I Was Wrong! New Poll Says 61% of Latinos Voted Yes On Prop 37

I can admit I was wrong in my previous post "Why Prop 37 Fell Short". My conclusion was that our movement had a latino problem and we would not win without winning their vote. My evidence was based on looking at counties we lost (%) where latinos make up the majority of the population or close to it. However, the real numbers say otherwise months later.

Based on a new poll commissioned by the Center for Food Safety Action Fund and conducted by the independent polling firm Lake Research, the strongest support for Prop. 37 came from Latinos (61% yes), Asians (61% yes), African Americans (56% yes) and Democratic women (60% yes).  As a group, Caucasian voters turned down the measure 58% to 42%.  Voters under 30 approved of the initiative (55% yes), as opposed to voters 65 years or older (61% no). Reflecting election results from the Secretary of State’s office, the initiative won in Los Angeles County (52% to 48%) and the San Francisco Bay Area (56% to 44%).

The survey found that every major demographic group, with the exception of Republican men, supports the concept of required labeling of genetically engineered foods.  Of special note, Prop. 37 won the Election Day vote 51% to 49%, but lost with early absentee voters 46% to 54% — an indication that early, high-volume attack advertising by Prop. 37 opponents was countered effectively by the “Yes” campaign’s late surge in GE food labeling information and outreach.

Looks like the data shows we lost with the elderly vote when it comes to labeling genetically modified food. Read more here: http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/2013/01/09/post-prop-37-poll-shows-strong-public-support-for-future-ge-food-labeling/

Never Give Up On A Dream

Years ago I was blessed with a dream... a feeling... a vision for change and I risked everything (and I mean everything) for that dream. I still have the single sheet of lined paper that I wrote this dream of a club down because I knew at that moment, it would come true and I wanted to remember that feeling of 'awe inspired'. I called it the Eco Investment Club. This was my role to play in a struggling Green Movement. And yet, over time and trying to figure out and finagle to make money the dream begin to slip out of my hands. Then, one day, the Eco Investment Club was no more. I was sad, angry, resentful, and all around crushed after losing control of the domain http://ecoinvestmentclub.com to an ex partner, but I had to let it go.

Over the years, I read articles in Inc. Magazine about entrepreneurs losing control of their companies and getting kicked out and then wanted it all back under the old name, but couldn't... so they had to give up. It pained me to no end to contemplate giving up. But then the story Steve Jobs always gave me hope because I had passion coming out of my ears!

  

So, I waited. The company closed. The domain came back up for sale in auction. I prevailed. And now the Eco Investment Club is mine again. I had a hard road. The Green Movement still struggles. I struggled. My name was mud, because I gave up on my values, and my name of the web was out my control, too. I risked too much, but now http://yevesperez.com is mine and is pointed to the club, because we are now one and the same. Fredrick Douglass said, "Without struggle, there can be no progress." I believe it. I am the real Yeves Perez. I'm sorry for my mistakes and wrongs, but I'm not giving up. I am the green Sean Parker, an agent of disruption. And I will never give up again as long as I'm alive.

Cheers to 2013!

http://ecoinvestmentclub.com

Why Labeling GMOs Will Eventually Win - My Facebook Chat With Paul Hawken

For those that find Facebook chat annoying, stupid, or down right intrusive, you should just close your Facebook account now since you're obviously closing off your friends and what's important to them. But not Paul Hawken. Yes, the world renowned environmentalist, entrepreneur, journalist, and author Paul Hawken. And since Prop 37's defeat was and still is important to me to understand and I decided to pinged him up to chat about and here's a few pearls of wisdom he gave me that I care to share:

Paul to me: sorry for the delay. been giving some talks and don't go here every day

Me to Paul: Listen, i'm a concerned father of two and i truly believe we keep losing huge political battles because we have not truly won the latino vote. PROP 37 is the most recent defeat that has many aroundd the world wondering what went wrong!

Paul to me: Nothing went wrong.... it went right. Be patient. When people oppose the wealthy ruling classes on issues of basic human rights, they are virtually always defeated the first time out. This is a great result. Look at many issues...this is the pattern. This one did amazingly well first time out. The food companies know they are dead on this issue. They know it is coming back. They know it will win no matter how much money they spend. Have faith in people and patience with the process. Lies eventually fail and this one will fail sooner.

