Food, Inc.

[PDXsooner]

Has anyone seen this, and if so has it changed your eating/shopping habits? Just curious.

[sooner_born_1960]

This what? This thread?

[SCOUT]

I saw the trailer. It looks like the typical documentary these days. Take a good idea/message and play up the evil corporation and dramatic consequence angles.

I am sure it will be interesting and have some eye opening things, but I am equally confident that it will be over the top in its assumptions and blame.

[rainiersooner]

I saw the trailer. It looks like the typical documentary these days. Take a good idea/message and play up the evil corporation and dramatic consequence angles.

I am sure it will be interesting and have some eye opening things, but I am equally confident that it will be over the top in its assumptions and blame.

Actually one of the things I liked about it was that for the whole part it spared us the Michael Moore or Supersize It moralizing and blame game - at least imo. I thought it did a good job of focusing on the food itself - particularly the interviews with Michael Pollan. I don't think you have to be "anti-corporation" (an absurd position to begin with) to acknowledge that the departure from locally based food supplies has had a detrimental effect on health in the US. I would definitely recommend seeing it.

[Boarder]

I loved it. The Monsanto soybean thing was particularly disturbing.

[SCOUT]

Actually one of the things I liked about it was that for the whole part it spared us the Michael Moore or Supersize It moralizing and blame game - at least imo. I thought it did a good job of focusing on the food itself - particularly the interviews with Michael Pollan. I don't think you have to be "anti-corporation" (an absurd position to begin with) to acknowledge that the departure from locally based food supplies has had a detrimental effect on health in the US. I would definitely recommend seeing it.

That is good to hear. I will check it out.

[SCOUT]

Actually one of the things I liked about it was that for the whole part it spared us the Michael Moore or Supersize It moralizing and blame game - at least imo. I thought it did a good job of focusing on the food itself - particularly the interviews with Michael Pollan. I don't think you have to be "anti-corporation" (an absurd position to begin with) to acknowledge that the departure from locally based food supplies has had a detrimental effect on health in the US. I would definitely recommend seeing it.

That is good to hear. I will check it out.

[SunnySooner]

I saw it, most of anyway, and yeah, it's sad we no longer have family farms, but I just don't see any big changes ahead. The food is so much cheaper, I just don't think people are willing to pay that much more for food that may or may not be better for you. IDK, I'm sorta middle of the road. I buy hormone-free milk, that just freaks me out for some reason, but not organic fruit or vegetables. And we eat a lot of Tyson's chicken. If there's a farm stand, I often stop and see what they have in season. But I would never plant my own garden or raise my own chickens, aint' happening.

[PDXsooner]

I saw it, most of anyway, and yeah, it's sad we no longer have family farms, but I just don't see any big changes ahead. The food is so much cheaper, I just don't think people are willing to pay that much more for food that may or may not be better for you. IDK, I'm sorta middle of the road. I buy hormone-free milk, that just freaks me out for some reason, but not organic fruit or vegetables. And we eat a lot of Tyson's chicken. If there's a farm stand, I often stop and see what they have in season. But I would never plant my own garden or raise my own chickens, aint' happening.

Different parts of the country are different in this regard. I can tell you that the organic food/buying local movement on the west coast is HUGE. There are plenty of mostly organic grocery stores out here, and i've bought organic/free range chicken and beef for 7 years now.

The midwest doesn't have the same demand but I think in time it will.

I'm surprised that it wouldn't have an immediate effect on people. It wasn't necessarily new news. I think it's true that knowledge doesn't make people change, feelings do. And feelings many times aren't felt until you get diagnosed with diabetes or heart disease related to diet...

[King Crimson]

complaining about things makes you gay or a commie and most certainly anti-american.

oh wait, sorry, i thought that it was 2002 all over again.

kidding. sort of. i've worked in the restaurant industry for 10 yeas and high end. the production angle is grotesque....but it's like that in the 28 dollar tenderloin. so what? so it isn't all magic and spiderwebs? it's meat.

you are slaughtering animals...what do expect, bouquets of flowers?

you give a me a couple tasty knives, i could fillet everyone who reads this word into tasty bits.

