Vegan Saturday III | A review of Food, Inc.
Well, this is QUITE overdue! I started this draft exactly a month ago. Oops.
Anyway, a month ago, we received free passes to see Food Inc., and since we hadn’t gone to the movies in quite some time, we thought it would be fun to go. Of course, I was worried about how graphic the movie would be.
It was a bit graphic. I saw things I didn’t want to see*. BUT, it was nothing I hadn’t seen before. If anything, it was just reinforced my decision to become vegan. However, I don’t think the purpose of the film is to persuade people to become vegan or vegetarian – it is just to get people to THINK about where their food is coming from, and the decisions they are making about what they eat/buy.
After thinking about the movie for some time, I really think one of the major points of it was to expose the greed in the food industry. I really think the desire to cut costs, become more efficient, and make a larger profit has gotten us where we are – cheap and unhealthy food, unsafe conditions for workers, a mostly overweight society, increased foodborne illness and so on. The film was set up with a few small segments around these sorts of topics.
I didn’t think this information was presented in a new or alarming fashion though. Like I said, it was all information I have seen before. BUT, I think that is because this is a topic I take interest in. For someone who doesn’t, this film would probably be shocking.
Either way, I recommend it, for a refresher or eye-opener, whichever applies to you!
*Chicken coops where the chickens NEVER see natural daylight and are forced to become so fat that they can barely walk a few steps. A natural farmer killing chickens by putting them upside down in a cone-like contraption with an opening in the end then pulling them through the opening and break their necks while they scream and the other chickens watch in crates nearby awaiting their fate
Themocracy
Hm…that sounds pretty horrific. I eat meat, and I definitely buy my groceries at a big box store to save money. I’ll probably feel really terrible if I see “Food, Inc.” It’s playing at the local movie theater, and I can’t decide if I want to see it.
I still haven’t found a local theater that is showing Food Inc. Of course I haven’t really looked, because like you were I’m worried about some of the things I would see.
Thanks for the review, I definitely want to see it, just a matter now of finding a theater.
I guess I heard so many stories from my parents about chicken slaughter day that it wouldn’t phase me–not that it doesn’t bother me, but it wouldn’t shock me, because my parents’ stories have already shocked me.
Everything is about money, greed, etc.
I kind of think that about the organic market. I try to buy organic when I can, but the prices where I live are usually 3 times as high as regular, and I just simply can’t afford it. We toured an organic farm as part of our homeschool. He told us the first two years the crops were very labor intensive, as they had to pull weeds all the time. Then it stopped, and they only weed twice per crop. So why do they get *that* much more money for their production? I simply cannot afford it.
Sorry, didn’t mean to go off on my organic rant there. lol
I will probably watch the movie when it comes out on video. I live in a small town and it’s not playing here, otherwise I’d go see it.
Now I’m going to have dreams about my parents’ chicken stories–not pretty.
I could probably go vegetarian, but there is no way my hubby would. And I’m not cooking two completely separate dinners! However, I refuse to buy chicken breasts that are HUGE. I mean, I’ve seen chickens. They are not that large. I’m disgusted at what they do to those animals just to make them larger so that we can eat unhealthy portions of food in one sitting. Ugh.
Mica – I have to buy groceries conventionally too. I cannot afford organic… we’ve actually been shopping at ALDI! There is practically no selection there – we buy what we can because we are on a budget. And I am not really sure if I trust “organic” anyway 😉
Julia – If you can’t find a theater, it’s not a big deal to wait for the DVD. Some movies are worth seeing in the theater – I think it’s okay to wait for this one.
Jo – I hope you didn’t have nightmares! We don’t buy organic, because of the price. It’s really expensive where we live. My mom can get organic cheaper than we can get conventional, which I just don’t understand.
Erin – Two separate dinners = too much work! One dinner is enough work as it is, after a full day of work! It is gross to think about what they do to the chickens, but also, how them doing that affects what goes into the meat, then into the humans. Yuck.
About your last post…I love that Shredded Oats cereal!!! We always have a box of it.
I found this post really thought provoking. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about where my food comes, but not so much in the sense of cruelty to animals (even though I think that will be my focus in the future). For me, I’ve been questioning the types of foods that I eat – particularly processed food. I’ve been doing a lot of reading about how processed food is stripped of the nutrients and it really shocked me. I’ve been getting back to basics with food. Reconnecting with it, per se. I agree with you that it’s in our best interest to take a closer look at what we are putting into our bodies. I look forward to reading about your adventure with the vegan lifestyle.
Thank you for posting this! I am hoping to see it still. I’ll probably cry at the chicken/animal portion. Even though, as you, I’ve seen the videos and know of how it goes. It’s amazing how people refuse to look at what’s going on. When a news channel was talking about it, I kept saying to my Mom, “Look Mom!” she refused to look at the TV. Ignorance really is bliss. If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be vegetarian. I’m a little more interested in the corn/field & FDA/gov’t stuff.
A really decent book that details many good reasons to go light on the animal products is “The China Study.” I respect what each person decides to eat for themselves and just hope they make informed decisions, but it is my opinion that we Americans consume too many animal products and not nearly enough veggies! 🙂