Please consider helping any way you can with this INDIEGOGO campaign. The goal is to raise money for promotion of this unique book.
Silence Deafening, Fukushima Fallout …A Mother’s Response is an engaging book that explores the nuclear industry’s impact on human health, the environment, and how citizens will change the world.
“Governments underestimate the effect of official silence on anxious mothers! Kimberly is not alone, even though she is more knowledgeable than many others, in becoming increasingly concerned about the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan and its effect on California milk, water, spinach, mushrooms and other foods. Platitudes about “permissible doses” cannot take away parental responsibility and non-monitoring of fallout by the government does not make the problem go away! Thank God for mothers like Kimberly! I encourage everyone to read this small book with reliable information written in ordinary lay language. You will learn how passive most Americans were during this major disaster. You will learn how negligent were the government agencies we depend on for meaningful and timely warnings and advice for self–protection and caring for one’s family.” ~ Endorsement of “Silence Deafening…” Rosalie Bertell, PhD, GNSH, Founder of the International Institute of Concern for Public Health (IICPH) and former consultant to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Environment Protection Agency, and Health Canada; more endorsements at www.silencedeafening.com
July, 2012
Hello Everyone!
I’ve been woefully remiss in keeping in touch with my family and friends not only due to the demands of motherhood, but the ongoing nuclear disaster in Japan and its affect on the United States. What a long strange year it’s been! Now I need to let you know about an online awareness and fundraising campaign on an issue that affects all of us and especially kids. My new book on food, human health, and the nuclear industry, “Silence Deafening, Fukushima Fallout…A Mother’s Response”, was published by Visiontalk with cover art by Gail Payne and has received excellent reviews from readers on Amazon. It is truly a labor of love and published digitally with money my own mother left when she passed away. It is now available on all digital platforms and in print edition on Amazon and Createspace. The silence referred to in the title is from media and government who are not addressing the issue of radiation in our food supply due to the triple nuclear meltdowns at Fukushima Daiichi. Just a few more paragraphs will take you directly to the linked campaign with a quick two minute video. Please read on.
The fundraiser and awareness campaign is being hosted by Indiegogo.com and is aimed at producing a print version of the book, placement in stores throughout the US, an educational outreach and advertising campaign, and seed money to research a companion book on radiation and health awareness. I’ve recruited some amazing women as team members for this project including an author (who evacuated Japan with her family shortly after 311) named Gwendolyn Womack, artist Rachel Gertrude Johnson, Natural Chef Jean Merrigan, musician Sandi Sellars and investigative journalist Karen Charman. All of these wonderful, compassionate women are gifted artists and activists in their own right who care deeply about children and our world. They have all been very supportive over the last year and I’m excited that they’ve agreed to help raise funds and awareness around this extremely important issue. All along the purpose of my book has been to serve as a platform for education on the radioactive fallout and food safety issue and with this wonderful team support the skies the limit.
It was heartening to learn that the Indiegogo campaign received approval for fiscal sponsorship from Fractured Atlas, an organization funded in part by the National Endowment of the Arts. They support artistic projects and lend financial and legal advice throughout the fundraising process. A relatively small percentage of fundraisers on Indiegogo are approved by for sponsorship by Fractured Atlas. For contributors this means that all money donations will be tax deductible, and the gifts given as “perks” will be partially tax deductible. More good news is that Fractured Atlas decided to feature the fundraiser on the main page of their website! This was an unexpected, very cool surprise that will only further enhance the success of the project. With Fractured Atlas on our side, this campaign will definitely succeed. To go directly to the 2 minute video at Indiegogo please click here http://igg.me/p/84388?a=514338
One of the most gratifying aspects of this project is that it’s becoming increasingly clear that just reading and sharing this email, Facebook Events Invite, and Indigogo campaign links will bring much needed awareness on the issue of Fukushima’s impact on our food supply. This good type of exposure will grow exponentially when you forward the messages to your networks too (hey we all gotta eat, so we hope to enlist not only your financial support, but your help in spreading the news). We are also asking that people donate $5 or more if possible and ask others to do the same. We have a unique window in time to stop the so-called “Nuclear Renaissance”. Strontium-90 in milk led to stopping the US above ground bomb blasts of the 50’s and 60’s, so there is a strong possibility history will repeat itself now.
What follows is the back-story, please take a few minutes to read on if you don’t already know it and thanks for your time. Some of you may not have the funds or inclination to become involved but you may know someone who does and will. Thanks in advance for reading!
