Food Inc

Greg and I rent a movie about 3 times a year. We actually didn't even have our own Blockbuster card until about two months ago. Until then, we borrowed my parent's card. OK, truth be told, part of the reason we didn't own a card was because we were constantly late returning videos and we ended up buying several "rentals," but that's not the point of this entry. :)

Last night, Greg gave me the terrible responsibility of choosing the movie we would watch. It's such a heavy burden! We rarely rent movies. We are usually so exhausted by 9 at night, that we can't stay awake more than 45 minutes, so if we plan to be up for 2 or more hours, a movie better darn well be good to justify losing precious sleep. So, off I went to Blockbuster in search of the perfect flick, and this is what I came back with: Food, Inc.

I know some of you are rolling your eyes. Greg laughed out loud when he saw the video case. But neither of us were laughing after we watched it. In fact, not only did we spend the 90 minutes watching it, but we also spent another hour talking about what changes we are going to make in our own lives after it was done.

Yes, it is about our health, and the things that are done to our food that we don't know about. I expected to be shocked and disgusted by those types of facts. What I didn't expect was the huge amount of disdainful "big business" practices that are going on in this country related to the food industry. My issues with Wal Mart? Small potatoes in comparison. I can tell you that I will be researching and not purchasing any foods owned by Tyson, Purdue, Smithfield and several other large chains.

Here are some interesting facts:

There are only 13 operating meat packing plants in the United States. 13. In the entire country! Think about the amount of meat we eat, and the amount of meat we probably also export. Now consider the size these plants must be. Astounding, isn't it?

These plants will market their need for labor to Mexicans and lure them to work here illegally. Now, by-passing illegal immigration law issues, and looking at this simply from a humanitarian standpoint, it gets even worse. The immigrants will work for the company for years. The company has literally thousands of workers, paid dirt cheap wages, in conditions that are horrific. Knowing that they are committing a crime by employing illegal workers, the company has struck a deal with the government to "rat out" 10-15 of its employees each day. The government deports them back to Mexico, the company doesn't lose a large percentage of its employees, so the company's bottom line is not hurt, and probably that very same day, the company rounds up 15 more illegal immigrants to replace the lost manpower. No regard for these people, their families, the conditions they are working in, living in, perhaps returning to. And it's not just one or two people we are talking about. It's tens of thousands. Amazing!

Here's something else: Once a company has genetically modified a food, it is considered "patented," and therefore, belonging to that company legally. So, if you are a farmer who chooses not to buy genetically modified seeds from a company, but your neighbor buys those seeds and your crops are pollinated by nature - by wind - you can, and will- be sued by the company owning the rights to the genetically modified seeds for patent infringement! The small farmer doesn't have the resources to win a law suit against a massive corporation. Even those who try eventually buckle. These companies often have former employees either sitting in government office or have rubbed elbows with government officials. It's all dirty. The government sides with the industry, forcing farmers out of business, into bankruptcy. It happens every single day. Many farmers have sold out and given up out of sheer need to survive. One man's advice to a young man just starting out? "Give the industry what they want, because you can't afford to fight them."

Want to know more?

Did you know that the hamburger that you eat is filled with parts of animals that have been washed with an ammonia solution to kill bacteria? Did you know that an easier way to kill the EColi that contaminates so much of our food system is to feed cows what they were intended to eat - grass - instead of corn? It's the cow's diet that is causing the EColi problem in the first place. Cows were meant to digest grass. By feeding them corn, we are wreaking havoc on their intestines and causing an overgrowth of bacteria. Not allowing them to roam in the field (where they could also get some grass), and instead keeping them penned up on top of each other, stepping in each other's feces, and getting manure all over their entire bodies when they are being shipped to massive slaughter houses just exacerbates the problem. It has become a vicious cycle. There are simple answers, but those answers require loss of big money. Who takes the cuts? Hmmm...not so simple anymore is it?

How did this happen in the first place?

Demand. We need food on such a large scale now, that small town farmers, with several acres of free roaming cattle simply can't provide the massive amounts of burger needed to supply the thousands upon thousands of fast food restaurants (among others, for example) demanding meat. So we have turned to meat "factories" instead of farms. What struck me, was the indecency, not only from a consumer standpoint, but also from a humanitarian perspective. These companies, and I'm not just talking about one, but all of the ones featured in the film, kept thousands of chickens in houses that were dark. The chickens never saw the sun, ever. One woman farmer who refused to black out her house lost her contract with Purdue. The chickens were modified to grow so fast that their poor little bodies couldn't keep up with the weight of themselves. Many of them could not stand for more than a few steps, if at all. They sat, jammed against one another, amidst their own feces and urine, often with several of their peers dead beside them, for 5 weeks in total darkness and were then slaughtered without second thought. What kind of life is that?

The cows and pigs had similar fates. They may have been luckier, in the sense that they were able to see sunlight, but they were kept by the thousands in areas too small for the numbers. They had no room to walk around. They could barely move against one another, one cow's neck twisted against another cow's back, kinked uncomfortably for days, legs bent from inactivity, only to be literally herded into a massive electrocution chamber for slaughter. They spend their lives terrified, disregarded, itemized.

I don't know where, but I once heard a belief that we are the energy of the food we consume. The idea is that if you raise a pig in a happy and healthy environment, when you eat him, you are filling yourself with happy and healthy energy. Now, I don't know how much of that I believe, but I do know that it makes me feel better knowing that I am eating an animal that was treated with dignity and respect, one that lived a life as God intended, rather than one that spent its days in filth and fear. I don't intend to become a vegetarian, but I do intend to be more aware of where my meat is coming from.

I could not possibly tell you all of the things I saw in this film. I recommend you see it yourself. It's only 90 minutes long, and it will effect you profoundly, especially if you have children. I know Greg and I will be making some changes in the coming months - he will be hunting, we will be finding a local farmer who hand raises chickens, cattle and pigs. We have already been making changes over the last year or so, and this film just helped to solidify some of our thoughts and refuel our desire for better health and for justice, not only for the local farmers, but also for the animals we are consuming.

For more information, go to http://www.foodincmovie.com/