Food Inc.

Though I was only able to watch the first half of the film with the class, the parts of Food Inc. that I saw were very impactful and thought provoking. One of the ideas brought up in the video that I found especially interesting was learning that the food industry is controlled by just a handful of major corporations. This made me feel uneasy about what I purchase and consume. I definitely don't approve of or encourage the way these corporations treat their animals or distribute their product, but it's difficult to avoid them because they account for so much of the food that is available to buy.

The inside look on factory farming was very disturbing to me. I was shocked to see the huge influence that the major meat companies have on the individual farmers that raise the chickens and cows. It became apparent to me that farming is no longer considered raising animals, more like the mass production of food--at whatever means necessary. It was very disappointing to watch the living conditions for these animals continually plummet and become worse. It was so sad to think that chickens would spend their entire lives without seeing a second of daylight. It was very saddening to see farmers become desensitized with their relationship with the animals that they were raising. Since their job involves raising an animal from birth to death, I would assume that a farmer inherently has a love for animals and their well-being, but it seemed that the ways they were being forced to raise their animals had given them a new and hopeless outlook on their job. I wish these workers felt more empowered to stand up to the large food corporations. From what I could tell from the film, the cycle was continuing and becoming worse.

I also thought that the FDA positions during the Bush administration were very interesting. The fact that they were formerly involved with the food industry made me think that they had an automatic bias. It was very interesting that there were more food recalls and illnesses when they were in office than other years.

Knowing what we know about America's health issues and food industry, in contrast to other nations' hunger crises, what can we do that would help in solving both simultaneously?