Blog 15 - Part I: Summarizing the Stories and Part II: Responding to a Factory Farming Issue

Part I: Summarizing the Stories

Leo is a pig living in the “Meatrix”. “Meatrix” is “the lie we tell ourselves about where are food comes from”. One day Leo is introduced by “Moopheus” to the real world which is factory farming.  Moopheus explains to Leo how factory farming begun -  ”in the mid 20^th century, greedy agriculture corporations began modifying sustainable family farming to maximize their profits at great cost to both humans and animals”, when in reality factory farming means that animals live in slaughter houses. They are kept very closely together (so close they cannot turn around) to fit as many animals as possible, they almost never see the sunlight, rest on the ground or breathe fresh air. Moopheus continues on by mentioning the effect of such conditions on the animals. This cruelty caused fights and diseases amongst the animals which started the process of for example debeaking chickens and adding antibiotics to keep the animals alive. Moopheus also mentions the massive air and water pollutions from all the excrement, and how small farms have been disappearing due to factory farming corporations.

“The Meatrix: Revolting” starts by Moopheus telling Leo about the progress they have made for the past two years and that people actually started taking notice of what they were eating. Leo and Chickity were very happy about that and Chickity even mentioned that Leo might be “the one”. Moopheus however says that there are many more issues with the Meatrix. They go in to the Meatrix and Leon is very happy with what he sees, until Moopheus tells him to “look trough the illusion of the Meatrix”. Moopheus explains to Leo that because of the conditions cows live in they have to be treated daily with antibiotics to illuminate sickness. Leo than is introduced to agents who give animals an artificial growth hormone – rBGH, which is banned by both the Canadian and European Union. Moopheus than continues by explaining how the mad cow disease can be easily spread by calves being fed blood of dead cows. At the end it comes out that Leo is “the one”. He fights off the agents who still manage to kidnap Moopheus. To Moopheus saving dairy farms is more important than his own life.

“The Meatrix II ½” starts with Chickity and Leo driving up to the factory where agents are keeping Moopheus. One of the Agents talks to Moopheus. He explains that all that matters to the factory is profit, even if the meat had some kind of a disease he says: ”what is a little E Coli between friends?”  The workers work so fast that the manure gets mixed up with the meat. The Agent tries to kill Moopheus but Leo and Chickity save him and three of the escape the factory safely. 

Part II: Responding to a Factory Farming Issue

              

                 In my opinion the most significant issue related to factory farming is adding additives to processed food, because almost all processed food contains additives and even thought there are FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approved additives it does not mean they are entirely safe for our health.

                Additives are divided into three separate categories, such as: “indirect food additives” (packing material – paper, plastic, cardboard), “direct food additives” (preservatives, nutrition supplements flavors and texturizers) and “color additives” (they change color of the processed food).

               Preservatives are the most common additive and they broken down into three groups: apropionic acid (prevents mold in bread), nitrates and nitrites (prevent discoloration in meat) and benzoates (prevent bacterial growth). An article written for the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) states:” it’s almost impossible to eat food without preservatives added by manufacturers “.

               Flavoring is also a very common additive. Its role is to induce the products smell or taste to make it more appealing to the consumer.

Currently there are three thousand additives that have been approved by the FDA which as I mentioned before doesn’t necessarily mean they are completely safe for our consumption. Additives are known to induce allergic reactions; some are linked with asthma, birth defects and even cancer.

As to FDA’s requirements ingredients have to be specified on the products’ label including the additives but often they are listed in general as “spices” or “flavoring”.

 There are however additives such as: sulfites and monosodium glutamate, which have to be listed on the label due to their effect on people’s health.

According to “Sulfites: Safe for Most, Dangerous for Some” article by Ruth Papazian “a person can develop sulfite sensitivity at any point in life, and no one knows what triggers onset or the mechanism by which reactions occur.[”Doctors believe that asthmatic develop difficulty breathing by inhaling sulfite fumes from treated foods,”] notes Dan Atkins, M.D., a pediatrician at the National Jewish Center for Immunology and Respiratory Medicine in Denver, Colo. He says that in a severe reaction an overwhelming degree of bronchial construction occurs, causing breathing to stop. This can lead to lack of oxygen reaching the brain, heart, and other organ and tissues and, possibly, a fatal heart rhythm irregularity.”

Monosodium glutamate causes health problems such as: headaches, nausea, weakness, difficulty breathing, drowsiness, rapid heartbeat and chest pains and also like sulfites the product that contains it has to have it specified on its label.

After reading about the negative influence of additives on human health only one question arises – What can we do to avoid additives? The answer is very simply put on the website www.sustainabletable.org, in the article about additives – “You can avoid food additives and health problems they may cause by eating fresh, unprocessed foods grown by local farmers. Since these foods are not transported thousands of miles, they don’t need to be packaged or pumped full of preservatives before reaching you. And since they are whole and unprocessed, they won’t contain colorings or artificial flavors.”