King Corn. Have you seen it? A documentary about how we are mostly made of corn because we are stupid. Stupid because we want cheap food now and are determined to be ignorant or ambivalent to any harmful effects down the road. It's the free market at work.
It's not about the kind of corn grandmama crammed into a grocery bag for you to take when you left, freshly plucked, with love, from her garden. They grow mountains of this product and you can't eat a kernel of it until it is very, very processed. They grow it because, thanks to amazing R&D, it is very good at growing. And the government pays farmers about $28/acre to grow it. And people keep inventing crap to use it for.
It reminds me of this:
Ethanol. High Fructose Corn syrup.
I used to pronounce it "Frooook-tose", but now I prefer "Fruc-tose". (Rhymes with truck toast. Kind of.)
It's all in how you market a thing.
*****
"We have this terrible tasting corn that no one can eat, but we can grow MILLIONS of TONS of it at only a slight loss. Whatever shall we do?"
"Tastes terrible , you say?"
"AWFUL! Cows will eat it. If you confine them to a small, dirty hovel, and slaughter them before they die of obesity. So, that's good, right?"
"Right. But we need to come up with more uses. THINK, MAN, THINK!"
"Well, if we use several harmful chemicals and processes, we can turn it into either something to run a car or sweeten a soft drink."
"BRILLIANT! Wait ... hmmm, is it good for you?"
"No, not really."
"Well, let's pay legislators to pass laws so people have to use our product."
"Ewww, that's just evil enough to work," says the corn makers ("Here, here!" comes a cry from the booster seat makers, the health care companies, the vaccine making companies, the fast-tread-wearing-down tire companies (can you think of more?)).
"And make sure to market it to kids. Kids are stupid. Tell them it's cool, pay famous people to promote it."
"Children? Why, that'll be easy. We'll put it in every kind of candy or juice there is. Kids'll ingest anything sweet."
"BUT don't let's make it so obvious we are selling a product that probably does more harm than good, in the long run. At least not until people are utterly reliant upon or addicted to our products," says corn people (and the tobacco companies, the cattleman's association, the pharmaceutical companies, cosmetic surgeons, "beauty" suppliers, soda pop manufacturers, tanning oil makers, candy, chips, kool-aid, and Michael Bay).
*****
Do you know what "corn fed" means? I thought it just meant that the cow gets to eat corn. I like corn. I thought "corn fed" was something good, special, a feature. Usually cows are stuck eating grass. Corn seems yummier than grass.
But actually, corn fed is pretty horrible. It's kind of like what the witch tried to do to Hansel. No, it's exactly that. And learning about it pretty much cured me of all desire for hamburgers ever again. (Unless Greg makes them. He uses Worcestershire Sauce. And fire.)
Now, I'm not sure if I want to look into chicken raising techniques; I might have to become a vegetarian. Ignorance. See? No, you are right. Ignorance is better. Because if you go and learn stuff, then you have to act according to that knowledge. It's much easier to get your kids the Chicken McNugget Happy Meal because at least chicken is better than beef.
Stupid fat Americans. The next documentary in my queue is "Killer at Large: Why Obesity is America's Greatest Threat (2008)."
Documentaries are fun!
16 Brilliant Bits of Inspiration:
I've been wanting to see Food, Inc but it's not showing anywhere around here. I'll just have to wait until it comes to the library.
http://www.foodincmovie.com/
Just make sure you don't read "Diet for a New Generation"!
I was a strict Vegetarian for 12 years after reading it. It took my Hus 14 years of intense retraining to get me to eat chicken.
Ok, you did grow up in an area with quite a few feedlots and "corn fed" terminal product is the end result of most beef cattle operations. Did you truly buy into the belief that cattle are being grossly mishandled and abused in order to produce beef? "Corn fed" truly means that cattle are "finished" (finish = desirable amount of fat cover) with cracked corn and grain or corn silage (fermented corn = greater nutritional value, easier digestion) instead of "grass fed" which usually means a stronger flavor and less "finish" (also fewer cattle grading choice and prime). If you're truly worrying about this issue (and buying into the hype) go visit you local cattle producer and ask for a tour. I think you'll be suprised at how well meat animals are treated.
Abused animals living in poor conditions do not make us any money. They do not finish. They do not grade. They get sick and die at an alarming rate. They require more man hours to care for than healthy, well cared for animals.
The situation you are describing would not create a profitable situation for cattle producers. I don't have any insight into any of the other industries you described, but the raising of cattle and other large food animals is what I grew up with and then studied in college. It's what my family does- and we certainly don't make money without making making the health and welfare of our animals a very high priority. Next time you're in Idaho I can arrange several tours if you're interested.
There are many, many documentaries on the subject of "factory farming" animals. In Canada, we had one produced here called "Frankensteer" It's true that ignorance is bliss and that once you find out where you food comes from, you are burdened with an added responsibility to be mindful of what you are eating. But all hope is not lost. Grass fed (Cows don't naturally eat corn), Organic Beef is often available as is Organic Free Range Chicken, it might just take a bit of effort to find it. However, once you have, you won't ever go back.
