Review: FOOD INC.
For those of us that read Eric Schlosser’s book Fast Food Nation when it came out a few years ago, most of the information presented in Food Inc. was not surprising.
Still, there is something very striking about the visuals provided in film that cannot be conveyed on the written page.
For this reason, I generally make it a point not to see animal cruelty movies. I’m well aware of the issues but if I see another cow that can’t stand up being kicked in the face I think I’m going to vomit.
For those that AREN’T aware of these issues, though, or those of us in America that don’t know how our food is over manufactured and over processed and why high fructose corn syrup and soy is in 90% of what we eat, then this is a good movie to watch. Very good and very important.
I’ve said this before with vehicle selection, clothing selection and food selection… we vote with how we spend money. And if we keep buying crappy food the government will keep subsidizing crappy food sources and production.
Expensive? Yes. And they admit that in the film.
Honestly, I used to go to farmer’s markets and co-ops to find food deals and now that it’s trendy, it seems to be super-expensive.
Here’s one thing they didn’t mention in the film… And I know about this because I’m always looking for clean ways to eat and healthy food sources:
Weston A. Price Foundation (http://www.westonaprice.org/) has been been teaching about nourishing food sources for years. Well, since the 30’s I believe, when Dr. Price, a dentist, started to notice tooth decay in Americans more frequently. He tied the increasing cases of decay and crooked teeth with the malnourishment that was caused by his patients consuming industrialized food (a new thing in the 1930’s).
Anyway, he sought to find foods that societies were eating that had not been touched by industrialization. Many of these societies had straight, healthy, decay-free teeth (though they never brushed), healthy bodies and longevity.
In this age, some of the foods suggested are quite expensive (salmon roe), some are illegal (stupidly) in most states in the U.S. (raw milk), but some are very reasonably priced (liver), or might take a bit of effort but once you get set up are reasonably priced (homemade kombucha, kefir sodas, fermenting veggies, etc).
But I sort of got on a different tangent. My point is Food Inc. is a good movie with important information, especially if you are unfamiliar with the methods of American food production.
My second point was less about the movie than that they should have added the point that many of the foods that are banned or considered unhealthy (or un-trendy) today (coconut oil, liver, sauerkraut, raw milk, etc) are actually quite good for you and you can find good deals on these products if you know where to look. Check out http://www.westonaprice.org/ for more info.
