I fully expected Food Inc to shock, but I didn’t expect to sit in a movie theatre with my jaw dropped open for 90 minutes!
Yes, the movie was that shocking.
There are many facts I already knew well before walking in the movie theatre, but there were so many I didn’t know. I’ll tell you that listening to some of these farmers reveal the truth about the food industry in America is chilling and frankly scary.
I intended on being very brutal in my review of the film, but in the last few minutes of the film a few events made me change my mind because I really didn’t want to chance any type of litigation on the part of giant food companies.
It’s true this is my site and it’s my banter, but if you watch that movie, you’ll understand there is a fine line where it’s just best not to cross. There is such a thing as Freedom of Speech, but then look at what the Texan cattlemen did to Oprah in the mid-90s. I’ll simply keep this at facts from the movie and let you draw your own conclusions.
Before I continue, I must highlight this irony:
There weren’t that many people in the movie theatre and I think it was partially due to the fact that is was so sunny outside, but most people who were there to watch Food Inc had a bucket of popcorn and a big glass of a soda drink (I even saw a guy get up, look at his back, shake his bag and go back to the front to get what I assume is more butter (it’s actually really an oily substance and it’s unlikely butter). I sat back and watched it all unfold while sipping on my bottle of Evian water!
>>> Hard (and sad) facts that Food Inc exposes (I did insert a few comments of my own here and there):
* McDonalds seems to be the start of this food industry.
* The way we grow food has changed more in the last 50 years than it had in the last 1,000!
* The way poultry and beef are managed in the farms and slaughter houses is simply revolting and makes you really think hard about what you are putting in your mouth.
* Farmers don’t have much control at all on their business if they are producing food for the giant food companies … those big companies own them.
* Corn by-products are everywhere and they are present in most foods you eat every single day … unless you make an effort to read the labels.
* Cows are now fed corn instead of grass, which means they get fat really fast.
* “Why grow a chicken in 70 days (the way it used to be done) when you can grow one in 35 days and make money from it” – this is a quote from a farmer who grows chicken for one of the four food conglomerates (Tyson).
* Since Americans love white meat more, a new breed of chicken has been engineered to have large breast (than what’s normal), THANK GOD I LOVE DARK MEAT MORE … I also eat grain feed chicken and buy free range when I can find it!!!!
* Farmed fish is fed corn now … that’s why I buy wild fish!
* I’m not a scientist, but I wonder if the brutal (and sometimes cruel) way animals are killed have an impact on their soul as they die and if that fear is releasing negative vibrations that are then stored in the meat we eat??? This might be a bit esoteric, but after watching Food Inc, I could think of nothing else.
* America is addicted to the following diet: high fat, high salt and high sugar (aka the American Diet)! That explains the obesity problem well.
* 1 in 6 people will develop type 2 diabetes, that number jumps to 1 in 2 among minorities!
* Some families simply don’t have the money to buy fruits and vegetables and when they find themselves with $10-$12 to feed a family of four, they head to the fast food joint because there is no way in hell that will ever happen if you buy healthy foods. My grocery bill is considerable because I mostly eat fruits, vegetables, organic milk, organic yogurt and mostly grain feed meats that are not fed meat by-products. This equation could be different if I had kids to feed and was part of a low income family or if I was a single mother trying to feed all her kids!
* A low income couple in the movie (they were Latinos) compared fruits to chips. This family that we were able to track was interviewed and the wife said that if you have little money to buy food, you might not be able to afford fruits while chips are in your price range. I was devastated … when did chips become food and it broke my heart to see and hear that some people cannot afford to eat fresh produce at all even if they know it’s way better for their health.
* The movie explains why there is all of a sudden a spike in e-coli and tainted beef cases in recent years … scary stuff.
* The corn industry in Mexico was shut down and over 1 million famers where put out of work because corn in America is over produced to keep the price dirt-cheap and Mexican farmers could no longer compete … one of the four big players in the food industry has hired many of these out of work farmers and have them working in America … the whole concept of illegal alien takes an interesting twist in the movie and really makes you think hard about who is really pulling the financial strings.
* I’m sure you’ll find the link between soybeans, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and Monsanto quite telling and quite scary.
* Once you see this film, it’s no surprise food companies have been lobbying to keep fat content and other telling details from the packaging … the best way to keep people oppressed is to keep them ignorant!
* Many people in powerful lobbying positions in American politics once worked for one of the major food conglomerate … so your interests are not top of mind because these front men and women are in Washington to advance the needs of companies that must in some way or another remunerate handsomely.
* Visit your farmers’ markets, especially during summer months and start eating local foods.
* Eat in season … you’ll end up with a better tasting produce!
>>> Food Inc is MUST SEE!
My message to you is quite simple, if you’ve not yet seen Food Inc., you should, no, you MUST go see the movie.
Once of the most important sentence in the movie is when Gary Hirshberg, the owner of Stony Field Farm Organic says:
“many consumers feel powerless and feel like they are forced to eat whatever the big companies put on the shells of supermarkets, but the reality is that you vote three times a day, so what you decide to buy will be heard loud and clear”.
I might have taken a few liberties, but that sums up what he said and that speaks volume!
The end of the movie is also very important, so don’t just jump up and leave the theatre. Food Inc provides a list of simple things people can do every day to change the way you see food and they decisions you make about what you will or will not buy.
I hope that Food Inc opens Americans’ consciousness and I hope people react and get more educated.
If I have to rate this movie, I’d have to give it a 5/5:
The second this movie comes out on DVD, I will buy it and view it many times because there were so many facts that I was not able to grasp simply because there was too much information I was unaware of. I also would recommend that you buy the DVD and sit down with your family to discuss some ways you can make changes in the way you eat to fit a healthier lifestyle and fit your food budget at the same time.
Remember that in the end, what you eat can contribute to your good health or rob your from good health … you choose!
I say YES to good health thanks to healthy eating habits!!!
You can go to the movie’s main site and sign a petition to support healthy food choices in schools: Food Inc Healthy Food Choices
>>> If you missed the original post for Food Inc, you can read it here:
If you missed the trailer you can watch it here: Food Inc documentary produced by Stonyfield Farm
>>> If you want to hear what Monsanto has to say about Food Inc, you can read it here: Monsanto on Food Inc
Photo by by tobybarnes
