Thoughts after seeing Food Inc.

Recently my husband and I went to see the movie Food Inc, which is about America’s industrialized food system and how it affects aspects of our lives that we don’t even think about while we’re cruising down the supermarket aisles—the environment, health, economy and workers’ rights. Actually, this wasn’t new news for me; because of my and Barry’s commitment to sustainability and our interest in green living, I’ve heard all of this before. Regardless, I thought that the movie did a great job of packaging up a lot of information and presenting it to the consumer.

I believe that the average person doesn’t think too much about where their food comes from—suddenly, it’s there at the store, packaged up and piled high in glossy wrappers. The fruit gleams under the rain mist that falls from the sky of the produce shelves. The cereal boxes, adorned with sports stars and cartoon characters tempt with their sugar coatings and colored marshmallows. The rows of steaks, chicken, ground beef and pork roasts snare shoppers with visions of what they could be and how good they could taste, once cooked. Even the deli aisle calls to the consumer with its premade potato salads, crab cakes and battered pork chops that just need to be popped in the oven and reheated to be ready to serve.

What could be easier than this? We’re all busy and want to save time… No one likes to grocery shop. The quicker we can get in and out of the store, the better. But wait! If someone truly is what they eat, then shouldn’t everyone be more concerned about where their food comes from?

Simply put: yes. Even if you do not plan on changing your eating habits, you should still be informed. An informed consumer is a smarter consumer, or at least a consumer who makes choices knowing all of the information. Know the information so you can make your own decisions!

To find out more, visit http://www.foodincmovie.com/ and check it out. For now, I’ll leave you with ten things you can do to change our food system (also from the Food Inc. website):

1. Stop drinking sodas and other sweetened beverages: You can lose 25 pounds in a year by replacing one 20 oz. soda a day with a no-calorie beverage (preferably water).

2. Eat at home instead of eating out: Children consume almost twice (1.8 times) as many calories when eating food prepared outside the home.

3. Support the passage of laws requiring chain restaurants to post calorie information on menus and menu boards: Half of the leading chain restaurants provide no nutritional information to the customers.

4. Tell schools to stop selling sodas, junk food and sports drinks: Over the last two decades, rates of obesity have tripled in children and adolescents aged 6 to 19 years,

5. Meatless Mondays—Go without meat one day a week: An estimated 70% of all antibiotics used in the United States are given to farm animals.

6. Buy organic or sustainable food with little or no pesticides: According to the EPA, over 1 billion pounds of pesticides are used each year in the U.S.

7. Protect family farms; visit your local farmer’s markets: Farmer’s markets allow farmers to keep 80 to 90 cents of each dollar spent by the consumer.

8. Make a point to know where your food comes from—READ LABELS: The average meal travels 1500 MILES from the farm to your dinner plate.

9. Tell Congress that food safety is important to you: Each year, contaminated food causes millions of illnesses and thousands of deaths in the U.S.

10. Demand job protections for farm workers and food processors, ensuring fair wages and other protections: Poverty amond farm workers is more than twice that of all wage and salary employees.

As always, you all are invited to our farm, Red Sunflower Farm, to partake in organic home-grown food and good times! We have an open house the third Sunday of every month. For more information, visit http://www.redsunflowerfarm.com/.