is the only bad part of the idea. That is his harshest comment. Yahoo News is equally at home focusing the story on the cultural aspect of the story. A third of the Yahoo News article discusses the ‘nutritional value’ of the ‘meal’. The Yahoo article even supplies a quote from Drummond, trying to back away from the backlash, about how the main bulk of the product is corn. [So is the cereal Cornflakes but they aren’t the same thing are they?]

The BBC News on the other hand has a slightly different take, mentioning the desire to send dog biscuits originally. They also add the comment (which I think any doctor would probably agree with, and I definitely do) by Dr. James Nyikal, “There is no way that the ministry can allow dog food mixture to be brought in for human consumption.”

IF this happened in America, it would be on EVERY news station and media outlet. IF American children were offered dog food there would be dissent that would be incendiary enough to ignite paper. There would be no moderate comments, and anything Drummond said to back off the media backlash would be ignored as cowardly hiding I think. Had Drummond done this to the U.S. or in our nation calls for boycotts of her company would be instantaneous. Knowing how radical some in this nation get, I wouldn’t have been surprised if someone would have tried to burn down her factory(ies).

Perhaps because I am a well-fed Black African Hispanic American, living without the trauma of plague or famine, I can’t appreciate the need some of the people in Kenya have. Given that, if the need were so great, and that dire that dog food is a viable alternative, then actual food fit for human consumption should be sent. America has enough food, literally rotting in silos, to feed this nation and several others. Many nations in the world maintain a surplus of food far in excess of actual emergency needs. There is far too much technology available to help improve the ability of farmers in 3-world nations to improve their crops. If we can create staple crops that can be grown in cold climates (where they normally could not), in shorter periods of time, and genetically enhanced to resist diseases and other factors (which exist now) I cannot see why there has been no progress in creating a crop that needs less water to grow. In 20 years the world has made massive strides in food technology, virtually every aspect except anything that can aid nations suffering drought. If I am wrong, please someone let me know.

I understand how any one nation may feel that its children have a higher priority for them to help and raise than those of some other nation, that’s human nature. I do not understand how ANY NATION could treat CHILDREN from anywhere on the face of the earth as equal to an non-human species. Slavery of basically any sort has not existed in any government I am aware of for roughly a little more than a century. I believe America was the last to have it institutionally as well as culturally. Are the remnants of 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th century thought still pervading the minds of countries throughout the world? Is Africa still perceived as the “Dark Continent” and therefore not of concern? Is the fact that American resistance to reparations is so severe that insults and denigration of CHILDREN, that happen to be true Black Africans, is somehow seen as acceptable?

I know many people from my travels abroad. I have know some that fit stereotypes and many that break them. I’ve enjoyed the company of great people, in their homes and in their embassies such as for Germany, Belgium, Ireland and many others. Until today I rarely encountered someone so obtuse, slow-witted and profoundly perverted, in my humble opinion, as to treat a child as the equal of any animal, especially in this case a dog. Even racists I have had the misfortune of crossing paths with have shown more compassion towards children than Christine Drummond seems to have.

I am glad I have memories of Kiwi’s, Aussies, Brit’s, Gruzians [Soviet Georgians], Lebanese, Latvians, Azerbaijanis, Mexicans, Cubans and so many more that do not reflect Drummond as a norm. Most Americans don’t have that reflection, and I think most would agree with I have said.

The media needs to pay attention, and provide news that actually matters as opposed to who has a Grammy or had a nomination. Who cares how they dressed for the award show. That is not entertainment. That is distraction. Give us enough credit (the American people) that we can deal with an issue of significance and can still enjoy the vast wasteland of televised programming.

This is what I think, what do you think?