[Boarder]

THe best line in the film was something like, "you vote every time you run something through the checkout scanner." When you become morally uncomfortable enough, you will pay the extra for local, organic, free-range, grass fed food. Yes, it costs extra, but the gap is closing. For instance, I bought half a cow for $2.85/lb wrapped. That included steaks. And, it's a delicious longhorn from Perry, which makes me happy every time I eat a bevo burger.

It bothers me that certain restaurants get corn fed beef that necessitated Brazillian forest removal, so I don't eat there.

I took the message that a family can buy a value-menu burger or one apple and turned it into a class project of a urban garden. This garden would provide the low-income people of a community a place to grow nutritious food for a very low price and not rely on fast food burgers.

If it doesn't bother you, no sweat. Some of the stuff that is going bothers me and the movie was kind of preaching to the choir.

[royalfan5]

I watched it. I spent most of my time rolling my eyes. Mostly because I spend my days dealing with farmers and Big Ag.

[Leroy Lizard]

It's amazing how city people have this naive view of ag. I once told a student of mine that one of my jobs on our ranch was to shoot diseased cattle and those we planned to butcher. She looked at me and asked, "You mean, you actually shot cows?" Uhhhh, yeah. All the time.

[PDXsooner]

did you guys actually watch it? it had nothing to do with the question of killing animals. it had more to do with the way in which the animals were raised from a health perspective (i.e. hormones and antibiotics added, etc.)

[PDXsooner]

I watched it. I spent most of my time rolling my eyes. Mostly because I spend my days dealing with farmers and Big Ag.

do you mind elaborating? just curious...

[PDXsooner]

It's amazing how city people have this naive view of ag. I once told a student of mine that one of my jobs on our ranch was to shoot diseased cattle and those we planned to butcher. She looked at me and asked, "You mean, you actually shot cows?" Uhhhh, yeah. All the time.

i don't disagree, but what does that have to do with the film?

[rainiersooner]

Leroy - If more people actually had to kill the food they eat, they would probably demand higher quality and would be less willing to accept eating cows that stand in dung all day. That was one of the points of the film. Consumers are so disassociated and removed from their food source that they're willing to accept all sorts of unhealthy practices - because they don't see them.

[royalfan5]

do you mind elaborating? just curious...

Mostly it's that both side are complete full of ****. People have completely unrealistic expectations of what organic agriculture does and can provide. People want to get all worked up about biotech, but enjoy the benefits of plenty provided by it. For example last year, we had about as bad of weather as could be expected and still produced in record amounts. BT corn has helped reduce fossil fuel usage, and protected the land from soil erosion, but that never seems to get brought up in the Monsanto is evil argument.

[King Crimson]

that Monsanto suicide gene rice thing is pretty evil, really.

[royalfan5]

that Monsanto suicide gene rice thing is pretty evil, really.

I'm not saying that Monsanto doesn't have some evil aspects, just that much of what they do is incredibly useful.

[Leroy Lizard]

did you guys actually watch it? it had nothing to do with the question of killing animals. it had more to do with the way in which the animals were raised from a health perspective (i.e. hormones and antibiotics added, etc.)

My point wasn't so much about killing cows, but how little the average urbanite knows about what goes on. Chemicals? Hormones?

[Boarder]

I'm not saying that Monsanto doesn't have some evil aspects, just that much of what they do is incredibly useful.
The thing about Monsanto in the movie is their Roundup resistant soybeans. Roundup is made by (guess....) Monsanto so they made some soybeans that won't get killed by it. Good news, right? So, they patented the gene on the soybeans so that the farmers can't reuse seeds (as they have for years past). This forces them to buy new Monsanto seeds every year. Well, say that you don't use Monsanto seeds but your neighbors do. The wind will cross breed them so that if you have any with the Monsanto gene, you can't reuse your seeds, even if you never bought Monsanto and didn't want to. They've basically monopolized the soybean seed business. So, what looked nice at first (using roundup to control soybean weeds) sure looks like an evil corporate plot to the casual observer.

It's a bit more in-depth in the movie. You should watch it, the movie is done very well.

[SoonerInKCMO]

I haven't seen the movie; but I do own the book. I think this thread has motivated me to put that on the top of my unread stack.

