Political Discussions
Food documentary attacks industrial food corporations
Posted by timethief • 7/09/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: cafos, documentary, factory farming, food inc., monsanto, usa
- A new documentary challenges the industrial system that grows, processes, and distributes most U.S. food, the system's domination by a few large corporations, and the slew of problems it creates.
Food, Inc. weaves together the stories of farmers and others in agriculture-related enterprises facing Monsanto lawsuits for patent infringement; families stricken by foodborne illness; and animals fed inappropriate diets in CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations).
It features food journalists Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma) and Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation, also coproducer of Food, Inc.), Stonyfield Farm's Gary Hirshberg, and celebrity organic farmer Joel Salatin. In the style of An Inconvenient Truth, the movie encourages viewers to take action by urging changes in government policies while opting for local and organic foods whenever possible.
Congresswoman Louise Slaughter's office is sponsored a screening of the film for congressional staffers and others.
Read more www.foodincmovie.com/
User Comments
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It is yet another story that needs to be told, of a right-wing government that sought to dismantle society for the gain of the State
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I think I read a book by that man like 5 years ago I can't for the life of me think of what the title of it was. I have heard him speak a few times over the last few years and he is very interesting. So much of what he says is stuff my mother told me growing up, hard ass vegan that she is. I do think that it we all need to know what he says but most likely this will be ignored due to the economic of the agricultural industrial complex we still very much have. Something that won't be addressed because we always seem to have other more significant disasters looming. -
- I think we are quickly moving towards a time when the CAFOs and their negative effects on the environment and human health will have to be dealt with.
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I get most of my food through a CSA (Community Sponsored Agriculture), and we get most of our food from a farm in Pennsylvania, though we also source from other local farms as well as from some known to the members in other climates for citrus, avacados, and dried fruit. Just about everything is biodynamic or at the very least organic. No middleman. Direct support of farmers whose methods are good for the environment. By the way, I'm doing this while living in a major metropolitan area, Washington, DC.
Related posts from my personal blog (using the label "food"): markstoneman.wordpress.com/category/food/
Edited to add: Oops! Forgot to talk about politics. Well, politics is personal in situations like this. I myself am unable to lobby a member of Congress, because DC residents are not represented in Congress, but I can make choices with my limited food budget. And believe it or not, I probably spend less on this high quality food than many do on "cheaper" food, because we have cut out the middleman and do all the labor ourselves, each of us doing about two half days of work every six months, though sometimes a tad more. I can't influence legislation, but I give a lot less money to agribusiness than I used to.-
Wow! I'm impressed by what you can do in an urban environment to secure access to real whole foods that are organically grown. I'm in the country and I'm blessed with such access. That makes me keenly aware of how fortunate I am and how unfortunate it is that governments have not recognized their responsibility to their citizens.
IMHO universal citizen access to unpolluted drinking water, healthy whole foods, and quality medical care ought to be at the top of all government priority lists. Sick people are not in a position to function at their highest level of ability and therefore cannot fully contribute to the economy. Many become a burden on the system without any means of making the transition to becoming healthy, vigorous, employed people who can contribute to the economy. And the reason they are sick in the first place is because governments are in bed with multinational corporations that constitute the so-called "agribusiness food industry".
These corporate welfare bums get subsidized by the same taxpayers, who cannot get access to and/or cannot afford to purchase the real foods they need to eat to be in optimum states of health. Meanwhile the multinationals are forcing the family farmers, who do produce healthy food out of business .... arrgggh! -
Ironically, it might sometimes be easier to gain direct access to the food I get when one lives in a city. At least here there are a lot of networking opportunities that led to the contacts that introduced me to the CSA. If I went to the countryside where my parents live, I would have no idea where to look for organically or biodynamically farmed food, although I would at least have a fair idea of where farms were and how they farmed. Of course, I'd need a car to do that with too. Here I just take my cart on the bus and train, though most of the CSA members drive.
