The Green Life, an environmental and sustainable living, food and energy awareness group at San Quentin, hosted Nikki Henderson at its first Earth Day in April and later brought in eco-activist Cynthia Ong of LEAP (Land Empowerment Animals People). Henderson is the new Executive Director of the People’s Grocery, a unique food store/outlet whose philosophy is to enrich both the health and the economy for West Oakland residents.
Henderson says, “Nutritious food doesn’t have to break your budget, which is why we’ve designed a payment plan that allows you to buy wholesome foods at a reasonable price. We live in a time where children and young adults are morbidly obese or they’re suffering massive heart attacks. This is not natural and we at People’s Grocery want to change that with heart healthy foods. To do this the food at People’s Grocery is organically grown by a team of eco-conscious farmers.”
Henderson says the food epidemic has taken America hostage. Agbiotech companies like Monsanto are creating patented biotech foods such as rice, tomatoes and vegetables grown from seeds that are genetically altered to produce higher yields. She also cautioned her audience that if the label on the package has more than three syllables, do not buy it. “When I was a young girl our grandmothers would be in their gardens growing fresh vegetables that the family could eat that very night,” Henderson said. “Peoples Grocery brings family back to the table”.
When Cynthia Ong enters a room heads turn and people listen. Her every move demonstrates her passion to save Sabah, the 13th state of the Federation of Malaysia.
Currently Ong and her group, LEAP, are protesting the construction of a huge coal plant in an environmentally sensitive area. All of LEAP’s efforts are to stop the 300 MW coal-fired power plant from going online. After hearing Ong speak the men of San Quentin in an organic fashion accepted her offer to help by writing letters to Prime Minister Razak in support of Ong’s mission.
See Leapspiral.org for more info on Miss Ong.