Okay, here's my short post....try Fast Food Nation. It's a book, but I think they also made it into a movie (Or at least they are going to). You'll never want another chicken nugget again. Not that I don't occasionally get a cone at McD's or some apples or fries or a cheese sandwich (double cheeseburger, meat on the side) for Olivia.
And now for my longer post.
Okay, I wanted to hold back on this but I am going to say it. You just heard of the dangers of HFCS now? The whole sugar thing is so complicated that I know people who won't give their kids HFCS, others who will only give their kids pure sugar products, others who will only give their kids sugar free, and others who deliberately avoid all aspartame, but then some who will give splenda but not aspartame.....it's enough to make your head spin without even introducing the whole organic/non-organic food thing into the mix. The newest thing is stevia....I think there must be some disadvantages to living in the 3rd largest city in the nation which also just got the 3rd largest Whole (Paycheck) Foods in the world.
I've been a vegetarian since 1998 (off and on for years before that)....sometimes taking a bite or two of shrimp or fish in an attempt to be more flexible because I thought that my efforts to become fully vegan circa 2001-2002ish were turning the people around me off and I was becoming too difficult to be around. Hey, I lived in Missouri at the time and we didn't even have a Whole Foods then! Since then, I have gone back to a more strict vegetarianism that makes little sense to outsiders, but does to me. I eat no meat, fish. I will not eat milk or eggs directly, but I will eat products that have them in them...I know, it makes no sense.
See, I saw this chicken truck driving down the highway on election day (11/08). It was a bunch of chickens in open crates all stacked together, about 8-10 high, 6 or so wide, all open and on top of each other, on the tollway, going 65 or so, with no protective covering or anything. The poor chickens were trying to hold on as best they could, feathers flying and everything. But what was most alarming was their overall condition; their raw red bottoms, the fact that some of them looked dead already; how they tried so hard to nest together to protect themselves. That is why I have not been able to handle or eat an egg since. It reminds me of a story that I heard as a little kid when my mom was married to a Methodist minister and one of the little old church ladies was babysitting me and my sisters. She told us that she had to slaughter and pluck a chicken and clean it to eat when she was a girl and she never again ate chicken her entire life.
I guess it all depends upon your connection to animals. Sorry to ramble, but we were just in New Jersey for a week, visiting my husband's relatives in the Atlantic City area. Although I tried to psych myself up to eat clams before I got there, I just couldn't do it, and part of the reason was because of the dirty-looking/smelling/feeling water around the area. I didn't want to eat something that was plucked from it because it just did not seem clean and healthy to do so, even if it was fresher than what I would get here in Chicago.
So that's that. HFCS is bad for us, maybe. So is that crap they put in plastic that they now label certain baby bottles as free of. (It starts with a B, I can't remember what it is, maybe BPA?). We Americans are all so obese that a little less sugar in any form could do us good, right? This coming from the M&M addict (my mom never let us have candy! that's why I'm addicted now!)
Okay, this is enough. FYI, the verification word is 'crack,' LOL!
Cheers,
Catherine
Sometimes I get really analytical of what I eat and other times I think "what difference does avoiding everything enjoyable make, we all die of something, eventually." I like steak, I like cookies. I really don't want to know the bad stuff or I won't ever be able to enjoy either again, yet I will still crave them probably.
I believe in a nice balance of ignorance and moderation when it comes to the stuff that I know is kind of bad. The rest of the time I try to only eat things in their original form or with ingredients that I understand. Ohh, and while we are on the subject, food coloring is another thing to watch out for. Beware of anything flourescent colored. The kids are attracted to it, but it might give them some serious behavioral problems. Flourescent food is definately on the balck list in my opinion.
I can't wait to hear about the next one.
Nice post. I am currently watching King Corn since you recommended it. It is very interesting. If any of you have netflicks you can watch both these documentaries instantly online. I just finished "Killer at Large" and it is definitely worth watching.
I think it is not responsible to use the excuse that we are all dying to defend bad eating habits. The more and more research that we do on genetic evolution, it is becoming more and more clear that we are connected to our past and responsible for our future more than we realize. We tend to think of ourselves as separate individuals but this is problematic for many reasons.
Find a good documentary on epigenomes. These are the genetic markers that are left in our DNA that informs the chemistry and makeup of future generations. It's absolutely fascinating. You are directly influenced by how well your great great great grandfather ate when he was a kid.
I think these dramatic changes in our environment in regards to food and the rampant obesity will have very negative consequences on our future generations. I think if people are going to accept the philosophy of eating what they please because they are dying anyway should consider not reproducing.
Nice commentary thread....I think the lesson learned here might be that we are all responsible for what we put in our mouths. It's also important what we eat when we are pregnant and/or breastfeeding.
The best possible things are fruits, vegetables, etc. as much as possible. I like to teach my daughter to eat things like tofu as much as possible. She likes it like I do, raw or cooked.
