Food, Inc.

[81turboporsche]

great movie,very informative that whole monsanto thing blew me away,if you guys get a chance see the movie beer wars it makes me think twice about buying any of the large brewery beers any more

[Gogar]

Originally Posted by island911

I have the utmost respect for farmers/ranchers. I take it that you don't. ...unless they're wearing tie-die and selling something grown in the local pea-patch, fertilized by elephant dung.

Well, sometime soon it will become cost-prohibitive to transport the elephant dung from across the world to the hippie commune, so . . . . . . . . .. . . .

[svandamme]

Originally Posted by 81turboporsche

that whole monsanto thing blew me awaye

you should watch the documentary "the world according to Monsanto"

YouTube - The World According to Monsanto - Part 1 of 8

[alf]

I just watched Food.inc last night. Some very corrupt practices if true.

Got a some questions for those in the know.

How unhealthy is commercially produced food?
I understand that if i eat Supersized meals all the time it is not good, but if i cook non-organic food myself, is it bad?

[alf]

I just watched Food.inc last night. Some very corrupt practices if true.

Got a some questions for those in the know.

How unhealthy is commercially produced food?
I understand that if i eat Supersized meals all the time it is not good, but if i cook non-organic food myself, is it bad?

[old man neri]

There is a farmer in town who has free range chickens, grass fed beef, free range eggs all hormone free, free to roam, fed normal food...etc. The odd thing is that it definitely tastes better yet for some reason, I can't figure it out, his prices are cheaper than the regular meat products at the grocery store. I can only guess that it is because all his stuff is sold frozen. Weird that his product is cheaper than the ultra efficient factory farms.

In any cause his stuff does taste way way better so I am always happy to go to him.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Oddly enough, the Whole Foods close to me is cheaper with significantly better quality than the local big chain Shaws/Star Market. The meat is the biggest difference, much higher quality, taste much better. Vegetables too. It's also nice to shop without the temptation of all the man-made junk food on the shelves.

Did you know that a lot of the fish sold in the chains has been dipped in bleach to get the worms out?

Food, Inc. is next in my Netflix list. Thanks for posting about this.

[Dottore]

Originally Posted by alf

How unhealthy is commercially produced food?
I understand that if i eat Supersized meals all the time it is not good, but if i cook non-organic food myself, is it bad?

It certainly can be bad. With fruit and vegetables the main issue is pesticides. Most commercial producers use tons of this stuff in order to make the product look good. You have to wash fruit very long and and hard to get the pesticides off. With some leafy vegetables like lettuce and spinach, this is virtually impossible to do.

With meat products the issues are more complex, as the livestock are often fed with feed that is doused in pesticides and are also given growth hormones and other crap that bulks the livestock up in the shortest possible time. And if you have seen the film, you will have some understanding for the wretched conditions in which this livestock is kept, and the further risk of disease this entails.

Then there's the simple point about taste. Do a simple comparison (which I sometimes do for friends). Buy a normal chicken breast. Then buy a good organic breast from, say, Whole Foods. Pan fry them side by side and compare the quality and taste. The difference is huge.

[svandamme]

the color too, bio chicken breast is darker.

[svandamme]

Originally Posted by old man neri

There is a farmer in town who has free range chickens, grass fed beef, free range eggs all hormone free, free to roam, fed normal food...etc. The odd thing is that it definitely tastes better yet for some reason, I can't figure it out, his prices are cheaper than the regular meat products at the grocery store. I can only guess that it is because all his stuff is sold frozen. Weird that his product is cheaper than the ultra efficient factory farms.

that would be odd indeed, since it's easier, and cheaper to feed stocks ,with subsidized gmo corn and grow em bigger and faster with hormones and antibiotics..

So leaving aside the industrial processing or not... the way he feeds em should already be enough to bump his price.. maybe he's some kind of hippie that figures he'll work non profit and live of his own land, just asking money to cover his own costs?

[Lothar]

Once again, government is the biggest problem with our food supply. Look no further than what the government subsidizes. The FDA gives us the food pyramid, telling us that fruits and veggies are the most important. Yet, the federal government offers virtually no subsidies for that sector of the food industry.

In contrast, corn and soy are very heavily subsidized, and we wind up with processed foods made, almost exclusively, from these products.

While I have no problem with the debate over this chicken vs. that chicken, the biggest problem is the way consumers have been duped into buying food that is bad for them, highly profitable to the manufacturer and subsidized by our government. Anyone smell a rat?

[Shaun @ Tru6]

"highly profitable to the manufacturer"

Government is only a tool of lobbyists. Lobbyists pay $.10 on $1 to elect officials, and keep them elected, to net $1 through legislation that herds the public to their product.

[psjoe]

Great movie.

A lot of folks already hit on the corn issue.

I would recommend watching "King Corn" next.

King Corn (2007) - Movie Details - Yahoo! Movies

[The Gaijin]

Originally Posted by alf

Got a some questions for those in the know.

How unhealthy is commercially produced food?
I understand that if i eat Supersized meals all the time it is not good, but if i cook non-organic food myself, is it bad?

I cannot say I am in the know..

But, anything pre-packaged with micro-wave directions just cannot be good for you.

Learning how to cook and actually doing it is setting you on the right path. You can always adjust your recipes with organic, locally grown and all that - as your budget, palate and availability allow.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Saw it. Should be part of ever high school health curriculum. not surprised about Monsanto, nor that large corporations have more rights than citizens. welcome to the future.

Polyface Farm guy is a real American hero. eatwild.com and localharvest.org (found at his site) show farms like his close to you. Need to talk with Whole Foods on where their meet comes from, there are two local butchers as well. Stonyfield Farms guy was great, very smart guy who really gets the big picture.

hard to believe Kevin's Law is still just an idea. Lobbyists truly own our country.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by Lothar

Once again, government is the biggest problem with our food supply. Look no further than what the government subsidizes. The FDA gives us the food pyramid, telling us that fruits and veggies are the most important. Yet, the federal government offers virtually no subsidies for that sector of the food industry.

In contrast, corn and soy are very heavily subsidized, and we wind up with processed foods made, almost exclusively, from these products.

While I have no problem with the debate over this chicken vs. that chicken, the biggest problem is the way consumers have been duped into buying food that is bad for them, highly profitable to the manufacturer and subsidized by our government. Anyone smell a rat?

Government subsidizes the food supply because Lobbyists tell them to. Government obeys because Lobbyists keep them elected.

Big Corporations pay Lobbyists which pay Government to enact laws that take Public tax $ to subsidize Big Corporations and to enact laws that protect Big Corporations from the Public.

That's the System.

[Dottore]

Originally Posted by Shaun 84 Targa

Government subsidizes the food supply because Lobbyists tell them to. Government obeys because Lobbyists keep them elected.

Big Corporations pay Lobbyists which pay Government to enact laws that take Public tax $ to subsidize Big Corporations and to enact laws that protect Big Corporations from the Public.

That's the System.

Bingo.

.