If You Eat Food, You Need to Watch Food, Inc.

This past Friday I finally got a chance to see the eye-opening documentary, Food, Inc., which takes a critical look at modern-day, large-scale food production in America. I found it to be fascinating, educational, and downright scary, even if a bit one-sided. (Granted, it appears that the filmmakers invited the likes of Tyson's, Smithfield, and Monsanto to be interviewed for the film but they apparently declined.) I think Tom Long from the Detriot News sums up the film the best: "If you are what you eat, we are mostly genetically modified, poorly regulated, unhealthy meat byproducts generating profits for a few gargantuan corporations."

One of the most fascinating facts I learned has to do with how the production of meat can literally kill us. To fully understand how this can happen, I must start with the story on corn. Corn is heavily subsidized by the government (thanks to lobbying by the big guys) and are thus overproduced. (This point is also discussed in The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, who plays a significant role in the film.) Because corn is so abundant and cheap, it can be found in pretty much everything you see in the supermarket, from soft drinks and pills to baby diapers and batteries (yes, batteries!). Corn, per se, is not a problem (unless you consume too much of it, as it is packed with calories). However, farmers are motivated to feed corn to cows, pigs, chicken...even fish, even though none of these animals evolved to feed on corn. They do this not only because corn is cheap, but also because corn can fatten the animals much faster than, say, grass can. Now what's the problem with that, you ask? The problem is E. coli O157:H7 - the strain that kills. Turns out corn can cause stomach acidity which helps breed E. coli O157:H7. And because livestock from these big corporation-controlled farms are standing all day long in manure, if one cow has the deadly E. coli, others will get it. And because there are only thirteen slaughter houses (or more like factories) in all of United States processing tens of thousands of cattle per day, one can see how a single cow with E. coli can easily contaminate beef sold to half the country. Obviously, it would be a bad idea to allow our beef to be contaminated by E. coli. The solution? Kill it with ammonia-based meat fillers. Yes, that's what is routinely done and that what you're eating with your hamburger. (Ironically, I had a burger just before watching this film...probably won't be eating that again for a while!) According to the film, there's an easy fix: if cows are fed grass for even five days, they will shed 80% of that E. coli. But as long as the big guys are in control, that will not likely change for a while.

Another interesting (and sad) tidbit I learned has to do with the horrible conditions under which livestock is raised. I mean, I knew about chickens being cooped up in barely any space and stuff of that sort, but what I didn't know was that the large corporations are essentially forcing farmers to raise livestock faster and bigger. In the case of poultry, because consumers like chicken breast, chickens are genetically modified to have monstrous breasts. As a result, chickens are now growing more meat in less time...but their bones aren't catching up. It's like a toddler carrying 100 lbs worth of meat. So you've got chickens that are basically crippled because they can't take a few steps before falling and breaking a bone or two. It is absolutely horrifying to see.

I will share one more intriguing point here, and it has to do with illegal immigration. Large meat factories don't want to pay or treat their workers very well, so they actively recruit cheap labor from Mexico, many of whom end up working in the US illegally. In recent years, as the government cracks down on illegal immigration, it's not the big corporations that get into trouble; it's the hardworking laborers who have spent the past 10 or 15 years packaging that steak you just ate last night and that turkey you're having this Thanksgiving. I just find this so ironic because all the people who get so worked up about illegal immigration are really contributing to the problem in the first place because of their demand for cheap meat!

Well, there is much more to the film, but I'll let you see it for yourself. Like any good persuasive message that relies on arousing fear, Food, Inc. ends by telling consumers what you can do to ensure the food you eat is safe and not causing any animal, human, or environmental suffering. It turns out that consumers have a lot of power in determining what is sold in the supermarket aisles. One example given in the film is Walmart, which recently stopped selling milk that came from cows treated with recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) solely due to consumer demand. If we can change the world's largest public corporation, we can change a whole lot more. Some simple steps you can take as a consumer include buying organic when possible, shopping at farmer's markets, growing your own garden (even a small one), and reading labels carefully to understand what is in your food. We care about the clothes we put on the outside of our bodies; why should we care any less about what we're putting inside?