A few years back i began working at a local Hudson Valley
restaurant. After only a few months of working with the chefs/owners, i realized that it was truly that: a
local restaurant. A kitchen that took advantage of the delicious local seasonal vegetables and proteins that were of the finest, freshest quality. They showed me what real food was and taught me how to appreciate it. My new interest in the food that i eat steered me to read
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser. I knew i had to end my love affair with those delicious little golden-bunned clown-blessed cheeseburgers and i figured this book would help fuel the fire. It certainly did and I have not looked at food the same since. I recommend
FFN and
Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food to anyone interested in the topic. Both books are as approachable as they are informative.
The biggest lesson i have learned is that most of the food we eat comes from factories not farms. The business of food is actually quite disturbing. Nearly everything we buy in a grocery store comes from a mega-corporation that is only interested in making money. The quality of their products and the consumers health are unfortunately not on their list of concerns. The beef industry is by far the worst in my opinion. The meat-packing facilities are filthy and almost completely unregulated. The government officials in charge of quality control are not working in our interest. They are owners or former owners of cattle farms and meat-packing mills looking out for their own well-being. They continue to create and change laws to allow the disgusting facilities and inhumane treatment of employees (mostly immigrants) to remain unchecked. The horrific treatment of cows, pigs, and chickens is not only cruel but the reason why we have diseases like e-coli, mad cow, and the dreaded Swine Flu.
Now I'm not saying we should stop eating these delicious animals. I enjoy a vegetarian meal on a regular basis but i am not a vegetarian. I will channel my inner caveman and simply say, "MEAT GOOD!" Especially bacon. Is it just me, or does everything taste better with bacon? I do, however, think there is a happy medium where we could consume much less meat and treat the animals better. It's a win/win situation. Well maybe not for the cows, but it is better for our own health and our environment to eat less of them.
But i digress, this post started as a discussion about the business of food not vegetarianism. Linked yes, but not my point. As i was saying, the conditions in which the animals are kept is absolutely disgusting. 100's of thousands of cattle packed tightly together in corporate feedlots wallowing in their own shit and being fed food that they are not supposed to eat. Cows eat grass. That's it! But they don't grow big enough or fast enough when eating grass alone so people feed them corn and grain. Even more disturbing, cows and pigs and chickens are often fed chickens and pigs and cows and horses and dogs and rodents and whatever other "proteins" that the company can get for cheap. That fact alone is enough for me to rethink my diet. I can't even begin to write about what goes on inside the meat-packing facilities. But if any of us were to go on a tour of one, i promise you would come out with a whole new perspective.
The unnatural business of food does not end with meat. Fruits and vegetables are also being altered for the sake of making money. They are pumped with hormones and chemicals to grow bigger, look better, and last longer. Seasons no longer exist. We are now able to eat plastic tomatoes and bland avocados all year long. But what are we sacrificing? Besides taste, our health is most definitely adversely affected.
The creation of this post was spurred by a new documentary that will be released this summer entitled
Food Inc. It looks pretty promising. As the trailer below states, our government has tried to make it ILLEGAL to have a discussion about this topic. This alone should make you want to see it. Yes, there is some good ol' fashioned muckraking involved, but i think people need to see this stuff to really get the picture. What i like about the it is the positive spin that the film has to it.
Food Inc. looks like it could be the jump start that this grassroots movement really needs. Im excited to see it and learn more horrifying details about the business of food and, more importantly, learn how to fight against it.
I am passionate about the topic of food for the same reasons that i have adopted a greener lifestyle. These choices make a difference and can help us live a better and healthier life. In fact, food issues are essentially environmental issues. The food that we choose to eat effects the environment we live in. It's not about right or wrong, it's about what is better for you and what is better for our planet. And when it comes to food, it's about TASTE. Have you ever tasted an all-natural grass-fed burger? Or some free-range chicken wings? Or a locally and naturally grown tomato? The difference in deliciousness is ridiculous. Yes, they are a little more expensive but if we demand quality it will become more readily available and therefor cheaper. Besides, im happy to spend a few extra dollars for a product that is better tasting, better for me, and supports my community.
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