SUSTAINABLE FARMING IN AMERICA AND THE WORLD: The dangers of not growing the local, organic and sustainable movement in our fine state of North Carolina, the USA and globally.

1. Martin CJ Mongiello, MBA, CPFM, CHM, Certified Executive Chef, Master Certified Food Executive
Nutrition SCI 103 & CUL 222, The Art Institute of Charlotte, NC - Instructor Nicole Dowsett, MSPH
SUSTAINABLE FARMING IN AMERICA AND THE WORLD: The dangers of
not growing the local, organic and sustainable movement in our fine state of North
Carolina, the USA and globally.
Everyone is concerned with irradiating meat or what some folks say is, “shooting food with laser beams.” As a
Certified Executive Chef – I’ve begun to ask questions I typically took for granted. Even cooking for the President
of the United States, a King and Queen or Prime Minister – I began to question all food and where it came from –
down to the farm and those who work on it. Those questions were not just security related – they were health
concerned!
Mass production, factory farms can be dangerous versus down home farms that follow nature and the natural law
of the land with biodiversity. Now then, what about fattening animals with the cheapest grains and waste products
to get them plump, quicker? According to the international award winning movie, The Meatrix, “this leads to
widespread health problems, so low doses of antibiotics are also added to the feed. Even more problems abound.
The result is unhealthy animals and unhealthy food for consumers.” “Irradiation is used to increase the shelf life of
the food so it can travel longer distances and keep for as long as possible. This processing method has not been
properly tested for safety and it depletes the vitamin content of food.”
Have any of you Vets out there heard of depleted uranium and Gulf War Syndrome? I’m a vet and certainly have.
So what are we eating? A lump of harm and something that only fills up the stomach but looks like vegetables or
beef or chicken in North Carolina? It seems to look real in the grocery store, inside the plastic wrap and sitting on
a small Styrofoam tray – but it could be loaded with a life of medical pain and suffering just by eating it.
Martin CJ Mongiello Page 1 10/27/2009

2. Martin CJ Mongiello, MBA, CPFM, CHM, Certified Executive Chef, Master Certified Food Executive
Nutrition SCI 103 & CUL 222, The Art Institute of Charlotte, NC - Instructor Nicole Dowsett, MSPH
Now we have all of these strains of virus and seeds that won’t really grow and weird medical phenomenon that
even the Centers for Disease Control - cannot figure out. Also, obesity and other diseases like diabetes are at
massive, crippling highs in history, especially in the Southeast of America.
Does low-budget feed and waste, irradiation and hormone tampering have anything to do with it all? What about
genetic engineering and Mad Cow Disease? What about pesticides squirted all over the place – being a 21-year
veteran myself of the desert wars – we are now also seeing links to pesticides used in the deserts around camps,
around food and on ships in the, “zone.” A lot of that has now been linked to Gulf War Syndrome. They say it
killed off the bugs – but are now very concerned about what it did to our troops. What would you think if I
discussed heritage and heirloom seeds or if I mentioned, BUY LOCAL, EAT LOCAL, BE LOCAL? Additives,
cloning and biodiversity are top concerns as well – all threatened by NOT advocating the sustainable movement. I
encourage all to consider and advocate sustainable cuisine - with great consideration.
I have had a chance to review the award-winning film called The Meatrix (www.meatrix1.com) which discussed
issues of factory farming in the U.S. I feel the video was an accurate portrayal of high volume agriculture in the
U.S. My greatest concern has also been, over the past 20 years…I do not see Cooks and Chefs repeatedly on the
news in their white coats and white hats with outbreaks of massive illness and poisoning.
I have witnessed massive outbreaks at factories and food processing plants (system-wide) that have made millions
of people sick, killed children and adults and been subject to shut-down, bankruptcy and closure. Time and again
we see that many (not all) major producers and farms are all over CNN and the news. This general concern is
based just off of what I am witnessing on television - and in the news. Even massive outbreaks of problems in the
dog and cat food industry recently killed our beloved animals that we hold as our caring pets!
Martin CJ Mongiello Page 2 10/27/2009

3. Martin CJ Mongiello, MBA, CPFM, CHM, Certified Executive Chef, Master Certified Food Executive
Nutrition SCI 103 & CUL 222, The Art Institute of Charlotte, NC - Instructor Nicole Dowsett, MSPH
I feel like I am a common man, who does common research – just like the next person. I watch television like
anyone else, we are a Nielsen Ratings Authorized Home and read the entire newspaper, front to back. This is what
I have noticed and it reflects my concerns. The more I find out, the more questions I ask and the more educated I
have become on what I buy, what I eat and what I feed my family.
I was not always one to ask and considered the organic movement another freak show from California… You
know those people…all of those health nuts out there. Not here, not me. Oh no… But now my friends Doctor
Dean Ornish and Doctor George Malkmus have made California living (in a healthy environment) a local reality in
Charlotte, NC. Doctor Malkmus believes in sustainable cuisine like I do and is a proponent of it locally.
I look forward to learning more and eating smarter.
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12. Tour proves Americans favor locally grown goods, Staten Island Advance (September 12, 2007)
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20. One on One with Diane Hatz, Vegetarian Times (September 2008)
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