Food Inc - a must see

This evening I had the pleasure of finally watching Food Inc, after being told to watch it numerous times by various people. Eye opening, depressing, inspiring, and down right sad at times. I can't say I was surprised by a lot of the content of the film after taking Dr. Heath's sanitation class my first semester, but hearing about it and actually seeing it are two very different things.

I consider myself to be fairly educated on food, nutrition, sanitation and the how and why we feed our bodies what we do, but not until I hit my mid teens was that the case; when I was twelve or thirteen I didn't know that fast food was bad for you. I'd like to think kids are more educated almost ten years later, but sadly, I think they're just as naive as I was. I give a lot of credit to people like Jamie Oliver for trying to start his Food Revolution, and average people like Mrs. Q of Fed Up: School Lunch Project. They're trying to make a difference, and people are noticing.

One thing that put a smile on my face in the film was the free range farmer they interviewed. I didn't shudder in fear as he killed and cleaned his chickens. It just seemed like the way things are supposed to be done, and probably pretty close to how grandma used to do it back in the day. I want to find that man and give him a kiss on the cheek. I can't say the same for the way I saw things done commercially; I teared up at the sight.

It makes me sad to see that most farmers, who give us the majority of our food are being treated so poorly. The people who nourish us, provide us with food and happiness on a daily basis, are continually sued, threatened to be shut down, and constantly being drained of funds. They're farmers, not criminals.

Seeing all of this makes me want to know more and do something to change the system. I think the "buy local" movement is one of the smartest, simplest ideas that everyone can do to help, but somehow I think that's not enough for me. In the past year or so I've thought if I wasn't a baker I'd be a nutritionist... I have a pretty faint idea of all that entails, but you can bet I'll be doing some research.