Blog 6: Food Inc

Like many documentaries I have seen about our food industry, this one angered and upset me in many ways. It is almost hard to begin listing off everything in Food Inc that shocked me. I think one of the biggest things that impacted me was how much control and power our government and the big corporations have over everything. For instance, the many examples of how high profile government leaders are also tied to top positions in the FDA or other food companies. I thought this documentary would be focusing more on the slaughterhouse aspect of food production and was surprised when I saw it went more into the business side of things. However watching the animals at the slaughterhouses always makes my stomach churn and want to swear off meat forever.

The part about that woman's little boy dying from salmonella was heart breaking and upsetting. I admire her for trying so hard to get Kevin's Law passed but felt sad that it still hasn't happened. It truly is horrible that people are dying from our filthy food and the industries still aren't doing anything about it! Another part that bothered me was how slaughterhouse companies are abusing and manipulating their workers. For example, the one in South Carolina that will bring in illegal immigrants to work who then get arrested for being there illegally. I just can't believe that these companies are getting away for incidents like this every day.

After watching Food Inc, I have a new outlook on America's food. The end was really inspiring and made me want to start buying organic, or at least start paying more attention to what's in my food and where it's coming from. It was uplifting to hear that WalMart had started selling healthier milk due to customer demand. This means that it's possible for the average customer to demand healthy/organic food. Even making little changes to my diet, like buying food locally, would make me feel like I'm doing something to help correct this twisted system. Who knows, maybe someday we will go back to our roots and start eating directly from the Earth again and eat the foods our bodies were intended to.

United States. Cong. Senate. Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. Challenges and Opportunities Facing American Agricultural Producers. 109th Cong., Washington: 2007. Print.