And we don't buy crackers or juice boxes. (I cannot tell you how much I hate those little goldfish snacks. And pretzels. And potato chips for the most part). I don't believe in juice per se. I have also been told that I am a weird vegetarian because I don't like pasta or rice. Or pancakes or waffles. All of these foods to me seem like glue in your stomach, or they break down into simple sugar...if you're going to eat them, why not just bypass the simple carbs and eat some sugar instead? Isn't that the problem? Too much sugar in our diets? (I say this as I polish off a handful of peanut M&Ms, aka my crack, LOL!)
I will confess that our downfall (as a family) is ice cream, when we are on a kick for it, and cereal, high-fiber stuff only, but some sugary stuff too, to mix in for a treat.
The point, maybe is balance. I am lucky that I have a husband who honors my vegetarianism by keeping a vegetarian home (I get physically repulsed by touching meat, even if I don't care if he or Olivia eats it). That's why diets like the Atkins don't work.
But we all can't eat an all-vegan organic, unprocessed diet from Whole Foods. Even WF doesn't sell all organic foods.....it's too expensive, impractical, etc. So we as parents do the best we can to try to instill good eating and activity habits in our kids, and by doing so we hopefully avoid raising obese children, even if we ourselves aren't perfect. Right?
Janet - cows were not meant to eat corn and so that they don't get ill from their corn diet they are fed a steady supply of antibiotics.
Brandy - I waited to read this because I knew it would get me all riled up. I've tried taking high fructose corn syrup out of my diet, but I guess I like my candy bars too much. What I ended up discovering while I was reading labels intensly to only buy products without HFCS is that it's even in products like spaghetti sauce! Spaghetti sauce! I was flabbergasted, why would spaghetti sauce need corn syrup? So now I buy canned tomatoes and make my own sauce. That's the one thing that stuck from trying to get off of the stuff. Hmm..maybe it's time to try again.
One thing I've realized over the last couple of days, with my trip to the duck park and these documentaries, is that all life survives by destroying other life. It doesn't matter if that life was a cow or a chicken or a carrot plucked from the ground, a fruit off a tree, or a leaf from a plant. In order to stay alive one must end something else's life.
BUT is it really and end? Or continuation in another form? Perhaps the purpose of life is not simply to live, but to improve the lives of others around us. If you can't improve the lives of your friends and family with your love and intelligence, perhaps you'd make a tasty stew.
Just saying.
p.s. you should also check out any book by Michael Pollan. He's been talking about this for years. His words when he was interview were "mother nature doesn't like to put all of her eggs in one basket." Basically he was saying what will happen to our food supply if these massive corn crops fail for some reason and since mother nature doesn't like her eggs in one basket chances are at somepoint they will fail.
Yes, though we kill to live, we should do it in the most responsible, humane, and grateful way possible.
I've always liked Kahlil Gibran's chapter from _The Prophet_ "On Eating and Drinking" that emphasizes sacrifice and gratitude:
"When you kill a beast say to him in your heart, 'By the same power that slays you, I too am slain; and I too shall be consumed. For the law that delivered you into my hand shall deliver me into a mightier hand. Your blood and my blood is naught but the sap that feeds the tree of heaven.' And when you crush an apple with your teeth, say to it in your heart, 'Your seeds shall live in my body, And the buds of your tomorrow shall blossom in my heart, And your fragrance shall be my breath, And together we shall rejoice through all the seasons.'
(23-24)
This is an interesting post w/ interesting comments. It is really easy to become so alarmed over these things, and if it isn't meat, it is the distance food travels, or it is how it is grown, etc.
I don't eat any meat but I do eat seafood. This is partially for health reasons, also for moral reasons and also because I don't like meat very much. I also avoid most sugary foods.
I do think if you do your research, you can eat well, including eating meat. While I am a proponent of not eating a lot of meat, some people don't care to do that and in fact, some people's bodies really seem to need meat.
I like Janet's suggestion to do a tour of a cattle ranch to see how animals are treated. Do research into local places where you can buy meat and ensure that the animals were treated well and not pumped up with antibiotics. Also, you can look into getting produce from local farmers by subscribing to a CSA. We do that and get a box each week, most things grown locally, all organic items and keeps us trying new and interesting fruits and veggies.
Ana,
I know of zero feedlot cattle fed a steady diet of antibiotics. Spending large amounts of time in confinement operations (as opposed to pasture or range) that are not kept sparkling clean will always result in higher bacteria loads. Modern beef producers realize this and put a great deal of effort into keeping pens clean and ensuring that feed and water are clean and fresh.
Ruminants can digest plant matter regardless of it's source. It's not the corn that causes increased bacteria levels (check out Brandy's link on feeding cattle). It's the environment. Cattle producers realize this and working to provide an environment that ensures the meat we eat is as healthy and wholesome as possible. Once again, ask your local beef producer for a tour. Transparency in operations is good for all of us. It is important to know where your food comes from and what it's been exposed to. Don't believe every sensational story you read.
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