It revolutionized our views on the food we eat, in a very good way.
If you have not watched it yet, I highly recommend it.
Jonathan and I have always tried to be careful about what we eat and what we avoid eating. Fast food, deep fried, HFCS, fake sugars, bleached grains, processed foods, etc.
We also have great concern about the average American diet, recognizing that a large majority either A) don't care enough or are too lazy to change, B) are ignorant or uneducated, or C) don't think they can change or have other excuses for bad eating habits.
Before watching this movie, my typical grocery shopping habits consisted of generally choosing whole wheats and grains, beans, fresh produce, chicken, fish, and turkey as oppose to pork and beef, a variety of natural dairy products, and pure juices. I avoided unnecessary sugars, hydrogenated oils, processed and pre-packaged items, etc., bought local cheese, meat, and produce when available... and tried to cook most meals at home. If we did eat out, we rarely ate at fast food places; especially places like McDonalds.
Over the past several years, we have begun to understand the difference and quality of free-range/grass fed as oppose to "factory farming" because of my dad's farm in Ohio... so we started buying organic milk, eggs, and meats when available. But we didn't fully realize how bad the meat industry truly was until watching Food, Inc.
This movie is not a "scare you into being vegetarian" film. It exposes the industry for what it is, then also shows farms that are doing things right. Humane, free-range, and eviromentally friendly farming, the way God intended it to work.
We live within 5 miles of TWO major poultry plants: Perdue and Cargill. It is common to see chickens and turkeys stuffed in little cages on a semi truck on its way to the factory; the cages exposed to the elements, feathers flying everywhere, and depending on the tempeture and wind, the stench can be overwhelming, too.
What happens inside those plants, as we discovered, is 100 times worse. I'll spare the details, but it can hardly be described better than an animalistic holocaust. Kicking pigs, throwing chickens, injecting them with hormones, chemicals, and steroids to the point where these creatures become crippled from gross overweight, having heart attacks, and dying of starvation because of handicaps. Animals that are sick and injured kept alive just enough to send them to the slaughterhouse to keep up their profits. Unsanitary conditions, wall-to-wall chickens, pigs, or cows laying in their own feces in dark, windowless barns. This is Average and Normal in the American meat industry!!
Not to mention the issue of the corn and soybean industry. It is a government-run monopoly that is forcing the farmers of America to either submit to their standards (using GMO substandard crops) or go bankrupt fighting the large corporations in lawsuits.
This should alarm us and cause change in our standards of what we eat. We wonder why so many people are sick and dying of diseases, suffering from obesity, cancers, cholesterol, diabetes, etc. etc.
We are what we eat!
"He who controls the food, controls the nation."
People of America need to take back our health and our food, therefore taking back control of the nation. It is a scary place to know that our greatest resources to nutrition and health (by the foods we eat) are Walmart, large corporations, and ultimately, the government.
God's first calling to Adam was to give each creature a name...
"18 And the LORD God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” 19 Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him." - Gen 2:18-20
If God intended animals to just be a buffet for man's eating pleasures, I doubt He would have gone through the trouble of uniquely naming them. In fact, God took pleasure in it... "To see what he would call them..." There was a curiosity and proud father-like attitude, taking joy in his creation as he allowed Adam the freedom to use his own mind and creative abilities.
God also calls us out by name... that makes us special, gives us meaning, and not just a number or a face in a crowd. I think animals deserve the same respect, too.
Originally, we ALL were created as vegetarians, man and beast:
"Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over allb]">[b] the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
29 And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. 30 Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so." -Gen 1:26-30, emphasis mine.
A few chapters later, after the Fall of Man, we see that animals were used as sacrifices (Cain and Abel), but it was not mentioned that animals were eaten as food until after the Flood. Of course, throughout Leviticus and other books in the Bible, a diagram was laid out on what foods and types of animals were proper and safe for eating. And also in what ways those foods should be prepared and how animals should be slaughtered. I think holding to a generally "kosher" diet is God's plan for a healthy diet.
We are currently living as vegetarians until we find the right place to purchase meat from. We'll be investing in a deep freezer chest to stock up on local seasonal produce (and our own mini-garden) during the warm months, so we don't have to buy carrots from mexico and peaches from argentina during the winter.
The world would be a much better place if we all went back to community living instead of the fast-food nation. It is not an easy task, and it's tempting to give in and buy a pack of boneless skinless chicken breast from Walmart. But I just can't do it in right conscious any more. This lifestyle requires patience, planning, and yes, it is a little bit more expensive. But in the end, we are supporting the local economy, feeding our bodies quality food so we will stay healthier, and living different so that we can educate and help others too.
Who else is willing to take this step with us?
