”Food, Inc.”, directed by Robert Kenner is a movie about the harsh realities of our current food industry (the industry itself doesn’t want people to know the truth because its scared that once having learned the truth people would become vegan). The reality shown in the movie focuses on people’s false beliefs about farming; it reveals how life in growing plants and slaughter houses really looks like for the animals. It talks about farmers debts which result from having contracts with big companies. It mentions food poising caused by different types of e coli bacteria and diabetes that now occurs more often in young children. This movie also gives a strong statement that even if we don’t eat at fast food restaurants we still eat from the food system.
“Farmville” is an online game available on www.facebook.com that contributes to people having fantasy images of farms. People still believe in small red farm houses with picked fences, animals being outdoors and eating grass when in reality farms now are large plants. It cost around $280,000.00 to $300,000.00 for a farmer to have a poultry plant, but in addition they must be prepared to spend a lot more to update their equipment, which is required by big companies. As a result farmers spend around $500,000.00 to have two poultry plants while earning only $18,000.00.
Chickens in poultry plants are fed different types of antibiotics to make them grow bigger breast. They grow so big that they are able to stand for only a few seconds, because their legs cannot support their weight. Cows are fed with corn since it’s cheap and makes the cows grow fatter, faster.
Both in plants and slaughter houses animal are treated with cruelty. They are kept in small cages that aren’t suitable for their measurements, or kept together were there is also not enough room, they almost placed on top of each other. Animals are also covered in their manure up to their ankles if not higher which causes the animals to get sick. Linda McCartney once said, “If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone in the world would be a vegetarian”. /http://www.all-creatures.org/articles/ar-aninsidelook.html/
E coli is short for Escherichia coli - bacteria (germs) that cause severe cramps and diarrhea. Symptoms are worse in children and older people, especially in those who have other illnesses. E. coli infection is more common during the summer months and in northern states. E coli 0157 is a kind of e coli that has mutated to allow it to colonize the intestines of cattle fed large amounts of grain. 0157 is non-existent in grass fed cattle - studies have shown that removing the grain from grain fed cattle and putting them onto hay for 1 week before butchering, eliminates e coli 0157 by changing the pH of the gut. The meat can get contaminated with the germ during the slaughtering process. In the movie "Food, Inc" we learn Kevin Kowalcyk's story. He was 2.5 years old when he died of e coli. The meat company recalled their meat 16 days after the boy died. His mom – Barbara Kowalcyk is fighting for Kevin Law to take effect. Kevin law is a law which will allow the USDA to have the power to shut down plants that repeatedly produce contaminated meat. /yahoo.com/
Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes. Millions of Americans have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and many more are unaware they are at high risk. Some groups have a higher risk for developing type 2 diabetes than others. Type 2 diabetes is more common in African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, and Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders, as well as the aged population.
In type 2 diabetes, either the body does not produce enough insulin or the cells ignore the insulin. Insulin is necessary for the body to be able to use glucose for energy. When you eat food, the body breaks down all of the sugars and starches into glucose, which is the basic fuel for the cells in the body. Insulin takes the sugar from the blood into the cells. When glucose builds up in the blood instead of going into cells, it can lead to diabetes complications./www.diabetes.org/
Now in America 1 out of 3 children born after 2000 will contract early onset of diabetes. People are hard wired for salt, fat and sugar, but diets high in fructose corn syrup and refined carbon hydrates wear down how our bodies metabolize sugar.
The movie shows a family that struggles with the choice of either buying healthy food or buying medication for the father, who is diabetic and needs two types of pills that are very expensive for their pocket. The mother explains that she would rather give her child a burger from a fast food restaurant rather than for an example an apple, because at least she knows that that burger will fill her up.
The movie shows a family that struggles with the choice of either buying healthy food or buying medication for the father, who is diabetic and needs two types of pills that are very expensive for their pocket. The mother explains that she would rather give her child a burger from a fast food restaurant rather than for an example an apple, because at least she knows that that burger will fill her up.
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You picked an interesting documentary to watch. I liked how you explain the main issues that it covers. I really liked how you connected what you watched with the "false images" of farms we are fed by the media--even Facebook. Remember the ad we watched where the little girl sings "Old McDonald had a farm" superimposed with images of *real* contemporary farms?
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