Visionary Alliance

Visionary Alternatives has expanded its original mission and added to its Advisory Board to reflect that mission. We are engaged in creating an educational campaign and have gathered some incredible individuals that are helping us with that endeavor. We have been fortunate to be able to assemble the exemplary professional individuals necessary to complete all aspects of this campaign. Look over our Board of Advisors and Directors and watch our three and a half minute promotional video, available on our home page to see what we are up to.

Why are we so urgent in our plea? Read on .

Today, we are witnessing the shrinking of forests, as soils erode and once healthy land becomes desert. Our oceans are dying because of over fishing, and because we have used them as sewers. Our industrial excesses are changing the very climate of the planet, causing global warming, melting glaciers, and extreme, unpredictable weather conditions.

The earth's resources accumulated over eons of geological time. These precious gifts are now being consumed at alarming rates, within a single lifetime. It is estimated that our population was about 1.5 billion a little over a century ago. But it is over 6 billion now, and is expected to reach 9 billion by 2050. With this exponential increase, we will soon exceed thresholds that nature never intended for us to reach. No amount of political negotiation or economic manipulation will allow nature to overcome those limits.

We are witnessing a host of new health challenges and are not keeping pace with them - the health of our planets citizenry continues to deteriorate. Many of our health challenges are related to what we've done to the earth. We are plagued by the rapid evolution of new, exotic pathogens for which existing treatments are useless. Many of our major, chronic diseases, are caused by how we live and what we eat, weakening our natural immunities. Even among our young people, we are now seeing the chronic diseases we used to associate only with the elderly. We feel it is imperative to educate people of all ages -- about the real reasons they are sick.

The accumulation of chemical pollutants in the environment is taking a heavy toll. These effects have been a black hole in our knowledge, only beginning to be investigated and understood. Over 100,000 unique compounds have been released into our environment as the waste products of development. Blood tests of Americans show measurable amounts of chemicals that did not even exist a century ago. We don't yet know the full toxicity of these compounds, or their interactions with each other. What is known is that many of these toxic chemicals disrupt the reproductive, cellular, and developmental processes in humans and in many other species.

The excesses of our civilization are reflected in the excesses of our modern diet. We have only begun to understand the role of this diet on our deteriorating health. An even more important realization is this; the same dietary excesses that create disease in individuals are directly related to the rapid demise of our environment. For example, as John Robbins explains in his book, Diet for a New America, "The livestock of the United States produce 20 times as much excrement as the entire human population of the country." This incredible amount of waste is leeching into our environment, with unforeseen and potentially disastrous consequences.

Robbins also states, "To produce a single pound of meat takes an average of 2500 gallons of water... as much as a typical family uses for all of its combined household purposes in a month." In addition extensive grain production, extensive use of fertilizers, pesticides, water and petroleum resources are necessary to sustain our animal agriculture. In many places around the globe, people are barely surviving while western countries squander not only agricultural but also an array of other resources that could be used much more effectively and benefit many more people than is currently being considered.

Our global economy, political institutions, and cultural beliefs are out of synch with the capacity of the earth to support its people. As a result, our early 21st century civilization moves closer to decline and even possible collapse in our lifetime. By looking at the root causes surrounding many of these issues, we conclude that, only by a fundamental shift in thinking and action of our planet-wide civilization, will we be able to effect the changes necessary to remedy this dire situation. As a first step, we feel a massive grassroots educational campaign is needed to illustrate the problems we have created for ourselves, along with their solutions; and it must be produced and distributed, internationally, to as many educational institutions and corporate organizations as possible.

Visionary Alternatives, Inc. is a tax-exempt, non-profit organization founded in 1989, whose original mission was to fund opportunities for personal health, especially for individuals in crisis. But, because of the integral relationship between the maladies of our people and the critical illness of our planet, we have expanded our vision and our mission. Visionary Alternatives is now dedicated to the creation of educational programs and materials that address these international concerns as they relate to individual health issues and the sustainability of the planet. This educational agenda will also provide actionable information so that informed people can receive the tools necessary as well as the profound ability and intent to implement them so they can affect change both personally and globally.

We are seeking endorsements, sponsors, contributors, donors, and volunteers to make this program a reality. I thank you for your help and support on these very critical issues, in these very critical times.

Thank you,

Jane Tobal & Dr. Edgar Mitchell