A Californian orange sits neatly stacked, in a polished mountain of its brothers and sisters ready for the next naïve, vitamin C hunting consumer to walk its aisle. 

It ponders darkly of its unhappy past, from the day that perverted bee bumbled its way into its innocent flower, to that moment in the Australian supermarket.

He finds himself staring enviously across the aisle at the organic banana, glowing with self-happiness and natural goodness.  The organic banana smiles back unashamedly and happy with the knowledge that she could provide her consumer the right ingredients to fight the cancer caused by the poisoned parcels disguised as fruit and vegetables piled around her.

The orange, entranced by the bananas’ self-satisfied smile slips into a  melancholy memory from a time he had dreamt of a natural life, drinking only the rain, sweetened by the sun, ripening slowly to be picked matured from the tree…….but alas it was not to be.

The spraying regime began from his first memory, first Metam-sodium, followed by Methyl bromide, 1,3-dichloropropene, Chloropicrin, Sulfuryl fluoride, Chlorpyrifos, Diuron, Propargite, Maneb, Fenbutatin-oxide, Paraquat dichloride, Ziram, Chlorothalonil, Simazine, Malathion, Chlorine, Thiobencarb, Metam potassium, Thiabendazole, Ethephon, Molinate, Mancozeb, Diazinon, Sodium hypochlorite, 2,4-D, dimethylamine salt, Captan, Oryzalin, Methomyl, Phosmet, Fosetyl-Al it was horrible.  

With each chemical application he became more and more poisoned with hate and misery. As the farm-hands’ skin scabbed and peeled with chemically-induced  HYPERLINK "http://news.google.com.au/news?q=psoriasis&hl=en&hs=3jV&lr=&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&sa=X&oi=news&ct=title"psoriasis, the orange swelled and thickened, his natural oils tainted with carcinogenic toxins. His juices soured with the thought of “conventional” farming practices that his ancestors had done just fine without.

Suddenly his development was cut short, rudely ripped from his mother’s arms while still green and underdeveloped. To be sold to an international distributor for a pitiful 2 cents a kilo - probably not even enough to cover the costs of the chemical sprayed, let alone the rising costs of hospital bills. 

And then the final insult: he was stored and shipped across the world, by an aeroplane of all things, even when everybody knows how strongly oranges feel about global warming!

He is abruptly brought back to reality a lady peers, prods, picks him up and studies his spotless peel. For a moment he laughs insanely with the thought that all he has suffered could be revenged. He thinks of the Thiabendazole and Fenbutatin-oxide working together to shrivel her life-giving ability, while cancerous growths from Diuron and the1.3-dichloropropene form throughout her body.  However this burst of hysteria passes abruptly as the lady drops him in her basket… a sudden spasm of guilt engulfs the tormented orange and with one last ditch effort, with the thought of freeing the world from his toxicity, he propels himself out of the basket to roll unseen under the shelving.  

Feeling like a hero, the realisation descends upon him that he had made a terrible mistake - so well preserved and irradiated is he that his end is still far far away.  

Months pass, a few grapes join him, and finally the day he has been waiting for arrives. The ultimate end: a few welcome specks of mould, and his long-time glossy orange skin takes on the blue hue he feels inside. 

As he decayed into the floor, he dreamt of a better place. He envisioned belonging to an organic food co-op and fulfilling his destiny as a provider of sustenance to all.

Although this was not possible for him, IT IS POSSIBLE FOR YOU! 

‘Sustenance’ is your organic food co-op on-campus! 

Don’t put your orange, or yourself, through this - get locally-grown, seasonal organic vegies and dry goods at cheaper prices, every week. 

To find out more about Sustenance and organics, drop into NUSA or email

Bec

 HYPERLINK "mailto:Rebecca.blunden@studentmail.newcastle.edu.au"Rebecca.blunden@studentmail.newcastle.edu.au

or

Siobhain 

 HYPERLINK "mailto:Siobhain.lowthe@studentmail.newcastle.edu.au"Siobhain.lowthe@studentmail.newcastle.edu.au

Or subscribe to our mailing list at 

 HYPERLINK "mailto:sustenancefoodcoop-subscribe@yahoogroups.com"sustenancefoodcoop-subscribe@yahoogroups.com