Today we watched a movie called "Food, Inc." in class. It's a deep and honest look at how America's farms are industralized. I am going to talk about what I learned & saw in this movie.
We have learned that McDonalds is the biggest buyer of potatoes, pork, beef, and poultry. They changed the way fast food restaurants run, it's like a factory in the kitchen.
The top 4 companies that pack meat, Tyson, Swift, Cargill, and National Beef, control 80% of the beef sold in supermarkets today.
Chickens are raised in half the time and are twice the size than normal. They are raised in windowless houses called "tunnels" and never see the light of day for their short lives. They are fed hormones and antibiotics and can't even walk because they are too big. When a farmer spoke out, one who does use windows for her chickens, Perdue ended her contract because she wouldn't use a windowless house for her chickens.
We saw how corn is mass produced. It's in almost everything - food, drinks, diapers, etc. Cows are fed corn to make them fat and grow faster.
There was a touching true story about how a woman, Barbara Kowalck, became a advocate for food safety because her son, Kevin, died from EColi. She took her fight all the way to Washington D.C., and spoke to several politicians about her cause.
We learn how EColi is not only in ground beef, but it's in greens and other plants we eat. There are only 13 slaughter houses in the United States. They all have corn fed cattle coming through who are covered in their feces and it could get in our meat. If you feed a cow grass for 5 days, 80% of the EColi will go away. But the companies are not going to give the cows grass. Instead, they use ammonia and ammonia hydroxi in the filler to kill the EColi.
They show a family going to a fast food restaurant drive thru to eat because the fast food is cheaper than supermarket. They don't have time to cook and the burger they purchased is cheaper than the broccoli in the supermarket. The mom feels bad, but she is on a budget and she has no choice.
We look at "Polyface Farms" in Virginia and it's owner Joel Salatin. He states "Everything that is done in the industry is to make the meat bigger, fatter, and cheaper. Nobody is thinking about EColi, Diabetes, and the whole system." We look at how his cattle are grass and pasture raised. You can't help but notice how healthy and bright eyed they are. His chickens were clean and even the pigs looked good.
After we see that great farm, we see the depressing "Smithfield" slaughter house, it's the largest one in the country. They kill at least 32,000 pigs a day and use illegal immigrants for workers. They treat their workers just as bad as they treat the hogs.
From there we go to a Natural Products Expo and spend some time with the CEO of Stonyfield Farms. He talked about how he started small and now their organic products are in Walmart, of all places. He said they were like "David & Goalith" and how we need to be like Goalith. I disagree. In the Bible, David killed Goalith with one single stone in one shot. We got to be like David and use what God has given us to conquer this enemy of ours and this is to eat food the way God has intended it to be, natural.
Our last story is about how seeds are genetically modified and one company owns most of the soybeans in the United States. The company, Monsanto, is very intimidating and forceful to who does what with it seeds.
This was a very serious movie that I highly recommend for everybody to see. You will think twice about what and where you eat.
Louise
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