The following is a live blog, that tracked the speaking event by John E. Peck at the Compass Coffeehouse in Fish Creek on April 9, 2005:

The former head of Cargill Inc., Daniel Amstead is in charge of US food policy in Iraq. He drafted the Bush policy on seed ownership that has taken away the rights of Iraqi farmers to save their own seeds.

What are the big GMO crops in the US? Corn, soybeans and cotton... Who cares about cotton? We don't eat it... Wrong, cotton seed oil is found in food for humans and in animal feeds. We won on wheat. GMOs have not been permitted there... yet!

Corn is one of the most promiscuous plants in existence, with corn pollen travelling miles. BT corn pollen is unchecked and affects all forms of life in the food chain starting with insects that feed on the pollen. We've lost a third of our honeybees in the past few years due to BT. Monarchs and Bt corn: questions and answers.

How much testing was done on bovine growth hormone? FDA and the USDA have a revolving door problem - executives from corporations leave and join a a supervisory government agency that would/should regulate that corporation. The history of such rotation is a scandal.

All foods must have GRAS Status - Generally Recognized As Safe. The "Precautionary Principle" says, "You need to prove something is safe before you introduce it to the market and it has essentially been tossed out the window."

Consumer right to know... it's just ECON 101. Do we have the right to know about GMOs? NO!

The whole genetic engineering process is very sloppy, a crazy shotgun effect, trying various things to see what happens.

Why would Monsanto want to sue someone for labelling their food product as BGH free? Because the label then implies that there is something dangerous or harmful about Monsanto's product BGH.

Should someone actually be able to own life forms and patent them? Not in India, they don't allow this, but here in the US we do, and the US administration intends to use the World Trade Organization to force countries like India to comply.

European scientists generally agree we should not be developing or producing any side products like drugs in a food crop... but US scientists are doing it in food crops, because their corporations own the patent rights on the food crops they use.

Property rights gone right out of control...
Monsanto currently spends $10 million per year suing farmers and have 75 people working fulltime on their agressive lawsuits. Percy Schmeiser's canola crop in Canada was contaminated by Monsanto seed growing nearby. Monsanto sued him, claiming he stole their seed. Monsanto investigators will actually drop a Round-up bomb on a farmer's field to see if the plants are Round-up resistant. If they live, Monsanto claims the farmer has illegally obtained Round up-Ready seed like Percy's canola crop in Canada.

The Canadian Supreme Court issued their decision in May 2004 and one can view the decision as a draw. The Court determined that Monsanto's patent is valid, but Schmeiser is not forced to pay Monsanto anything as he did not profit from the presence of Roundup Ready canola in his fields. This issue started with Monsanto demanding Schmeiser pay the $15/acre technology fee and in the end, Schmeiser did not have to pay. The Schmeiser family and supporters are pleased with this decision, however disappointed that the other areas of appeal were not overturned.

Oil, coffee and cocao are the three largest commodities traded in the world. Any farmer you talk to will tell you there's no free market on commodities. Prices are set by four companies in Chicago.

One audience member says, "All of this is very depressing... What can we do?"

BUY LOCAL... Kraft Singles are not even made with real milk. Buy Wisconsin cheese, shop at local farmer's markets. Do we have country of origin labelling here? NO... Most stores have no idea where their food comes from. Eat foods when they are available in season. The farmers' market in Madison is the largest one in the US.

What is food sovreignity?
The USDA decides what foods schools will serve in school lunch programs - not the local school board. Remember irradiated meat? This effort failed bacause of the public outcry. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal describes slaughterhouse practices. Our slaughterhouses run at 3 times the speed of those in Europe. In Sweden they have outlawed factory farming. We need to combine the organic movement with the Fair Trade movement.

Just Coffee in Madison has a slogan: "Not just a market but a movement."

Create a Farmer Diner - a restaurant where the food served is obtained locally. Have a "Food for Thought Festival" or a "Fair Trade Holiday Fair" featuring all local products. Where are the organic cherries from Door County? The Peninsula Research center is starting to explore this possibility - encourage them!

It's a scale thing... Small is best, local is best.

In October, 2001 a book entitled The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People Are Changing the World by sociologist Paul H. Ray and psychologist Sherry Ruth Anderson coined the term Cultural Creative to describe, "people whose values embrace a curiosity and concern for the world, its ecosystem, and its peoples; an awareness of and activism for peace and social justice; and an openness to self-actualization through spirituality, psychotherapy, and holistic practices."

Taken together with The Rise of the Creative Class: And How It's Transforming Work, Leisure, Community and Everyday Life by Richard Florida and published in January 2004, one can begin to trace a path out of the woods. It's been a long winter and I am ready for the 2nd annual Arts Conference... Huh?

Last year a roomful of over a hundred dedicated cultural creatives gathered to brainstorm about the future of the arts in Door County. Round table discussions on a multitude of topics rolled on throughout the day. Now, a year later it's just a memory. Meanwhile Tom Tresser, a Chicago marketing executive and theater producer, turned a few heads around when he spoke at Arts Day in Madison this year. He's the organizing force behind the Creative America Project, a national effort to get creative people to run for office.

"Artists and creative professionals are non-traditional thinkers," he says. "They're problem solvers. And those are skills we need in the public space. We need those minds applied to public policy."

I've been talking with Tom lately... He's inviting artsy types to "start exercising their political imagination" by creating a "vision statement for a more creative America" and uploading it to his group's Web site. How about a vision statement for a more creative Wisconsin/Door County? If you are interested in helping to develop a sequel to last year's event I'd like to hear from you... editor@DoorCountyCompass.com.

With the 5-question bridge referendum set for a vote on Tuesday, April 5th, am I doomed to wear a tin-foil hat if I question the precise timing of the WI DOT? The Michigan Street Bridge will close for seven hours from 8 AM to 3 PM on Monday, April 4. The Bayview Bridge (Wisconsin 42/57) will have lane closures for five hours from 9 AM to 2 PM on Tuesday, April 5.

But far worse for summer tourism... The Milwaukee Journal's Larry Sandler reports, "If Marquette Interchange reconstruction hasn't affected you yet, get ready to cross over to the other side. Within two weeks, traffic on I-43 (through Milwaukee) will be cut to two lanes each way, all traveling in what are now the northbound lanes between W. North Ave. and W. State St. That will continue until November."