I'm going to hop on my soap box here for a minute, so if you're not in the mood to hear me ramble, or to think for a minute, switch on over to some other mindless website now.
Yesterday after work I stopped by the Tuesday farmer's market a couple of blocks from my office. I'm becoming friends with the family who owns the farm that will be supplying my produce later this season. They are a wonderful couple, and in addition to crops, they also raise several types of livestock and sell meat at the market each week. I've been buying meat from them for a few months now.
So the farmers have been spreading the word about an upcoming event at their church. They are having a pot luck and will be viewing the 2010 Academy Award winning film for best documentary,"Food, Inc.". "Food Inc." is the film that was being discussed on Oprah a few months back. The one that showed the steroid-filled chickens who were unable to walk due to their enormous, hormone induced weight. They just lay there on their backs, unable to move. The film that ultimately drove me to seek out the farmers in the first place.
Conversation at the market between Farmer Packard and a consumer, obviously someone he knew, at least a little:
Consumer: "I just don't think I want to see the movie.
Farmer: "You need to see it. Everyone needs to see it."
Consumer: "I'm afraid I'll cry."
Farmer: "I cried."
Consumer: "What? I just don't think I want to see it."
Farmer: "If you are going to continue to purchase mass produced meat from the grocery store, you owe it to yourself to watch the film. You need to see how that meat gets to your super market. If anything is going to change, everyone needs to see this film."
Mind you, the burly farmer didn't cry because he's an animal activist or a vegetarian. He's quite the carnivore. He raises animals and sends them to market; but he does it the right way. He was emotional because the methods used to grow and process meat at the mega farms responsible for the majority of meat in America are almost unbelievable. He wants people to see the film because he believes the two men who made it can make a difference if they are able to reach enough people. The idea isn't to stop people from eating meat, it's to change the way meat gets to your plate.
After I mentioned this film here in "Detach" a few months back, my friend and faithful reader Sally went out and bought a copy, and viewed it with her two children. It has changed the way they buy meat; particularly pork. I haven't gotten the nerve to watch the film yet, but I've decided to put it in my Netflix queue and will watch it very soon. If anyone feels brave enough to watch it with me, come on over. Or, I'll let you borrow it to watch with your own families. I challenge all my readers and all my friends to watch this film. Then, form your own opinion.
While I'm on this subject, please take a moment to learn about Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution; a program to get fat, unhealthy, chemical filled processed foods out of American schools and replace them with healthy, fresh foods like we had in our school cafeterias back in the day. Real food, prepared fresh. For those of you who don't currently have kids in school, are you aware that our American schools have kitchens full of wonderful cooking equipment that the cooks are no longer permitted to use? I ask every one of you to sign Jamie Oliver's petition to the U.S. Congress. This is another very large, but reversible problem that needs immediate attention.
Okay....hoping down now. If you managed to made it this far, thanks for listening.
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