[royalfan5]

The thing about Monsanto in the movie is their Roundup resistant soybeans. Roundup is made by (guess....) Monsanto so they made some soybeans that won't get killed by it. Good news, right? So, they patented the gene on the soybeans so that the farmers can't reuse seeds (as they have for years past). This forces them to buy new Monsanto seeds every year. Well, say that you don't use Monsanto seeds but your neighbors do. The wind will cross breed them so that if you have any with the Monsanto gene, you can't reuse your seeds, even if you never bought Monsanto and didn't want to. They've basically monopolized the soybean seed business. So, what looked nice at first (using roundup to control soybean weeds) sure looks like an evil corporate plot to the casual observer.

It's a bit more in-depth in the movie. You should watch it, the movie is done very well.

Yeah, I have a master's degree in Ag-business and know a little bit about the seed business. With the disappointing yields of Roundup Ready II beans, it won't be long until everyone is complaining about DuPont dominating things. And I have watched the movie and read the companion book. I'm sure it looks well done to the layperson.

[Boarder]

Well, what is done wrongly? Saying that it looks bad to the layperson doesn't say anything about the actual content.

[royalfan5]

Well, what is done wrongly? Saying that it looks bad to the layperson doesn't say anything about the actual content.

I could write a small book on the subject. I just don't feel like putting forth that kind of effort, at the moment. If you would like to read more about start with the Oklahoma Extension Service and go from there. There are a wealth of resources out there, and I encourage you to look in to it. A good place to start would be to read the Farming Game by Bryan Jones. It's an older book, but it covers most of the things you need to know to get a start. After that I would jump into American Agriculture and the Problem of Monopoly by Jon Lauck.

[captain_surly]

Well, what is done wrongly? Saying that it looks bad to the layperson doesn't say anything about the actual content.

Didn't watch the movie and don't intend to. I failed to notice when you became an environmentalist. I thought you were a businessman. Without GM seeds aka crops the planet couldn't possibly feed itself. Local and organic is wonderful if you're well off and live where the growing season is ten months long. Otherwise you pretty much eat whatever they have at the store or market. And it's mostly good stuff.

[StoopTroup]

My point wasn't so much about killing cows, but how little the average urbanite knows about what goes on. Chemicals? Hormones?

For someone who supposedly is teaching people....you certainly know how to make even educated people roll their eyes.

[PDXsooner]

Didn't watch the movie and don't intend to. I failed to notice when you became an environmentalist. I thought you were a businessman. Without GM seeds aka crops the planet couldn't possibly feed itself. Local and organic is wonderful if you're well off and live where the growing season is ten months long. Otherwise you pretty much eat whatever they have at the store or market. And it's mostly good stuff.

ha ha ha, so small minded...

[Boarder]

Didn't watch the movie and don't intend to. I failed to notice when you became an environmentalist. I thought you were a businessman. Without GM seeds aka crops the planet couldn't possibly feed itself. Local and organic is wonderful if you're well off and live where the growing season is ten months long. Otherwise you pretty much eat whatever they have at the store or market. And it's mostly good stuff.
Well, look at mister man chiming in. So, you can't be a businessman and an environmentalist? Sounds like a false dichotomy to me. But, since when did trying to eat in a more sustainable (to the local economy as well as the planet) manner make you a dirty hippie environmentalist? Local and organic was super expensive and even though it is higher now, it's becoming more affordable every day.

As for GM foods, I'm not really against them. I AM against companies patenting a product that parasitically takes over all others, introducing it into the stream of commerce, and then reaping the benefits. It's one thing to be the most innovative product where everyone wants it. It's quite a different thing to force someone to use your products or nothing at all.

[Veritas]

It was incredibly ****ing ignorant. If you thought Food, Inc was legit, you are retarded about agriculture and need to educate yourself before you start holding forth with any opinions.

[Boarder]

Yeah, again, HOW? And, it wasn't ignorant. Just because you don't like something doesn't make it ignorant.

[Leroy Lizard]

For someone who supposedly is teaching people....you certainly know how to make even educated people roll their eyes.

Is it me, or do you have to respond to every freakin' post I make?

[Chuck Bao]

Some American company patented Thai jasmine rice and that got the Thais all heated up a couple years ago. I suppose that there had to be some gene modification. I don't imagine that a company can patent a product produced by a overseas culture for a 1,000 years. Anyway, the Thai press carried the story that, at the end of the day, the patented product IS Thai jasmine rice.