Me to Paul: I understand what you mean as far as a trend, however this one could have been stronger than it was the first time out of the gate (and if after looking at the post election results and retracing the campaign's tactics - we have a serious Latino problem). I wrote a blog post about my observations. http://yevesperez.blogspot.com/2012/11/Why-Prop-37-Fell-Short-An-Opinion-From-A-Perez.html The more I look into the early data the more I get upset. We lost by 550,000 votes and after looking at what Counties we lost the more it reinforces my theory that we lost the Latino vote. Here's the data. Counties lost (No votes) w/ large latino population: San Diego 53%, Riverside 60%, San Bern. 60%, Fresno 63.6%, Madera 65.5%, San Joaquin 60%, Sac 60%, Placer 64%, El Dorado 62%... and more! That means we lost be 10 to 20 points in areas the would have delivered us a victory. If we would have flipped these results, we would have won by close to 700K - 800K votes!

Paul to me: Yves...I love your impatience. It is why it will eventually win. And it makes sense to lose the Latino given what they saw was scare ads about food costs. You are on top of this. I am grateful people like you are doing what you do.

I not afraid to lose some FB friends or draw criticism for saying this, but if you believe you're too important and too busy to check the content of a friend's chat message to you well then it tell me you just don't care. As for me, I win.

Give me a K+ on Klout or endorse one of my skills on LinkedIn if you agree.
www.linkedin.com/in/yeves
http://klout.com/frshprnzcleantc/

Why Prop 37 Fell Short - An Opinion From A Perez

I woke up with a highly contagious smile this morning after going to bed knowing my Country had just re-elected the greatest President I've ever known. I always knew President Obama to be a movement leader, yet I dreamt last night that the movement to label genetically modified food was really winning in the Polls. But then I woke up and logged on to Facebook.

Needless to say I didn't need to check the Prop's status. I knew it fell short when 9 out 15 posts from my friends read: "What Happened?" and "WTF?" Here's what I think what happened.

As this miraculous push to re-elect President Barack Obama was finally realized, a somber Republican strategist named Mike Murphy gave his party this gut check: "We have a Latino Problem." My response was "no shit!"

But after reading Prop 37's failure stories, the posts, and as many tweets as I can handle I'm ready to concede we have a Latino problem.  Let me explain. One of our best friends is a couple that lives in Ocean Beach (which is arguably one of the most progressive neighborhoods in the predominately conservative San Diego County) and our 3 year old daughters are like sisters. My wife and I love these newly weds, however when you're really friends with someone you can't help but talk about what's important to you as in this case GMO and organic foods for our kids. The wife was born and raised a Ramirez and I know how the Latino Hispanic culture thinks. Traditions!

She not only believes that organic food is just too expensive, but she (and the culture) is not very receptive to invest in this movement. Its foreign, its weird, its predominately white, and it is not the mainstream tradition. In just the last year or so, my family and I have discovered our new favorite vegetable. Anyone who knows us knows we love kale... kale chips, kale in soups, kale sauteed, etc. My daughter eats the kale off my plate! It's now a tradition in my house now. Her first time having it was at my house and she referred to it as "deer food". She likes it now and after years of being friends and educating about GMOs she voted Yes on Prop 37. But that's just one family. What about her cousins, her mom, and all her relatives?

What about the Gonzales families, the Fernandez families, the Mendez families, the Rodriguez families, the Rosales families, the Torres families, the Vargas families, the Mendoza families, the Fuentes families, the Rubio families, and the Perez families? That's just a few Latino Hispanic names, yet just this name group alone could equate to over 1 million plus eligible voters and I didn't see a Yes On Prop 37 campaign engage with this group. I did see one event poster on Univision.com for a Nov 4th rally but it was not written in spanish and was too little too late. I take responsibility myself for not engaging these voters. My excuse is hallow in hindsight just because I don't speak spanish. Yes, I said... I'm a Perez that doesn't speak spanish. It was a missed opportunity. I should have thought of this after watching "The Garden Movie," a documentary of South Central farmer being eradicated from their community farm.

