Because of my activist background I was aware of the points Food Inc. has brought to the table of many Americans. The treatment of animals in Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) are appalling. Raising genetically modified chickens 22 days less than a non-modified chicken in order to create more white meat is a mistreatment alone. GMO chickens lead incapacitated lives; most are unable to walk. This is due to the growth rate of the muscles compared to bones and internal organs. Imagine your muscles growing at a rate that does not allow you to walk. To me that is a very sad existence. The beef industry is equally disgusting. The cows stand up to ankle deep in their own manure, and some cannot walk on their hooves, but their knees and hocks. The film showed a cow with a stomach plug so a veterinarian can look into its stomach without cutting it open. The veterinarian said this does not hurt the cow, yet they pan over to the cow’s head and it is drooling and frothing at the mouth. Seriously, that professional said the cow is not in pain; that is very hard for me to believe. These are the animals being fed to the American public not just through fast food, but through the local grocery store.
The factory farm industry has been enabled and defended by the government. The reason for this is because most government officials writing the laws have very close ties to those corporations they are put in power to protect us from. If the politician themself was not previously working for those corporations they have been given large campaign donations in order to be in power. These companies that are poisoning us have their hands in the same laws that regulate the food that we eat. As a consumer we have limited choices on healthy eating; what we think is healthy is actually not. When I think of government and industrialized farming I see them as one in the same because of the correlation from corporation to politician pipeline. This in turn creates a greedy government because they have the same mentality with law making as they do coming from the industry. The politicians enable and defend those corporations regardless of the citizens they are in power to protect. Money over people no matter the consequence.
I was taken back by the amount of engineered corn byproducts. I knew corn was used a lot in food processing but the things that astounded me were: gluten, sorbitol, citric acid, ascorbic acid, baking powder, vanilla extract, xanthan gum, white vinegar, xylitol and margarine. The actual list of corn involvement in processed food is too much to write. This is a short list of the products I did not know were engineered byproducts of corn. I have never been a fan of engineered food but in todays market non-GMO food is very expensive. Most certified organic food is out of my price range.
Food Inc. touched very briefly on the environmental aspects of factory farming. More in-depth statistics of environmental impact is just as horrific as the mistreatment of animals in those factories. Methane is one of the main environmental issues created by CAFO farming. “Methane is 21 times more powerful a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide,” said Noam Mohr in his report on global warming. These CAFO farms produce roughly 37 percent of methane emissions according to the Environmental Integrity Project.
Monsanto is the epitome of capitalism destroying the working class to profit off consumers. Monsanto is the definition of evil. They are a multinational corporation that started out making chemicals, DDT and Agent Orange to be exact. If you do not know about DDT or Agent Orange look it up, then think, “Holy cow these people are creating the food I eat?” This company is one that I would love to see burn to the ground. They are agricultural terrorists; bullying farmers into contracts to grow their GMOs and taking anyone and everyone to court for “patent infringement.” They know the average farmer does not have the financial support to continue fighting them in court for their bogus claims. Therefore the independent farmers settle out of court and nearly lose their business. Even if the farmer buys and grows non-Monsanto seeds but their neighbor does and their crop is infected by cross pollination the non-Monsanto farmer is sued by Monsanto for patent infringement. This is insane! I say the non-Monsanto farmer in return should be able to sue Monsanto for creating a crop that pollinates in the first place forcing their tainted product on them.
When I google search “FDA allowance of bacteria in beef” the results are frightening. No where on any of the public sites do they list what is the allowed level of bacteria in beef. What they do tell you is how to store and cook beef. All of the information online states to cook beef thoroughly. When I read this it tells me that a large majority of the beef I eat is potentially contaminated but if I cook it enough I will not get sick because heat kills bacteria. That is terrifying. One thing the Legislative and Executive Branch has done to protect American consumers is the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), which was passed by President Obama in 2011. This law has key elements of Kevin’s Law allowing the USDA to shut down factories that do not pass safety inspections consistently.
So why does all this terrible information matter? What is the point of knowing where the food I eat comes from? Health. Diabetes, stroke, heart failure, cancer, asthma, depression, obesity; the list goes on and on. Why is that important? Well anyone who has any of these medical conditions will tell you, “Eat right. You don’t want to live like I do.” If you don’t believe that person then google “diabetic skin lesions” or “diabetic neuropathy.” Diabetes is a horrible disease that can be preventable in cases where diet is the main factor. It seems like a no brainer to me; I will pick spending a little more money on better food choices than medical bills and expensive medications any day.
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