May20
Two Great Documentaries with one Severely Important Message:
Where does our food come from?
The first, “King Corn” centers around two guys who rent an acre of land in Iowa to grow corn and to follow where it goes once if leaves their little acre. They soon find out that there is a lot more to being a corn farmer than they realized. Specifically, government subsidies. In the end they lost money on their crop, but with the government subsidy were able to break even (or close to it).
I was personally surprised to find out that most of the corn grown in the USA is not immediately edible and in fact tastes terrible! It goes from fresh off the farm to what seems to be an endless journey into food processing. What I took from this movie is that corn is everything in this country. It’s in everything we eat, everything we buy and use and it controls so much of the economy and marketplace that it will make you step back and think about your own choices as a consumer. The other startling thing I learned from the film was about cows and feed lots. Holy crap! Look, I’m no naive ninny, but weren’t we always told that corn fed cows were healthier or something? Well, it’s all lies! They talk to farmers and experts and it turns out cows were never meant to eat corn. They were meant to only eat grass. DUH! So what you get are very ill cows that grow so fast (to get to market/slaughter faster) on such a poor diet that they can’t even walk by the time they are “ready” to be sold for slaughter. *barfs* Luckily in this doc, you’re spared the more gruesome images that this brings to mind.
“Food Inc.” follows these same lines about food overall and where it comes from. But it also gives a lot more facts and statistics that will leave you in a state of shock and awe! If you’re not rethinking your own diet let alone our entire country’s then you may need to check your pulse! This doc seems to focus a lot more on the animals in our giant food industry and how they are treated and the industry’s demands on farmers. What we see in the grocery store with names and images referencing old family farms are once again, ALL LIES!!!
It also points out the incredible power each and every one of us holds when it comes to our buying choices. Every meal, every dollar and every change are ruled by us, the consumer! It became clear to me when reps from Walmart explained the reasoning behind Walmart going Organic, the customer wants it! WOW! A giant company listening to it’s customers? Yep! They have no choice after all. If you know what you want and they don’t have it you’ll simply go elsewhere and they get it!
I highly recommend both of these films (and the order in which I present them to you) to everyone in the world! I feel that we as a nation have been kept in the dark about where our food comes from and what is and isn’t “healthy.” We turn a blind eye to things like the biggest slaughter house in the world and their labor practices. Our government subsidizes these companies to gain control over a global market. Even if this is no surprise to you, I ask that you still give these a shot. Especially, “Food Inc.” because it really does give facts that I hadn’t seen or heard before. When it comes to obesity, diabetes and everything in between and surrounding what we eat, I think that it is our responsibility to learn as much as we can and make more conscious decisions in our daily lives.
You can watch both Streaming on Netflix’s “watch instantly” section. And please, spread the word!!!