This is an interesting topic. I would like to see this documentary and read some of the books suggested by royalfan.

[StoopTroup]

Is it me, or do you have to respond to every freakin' post I make?

It's just you. I only responded to one that you made in this thread. Well...now it's two but I think it's apparent that you aren't teaching math....lol

[StoopTroup]

Some American company patented Thai jasmine rice and that got the Thais all heated up a couple years ago. I suppose that there had to be some gene modification. I don't imagine that a company can patent a product produced by a overseas culture for a 1,000 years. Anyway, the Thai press carried the story that, at the end of the day, the patented product IS Thai jasmine rice.

This is an interesting topic. I would like to see this documentary and read some of the books suggested by royalfan.

I figured out what IDGAS means. :D

[PDXsooner]

It was incredibly ****ing ignorant. If you thought Food, Inc was legit, you are retarded about agriculture and need to educate yourself before you start holding forth with any opinions.

by "educate yourself" do you mean come to the same conclusions that you have? so, are you saying that the meat industry isn't dominated by the alleged institutions? and are you saying that hormones and antibiotics aren't pumped into the chickens and cows to make them bigger, therefore leading to increased health problems in people?

because i've read that in at least forty separate sources. if not more. my doctor and i have talked at length about this. i was diagnosed with hodgkin's when i was 31 and proceeded to read quite a bit about this subject. now veritas says Food Inc was retarded and my opinions are now retarded.

hmmm. why don't you tell me how to "educate myself".

[Veritas]

I apologize for the dickishness. All I can say is please, if you know very little about a something going into a 90-minute film on the subject, please don't allow said film to dramatically alter your perspectives.

[Veritas]

To elaborate:
I saw Food, Inc at a live screening featuring the director for a Q&A after the film. My BIL who happens to have an ag-something Masters from UNL was with me, and I got to enjoy watching him very politely but pointedly completely nuke the director of the film. It became obvious to the rest of the crowd that the director was as ignorant about agriculture as we suspected and that only a fraction of the side of the story had been presented.

My background, despite my current nerd status, is in raising corn (field, sweet, and seed), soybeans, milo, and wheat. From the "livestock" side of things, I've worked a ton with horses, cattle, chickens (big Arkansas operations) and turkeys. I know a TON about erg, but I don't know **** relative to guys that make their living in the field.

Agriculture is a massively complex field that is crucial to our country and the world, but it's a field that most folks know absolutely nothing about. It's en vogue, for some reason, to produce films like Food, Inc, that lambast the industry and its corporations from a naive and altruistic perspective. It's an easy film to rebut provided both parties in a conversation have the knowledge prerequisite to have the conversation. I know how that sounds, but that's just the way it is.

[PDXsooner]

To elaborate:
I saw Food, Inc at a live screening featuring the director for a Q&A after the film. My BIL who happens to have an ag-something Masters from UNL was with me, and I got to enjoy watching him very politely but pointedly completely nuke the director of the film. It became obvious to the rest of the crowd that the director was as ignorant about agriculture as we suspected and that only a fraction of the side of the story had been presented.

My background, despite my current nerd status, is in raising corn (field, sweet, and seed), soybeans, milo, and wheat. From the "livestock" side of things, I've worked a ton with horses, cattle, chickens (big Arkansas operations) and turkeys. I know a TON about erg, but I don't know **** relative to guys that make their living in the field.

Agriculture is a massively complex field that is crucial to our country and the world, but it's a field that most folks know absolutely nothing about. It's en vogue, for some reason, to produce films like Food, Inc, that lambast the industry and its corporations from a naive and altruistic perspective. It's an easy film to rebut provided both parties in a conversation have the knowledge prerequisite to have the conversation. I know how that sounds, but that's just the way it is.

good point. i get what you're saying. i don't know a whole hell of a lot about the industry, i'm much more interested in the hormones/antibiotics subject. that, to me, is a big issue. i'd be curious to get the perspective from someone in the cattle/chicken industry that would shed some light on their half, if they think they've been portrayed in an unfair light.

knowing human nature, it certainly seems that larger profits would trump healthier livestock.