Open Letter To Penn Jillette
The Organic Debacle
Penn, if I may call you that… we don’t know each other personally but I've seen you around. We know some of the same people and you’re kind of a big deal in the area of magic and reality television. I appreciate who you are and what you’ve built in your time on this planet.
That said. You’re also an irresponsible asshole. I decided that in 2014, the tinfoil hat would go into the drawer. No longer will my penchant for a good conspiracy cloud my judgement when tackling topics such as: Organic food.
At first, there was this urge pulling me in that direction. You know the direction? The one where you do this cute little show poking fun at the hippies who spend all their money on wholesome food while getting a think tank like the Hudson institute to parrot your observations about those you deem, shall we say — daft?
But I won’t go there. Everyone already knows that the Hudson Institute gets most of their funding from giants like Monsanto. Not really a story there… And there couldn't possibly be anything in it for your sponsors. Yup, I’m leaving it alone.
And that brings me back to — oh ya, you’re an asshole. It’s one thing; having this ridiculous idea that organic food doesn’t benefit people and that in fact, it may actually be harming the planet we live on, but to suggest that people that follow the movement are perhaps stupid and deserving of getting fleeced for buying into the idea that we can have wholesome natural food…well — that’s another thing altogether.
No offence but you’re not exactly the poster boy for good health. I remember what it was like to have a few extra chins and to have to pull my belly to one side to see the little guy. I remember what it was like huffing and puffing to get up a set of stairs. I remember a guy that ate anything and everything that came in a package and believed that those granola eating weirdos reading all the ingredients were - losers.
Something happened a long the way. I’d like to think that I grew up but it was much simpler; I wanted to live. Quitting smoking was the first big step (4 years now) and then exercise and then — diet. It took a while. To let go. To understand that the recommended daily this and daily that wasn't really in my best interest but more in the interest of the big agri companies. And so my journey began…and the weight came off. And then something amazing happened — the cloud that inhabited my brain evaporated and I started thinking clearly and feeling better about myself and those around me. My sleep improved. I got stronger and before I knew it — 50 was really the new 30 for me.
I stopped following those ridiculous guidelines put together by ridiculous institutes. I started sourcing locally produced, organic and free range foods. The more involved, the more I discovered how big and amazing the community was and how, with careful deliberation one can sustain an amazing quality of life without spending all their money as your actors — sorry, real life weirdo nerds did every month.
Kudos to you though. Successfully preaching your message to all the ignorant, unhealthy people in the world, insuring that they will stay that way and remain slaves to big pharma, big agri and your sponsors.
There’s a reason that 1 in 2 people are on a collision course with cancer. How many people do you know Penn? I know way too many. It wasn't like that 20 years ago when the food supply wasn't totally fucked. Your“scientist” tells us we need to fuck the food or people are going to starve. It’s great logic when you think about it… either we bastardize the food to make sure we keep feeding the masses empty calories or, they starve to death.
The first option makes the most sense because it makes a lot of fucking money. Oh ya — 1 trillion dollars a year between cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Or, nothing because everyone starves to death.
We don’t need to talk about practices like NIP-BUD or Heirloom seeds or the fact that too many municipalities in North America make it impossible for people to grow and cultivate their own food or raise their own chickens.
Instead — let’s make fun of the stupid motherfuckers for wanting to get the poisons out of the food supply. Morons. They should know better and stick to your script and take the goddam chemo like all the good little bitches that choke on every fucking word you spew.
FYI — we don’t choose to spend way more money on the “organic” label because we don’t know any better. We choose to foster and promote an insdustry that is slowly changing the way people look at food they eat. We’re not idiots Penn, most of us know the score. We know there’s a good chance that the organic apple we purchased at a 30% mark up over the regular apple may in fact just be a — regular apple. But if we keep buying the regular apple, things will never change.
There’s no need to shame those of us who simply want a better world to live in. I know, deep in you heart that’s what you want to. Unless all that charity work you do is just for the cameras and a fat tax write off.
Wake up Penn. You have an audience so why don’t you start telling them the truth.
