have you seen food inc. yet?
Ok, if you haven't seen this film, it's so insanely important that you do! This is the movie to show your resistant family members or friends, because even if they don't go veggie, I think it will make them hear you differently and better understand your choices. In fact, the film is geared toward meat eaters - it's really not a veggie film at all. And I think that is what will get your average person to hear the important facts about the food industry.
I mean, I'm hysterical right now over a few things! First, every time there is a recall on meat, how on Earth don't people go crazy? One segment of the film tells the absolutely heartbreaking story of a two-year-old named Kevin Kowalcyk who died after eating hamburger meat tainted with E-coli. His mother and grandmother are now activists who are lobbying Congress to pass Kevin's Law (HR 3160), a proposal that would allow the USDA to close down facilities that produce contaminated meat. Kevin's Law was introduced in the 109th Congress and has been sitting in committee since 2005! This is insane! We need to lobby our representatives to get this bill passed. You can find your representatives and contact them here.
Another infuriating issue is that Kevin's mom is prohibited from speaking about certain aspects of her experience, such as what she feeds her family now. How is that possible in a country founded on the principle of free speech?
It also breaks my heart that every time there is a recall, all of the animals who suffered horrible lives get thrown away. What a waste! Mass slaughter for nothing. And it seems like recalls happen regularly. Don't people get the message? Animal flesh-based food is not safe! It's unbelievably sad that each year, 5,000 Americans die from food-borne illnesses.
I am also hysterical over the issue of genetically modified seeds and the persecution of farmers who try not to use them. The corporation Monsanto is particularly culpable here. They behave like thugs, going after farmers who try to plant their own seeds and threatening them with lawsuits. Monsanto has somehow succeeding in making it illegal for farmers to collect their own seeds - thereby forcing farmers to buy Monsanto's seeds. The resulting lawsuits have ruined the lives of some farmers - a David and Goliath scenario where the little guy loses every time. I wonder if I can even criticize Monsanto without being sued!
The website organicconsumers.org helps to raise awareness about the unethical practices of Monsanto. We can also ask our representatives not to accept campaign contributions from Monsanto. And as consumers, we can be sure to avoid buying Monsanto's genetically modified foods by always choosing organic.
There is an organic farmer in the film who raises animals for meat, but in more humane, natural conditions. He also refuses to ship his meat - people have to come to him to buy it. While I appreciate what he is doing, and I would take his approach over factory farming any day, it still makes me sad that these animals are killed for food. Especially since the chickens were crying so much as they witnessed each other being killed, as they were being put into the killing cone..I bet if everyone had to kill the animals they ate, most of them would think twice about eating meat. Even when raised in humane conditions, the animals suffer and are betrayed in the end. My point is that animals know exactly what's happening in front of them and they're terrified. On top of that, the environment still suffers from organic farming - maybe a little less, but it still makes a large impact (see page 22 of The Kind Diet).
Buy Food Inc. as Christmas presents for everyone! It's not too gruesome or hard to watch. Being one who has horrible images in my head over the years from watching slaughterhouse footage, I find this film to be super mild. Even so, it's very powerful and informative - it's a must-see!
So please, get everyone you know to see this film! And make sure they get everyone they know to see the film. Let's take down Monsanto and get Kevin's Law passed.
52 comments
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I finally saw this film the other night. It's scary and sad and there are so many things that are intolerable in the meat-food industry. The way that chickens are raised in the US is disgusting (I am inclined to point out, however, that Canadian standards of poultry raising are completely different and 100% better - check out www.chicken.ca for more info - as Canadians have very strict biosecurity, On-Farm Food Safety Programs and Animal Care Program and Welfare Standards to follow and abide by). And the sight of those poor cows and pigs was too much.
And poor Kevin and his family. What a horribly sad situation - and unfortunately it happens well too often. And Alicia is right...how awful is it that so many animals died to be food that has been recalled. What a waste of beautiful life.
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Hello Everyone,
I'm new to all of this and I'm excited to be part of this group and I still have so much to learn. There is another movie called "InGREEDients" http://www.ingreedientsmovie.com/ that is also an indie film and its about the food industry and all the horrible things people consume. I saw it and thought it was a good movie. I now need to watch Food Inc!
