Monday, June 29, 2009
Open Thread Open Thread: Thumbs Up or Down on 'Food, Inc.'?
Posted by Carrington Fox on Mon, Jun 29, 2009 at 10:27 AM
If you were one of the 300-plus folks who crammed into the Belcourt on Friday night for a panel discussion and screening of Food, Inc., or braved Saturday's heat in the theater parking lot for the local food fair, spill it. What did you think?
Have you given up fast food? Are you ready to toilet-paper the corporate offices of Monsanto? Have you friended Joel Salatin on Facebook yet? Are you ready for a roadtrip to Polyface Farms? Do you wish you could bottle that sultry Georgia accent of hat-wearing panelist Will Harris from White Oak Pastures (pictured above)? Have you already downloaded Springsteen's version of "This Land is Your Land"?
What images and issues stood out in your mind? Are you encouraged or discouraged? What are you going to do about it?
The Belcourt's Food on Film series, as well as the ongoing Good Food Film Festival at Warner Parks, offers a lot of food for thought this summer and the perfect fodder for a conversation among Bites readers.
What's on your mind?
Comments (18)
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So I haven't seen Food, Inc. yet, but I just had one of those weird coincidences or a zeitgeist thing happen to me: I was reading about raw milk in Nina Planck's book, Real Food, and she mentioned both cow shares and Joseph Salatin within a few pages. I also saw on WKRN's website that, on May 22, 2009, the state of TN legally approved cow shares for consumers' arrangement with willing individual farmers. Then I came over here to see if any of you knew anything about where or to whom one might go to talk about cow shares, and I see Salatin's name here. Weird. So anyway, cow shares anyone?
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I have not researched this, but about four years ago I met someone locally (a nurse, if I remember correctly) who was part of what we laughingly called the Unpasteurized Underground. I can't remember the details, but I think they matched up with the idea of cow shares.
I went to the Friday night showing, and while I think the movie itself falls into the "Stuff-you-should-know-but-most-Tennesseans-don't" category, I think it's *fantastic* that this appears to be picking up momentum here.
The movie was well produced, concise, and covered as much as it possibly could given the short attention span movies must exist in.
I loved hearing an audience member hiss every time "Monsanto" was mentioned.
I appreciate that the panelists brought up the difficulties with getting "real food" to the poor.
I saw the Saturday morning showing (thanks, Whole Foods!) and thought it was great. I'm definitely inspired to focus on eating seasonally.
Loved the movie, loved the attention its getting locally for both the Belcourt (yay Belcourt!) and for local growers.
Which leads me to my question: Where can I go to buy grass-raised meat, etc. locally i.e. Middle Tennessee? Polyface doesn't deliver and the Shenandoah Valley is a long way to go for a hamburger.
So I'm looking for ideas/names/etc.
Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
Just remember - if we all switched to organic food, half the world would starve to death!
ps. Raw Milkers: enjoy your bovine TB. As long as the CDC and FDA classify raw milk as 'unsafe to consume' this gnome isn't touching the shit.
Will Harris from White Oak Pastures in Georgia supplies grass-fed beef to Whole Foods
(www.whiteoakpastures.com). I had some this weekend that was delicious. Also, you might try Triple L Ranch in Franklin.
For once, I agree with TtG. It's a 21 century trend viewagribusiness as the Dr. Frankestein lurking behind every nook of a supermarket, but in reality some of the things they've developed have help over-populate the earth.
And I mean that!
TBG--you are wrong.
The statistics show that in industrialized countries organic farms are 90% as efficient in food production then chemical farms.
In developing countries they are 80% MORE efficient then chemical farming.
These statistics were based from 290+ studies on the differences between the types of farming. They are also per bushel of food.
They don't take into account the nutritional increases that organic food provides nor the benefits from a healthier humus to the water table and the ability to continue to grow during harsher climates.
I could go on....
Grass fed beef:
west wind farms at the ENFM on wednesday and in frankiln on sat.
Emerald glenn will have some next fall
walnut hills occasionally goes to the downtown market
pick up a local table magazine, there is a list in the back
GRASS FED BEEF: I advise giving Fred a call over at C&F Meats in Arrington on HWY 96. He works closely with several local ranchers and has great grass-fed beef, beefalo and pork. Best of all, he and his guys take great pride in their work as processors. They kill humanely, butcher properly and DRY-AGE all of their meats w/o preservatives or additives. I've closely supervised the process myself over several days and weeks and they really are tops! He's got a lot of other great local meats, eggs and products also. Plus he, his wife Cynthia and daughter Netareka are great folks!
No, I am not wrong. The increased costs and decreased yields resulting from conversion to organic would be devastating to the world food supply.
Even if yields were held steady during a conventional to organic transition the increased cost would cause widespread starvation and malnutrition.
abolition of pesticide use would result in an average drop in farming yields of between 10% and 25% http://www2.mst.dk/common/Udgivramme/Frame.asp?http://www2.mst.dk/udgiv/Publications/1998/87-7909-445-7/html/kap08_eng.htm#8.7.1
"when I farmed conventionally, I had six employees on 300 acres. Now that I'm farming organically, I have 15 employees on 30 acres." Conventional, Mixed and "'Deregistered" Farmers: Entry Barriers and Reasons for Exiting Organic Production in California
"Even if yields were held steady during a conventional to organic transition the increased cost would cause widespread starvation and malnutrition."
