Food, Inc: You Should Watch It

I just finished watching a very eye opening documentary called Food, Inc. about the food industry and where our food comes from. It became more clear at the end why so many people are vegetarians or vegans. However, even some of our fruits and vegetables aren't without contamination. Most of the focus of the movie was on meat and I was just disturbed.
It was insane how much power corporations have over the farmers that work for them. For example, the typical chicken farmer is in about 500,000 dollars in debt if he has two chicken houses. The chicken houses are expensive to build. The debt continues due to the company's requests for upgrades. The company keeps the farmer, who makes only about 18,000 dollars a year, under their control by keeping them in debt. I think that is awful.
Also, corn has become one of the most abundant crops because corn is in everything. Some derivative of corn is in about 90 % of the food we eat, and not just the processed food. And all of this corn isn't a good thing.
So cows are supposed to be fed grass and evolved that way. But now we feed them corn because it is cheaper and it makes them fatter. The corn in their diet created the environment for acid resistant strands of E-coli to develop. And because of how the cows are raised and slaughtered, if one cow has it, most likely another will. They stand in their manure all day so it would be easy for another cow to get it and spread it. And, it isn't unlikely that small traces of the manure end up in the food.
The FDA used to do 50,000 health inspections a year. In 2006, they only did a little over 9,100. And there used to be a 1000 slaughterhouses to process beef. Now there are only 13 and the amount of beef Americans consume has increased. The chief of staff for the FDA during the Bush Administration used to be a lobbyist for the beef industry.
Funding for the FDA was greatly decreased; no wonder we don't have safe food. No wonder we don't have enough inspectors
So many conservatives out there want less government involvement but look what self-regulation does. This is a capitalist country where corporations are out to make money and they will break any rules, do any immoral acts, put people's lives at risk, and cross any lines to make more and more money. So the government needs to be involved and they need to do their fucking job.
There is a bill called Kevin's law that allows the USDA to shut down plants that have repeated health violations. I'm surprised they didn't have that ability before. That bill still hasn't passed. Why?
So I try not to be partisan but a democratic congressman in the movie is all about the increase of food safety and regulation and the republican is worried about the cost to the company. He said he didn't think people would pay more for the increased
safety of food. I WOULD!
If you feed a cow grass for five days and eliminate the corn, it will get rid of 80% of the E-coli in their system. But the beef industry doesn't want to do that. (I'm sorry but this is what capitalism does...makes people selfish and self-serving)
There is definitely a systemic problem with the beef industry. The beef industry's solution to getting rid of E-coli, instead of feeding the animals grass, is to inject an ammonia based filler into the meat to kill the E-coli. That's great; I love consuming a dangerous product like ammonia.
Why is the healthy food so much more expensive? The unhealthy foods are the foods that are heavily subsidized; they are the ones that come from the commodity crops. It is insane that you can get two double cheeseburgers for two dollars but you can't
get four apples for that. It sucks when you have to eat bad food because you can't afford good foods.
Farmers aren't allowed to make decisions anymore; these decisions are being made in corporate board rooms by people who don't have to deal with the consequences of their own decisions. It's like health insurance companies making decisions about care
when doctors should be.
(UGH...i just saw a chicken get it's head cut off. It was gross.)
This farmer who raises his animals almost got shut down by the FDA because the FDA said that because their animals were exposed to sun and air that it was unsafe. That is ridiculous. Turns out his farms are safer than industrialized farms. I think this country has forgotten how farms were before all of this industrial
technology. It's even more interesting that with all of this industrial technology, our food isn't safer. Why doesn't anyone think that if the animals are raised in better conditions, treated respectfully, and given proper food that they will
have better meat? Oh that's right. Because it's not about quality; it's about selling more so the company can make more money.
Watching these slaughterhouses makes me want to not eat meat...anymore.
What's worse is that these slaughterhouses are bad for the employees and the working conditions are making them sick. But the corporations don't care because most of the employees are latino or black that will take low pay without benefits. These
corporations purposefully go to low income neighborhoods. I didn't know meat packing was so dangerous.
It makes me sad that the farmers who are producing quality meat and raising their animals properly are the ones being run out of business by these huge industrialized farms.
I feel bad for the illegal immigrants who work in these factories. Yes they are illegal, but the company they work for has made an agreement with the immigration office. There are no public raids and they can arrest as many illegal immigrants
as they want just as long as the company doesn't get in any trouble for hiring them. That is ridiculous! These men are just trying to work and support their families: they are being treated like murderers and thieves. One guy in the documentary said something very interesting. He said we want cheap food but we don't realize it comes at a cost.
The food industry has become so dominated by corporations that farmers don't even control their own seeds anymore. Farmers aren't allowed to reuse seeds because the company that has genetically modified the seed says it breaks patent laws for farmers'to reuse them. The companies are even sueing the farmers. (The documentary talks about this soybean seed producer called Monsanto).
The same people that work for these crappy companies are the same people in Washington making decisions about regulating the food industry. Genetically modified foods don't have to be labeled as genetically modified foods. About 70% of all
processed food has a genetically modified ingredient. And people can get in trouble and have food industries come after them just for commenting on the food industries' practices. Remember the incident with Oprah?
This movie was very enlightening. I can't promise that I won't eat processed food or eat meat that isn't farm raised. Honestly, I don't make a lot of money and buying organic is expensive. I will promise however that I will remain more conscious
of the food I eat. The movie also inspired me because as consumers, we often feel helpless. We feel like we can't do anything to change how these corporations behave. Well, we do have power. These corporations are dependent on our money and our purchases,not the other way around. When I choose organic, I am showing these companies that I want better quality food that is healthy. Like the documentary says, everyone is entitled to healthy food and we should fight for our right to food that comes from companies that respect workers, animals, and the environment. We need to demand it!