Movie: Food, Inc.
I went to see "Food, Inc." this weekend. Has anyone seen this?
It's a documentary about the agriculture and food industry in America. It features Michael Pollan (Omnivore's Dilemma) and Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), as well as some others mentioned in Pollan's work (the Polyface Farms guy).
It was a great movie. Michael Pollan is a hero and a role model to me. I think, though, that his ideas and solutions seem pretty radical for where America is at right now. I mean, I love the idea of making sure my meat was raised by a farmer instead of a factory, but in my living situation it usually means going well out of my way to purchase it. This isn't totally undoable, but would be a bit of a transition. What I've done so far (at least on the meat front) is simply consume less of it.
Another thing that angers me, is that these large corporations who are selling us factory foods often HIDE the fact that they're doing so. I stopped at a little roadside stand in a suburb the other day to purchase some vegetables, thinking I was giving business to a local farmer. Here it turns out that the big chain grocer in town is setting up roadside stands, knowing that people will assume they are bypassing the middleman! I couldn't believe it.
The prospect of Monsanto suing people who plant their seeds really really scares me. Who ever thought gardening would become the act if dissidents??
I highly recommend everyone see this movie. The ideas presented seem "radical", but I think if the word is spread things will begin to change.
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