Thoughts after watching a food documentary

[Westcoastwild]

Slightly different, but I was hugely disappointed in Supersize me. If you want to know the impact of that kind of food, you change only the food you eat and check the results. You don't force feed yourself when you're not hungry and deliberately avoid the regular exercise you get. Multiple variables screw up the experiment.

Yeah, that was...interesting. That's what I mean by fear mongering. They harm their own message when they do stuff like that for shock value.

The anti meat documentaries are like that too. Of course there are irresponsible or abusive farmers. But showing the extremes- the people that other farmers would gladly shut down- just makes themselves look ridiculous.

 

[amberpi]

Personally, aside from vacay, this type of stuff made me even more a localvore.

 

[DisBabe94]

Yeah, that was...interesting. That's what I mean by fear mongering. They harm their own message when they do stuff like that for shock value.

The anti meat documentaries are like that too. Of course there are irresponsible or abusive farmers. But showing the extremes- the people that other farmers would gladly shut down- just makes themselves look ridiculous.

The fact of the matter is that in the USA 98% of meat and animal products come from factory farms. EVERYTHING about these animals lives is maximized for profits. Yes the incidents of outrageous abuse are sensationalized. But the things that ARE standard practice are inherently abusive. Please educate yourself on high volume factory farming standard practices and be aware of where what you are buying came from - What kind of life they lead and what kind of death they had. It's not smiles and laughter. There are absolutely NO laws governing the conditions under which farmed animals are raised in the US.

 

[Westcoastwild]

I can see why they went after the mega food companies though. Their focus of profits at the expense of animal welfare and food safety needs to be investigated. The budgets of the government organizations that should be overseeing them has been cut to the bone. Gee I wonder who had political influence over those decisions? The answer is more transparency. I wonder why some of the food companies don't install video cameras so the public can see what goes on in their plants.

Would you trust the cameras? I'm not sure I would trust certain companies even if they gave me a personal factory tour.

A lot of the problem isn't even the processing. It's the source of the raw ingredients and the additives.

I have a dog with a lot of food allergies, so I've done a lot of research on dog food production. It's pretty much not regulated at all and it's horrific. And it's all out in the open too. I see stuff shared on Facebook all the time about the cheap food. Their dog gets poisoned and they feel the need to warn everyone but it's so sad- all they had to do was google the company before opening that can of food. Or even just look at the label. Dog food is like any other kind of processed food- if you can't pronounce or identify a whole bunch of the ingredients, you probably shouldn't be eating it.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I found Food Inc upsetting, but then again I've been viewing those types of things most of my life, so it wasn't that it was surprising. I think what was is that it's still allowed to go on here.

Nothing can be more in-your-face than experiencing a food-borne illness first-hand. That changes how you think about food and where and how you eat, etc. Few want to listen, though.

 

[MrsDuck]

We watched Food, Inc, read Omnivore's Dilemma, and a number of other sources about 10 years ago. We do eat out, and do things in moderation, but strive for non-processed, local, and/or organic for our home. We buy our beef directly from a farm, our milk & eggs are delivered weekly from another local farm (yes, we have a milkbox & a milkman!), produce comes from the farmer's market and farm stands. My kids know the difference between a random strawberry in January and a strawberry from a local farm in June. We try to appreciate good food when it's good.

Now this I am jealous of. I wish I could find local farms in my area who do this!

 

[Westcoastwild]

The fact of the matter is that in the USA 98% of meat and animal products come from factory farms. EVERYTHING about these animals lives is maximized for profits. Yes the incidents of outrageous abuse are sensationalized. But the things that ARE standard practice are inherently abusive. Please educate yourself on high volume factory farming standard practices and be aware of where what you are buying came from - What kind of life they lead and what kind of death they had. It's not smiles and laughter. There are absolutely NO laws governing the conditions under which farmed animals are raised in the US.

I buy my meat from local farmers mostly. I do know about the factory farms. I am not saying the industry is suitably regulated. But I am saying that I don't know any farmers that advocate mistreatment of livestock. And even among the factory farms there is probably a lot of variation much like there is among processing plants. Showing the worst of the worst factories or farms as "typical" of an industry is deceptive.

BUT. Most fervent vegetarians I know- like fanatics- argue that raising animals for slaughter is inherently bad. I don't agree with that.

Cheap produce is also problematic. Those same vegetarians completely ignore the fact that cheap fruit is cheap often because of exploitative labor practices.

But you know what, sometimes it's also about what you can afford. It's a luxury to watch those films and say I won't buy from this source or that source. I try not to judge people based on what they choose to buy. I don't know if I would buy from local farmers if I had a large family. I could not afford to do so in college. I'm grateful that I can do so now.

 

[rastahomie]

Your best bet for produce is the local farmer's market, same with the butcher, etc. If you care about such. You don't have to.

I agree with this, wholeheartedly. A local organic pig farmer sells some of his stuff (sausages, ground pork, pork chops) at a local gas station. It's delicious... and expensive as heck.

Unfortunately, I live in a land where it's impossible to grow much of anything, so "farming," in terms of grains, fruits, & veggies, doesn't happen much around here. What agriculture we have in Iron County is limited to livestock ranching. Not for nothing, someone down the road from me farms goats. GOATS! I can tell you confidently that the market for halal goat meat around here is non-existent.

 

[Mizzoufan]

No, I try not to watch those. Most are so Anti biased it nuts.

 

[Westcoastwild]

I agree with this, wholeheartedly. A local organic pig farmer sells some of his stuff (sausages, ground pork, pork chops) at a local gas station. It's delicious... and expensive as heck.

