Sunday, January 24, 2010

Movie Review: Food Inc.

This is sort of a different kind of movie for us, really more of a documentary. We watched on instant play on Netflix, so it didn't cost anything other than time. As I expected, it was littered with lots of liberal potshots, corporations are evil, George W. Bush is evil, Clarence Thomas is evil. It wasn’t as bad as some hatchet job documentaries but it had it’s moments. They kept flashing on the screen that Monsanto or Tyson declined an interview for this film. Well duh, a corporation is not going to knowingly go on camera for a hostile interview that is almost certainly going to be spun as negatively as possible.

Here is the thing. Most of what the movie said is true. The causes, conclusion and solutions maybe not, but the facts are pretty accurate. Most people would be a little disturbed to see how the food on the table got into the box they opened for dinner. Companies like Monsanto are not evil, but they are “for-profit” companies. That means that their primary concerns is…wait for it…profit. If Monsanto sinks untold millions into developing Round-Up resistant soybean seeds, you can rest assured that they are going to jealously protect that technology. If they didn’t, the board would boot management out and rightly so. Chickens, hogs and cattle are raised in highly efficient and confined systems to cram as much meat on them as quickly, uniformly and cheaply as possible. Most of the food in your grocery store that is affordable is also horrible for you, featuring loads and loads of sugars and starches which quickly turn into fat in our sedentary lifestyle. Likewise, it is probably cheaper to get a couple of items off the dollar menu at Burger King than it is to buy decent food and make a meal (plus it is a whole lot more convenient and quicker) in large part because our genius public servants in Congress constantly tinker around with the food production process and we end up paying farmers to not farm, importing apple juice from China and producing too much of some types of food and not enough of others.

So clearly there are some troubling issues in our food production system, issues most people have no idea about and frankly don’t care. All they know is that they want cheap food in convenient packages, they want fresh fruit and vegetables way out of the normal growing season, they want milk that is homogenized and less than $3/gallon and eggs for less than a buck a dozen. There are profit driven decisions, bad public policies at the federal level, razor thin margins that all but force production farms into bigger and bigger conglomerates that wipe out smaller family farms that cannot compete with these massive farms head to head.

The solution is somewhat more problematic. Merely saying “buy organic” isn’t going to solve the problem. Most of the organic food brands you see on the shelf at grocery stores are owned by one of the huge food conglomerates and they will find a way to cut costs. More of an issue is our lifestyle. There are two big stumbling blocks here.

The first is that as Americans cluster near urban areas, the ability to raise your own food is negligible. Most Americans have virtually no idea how the food they eat gets to their plate and frankly barely cares. In the event of a catastrophic interruption to our food system, lots of people would be completely lost and likely starve to death when they ran out of Kraft Dinner and Doritos.

The second is the bigger issue and it was completely glossed over in the movie. Our very way of life in 2010 precludes most people from even thinking about eating better. We have built an economy that is driven by both parents working. Along with our insanely busy lifestyles and constant entertainment, most people at least perceive that they don't have time to prepare food. What they want is cheap and easy and that is what businesses provide (because again, they are in this for profit and profit means giving consumers what they want). American society revolves around earning and consuming. We work, typically both parents working, to earn and we earn almost exclusively to consume. How in the world is a family supposed to have healthy meals when no one is home during the day? It takes me about 20 minutes to make a meal if it consists of prepared foods that I essentially heat up. If I am going to actually make a meal that requires real cooking, it takes an hour or more. I am fortunate that even though I am feeding ten people at each meal, my wife is home when I get home and I rarely get home later than 5:05. Even still we eat lots of convenience foods.

So what do we do about it? I guess we can keep eating mass-produced food. I don't have a moral qualm about that, at least from an "animal rights" standpoint. I do have concerns about it from a health standpoint. Eating lots of sugars and starches is just not good for us. We consume a ton of sugar as a family. Perhaps literally a ton. Add in all of the sweeteners in foods and the family history of diabetes on my wife's side and we are walking down the road to family gatherings revolving around shots of insulin. I am sure we would all be healthier in the long run and feel better in the short run if we got some of the junk foods and sugars out of our diet.

