can big ears save the world?

A few months ago I inexplicably developed an allergic reaction to corn. Along with a wheat sensitivity and sugar avoidance, I'm now even more annoyingly in that 21st century category of dinner guests with a mile-long list of dietary special needs. Besides being a pain to my hosts, this limitation is also just a plain drag for me, since I LOVE a good enchilada, crunchy-salty corn chips, and popcorn at the movies.

Now that I think about it, this mysterious reaction developed not too long after seeing Robert Kenner's brilliant Academy Award nominated documentary Food, Inc., "a powerful, startling indictment of industrial food production." (PBS, POV) If you can stomach second helpings, check out also Deborah Koons' terrifying "Future of Food" (2004) and Eric Schlosser's now classic (book and movie) "Fast Food Nation." The films' messages come as no surprise to food justice advocates and folks who have been waving the red flags on health, agri-business and green living for decades. The stark reality of our vulnerability to corporate interests, particularly the devastating story of corn around the planet, is enough to make even a semi-conscious person break out in hives.

Monsanto holds fast to the argument that their genetic breakthroughs are driven by altruistic motives, such as ensuring farmers of explosive "yield potential," boatloads of increased income and the side benefit of conserving habitat for wildlife. (Monsanto) What's not made as clear by the PR spin, is the motivation behind the vaguely Soprano's-like tactics being employed to keep small farmers compliant with the slow but inexorable corporate ingestion of their livelihoods, and some would argue, our lives.

So what's this all got to do with listening, anyway? Can Big Ears really change the world? it's a pretty simple and maybe somewhat counter-intuitive approach to social change: leveraging the double-ear tactic. Being curious. Telling a story. Asking questions instead of sharpshooting answers. Building understanding instead of defense. It all sounds good, until life and livelihood feel threatened and the reptilian brain conspires with the sympathetic nervous system to make sure we're SAFE. We come by it honestly-- fight, flight or freeze are built into the package. But film makers like Kenner, Koons, and Schlosser are the front line of a revolution which will slowly dismantle power structures, institutions, and corporate strangleholds, not through brute strength or intimidation, but the power of story--engaging the listening ears of a public ready to give a deafening response...the vociferous ch-ching of cash registers ringing in organic markets, slow food movements, co-ops, and intensive gardening programs around the planet.

It can't come soon enough. I'm ready for that enchilada.