Anyway, urban living can be better than some think, though space comes at a premium. For instance, I was thinking about making raw sauerkraut, but I gave up on the idea when I realized what kind of smell would fill my small apartment.
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Though I go to school in a large city, I live and work in a city 45 north of it. This county has at least 20 possibly 25 or more certified organic farmers and those are the ones that advertise in some way, at least one has online ordering and delivery (within a certain radius. Some we have to go to but some participate in a various farmers markets that are held here. I don't eat meat so I am not so much concerned with the producers of beef or chicken but this county is loaded with them.
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Yep. Just gotta make the effort and stop lining the pockets of Safeway and its suppliers.
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- It will be interesting to hear the responses to the documentary. I doubt that it will be shown where I live in Canada so I'll be watching to see how it's received in the USA.
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- More documentaries:
The French documentary "The World According to Monsanto" (2008) focused on how that company, with government support, monopolizes seed planting.
Richard Linklater's 2006 "Fast Food Nation" about how disgusting American fast food is and how it undermines the health.
"The Future of Food" (Deborah Koons 2004) went over similar ground the French documentary "The World According to Monsanto" did in 2008.
"The Corporation" (Jennifer Abbott & Mark Achbar 2003) touched on Monsanto's monopoly too.
"Our Daily Bread" (Nikolaus Geyrhalter, 2003, Germany) delivered the narration-free message about dehumanized factory-style food production with a European focus. -
Oh those darn farmers and their passion to make money.-
Very thoughtful reply, JH. Insightful and analytical. Good job. -
Your very welcome sati. Someone other than Jesus has to do it.
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I hate to burst this bubble, but agribusinesses are the largest welfare recipients of all! o_0
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over the long term, that is. Investment Banks' periodic crises not withstanding
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Thanks to Roosevelt Agit8r!!!
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yes, that is true. This phenomenom did start with FDR. And has continued under both parties, though it does tend to be more of the Democratic party's pet.
This does however beg the question; why were you defending this institution? -
I'm not defending the system. I am defending the defenseless farmers.
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the film isn't criticising farmers themselves. It is criticising the system (yes FDR's system, and what it has evolved into) that perpetuates dietary problems through price-fixing.
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The director of Food, Inc. was on the Daily Show this evening. I'll get movie when it comes out on video, but I know it's going to make me wish I hadn't seen it the next time I eat at a fast food restaurant.
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- A clip from: Standby for Annihilation
From the description:
" Our entire food chain has been corrupted, and is now poisonous! Many foods are genetically modified, and our laws state you cannot label food that has been genetically modified (GMO). Wait, what?! Corn and Soy are the two most predominant GMO crops. 90% of Soy around the world has been Genetically manipulated, 60% of corn is Genitically modified. Go check how many items in your kitchen contain Soy and Corn or Corn Syrup, ALMOST ALL OF THEM that are prepared off-the-shelf foods!
Many have heard that artificial sweeteners are bad for you, but do you know how bad? Many food items marked "sugar free" contain artificial sweeteners. What is worse for you? Natural sugar, Genetically modified high fructose corn syrup, or artificial sweeteners, which are just chemicals mixed together in a lab! A Google search for FDA corruption returns 600,000+ results.
On top of that you have pesticides; farmers have some of the highest rates of cancer in the world. Even if you avoid pesticides by buying organic, you get food that has been irradiated if it has come from a foreign land."
Part 1: www.youtube.com/watch?v=twVlzwjuAtw
Part 2: www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdeZZADFqAQ -
Keep up the good work TT. I have been trying to spread the knowledge about the problems with our food supply and water supply for years and detail it in my book Live Smart - www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/live-smart/7111067
More info on the problems with food and water can be found at my Live Smart site. squidoo.com/livesmart. May you all find useful information to get and stay well & not fall victim to these destructive problems. Thanks again TT for the useful knowledge and sharing to help others get and stay well.
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