Would an increase of supply on that scale have no impact whatsoever upon the price? That seems unlikely.
"when I farmed conventionally, I had six employees on 300 acres. Now that I'm farming organically, I have 15 employees on 30 acres."
Woo hoo! Organic farming creates jobs!
Here's what I walked away with:
1. We make too much corn in this country. Something in farm law needs to change to remedy this.
2. I want to know the origin of all the meat I consume.
3. Big greedy corporations have no souls and need to be regulated as much by consumers as by the government. We have a say; the way we spend our money matters.
Oh, and Monsanto: boo, hiss, indeed!
After seeing Food, Inc. a couple of weeks ago, I freaked out when my kids came down with a stomach virus after eating some chicken tacos. I mean full-scale mommy panic, online at midnight googling E. coli. After it was all over, I was confessing my hysteria to our veteran pediatrician, and she said she had seen only two cases of E. coli in her career. I don't mean to discount the fear of contamination, but if you're prone to panic like me, step away from the ledge. (Of course, still keep an eye out for blood in the stool.)
Was anyone else beginning to feel the urge to shout "FOOOOOOD FIIIIIIGHT!!!!!" while reading the comments here?
I'm bummed I missed the big Friday panel & viewing, I hope to get a chance to see this.
Ttg
yes, an instant switch to organic would absolutely be devastating to the food supply. It is unrealistic prices held afloat through subsidies. On the same note, if you pull the subsidies the same result occurs. However, If supply increases cost goes down. Our country only pays 9% of their total salary on food. Down from 25% just after world war II. People are starving or are malnourished now and we have an excess of food being produced.
I don't know the answer but it seems as if a slow transition is followed it is possible to reverse the trend. Look at india, they are working towards and on the path to become totally organic in the next 10-15 years. They are a perfect example of the destructive result of the green revolution on a country. 150,000 farmers have commited suicide since 1990 because their crops have failed and they are in debt after switching to conventional methods. This is a farmer driven change.
Besides, where do all the farmers go when they are no longer needed to farm because the work of a 100 can be done by one.I don't see a lot of open jobs around.
How long until our diet, the one from industrial farming, bankrupts our healthcare system, 2/3 of the population suffers from diet related illnesses. six of the top ten killers are diet related. 1 in 3 children born in 2000 will have type 2 onset diabetes by the time they are out of high school.
Whats happens to the next generation when their are ho farmers who know how to produce food. Or the next serious pesticide resistant disease that can wipe out a single crop, like the potato famine in ireland. The same bug hit peru with almost no effect because they planted a variety of potatoes instead of one or two.They were able to subsist through variety.
As far as your articles of proof go, we can play that game all day because both sides have the same fire power.
Some things are pretty obvious though regardless of which article printed them.
Dead zone in the gulf
GMO product spreading without being planted
The fact that farmers are having to spray more instead of less
Food safety issues becoming more prevalent, ecoli in toll house cookies!!!Come on.
Farmers losing their land
The average age of farmers is increasing
and on and on...
I was at the Friday screening and loved every minute of it. I loved the huge crowd, the panel discussion (especially the farmer from Georgia whose accent was unreal, and the passion in Laura's voice) and most of all the film itself. As someone who has been interested in these issues for a long time and actively eating organic and seasonally/locally for several years now, I still learned a lot from this film. What was new to me was the impact that big agribusiness is having on the employees, most of them immigrants with no other options who are being treated as poorly as the animals. Touching on so many different problems and complex issues, the film could have ended up a big, messy soapbox, but it did not. It was so well done and powerful, the use of interviews very effective, and although it may have been 'preaching to the crowd' on Friday night, I think the impact was huge. I, for one, have been talking about it non-stop-- to foodie friends and strangers-- and I hope everyone goes to see this film and spreads the word. What bothers me most is when people categorically refuse to see something (I've had 2 examples of this recently) based on their confidence that 1) they know everything already or 2) they don't want to hear it. I don't care what your level of interest or education on the subject, there is something to learn in this film for everyone and it couldn't be more important right now given all the reasons JCB just outlined.
I was also at the Friday screening and it was great to see such a packed house and hear the opinions of the well-balanced panel. I was really excited about seeing the film and like others have said didn't really expect to learn much new after reading many books on the food industry over the past few years. But the film does an excellent job of pulling many different issues together and giving visuals that you just can't get from reading a book. The tying in of food safety, immigration, the powerlessness of the FDA and USDA along with the ethical, enviromental and health issues of the industrialized food supply is excellent.
I've definitely been talking the movie up to anyone who will listed and the most frustrating response is that people just don't want to know where their food comes from and I can't understand that at all. I've heard from people who just want to keep their little fantasy that meat comes all nice and neat and wrapped up in plastic in the store and they want to eat it without knowing where it came from or what health hazards might go along with it. The thought that you can't see a film because it might make you want to change your eating habits just boggles my mind - that is exactly the point!