I would like to see us raise more of our own food as a family, because it is healthier and the process of raising food is a good character builder for the kids (and the adults!). I am not sure how to do that in the affluent suburbs we live in but that is a different issue. The moral of the story is that corporations are not evil and hogs long to dance in the fields like a scene from The Sound of Music. The moral of the story is that food, one of the basic necessities in life, doesn't magically appear in the store. Cattle ranchers don't raise meat in Styrofoam and shrink wrap. they raise cattle. We all need to pay attention to what we eat and what we feed to our families. If you think the government is a) supposed to and b) capable of guarding the food system, you are fooling yourself. They only person who can do that is you and doing so may require that you reevaluate your lifestyle. I would encourage you to watch Food Inc. if you have Netflix or can get it from the library, keeping in mind the political motivations behind it but also paying attention to the reality of how your feed your family. If nothing else, it got us thinking and that is always a good result.

(By the way, I don't really see this as a Biblical issue. There is nothing particularly righteous about eating one kind of food over another or in living an agrarian lifestyle. I do think that there are lots of benefits that come along with healthier living and an agrarian lifestyle, but that doesn't mean that someone who lives in the country is more faithful than someone who lives in the city)

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8 comments:

Anonymous said...

We also watched it recently as a Netflix download. I actually started a free trial with Netflix JUST so I could watch it. :)

I like to think that we're smart enough to see through the political agenda in the movie and try to glean the good information there (and that's a good skill to have if you plan on seeing Avatar, by the way). So we kind of ignored the parts we didn't agree with, and really payed attention to the things we did.

I will say that I didn't really think of it when I watched the movie, but I really agree with what you said about the two working adult household. Obviously you know I agree with it anyway, but I haven't really thought about it much from a health perspective. Some people might think I don't do a whole lot during my day at home because we don't have kids, but a *large* chunk of my time is spent on food--planning meals, making grocery lists and doing the shopping, researching food issues, preparing healthy meals--it takes a lot of time. I (and Randy) believe it's a very good use of my time, but I can't imagine working full time and doing all that. I think back to the way we ate when I worked full time compared to the way we eat now, and they're quite different.

I think my only disagreement with you would be whether or not this is a Biblical issue. I absolutely don't think eating organic food makes you more holy. In fact, that's something I really have to keep myself in check on--looking down on people who eat dinner in a box. So actually, one could make the case that that's a Biblical issue--the temptation to view ourselves as more highly esteemed than we should. But what I was actually thinking is that Adam was given the mandate in the garden to rule over and care for the animals. I am no vegetarian, for sure. But I think there are humane ways of dealing with animals, and there are cruel ways of dealing with animals. I'm willing to admit, though, that I may not be able to support that biblically--I'll have to look into it. Just my two cents.

Arthur Sido said...

April,

I think we should be humane to animals as well but it is also true that if consumers wants cheap eggs, they are going to get them from chickens in confinement. If they want cheap pork, same thing for hogs. You get much better eggs from chickens that are farm raised and able to wander around a bit but most people aren't going to do that for a variety of reasons so what they are left with is factory farmed eggs that have weak, pale yolks but are cheap.

(We are not planning on seeing Avatar, I can only set political overtones aside so much! Same reason I can't watch most of the Baldwin brothers in movies)

Anonymous said...

I had not planned on seeing Avatar, but I told my dad I'd take him to see a movie for his birthday, and that's what he wanted to see. I will say that it was visually spectacular, and the overall plot wasn't terrible. But the villains were such over-the-top caricatures of what they represented (the military, corporate greed, etc.), that I was completely unable to suspend disbelief, and honestly, my intelligence was a little insulted.

Unknown said...

