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Wow. I just finished watching Food, Inc. I know I’m predisposed to let stuff like this make me depressed, but it really does.
I’m trying to find the words to describe what’s going on in my mind right now, and what angle to look at this from.
I think one of the key things that is swirling around for me ties in to a debate that’s been going on lately about people who have fallen out of love with the conservative/Republican/Randian/whatever viewpoint.
One of the biggest reasons I have fallen out of love with the whole Ayn Rand/laissez faire capitalism point of view in recent years is my exposure to all of the truly horrible stuff that unbridled capitalism, tied to exccessive corporate entanglement with government, has done to us as a people over the last 50+ years.
The mind is just reeling right now and I don’t have much of a cogent argument to lay down just yet but I really just feel so small and disempowered in the face of multi-billion-dollar conglomerates that are doing what they are designed to do, i.e., do everything in their power to maximize profit and spend billions to bribe politicians to change the legal and regulatory structure to broaden the boundaries of what is considered safe, legal and acceptable.
I mean, we used to have a food safety and regulatory regime that conducted over 50,000 safety and contamination inspections per year. Over the years, and especially under Bush, this number dwindled to less than 9,000. And who knew that the main reason for the explosion in E. Coli deaths over the last 20 years had to do with changing the diet of factory farmed cows from grass to heavily subsidized corn products?
Sigh. Maybe I’ll go watch Polyanna now or something. :-(
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(DOWN THE VINE
Syndication
The cruel, filthy and unconscionable conditions those animals are raised under should never be at the foundation for our food supply; it is dangerous and criminal. This is one of the main reasons our family eventually decided to become dietary vegans, consuming no animals or by-products. We got to a point where we could no longer close our eyes to this and a good old hamburger never tasted quite the same. Some folks advocate eating animals raised only locally and cleanly. That's okay for some who can find or afford this, but 98% (essentially ALL) of our nation's meat supply IS this corporate insanity (grocery stores, restaurants). We just got sick of participating in it. Plus the vegan alternative leaves us feeling great.
The thing that's sad is that so much of our food supply is subject tothese abusive, dangerous and unsustainable practices. Grains,vegetables, corn syrup, etc etc.
Darned straight. I have been vegetarian for 5 years now. It got so bad that every time I ate a piece of meat I was sick for days. Now, whenever someone cooks a hamburger or piece of meat from the grocery store the odor is terrible. The smell is not right. It isn't even close to what I remember as a kid back in the 70's and early 80's. I bet a lot of illness and even deaths could be traced to this. This country has lost its way.
Good point. It's not just the animals and meat. Another good/funny/sad/bad/worthwhile/surprising read is the small book "Skinny Bitch". Grabbed it at the airport as a fun flight distraction, and it is written cleverly, but it's basically about the horrific realities of the food industry, and suggests realistic things we can do to minimize that impact on ourselves and our planet. PS: That's for posting your article on the blog
I meant "THANKS for posting your article on the blog"…guess this is double thanks.
I have to get around to watching this movie, Ive seen some terrible things on this subject so I think Im prepared.
While I agree with your position about the level of the quality of our food supply I would like to point out that the Republican's cut the inspection and punishment factors in the USDA's department claiming that the company's involved did not need oversight. Like the banking industry doesn't need oversight or the insurance companies don't need reform.
I just watched Food Inc. last night and like you, I feel like I am now in an enlightened haze, if that makes any sense. As I learn about the horrors that happen every day within the food industry, I cannot stomach eating meat anymore. I barely want to bite a veggie bought from the traditional grocery store. I was literally in tears as I watched.
Questions I now have are: how can we, as a nation and as humans, have let this happen? And why are we continuing to let it happen? I, for one, am outraged that while we weren't looking, we let big business own our food, alter it, and sell it to us disguised as real food.
But, instead of being depressed, I have decided to act. Asking questions about where our food comes from and then voting with our dollars is the best thing we can do. But I am restless to do something more.
Public indifference that buys the corporate line that everything is all right and that corporate economic competition will ensure food quality. Unfortunatly there is not much compitition among the corperate giants and they pay the fines, which amount to small percentages of their over all profits, buy off the reguators, and spend money on lobbyies to bribe our politicians. As much as I can I buy from local farmers markets and get my meat from grain feed local farmers, It costs more but it is the best I can do.
Anticompetitive corporations is an argument for antitrust laws, not an argument for mundane regulation.
Generally speaking, mundane regulations advantage large entities because of compliance costs and the little guy not affording lobbyists.
If you want more competitive small businesses, then you want less regulation, not more.