Food! It’s all I ever think about sometimes. But clearly, I wasn’t thinking far enough. I watched Food, Inc. this weekend and it was eye opening to say the least. It’s a documentary about where food comes from, and how corporations have formed an oligopoly to control what we eat. I have known about the evils of Monsanto but I didn’t realize how connected they were with the goverment. How Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas (yes, the pubic hair perv) used to be a lawyer for them and later helped them pass laws to protect their genetically modified organisms labeling, in essence, keeping us consumers from knowing which goods are made of GMO foods. And GMO foods are bad for farmers and bad for competition. Monsanto patents their breed of whatever, corn, soy they’ve genetically altered, and if a seed of theirs flies into a neighboring farmer’s field and grows, Monsanto can sue the pants off the unsuspecting farmer. They drag out the lawsuits so much the farmers go into debt and have no alternative but to settle outside of court. Really, evil stuff. Also, in India, they have basically enslaved the farmers by selling seeds that may only grow if you spray Monsanto’s special chemicals on them. Then, next year, the farmers have to buy seeds from Monsanto again because the seeds yield infertile plants. The farmers go into debt trying to buy all this from Monsanto. Eventually, they become indentured servants to Monsanto. Also, companies like Tyson’s or Perdue force chicken farmers to grow their chickens a certain way. They’re not allowed to show anybody the awful conditions because it’s shameful. Then they make the farmers buy their equipment and medicines (antibiotics) and the farmers have to do whatever Perdue or Tyson’s dictates or else they lose their contract with the company. Purdue’s all natural my butt.
What I like about this documentary is that it not only informs the consumer, it concludes with ways we can bring about change. How we can vote with our money by purchasing natural foods, grassfed beef, from local farms, buy in season. Yes, organic milk and eggs are more expensive but It’s healthier for us too. I’d rather pay for healthy foods now than have to deal with illnesses as a result of eating chemical laden, hormone-, antibiotic-riddled foods, later in life. It’s an uplifting message.
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