The Kikuyu are anarchic and difficult people to tame. For this reason, we must strike deep into their cultural roots. Perhaps then we can force them to conform. I mean of course to strike at their language, their religion, their cultural and historical reserve, so that we can neutralize their ability to develop, to distinguish themselves, or to prevail. Thereby removing them as an obstacle to our strategically vital plans in Kenya, East Africa and the Africa to all this neuralgic territory of great strategic importance for the politics of the U.S.A “ Henry Kissinger 1954
Here is an honest view of the Western establishment in regards to my community during our era of "Catastrophe ". The dark cloud set upon this proud people in the late 1800s. The British wanted the land that my people lived on as part of their empire. For over 200 years, the battle has been raging on. At least in the hearts and minds of those who are in the know. America joined the fray after 1945 following the great war in Europe that spelt the end of the British Empire as the ultimate global Power.
Here is the declaration of war on a free people during a time when it was fashionable to openly share your war tactics as the noble savage who was the "enemy " was considered to be outside the literary world. It was therefore safe to discuss war matters even within an earshot and be relatively safe.
Unfortunately many fell for the tricks of the oppressors and even became useful agents at the hands of the oppressors. Others knew better and invested their energy in fighting against the injustice of colonialism. Once the oppressed learned the language of oppression, they celebrated in all manner of praises for having the tools necessary. But many got stuck with the tools without using them that they became toys.
That is partly how our food and culture become unjust. Now to get "Just Food" in a war few can dream of wagging, leave alone winning. Think about that and notice how the template is almost universal. Everywhere food is fast turning from "Just Food" to "Fiat Food". What most people are familiar with are the consequences of that shift. It takes the form of lifestyle disease, climate sabotage and most placid of all, illogical culture.
By illogical culture, I mean the engagement in things that look benign and even celebratory but which causes harm to our lives and environment. In other words, we celebrate the very things that causes death. That is what I call the culture of "Death Worship ".
There are fewer areas where this culture of Death Worship is as prevalent as in the food culture. Anthropologically we evolved into humans as a result of the vchanges in our diet. But that can be a little far for many to both remember or even stomach, no pun intended. The narrative that majority of the people in the Western world and areas under its influence is the story of Adam and Eve, which incidentally starts with food or rather eating if you like. Yet the underlying messages in the two narratives are the same: what you eat determines who you become. The message is loud and clear, that human beings are always creating themselves at the point that every morsel enters their mouth. That simple realization could as well be one of the biggest discoveries of any weapon of mass construction, destruction and even deconstruction.
Think about how many churches have been built in any average country over the years, then add the staff that run the whole enterprise and then add on top of that, the the amount of time that whole enterprise has managed to get humans to invest in attending regular activities. The value of such an investment has to be astronomical. It is therefore clear that those interested in controlling others have found food to be an effective ways of usurping power. Nothing can be more catastrophic that the loss of control of food from an individual, community ,nation or even as a species level. That act of loss of control is what I refer to Food Catastrophe. That catastrophe is the foundation of my analysis of Food Justice as an indigenous person. It’s an easy concept to comprehend by breaking down the word justice into into two words of Just and Ice. Food can there been either just and life-giving or ice and life freezing. To eat well then must mean to exercise power in the most elementary levels and the most advanced level possible. It is freedom per excellence. Anything short of that is a catastrophe in the making.
While the choices we make are individual choices the options have to be decided by some and the ability to determine the choices available creates a lot of hidden powers. The masses however are fascinated by the choices to the extent that they easily overlook the most important aspects of the arrangement. Once the masses accept to cede the power to determine what constitutes as food and how it is produced and distributed, they create what soon becomes cultural masters and ultimately gods. Those gods and masters will eventually have the power to determine who lives and who dies.
How else can you explain a people so particular about what they wear, where they live, where they work, what religion to ascribe to, what teams they support yet care less about what role they play in this primordial duty we have of contributing in human evolution through food?
This is one catastrophe we cannot afford to just pray about as that has caused others to prey on us as Henry Kissinger points out in the quote above. My take is that the loss of control of our food and by extension the adoption of a Fiat Food culture, meaning a culture of eating food that is not Just, results in negative evolution. In other words, we evolve backwards and life becomes a burden that in neither unsustainable nor unenjoyable. I call the process towards such deplorable state as Death Worship.