My Thoughts on Food, Inc.

Hey guys!

I hope your Halloween weekend is great so far :)

I wanted to write about the movie Food, Inc. today. This week we watched it in my English class (another source for our childhood obesity essay) and I honestly could not have been more shocked. I am so glad I got a chance to finally watch it, though!

These are some of the things that were extremely eye-opening that struck me about this documentary:

• Factory Farming
• Animals are kept in terrible cramped conditions, and are inhumanely treated
• The animals are fed corn because it's cheap, even though they aren't made to eat it (and therefore the animals are given antibiotics to attempt to counter the digestive problems that they have)
• The amount of pollution that these 'factories' contribute to the environment
• The unfair way that workers are treated
• Illnesses
• The awful conditions that animals are kept in means that their feces get everywhere
• The animals are washed off at the slaughter houses, but all of the contaminated water gets on other foods as well
• The astounding amount of E.coli outbreaks that occur because of this problem
• The sheer amount of power that these major food companies have in government and in the industry
• Many food company executives are part of the FDA and USDA and craft laws that keep us consumers in the dark about what we eat and where our food comes from
• Genetically altered/ chemically treated food
• This ends up in a LOT of the packaged food on the market 
• Foods that aren't in season are in the produce section because they have been chemically treated
• Cloning
• Animals are cloned and this cloned meat is sold in supermarkets and the government does not require for it to be labeled
• Corn
• Since it is subsidized, it is very cheap and companies have found ways to put it in almost everything. 
• Almost all processed food contains corn

These aren't all of the topics in the movie - just the few that stood out to me! 

What can WE do about all of these problems?

• Buy local, organic produce (Farmer's markets are awesome for this!)
• Only buy produce that is in season 
• Encourage your local schools to provide fresh, healthy meals for students
• Spread the word about these problems in our country
• Read food labels! 

Here is the link for the trailer of the movie. 

I highly encourage you to go watch this - I thought I was fairly well informed on America's problem with obesity and the danger of processed foods but I was completely wrong. 

I don't usually eat much processed food or red meat, but after watching this movie I know that I am going to avoid meat as much as possible. I'm not labeling myself as a vegetarian, but I honestly don't think that I could  eat any meat for a long time after watching the documentary. When I do eat meat I am going to try and eat locally grown. 

I am going to avoid as many processed foods that contain corn as I can. I know that it is not possible for me to entirely eliminate everything, but I can do my best. I am going to go to farmer's markets to buy local produce a lot more often- there is one every Saturday about 10 minutes from my house. I also am not going to be eating any food that isn't in season! I don't want to be eating nasty chemicals or pesticides. 

Please go check out these seasonal charts for fruits and nuts and vegetables!

Have you seen Food, Inc.? What are your thoughts?