I wanted to add to Terrence L post, I'm an independent filmmaker and the sad thing is that we can make a great movie but unless we have millions of dollars to advertise (case in point Tron, couldn't go anywhere without seeing some add for it and the besides the special effects the movie was ok). Its hard enough to get money to make a good movie, let alone have money to market it and promote it. Its a vicious cycle and its sad that great indie movies go without being seen by the mass.
Thanks for your time! :-)
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Hi Alicia,
This is irrelevant to Food Inc. (although I did enjoy the movie). I would love for you to do a post on foods that may seem vegetarian and harmless but have secret hidden ingredients. For example, I never knew that french onion soup had beef stock in it (in most recipes), that refried beans were not vegetarian and that risotto recipes often call for chicken stock. Could you put together a list of tricky foods to be aware of?
Thanks for all of the support and information. You rock!
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I read Alicia's The Kind Diet book and saw Food Inc in the same weekend. The experience literally changed my life! I had been flirting with being a vegetarian for about a year, but after that weekend I have been full-blown vegan ever since. Both the book and the film were very powerful - I recommend both to anyone who will listen!
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As we know,everything wrong with with our food industry comes down to money. Animal cruelty is overlooked for the sake of profit, so we naturally gravitate towards animal processing plants (as we should) to vent our frustrations and get graphic videos in the hopes of changing the way folks think about the food they eat and the associated effect on our planet. However, I feel we're missing an important target in our endeavors....banks. Yes, banks! Think about it... The movie points out that the average chicken farmer makes about $18,000 a year but has typically amassed over $500,000 in bank debt to continue their operations. Who's loaning them this money??? Banks don't loan money (especially these days!) unless they feel they're going to get it back...and then some! Even spread over a 25yr span, that's borrowing $20,000/yr on a $18,000/yr income. Ladies and gentleman, that's simply not going to happen unless someone (animal processing corporations??) is guaranteeing these loans. Sooooo, while the farmers may be prohibited from showing us the insides of their operations, finding out who is loaning them this money is much easier to do while maintaining the farmers anonymity. Again, as the movie points out, we get to vote with every food purchase we make, so it makes sense that we also get to vote with every bank transaction. Do that, remove our business from those banks, and we may just have found a new path we can follow towards the goal we all want so badly....a healthy us and planet on it's way to recovery.
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Seeing this movie is the reason I was influenced to purchase your book. I have been flirting ever since!
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My husband and I watched Food Inc a few weeks ago. I cried. A lot. The story about the little boy who died from eating a hamburger really got to me the most. My parents ask me all the time if they can take my kids out for fast food. I always say no. I get stressed out enough over my kids eating non organic peanut butter when they're at my parents, let alone fast food! I got my mom to watch Food Inc and afterwards she told me I was doing the right thing for my kids and she wasn't going to pressure me anymore about meat, fast food or how much money we're "wasting" on organic food.
I think this is such an important documentary. Even people who aren't ready to go veggie can see how messed up the food industry is and make better choices on the kids of meat, dairy and processed foods they buy. That's a big step in the right direction. I'm suggesting this film to everyone I know!
http://vegetarianwhohatestofu.blogspot.com/
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I watched this movie at the beginning of the year, and Kevin's story affected me deeply. It put me in tears and having a infant baby it really made me think about what he was going to eat when the time came. My husband eats meat and cut down a lot after this movie. I don't, so we decided to not feed our baby meat either and started shopping organic for us whenever possible. I'm so glad I watched this, I ordered it for my parents last month as a gift for the holidays. I can't wait for them to watch it, maybe it will inspire them to make a change too.
Heidi O-you can get King Corn from Netflix.
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That movie has me grossed out to this day! I can't believe that people can watch this movie and still eat at McD's. As for the Monsanto thing, I totally agree with Alicia - it's just awful that Monsanto has been able to succeed at getting natural, organic foods out of our land and replacing the whole foods with genetically engineered CRAP!
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I totally agree with you - this is such an important film to see, and to force others that are visiting your home to watch ;)
I also wanted to add that I saw a preview for King Corn, but have not been able to locate it!
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I bought the dvd 8 month ago and since then I have passed it along to 6 different people to watch. They definitely created a unique film here by not being too "extreme" with harsh footage. It is extremely compelling without being overbearing. I'm so glad you posted about this Alicia! Such a fantastic gift idea indeed.
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I absolutely love that they made this documentary. My boyfriend is not vegetarian but he does eat lots of vegan food with me. After seeing this though he eats even less meat then before & wont buy anything non organic.