March 11, 2011
Life took a shocking and unexpected turn March 11, 2011. The Great Japan Earthquake and ensuing tsunamis caught the world’s attention, however Fukushima Daiichi’s unprecedented three nuclear meltdowns went largely ignored in the media and still do to this day. The impact on our food supply is troubling and demands attention. The west coast of the US is directly in the path of the powerful jet stream, as you know. University of California Berkeley School of Nuclear Engineers (UCBSNE) has been reporting findings of cesium 137 and more radioisotopes known to cause cancer, heart disease and other illnesses in California topsoil, water, milk and produce sampled from the Bay Area since late March of 2011. Recently a pair of researchers at Cal State Long Beach found radiation in kelp sampled off the coast and they are currently seeking funding of their own to detect more types of longer-lived radioactive isotopes. Headlines of their findings read “Radiation from Fukushima Now in the US Food Chain”. And just a few weeks ago news broke of radioactive cesium in Bluefin tuna caught off the coast of California. What mainstream media wasn’t mentioned about this story is that the tuna tested was actually caught in August of 2011.
Our Silent Spring
The media has been ignoring the issue with only rare exception. Recently Forbes magazine ran an online story written by Jeff McMahon, one of the few reporters writing on Fukushima’s impact on health. He grappled with reasons why colleagues in his profession are refusing to cover such an important story, surmising that radiation perceived as a complex issue that intimidates reporters. His message points directly to the need for transparency and for projects such as “Silence Deafening…”
To put matters into clear perspective, California produces over 450 varieties of produce, dairy and wine and is the number one producer of dairy in the US, the fifth largest producer of food in the world. Children in our families and communities rely on us to protect them, yet our government is not addressing mounting concerns regarding food safety. Consequently we are not doing enough to protect those we love. The silence is indeed deafening. The fact that I have a history working on radiation issues at Greenpeace and then in the nutrition field meant that Fukushima allowed no room for denial or excuses.
The Wake Up Call
On April 1, 2011, I was sitting at home, feeling shocked and isolated. It appeared that no one was talking about Fukushima. It now seems like a lifetime ago: I went online and created a petition calling for food monitoring due to Fukushima’s ongoing radioactive fallout. It was luck to find that Food and Water Watch (the food safety arm of Ralph Nader’s Public Citizen) had started a letter writing campaign on the issue, so I used some of their language to write a food safety petition. The petition eventually led to the formation of Fukushima Fallout Awareness Network (FFAN), a group of dedicated, talented, and passionate individuals who have spent decades working to make the world a safer place. FFAN includes Mary Beth Brangan, Rachel Johnson and Jim Heddle of Ecological Options Network; Diane D’Arrigo of Nuclear Information and Resource Service; Cindy Folkers of Beyond Nuclear; Mali Lightfoot who is Executive Director of the Helen Caldicott Foundation and Nuclear Free Planet; Jim Turner who is Chairman of Citizens for Health; concerned aunts, uncles, grandparents and parents.
FFAN has met five times with Senator Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein’s staff here in San Francisco and also in Washington, DC demanding congressional hearings on the food issue. Once we met with Senator Feinstein and told her of our findings, which we delivered at her request in print to her personal fax number. She has not responded, but we are not giving up. Some of us in FFAN met two weeks ago in Washington, DC with key legislators as part of Sierra Club Lobby Day. A packet of information was organized at the request of Nuclear Information and Resource Service for distribution at a national Sierra Club conference that coincided with their lobby day and was given to 85 safe energy lobbyists. Book promo cards and a media release about “Silence Deafening…” were placed in each of the 85 lobby packets. It is amazing to see how much more attention an issue attracts when you write a book about it! Considering how mighty the nuclear lobby has been for so many years, it was extremely gratifying that congress members heard our concerns and some are now aware of the book and it’s very important message.
The world needs to know much more about the situation in Japan and its vast impact for the sake of future generations. The petition mentioned previously is linked below, please take a moment to read it over, sign and share. One person commented online the other day, “Where are the leaders on this issue!!??” Well, as it turns out, on this one “WE are the leaders”. And our time is now. We are all inundated with online issues and those of our own. Please find a few more minutes to help this important project.
Thanks for reading, you will find the campaign here so please remember to cut and paste it to share on email, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and websites. Just the action of clicking on the link under the video on the Indiegogo page will help to increase our visibility on the website. Whenever we share the link under the video, it helps increase our presence online. While the issue may be inconvenient and unpleasant, taking action is just the opposite: it’s empowering and feels pretty good, actually!
Take care,
Kimberly