:o)
I guess I have to disagree about it not being Biblical in nature, cause in a way it is.

There is a verse ( drawing a blank on reference at the moment) that talks about how in the latter days, the world will call the foods that God called good, bad.
He created real foods for us, and called them good, and for us as Believers to follow that worlds standard, in shunning real butter, eggs, and meat, calling them bad for our health, we are mocking God if we follow that mindset.

We reinforce the worlds ways, as long as we keep buying the worlds idea of food.
And it is literally killing us.

Food Inc does have an agenda for the green and organic movement.
I do appreciate that it is out there though ;o)

A better one to watch that is easier on the eyes, and truly shows the good side of real farms, is "Fresh the movie"
They focus on Joel Salatins farm ( he is a believer, and he does not hide it!) and show how anyone can "mimic nature" or Gods design for animal husbandry.

A favorite book that I love to encourage people to read, is Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, by Weston A Price.
You can read it online.
Also, look up Pottengers Cats.
He proved what would happen after 3 generations of eating bad food.
I am living that 3rd generation. Unable to reproduce.
Infetility rates are 1 in 3 now, and Pottenger proved that this would happen if we kept up with the processed foods in our diet.

OK, I get long winded on thsi subject, LOL!
Paula

Debbie said...

I haven't seen the movie, but I'm sure in favor of eating food that is minimally refined/processed. I also like the idea of buying as much as possible from local producers, which both supports local (small) farms and is fresher, less processed, etc.

For me, the biggest struggle is trying to have healthy food vs. having affordable food. I'd love to buy fresh beef from a local farmer I know, but I can't afford it. Same with raising our own pig and chickens (for eggs). I looked into the cost of doing that, and found out that it's cheaper to buy eggs and pork at the store. Since we're barely making ends meet as it is, I can't opt for the healthier, more expensive stuff. At least I have the garden. Along with being healthier and cheaper, homegrown and canned/frozen food brings a real sense of satisfaction.

PS Arthur, growing veggies doesn't take much space. You would just have to start eating what you grow.... ;)

Arthur Sido said...

Debbie,

That is the problem. It is WAAAAY cheaper to buy bread, eggs, meat, veggies, etc from a store than raise it yourself. Seriously, a loaf of white bread is less than a buck. Make it yourself and you are talking about hours of prep and baking time.

(BTW, I will eat veggies as will the two older ones, it is the rest of the family that is the problem!)

Debbie said...

I thought the aversion to veggies was family-wide. Sorry! That makes it easier, though. If you can plant some things and involve the kids in caring for it, they're more likely to try eating some of the produce. Especially the littles.... give'em just-picked peas and watch them gobble them down!

Bean said...

Comment on making your own bread:, We make all of ours and have for years. It does take time, 5 minutes to mix, ten minutes to knead, do some chores while dough rises, shape loaves, do whatever else is going on around the house for an hour or so, then bake. A 5lb bag of bread flour costs a little over $2, it will make 5 loaves of bread, the homemade bread has natural ingredients in it, no preservatives, and is a robust, tasty loaf, it can NOT be compared to the less than a dollar mushy tasteless white stuff they pass off for bread in the store. And such satisfaction is felt when the bread is finished, and it is an enjoyable process, my husband frequently does the baking, he finds the kneading process relaxing, as does my Dad who also bakes all of his own bread.
We are for the first time raising our own beef, I like our steer, and it is hard to think about the reality that we will have him butchered and in the freezer this summer.
We have kept chickens for eggs for years. Once in a blue moon I purchase store bought eggs, I am always shocked at how pale the yolk is compared to the eggs our girls produce.
We have grown a large garden and can/freeze most of our produce, and donate overages to the soup kitchen.
All in all, it is hard work keeping a garden, preserving the food, feeding/tending to animals/poultry, baking/cooking from scratch - BUT, and it is a big BUT - we know where our food comes from, we spend very little at the grocery, and we have a great satisfaction enjoying the fruits of our labor.