Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Food, Inc.



The movie's buzz was loud in the vegan, raw, macrobiotic communities months before it released nationwide. Links for Food Inc. were constantly popping up on my Facebook page from friends, practitioners, chefs, green activists, journalists, and businesses. If you've read or heard excerpts or synopses as I have of Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma, you will have some idea what this movie contains.

Viewing Food Inc. will literally open your mind's eye to the politics and corporate monopoly of the American food industry and to the abuse to animals and detriment of it all to your body. It is difficult to stomach, but what you are actually eating is even more difficult.

According to Food, Inc., "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" ...and it's happening with our government's consent.

Here are some highlights from the movie Food, Inc.:


  • Monsanto has patented "Roundup Ready" genetically engineered seeds that are made to do well with the herbicide, Roundup. If farmers save seed, a long-held farming practice of putting seeds aside from every crop to use again, Monsanto can sue them for violating the seed patents. Monsanto has won millions of dollars in lawsuits, literally changing the way farmers are allowed to farm.

  • Meat and poultry manufacturers have stringent regulations that require farmers to squeeze poultry or cattle into dark, cramped warehouses so that the animals can grow fat quickly. These animals are sick and can barely walk. They lie in their own feces and need antibiotics to make them healthy. Antibiotics that are now part of our meal when we eat non-organic meats.

  • Government regulations and farm subsidies have shifted our food supply from good calories to bad calories, like a proliferation of corn and soy. If you've ever wondered why fruits and vegetables are so much more expensive than processed foods, this is why. Subsidized crops like corn, wheat and soy are finding their way into so many foods as main ingredients, fillers or damaging sweeteners, like high fructose corn syrup. Subsidies make them much cheaper and poor families diets tend to suffer the most.

  • Cows are fed diets of corn, which is harmful to their natural digestive systems. The corn creates an acidic condition, when they require a neutral pH. This has caused harmful bacteria to thrive, particularly E. coli.
    An added tidbit : 95% of a McDonald's meal is corn products from the meat to the bun to the condiments to the corn syrup to the shake.

Food Inc. does offer great suggestions and hope for what you can do to change the way you eat AND the way our nation eats.

What are some changes that don't include creating a farm in your home?

  1. Educate yourself on the dangers of processed food and sugar. Make small changes to a whole food, processed- and sugar-free diet.

  2. Strengthen your immune system and therefore your digestion with probiotics. Processed food destroys the gut health creating an imbalance of healthy to unhealthy bacteria. Taking probiotic supplements and drinks, eating fermented foods and drinks will all replenish the healthy gut flora

  3. Eat healthy fats. Learn which are and which aren't. Avoid any in the clear plastic bottles at the supermarket, they are processed rancid oils. Choose olive oil, coconut oil, hemp and flaxseed oils, walnut and almond oils, evening primrose, among others.

  4. Choose organic wherever possible. Certain fruits and vegetables absorb more toxins than others. Definitely choose organic meats.

  5. Take time to detoxify. Take your time and add healthy choices individually and remove the unhealthy ones at the same pace. Allow three months of your Spring or Summer to cleanse your system of all it has accumulated, and continue to make healthy choices thereafter.

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