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My philosophy is everyone should watch this movie, whether they eat meat or not! It is an awesome movie and I love it.
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I watched this, was super hysterical and outraged, spoke to other people who felt the same and then felt like nothing was changing. What can be done? How can this movie come out and nothing change? Where is the outrage and outcry from the public forcing change in our government? Really makes me upset that we are not more up-in-arms over this as a Nation!
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The real horror of Food Inc is the government's hand in the genetic modification and industrialization of nearly ALL of our food. Even organic food is messed with. Even if your seedless grapes are organic, they are grown from a genetically modified seed!
Growing and raising your own food is a wonderful notion, but there are so few heirloom varieties and breeds surviving that our best efforts are still thwarted. By no means does this mean we should bow to the corporate greed (that is government-sponsored), but we have to realize that outright activism is required in order to get the corporations and the government to listen and to change.
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I was watching Oprah one day and she had Alicia via Skype and the director of Food Inc. This is what changed my life!!!! That one Oprah show...
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You are so right - this film is so important and needs to be seen. I'd also like to recommend the new documentary "Forks Over Knives" as very informative and motivational. I believe it won't be in wide release until February or March 2011, but they are doing advance screenings all over the country (I saw it at a local library here in South Florida). It's very much about the health and science aspect of eating a vegan diet without so much of the emotional pull that Food Inc. also has. Skeptics will find it hard to argue with this one. They have a Facebook page and a website www.ForksOverKnives.com.
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This movie is what inspired me to start living a kind life!! So weird that you posted it today! About two weeks ago I had a woman come into the bar where I work and she said she recently became vegan and mentioned your book to me. I had dabbled in becoming vegetarian before but never stuck to it. Then a couple days later, after a weekend away and eating tons of nasty foods, my boyfriend and I watched FOOD INC and that was it!! I went right online and found this website and ordered your book. I read it in about 2 days and haven't had meat or dairy (yet, christmas is looming), I've found a great health food store out in the sticks of CT and I am SO SO SOOOO excited!!! I feel like this is truely the start of a new, kinder chapter in my life:)
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May the Lord open the eyes of those who poison the Earth, & show them that money cannot be eaten.
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I basically agree with everything you say in this post Alicia, it is a lot of how I feel about things. I do feel that farms where animals are raised humanely and killed there and everything are really pretty awesome.
I don't eat meat of course but I know there are millions who do and will always but if they all got it from places like that the world would be much better. Of course I would prefer no animal dying though :)
As for Monsanto.. they drive my crazy with anger, they are bullies and it is sick. I try not to buy anything their product is used on but it is on almost everything, it is terrible... ARRGH.
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I posted on my blog about this movie when I watched it back in June. I was sick about the Monsanto thing too.
http://journalofawannabefoodie.blogspot.com/2010/06/food-inc.html
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Does anyone else wonder what happened to the activism that spurred changes in the meat industry after The Jungle was published? . . . Anyone?
There have been times when people have become so much more outraged when they found the government wasn't doing what they thought it should be doing in terms of protecting health from industry. Now, people generally seem to think the government does protect us in the food arena, even though they'll rail about a lot of other things. It seems paradoxical to me, but maybe that's just me.
(Interesting side note about Polyface farms - according to the book Eating Animals, the guy who owns Polyface - who I do respect for a lot of reasons - still raises the genetecially modified turkeys. There is, I believe, only one farmer in the country who raises heirloom, not genetically altered, turkeys - who can actually still 'fly')
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I am a graduate student currently studying biology, public health, and infectious disease. Foodborne illnesses are a huge problem in the United States and tend to be under reported as many of the symptoms of food borne illness mimic other diseases so the actual degree of the impact of food borne illness remains unknown. Many children died from Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, or HUS, a condition which is secondary to E. coli O157:H7. Although the largest outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 was caused by undercooked meat at a fast food chain, this pathogen can also harbor in other foods such as spinach, yogurt, chocolate, unpasteurized milk, and alfalfa sprouts. The best way to protect yourself and your children is to ALWAYS cook meat, eggs, fish, shellfish, oysters, clams, mussels, and scallops thoroughly, avoid consuming unpasteurized milk, cheeses, and juices, and to always bring soups, sauces, and gravies to a boil if you are reheating these items. As a side note, the poor regulation of beef in the United States has caused many other industrialized nations to reject beef exports from the USA. Something to wet your appetite if your still eating red meat!!!
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