The Food, Inc Transformation

A friend recommended that I watch the documentary, Food, Inc. For some reason, I was a little hesitant to watch this movie, for fear of what I might learn, but I decided to watch it anyway. I was shocked to see how the food that we eat is produced. It was disgusting and I thought no wonder our society is overweight and has health problems. Remember the old saying, “You are what you eat”.  I spent the following week in upset; as I reached to eat my food, my stomach churned; there was no way that I could continue to eat what I had normally been eating. My family and friends were not happy that I had seen this movie because they wanted to keep eating the “delicious”food that they had been eating and they did not want to hear or see anything that would change their view of their food. As I watched the reactions of my family, friends and myself I realized that this “human” reaction is what has allowed the food companies to get away with this horrific, destructive food process. I think it is human nature to want to “hang on” to what we have in life for fear of the unknown. People enjoy meat; as soon as someone says something negative about the way the meat is processed they think, “I am not giving up meat, there is no way I could ever be a vegetarian so I will not hear this propaganda.” There mind is shut off and they will not hear anymore on the subject.   

The good new is that there is another choice. We can continue to eat meat; we just need to become choosy as to which meat we purchase. I have been experimenting, the last couple of weeks, with my food choices. The price of grass fed meat that has been produced without using, drugs, hormones and chemicals is much more expensive, however the taste and quality is unsurpassed. To offset the price,families could choose to have a meal or two each week without meat, or with less meat. For instance, I bought one large healthy chicken breast (cost about$3.50) and cut it into small cubes and then sautéed this with onion. I added spaghetti sauce (the ingredients were tomatoes, onion, garlic, spices – nothing unknown)I added this to pasta and sprinkled the top with parmesan cheese. For the vegetable, I went to the local farm and bought zucchini, which was freshly picked. I must say, “It was delicious”. My family also enjoyed this meal. As a parent, I feel good that I have given my family food that will nourish their body and help them to grow to be healthy and strong.

This transformation of what we eat will take some thought. I understand that changing habits takes time, but I am willing to take the time to learn new ways to feed my family. If “we the people” do not support the corporations who are putting their profits above our health, they will no longer be able to produce food in this destructive, unhealthy manner.

I encourage everyone to watch this documentary. Together, we can change the way our country produces our life sustaining food!!