Unfortunately, I live in a land where it's impossible to grow much of anything, so "farming," in terms of grains, fruits, & veggies, doesn't happen much around here. What agriculture we have in Iron County is limited to livestock ranching. Not for nothing, someone down the road from me farms goats. GOATS! I can tell you confidently that the market for halal goat meat around here is non-existent.

What do they do with their goats? Do you know? I mean is milk or meat or both?

It's pretty locavore around here. Goat cheese is pretty common at farmer's market. But I've yet to see halal goat meat advertised.

If I ate only local, my diet would be extremely short on veggies and fruit and there are a lot fruits I would never get. Like pineapple. Who wants to give up that?

It's wheat country where I grew up but I doubt my hometown eats any of that wheat in the end. Some friends live down in sugar beet area in Idaho- but all the beet sugar there gets sent to china, and most sugar you buy there is actually from Europe. Anyway- point is, even if you did live in productive farming country, you probably wouldn't see much if any of the main cash crop!

 

[Westcoastwild]

Now this I am jealous of. I wish I could find local farms in my area who do this!

I am trying to think of the word. I can't. But it's possible that your local farms have some kind of subscription program. Like milk and egg futures. I found out last year that the local farms do that. You "subscribe" and then you pick up your share at a central location, and sometimes they deliver to your house. I had no idea that was even a thing.

Anyway, you may want to ask around. There could be an entire farm goods delivery system right under your nose.

 

[rastahomie]

What do they do with their goats? Do you know? I mean is milk or meat or both?

I honestly have no idea. Possibly they milk them for the (miniscule) goat milk market in the US (maybe they sell the milk to a larger dairy conglomerate)? Maybe they do something similar with the meat? Or maybe it's just a hobby for them. I really wish I knew.

It would be weird to knock on the door and say, "Why the hell do you farm goats? No one around here consumes goat products!"

 

[bcla]

i don't get too squeamish about this kind of stuff. I've driven past grazing cattle and sometimes have smelled it. We have a local demonstration farm. My kid loves the place because we get to feed lettuce and celery to the cows and goats, but even then we can tell they're walking around their own feces.

We get too worked up about "food purity". A few bugs eaten frankly never hurt anyone, but we just have this huge hangup that they're somehow dirty or nasty.

I remember driving past the huge Harris Ranch feed lot where the cattle get finished with grain before their slaughter. You can smell it for five miles. Then we went to their restaurant and had some of their steaks. This is how we get our meat and I'm not under any impression that it's a perfect life for farm animals.

 

[rastahomie]

Anyway- point is, even if you did live in productive farming country, you probably wouldn't see much if any of the main cash crop!

I grew up in central Illinois: corn & soybeans as far as the eye could see. 99.99% of it belonged to Monsanto or whatever before it was even planted, to be used in Monsanto's myriad uses. But that one thousandth of a percent of it winds up in the beds of pickup trucks about this time every year and gets sold by the side of the road (along with tomatoes, peaches, watermelon, and whatever). If you've never had roadside corn (as I call it), go to central Illinois and get you some. it's crisp, sweet - NOM NOM NOM! Ten thousand times better than that flavorless mush you buy at the grocery store.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I honestly have no idea. Possibly they milk them for the (miniscule) goat milk market in the US (maybe they sell the milk to a larger dairy conglomerate)? Maybe they do something similar with the meat? Or maybe it's just a hobby for them. I really wish I knew.

It would be weird to knock on the door and say, "Why the hell do you farm goats? No one around here consumes goat products!"

A new thing I've seen with goats is "renting" them out to clear brush and grass, and that sort of thing!

 

[MrsDuck]

I am trying to think of the word. I can't. But it's possible that your local farms have some kind of subscription program. Like milk and egg futures. I found out last year that the local farms do that. You "subscribe" and then you pick up your share at a central location, and sometimes they deliver to your house. I had no idea that was even a thing.

Anyway, you may want to ask around. There could be an entire farm goods delivery system right under your nose.

I guess I need to do some internet digging! Thanks for the inspiration!

 

[rastahomie]

I'm of several minds about the food industry as it exists today. On the one hand, it's (almost certainly) bad for the environment, involves its share of animal cruelty, robs food of much of its nutritional value, and it's decimated the traditional family farm.

On the other hand, fewer people are malnourished today than at any time in history, thanks to the economics of scale in mass-produced, factory farming. So there's that.

I would love to eat nothing but organic, farm-to-table food. I would also be paying four, five, six times what I pay right now for food, to say nothing of having to drive a hundred miles to the nearest functional farmer's market, probably twice per week.

If every last American decided tomorrow to eat only organic, farm-to-table food, entire industries would be devastated. Much of the economy in the Midwest would disappear, leaving tens of thousands of people unemployed and thousands of farms to go fallow. The governments of Illinois, Iowa, Indiana would be bankrupt.

It's a pipe dream.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I think it's called a Co-Op, or something like that.

 

[amberpi]

I am trying to think of the word. I can't. But it's possible that your local farms have some kind of subscription program. Like milk and egg futures. I found out last year that the local farms do that. You "subscribe" and then you pick up your share at a central location, and sometimes they deliver to your house. I had no idea that was even a thing.

Anyway, you may want to ask around. There could be an entire farm goods delivery system right under your nose.

Lots of places have co-ops!

 

[amberpi]

I agree with this, wholeheartedly. A local organic pig farmer sells some of his stuff (sausages, ground pork, pork chops) at a local gas station. It's delicious... and expensive as heck.

Unfortunately, I live in a land where it's impossible to grow much of anything, so "farming," in terms of grains, fruits, & veggies, doesn't happen much around here. What agriculture we have in Iron County is limited to livestock ranching. Not for nothing, someone down the road from me farms goats. GOATS! I can tell you confidently that the market for halal goat meat around here is non-existent.

I pay a little more for local...but its worth it.