Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
How much do we really knowabout the food we buy at our local supermarkets and serve to our families?
In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, herbicide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won't go bad, but we also have new strains of E. coli—the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults.
Featuring interviews with such experts as Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto) along with forward thinking social entrepreneurs like Stonyfield's Gary Hirshberg and Polyface Farms' Joel Salatin, Food, Inc. reveals surprising—and often shocking truths—about what we eat, how it's produced, who we have become as a nation and where we are going from here.
I first heard about the small number of corporations that control the largest percentage of the production of our food in Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. It's the story of her family's quest to live off local food only (50 miles or less) for one full year, plus plenty of information about how our nation's food is currently produced.
It was hard to finish that book, because it was SO painful to read! Stories of large corporations patenting certain strains of seed - then forcing neighboring small farms to shut down, because pollen from the patented plants had drifted over to the small farm!
I am so grateful for the farmer's markets here, especially when I *know* the food is locally produced.
I am taking notes f/ all the wonderful info you each have posted! CharlotteGal - thanx for the book recommendation - and Mullman - for the feature film info (noticed I can see this online for small fee).
Saralee - don't know if I can catch the film at the theatre, but hope you will share some of the highlights w/ us. Thanx again for sharing the info w/ us!
I have been interested in food labeling for a long time and basically want to see what I am putting in my body and in the bodies of my children. When I moved from Europe I was used to seeing exactly what was in my food and of course it was labeled if it was genetically modified or genetically engineered as it is known here. Many supermarkets refused to carry gm foods so you kind of knew where you were on at least that type of food. When I moved here I was very surprised to find that this wasn't even required. I think everyone should be aware of what they are eating and then they can make their own decisions. Intensive farming has cause so many diseases in the past 30-40 years and we are enabling this by buying the biggest steak possible at the cheapest price. It really is no wonder that MRSA and the superbugs are rampant in our lives now as we all eat antibiotics all the time in our food. And growth hormones - why do we think bigger is better? Of course it's extremely hard (for me anyhow) to eat hormone free, gm free foods all the time but I do try to limit the exposure I have to these foods.
On a slightly different note, but still related to taking control of our health :
checkout Codex Alimentarius and get a glimpse at what is in store for our future.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
