Food, Inc. is a well put-together, well-meaning documentary about the dangers of the modern American diet and takes a very disturbing look at the places from which much of our food comes from. Michael Pollan, a well-known food author and farmers who both work for the Big Food industry and for organic farms are all interviewed to paint a picture of the greed- and convenience-driven capitalistic market that mass produces almost all of the food that Americans eat today.
It discussed how chicken farmers who work for just a few gigantic corporations take out hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy the equipment needed to do this grueling work in order to make a measly average of $15,000.00 a year, an amount far below the poverty line. Not only are these people underpaid, but if they refuse to comply with updates to their contract which could involve the inhumane treatment of the animals, the contract can be terminated with no consequence to the companies. The giant food conglomerates are able to sue individuals who publicize anything about the companies that could be seen as slanderous, and usually win because of the exorbitant court costs the average individual is unable to pay.
This documentary sickened me. I told my roommates I would never be able to eat meat or produce not grown locally ever again. I vowed to eliminate fast food from my diet and purchase only organic products. I threw out my lunch meat, hot dogs, and non-organic yogurt. I was ready to be healthy and take a stand for America by putting my money towards foods that were ecologically and sociologically sound.
Then I woke up the next morning. I was running late to class and I found that after eliminating processed foods from my kitchen, I had nothing that could easily be prepared and eaten in a span of five to ten minutes. I had some organic yogurt, but I was, per usual, not in the mood for organic yogurt. Thus, I tossed all my brand new thinking out the window and headed to McDonalds, which is less than half a mile away from where I live. I got a hash brown and a coffee and I was ready to start my day.
Thinking critically about how little time it took for me to forget the information I'd learned, I am curious as to how strongly the American food culture is actually affecting me. I believe that it is partially nurture, and partially nature. Quick, chemically engineered foods just taste better. They are cheap, and as an unemployed college student relying on the goodwill of my parents to keep me afloat, I don't have a lot of money to spend on produce that will eventually rot away in my refrigerator from disuse. I am frustrated by my attitude. I do not come to this blog entry with solutions, but with problems. How do we reverse this terrible cycle?
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