I am probably the last environmentalist to watch Food Inc. Honestly I have been putting it off because I knew the impact it would have on me. I have a hard enough time eating meat to begin with that if I even think about where it comes from or what is in it I get grossed out. Rightfully so I guess. Last night I finally watched it. It is weird how a 2 hour movie can change the way you think. This morning I was looking at the flyers and making our weekly meal plan and I was seeing things I had never seen before. I always thought I was pretty aware of what we were eating and I think for the most part we are, except when it comes to meat and products that contain GMO's and HFCS. Even Reese Peanut Butter cups have GMO's in them. WHY WHY WHY???
What shocked me the most about the movie was the miles upon miles upon miles of cattle. I have never in my life seen anything like that. Certainly beef isn't raised like that around here...or is it? The answer is I just don't know. Joe says it is like that in Quebec and Alberta and not as much here in Ontario. But perhaps that is because Ontario is more focused on pork?
We plan on making the following changes. Some were planned before yesterday, some are a result of watching the movie.
1. Purchasing half a cow from a local organic farm. I just need to make sure they are grass fed.
2, Finding a farm that has organic, antibiotic free poultry.3. Finding a farm that has organic pork.
4. Building a vegetable garden (tried last year but we found a nest of bunnies in its place)
5. Building a herb garden.
6. Shopping every week at the local (and amazing) farmers market.
7. Finding a way to eat locally during the winter.
8. Cut down drastically on fast food.
9. Do our best to not buy anything from Monstanto.
If you haven't watched Food Inc. yet I highly recommend it. It will open your eyes to what we are eating and how messed up the whole food system is. Sure you could turn a blind eye to it and say it is just a cow or just a pig. Why do they deserve to be treated ethically? I think it is about more than that. It is about what the companies involved are doing to our food.
How it is making people poor.
How engineered it has become.
How sick people are getting from it.
How it is killing people.
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I agree, Jen. It was so eye opening for us, and we fancied ourselves to be pretty hip to the organic/green movement. We've been slowly changing the way we eat now for the last 4 months, and while it was a bit of a jagged transition, we are loving it now. We look forward to our family trip to the farmer's market every Saturday morning, and we know that even though we are eating less meat now, the quality is so much better for us and the impact on the environment around us is much more positive.
ReplyDeleteI hope that when Kendall is old enough to shop for his own food, this type of thinking will already be engrained in him. I'll consider it all a success then.
I live just outside Edmonton, and trust me I have never seen anything like the CAFOs in Food Inc around here. I've been all over Alberta and the worst I've ever smelled is pig farms, not beef. It seems that most of the beef around here are grass fed, although I would hardly consider them healthy. I suspect most are injected with hormones & antibiotics....I personally don't eat beef.
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