In America, it’s too easy to be disconnected from food and what’s healthy. We all wince at the price of organics. Food Inc. is a documentary that helps you to realize that organics are worth it. We all need to learn more about what’s happening as large corporations crowd out independent farmers.
Corn products are found in everything from Coke to fast food. Cows are meant to eat grass and they are learning to eat corn. If cattle were fed grass for even 5 days, they would naturally shed E Coli bacteria. Even farm fed fish are learning to eat corn. Corn is part of a “food system that is skewed to cheap, bad calories.” One in three of everyone born in the year 2000 and after will have diabetes. Watching this movie makes you realize we are completely “ignorant about something as intimate as food.”
There are too many political connections, of those who worked at high levels in food corporations, who now are on the Supreme Court and in Congress. In 1972 the FDA had 50,000 food safety inspections. In 2006 there were only 9,164.
Food offers a great deal of comfort in our hectic lives. Not having time to cook our own meals is a leading contribution to obesity. It’s easy to eat cheap fast foods, and they can be cheap because of meat fillers.
I have gone to and supported farmers markets since I was a little girl and bought the handmade Barbie dresses for 50 cents, which was way cheaper than store-bought. I loved the colors of the vegetables piled up and the rough hands of the farmers as they piled produce in bags. My Mom brought in her egg cartons to reuse and it was always appreciated. I respect the hard, honest work that farmers do. In Pittsburgh we’re lucky to have a farmer’s market every day of the week except Sunday. Knowing where our food comes from matters.
So many small things can make such a difference in having good food. Don’t refrigerate tomatoes – it kills their flavor. Using fresh herbs makes such a difference. Take time to read labels and be wary when the first or second ingredient is high fructose corn syrup. Take time to cook because what we eat says a lot about who we are.
