You'll Never Look at Dinner the Same Way

Recently, I watched a documentary called Food, Inc. I highly recommend it to everybody! Please see it, it is now on DVD! When the movie arrived in my mailbox, I looked at the cover and it said, "You'll never look at dinner the same way." The movie closely follows the popular book the Omnivore's Dilemma, and rightly so. Would you change the way you eat if the curtain was raised and you were able to see into the factories and slaughter houses where much of our food is processed before arriving on our plates? Most of us would agree that our food looks and tastes delicious. So what's the problem?

The problem is our food is part of a large web of other moving parts. It comes from long distances, uses extensive amounts of oil and energy to produce, and the way it is grown and tended to is resource intensive thus causing adverse impacts to the environment. The food we eat is also heavily processed and affects our nation's health (obesity and diabetes are on the rise), the livestock on large industrial farms are often mistreated and raised inhumanely, and for those who work on the farms and in the factories (the immigrants responsible for getting our turkeys on the table this year) often pay the toll of long hours and dangerous work conditions.

As I watched Food, Inc. with my Dad recently, we just finished a scrumptous dinner, which consisted of a nice rotisserie chicken and a cobb salad courtesy of Costco. As we ate our meal and watched the movie, we both looked at each other feeling a twang of guilt. Our rotisserie chicken could of been one of the chickens featured in the movie! The chicken sandwiched in the middle of thousands in a Costco sized poultry farm unable to move from side to side and unable to stand and support itself because it was breed to produce more chicken meat then its small legs could handle.

The movie showcases several chicken farms throughout the country, the majority of which are like the one described above. Because there is such a controversy on how these farms are operated, the chickens never see the light of day (unlike the farm seen in the picture to your left) over the course of their lives, hidden instead by dark walls that keep inquisitive and judging eyes from looking in. The movie isn't meant to make us feel guilty, it will however. But more importantly it is made to educate and enlighten us. There is no question, I felt the guilt because I am a contributor to the problems inherent in our industrialized food system. It takes effort not to be. More than any other book I've read or conversations I've had, this movie did an excellent job of putting the problems of our food industry into perspective in a way that made me feel I had a role in changing it. As a consumer, I want to be part of the solution.

I went shopping today at Metropolitan Market in West Seattle. I was just going in for a couple things. I browsed through the regular array of store products, expecting to find the brands I am use to neatly stocked on the shelves. Yogurt was one of these items and it was on the top of my list. I went to the dairy isle and was pleasantly surprised, blown away really (I know I can get a bit crazed about these things), because I saw two local products that I had never seen before (Yogurt from Grace Harbor Farms- Custer, WA, half and half from Twin Brook Creamery- Lyndon, WA). It made me feel good to see them on the shelves because that meant there is a consumer demand for local products like these. Local grocery stores carrying local products is a positive step forward. There are many. Take your first step and see the movie.

In what ways are you becoming part of the solution?

And please, tell me what you you thought of the movie!?

Food, Inc: You'll Never Look at Dinner the Same Way

A new documentary called Food, Inc. out now exposes America's industrialized food system and its effect on our environment, health, economy and workers' rights. It takes the American consumer on a lively journey through our nation's food supply and how a handful of corporations often put profits ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. Experts such as Eric Schlosser (Author of Fast Food Nation) and Michael Pollan (Omnivores Dilemma, In Defense of Food) are interviewed in the movie. Working in the conservation field, I often hear doom and gloom stories about the future of the planet and how the affects of our human actions can and will have negative impacts on all aspects of life, including our own! It is therefore easy to become complacent about our everyday choices and ignore the larger impacts those choices have on the world, not only to the environment but our dependance on the environment and all the services it provides for us. As Americans we are blessed with abundance and with abundance comes responsibility. Our challenge is to recognize those things in our lives that we can change to make our impact lighter, which is a powerful way to contribute to opportunities for a quality of life for ALL to enjoy. (I'm getting off my soap box now). Time to go see the movie!