My bff and the most fabulous caterer in town, Carolyn, and I just took off yesterday to play. And so, of course, we ended up at Findlay Market, eating several times – and then went to the Esquire to see Food, Inc. A busperson’s holiday, as it were. I am no longer a cook, though I still bake – but I know where to buy all the great food in town! and Carolyn is into food all day every day.
We felt pretty good about ourselves afterwards – since we have long been buying, eating and growing local food. And Food, Inc. will definitely push you in that direction, if you’re not already there. Those chickens, those cows. All that manure destroying our waterways and warming the globe. All that grain feeding cows – whose bodies are not built to assimilate it. Their bodies are built for grass. And all those dead chickens, just falling over from their own weight.
The human side of it was evident, too. The de-humanized folk on the assembly lines – just machines made of flesh. The contract growers, hiding the ugly parts of the business. Those who spoke to the moviemakers lost their contracts. The immigrants rounded up while the corporations were let off the hook were shown, too.
The actual human farmer who is farming on a human scale was terrific. He pointed out that his chickens have less e coli, raised as they are scratching in the real outdoor dirt, than processed chickens – even though those ‘manufactured’ birds are dipped in chlorine baths several times. He also – very un-American at this point – said he did not want to get big. What he may do, when Wal-Mart comes calling, is help others produce human scale food.
I have long said to friends – if you’re going to eat meat, eat organic/free range meat, not factory meat. This movie has all the reasons why. It is also an excellent movie, well made. Just shows you the truth, without drama. Definitely a movie for the new paradigm.