I'm not making this claim lightly. I googled Yes on 37 latino leaders, Mayor Villaraigosa position on Prop 37, Assemblyman Ricardo Lara position on Prop 37, Senator Ron Calderon position on Prop 37 and nothing came up. I do credit the California Latino School Boards Association and Carmen Ramirez, City Council for Oxnard for endorsing Yes on 37, but it was not enough. In fact all the farms, consumer groups, democratic and environmental caucus, and green living leaders were just flat out not enough. The truth is the California Latino Hispanic population would have been enough... they were and are still the answer.

I want to conclude with a question. If corn is one of the highest GMO crops in this Country, then why was there no connection and therefore no clear case made for a major population in California to vote Si and protect a diet staple, Masa?
      

I Just Earned My 29th LinkedIn Endorsement From Stone Brewing Co.'s CEO

I am honored by this endorsement and I'm humbled to be a player in this emerging EV industry:

“Yeves Perez is an agent of disruption. He's proven himself to be extremely passionate about his work since I first met him during the Chevrolet Volt introduction to San Diego County back in 2009. Yeves worked to bring the Volt out of political turmoil with his idea of a Open Letter from Chevy Volt Owners titled "Why are Chevy Volt Owners Keeping Their Keys?" (which I signed).” October 27, 2012


Read more here: www.linkedin.com/in/yeves
http://yevesperez.blogspot.com/p/glowing-recommendations-real-yeves.html

Still Getting Inspired by Nature to Sell Sustainability

On July 7th, 2011 I wrote the following for a Green Business website:


The Year of the Sustainable Sale: Getting Inspired by Nature to Sell Sustainability

Part One by @frshprnzcleantc
San Diego, CA, USA

Green businesses have a great deal to offer, but don’t always do a great job at selling it.  I’ve seen this over and over again, and wondered how we can do a better job at selling sustainability. So I’m developing sustainability sales training to teach others and I want to lead a national conversation so we can all benefit from shorter sale cycles.

About three months ago, I attended the Biomimicry Conference at the San Diego Zoo, which launched me onto a path to develop a better approach to selling Sustainability. At the conference the organizers pushed us to look at nature to solve our own challenges. My mission: Improve my sales techniques. The Result: I developed a craving for honey.

Sounds strange?  Perhaps.  But stick with me.

Biomimicry studies biological systems, processes, and elements to solve human business challenges.  Over the eons nature has evolved elegant solutions to many of the challenges businesses face today.  Example: The leaves of the lotus plant inspire dirt repellent paint, and termite mounds inspire energy efficient cooling of buildings.  The San Diego Zoo has partnered with the City of San Diego and local universities to become the world’s first biomimicry hub, encouraging more of us in the business world to turn to nature for inspiration.

My big break came months later when a green business owner friend said, "you're like a badger!"  No wonder I don't get invited to Christmas parties! It turns out the honey badger (Mellivora capensis) is more than just fierce and tenacious.  They are also collaborators, and are an inspiration for a better way of selling.

In looking for a rich meal of honey, the honey badger works together with a bird, the "greater honeyguide".  The greater honeyguide simply leads the badger to a beehive, and the badger breaks open the hive and eats the honey, allowing the honeyguide to eat as well. This is not a referral system... This is a “we both eat” system.

This type of relationship in nature is called mutualism, in which both animals benefit by working together.  There are many examples of mutualism in nature, but the inspiration of the honey badger provides green business owners a new direction as well.  

By working together with other businesses in a sale we can both eat the honey.  While many in the business world still follow the model of competition, a kill or be killed mentality, I say it’s not the only way to go if you choose to be financially sustainable.  Mutualism allows for my business to create opportunities for you, and for your business to naturally create sales opportunities for me.  By following the model of mutualism and looking for it in our sales environment, we can develop these opportunities, make the most of them, and save our energy for the hard part --- the close.


Check out more of my thoughts and quotes here: https://sites.google.com/site/therealyevesperez/Musings/yeves-perez-quotes


Learn more about me here: http://about.me/yevesperez