Well...I finally sat down and watched "Food, Inc" last night, in it's entirety. I don't know what to say except "WOW". Now I know why the farmers are holding showings of it at their churches. Now I know why someone gave a copy to everyone they know as a Christmas gift. Now I know why it won an Oscar for Best Documentary. It's unbelievable. And I'm not just talking about the way animals are treated, or the way the meat is processed. This is much, much, MUCH bigger than that. This is about the way our government is supporting huge meat companies. Many high profile politicians are serving on the boards at these companies. It's about the way farmers are being strong-armed into going against what they believe, or go out of business. It's about our government allowing private companies to own patents to crops!!!! Can you imagine the implications of that??? That was probably the scariest part of the entire film for me. That decision is now impacting countries all over the world.
This film made me afraid for the article I recently wrote about the "big pork company". So afraid, I went back to that article and removed the name of the company so it can't be located by search engines. You see, our government allows food producers to sue people if they speak out against what's going on. They did it to Oprah when she spoke up a few years ago about Mad Cow Disease and commercially produced ground beef. They do it to individuals, even if they know they can't win, just to send a message.
I don't know what else to say except the American public is walking around with blinders on, and it's frightening. We are supporting and encouraging this to get worse and worse because we have no clue where our food is coming from or what's in it. We don't care as long as it's Cheap and Convenient. But I'll tell you right now....we'd better start caring.
Our government is famous for implementing programs that start out with good intentions, and then go terribly wrong. That's exactly what has happened in this case.
This film made me appreciate my farmer friends that much more. I applaud the farmers that were brave enough to risk everything by speaking up about what's happening to them. Some of their stories broke my heart. Particularly the elderly farmer who's life-long friends got scared from the pressure and turned him in for "not complying".
I urge you to take an hour and a half to watch this film, then make up your own mind. The good news is, there's something we can do about it. We can send a message if we stop buying commercially produced meats. We absolutely MUST support our local farmers, and when we buy in the grocery store or at Walmart, buy organic.
On a related note, there was quite a bit of information in this documentary about Walmart, and I have to say it changed the way I feel about the store, at least a little bit. They are quite concerned about their image, and actually have the buying power to do some good by standing up against what's going on with our government and our farmers. They really do seem to be trying to get us out from underneath this trap we've allowed ourselves to be in.
So trust me on this one. Please watch the film, spread the word, and do your part.
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