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Thursday, July 23, 2009

How Healthy is the food we eat?

I'm not particularly well informed on this issue, however I would like to become more aware and more informed. In my opinion, part of being a strong Warrior Queen is being aware and informed of the world around you. It's quite difficult because of all of the hoops governments make us jump through to gain awareness, but this is why we have investigative journalism.

Last night, I went and saw Food, inc. with a couple of my guy friends, one of which works at Whole Foods, so he is slightly more informed than the rest of us and gave us information about Whole Foods after we watched the movie. I highly recommend watching Food, inc. It is not graphic like many of the videos can be, and it is also not as biased as many documentaries are (of course there is no way to cut out bias in documentary film but it is generally easier when the companies comply and allow interviews - which they didn't). So know that there are no big company point of views in this film, save for Walmart, which does offer a nice view on how the consumers shape what products Walmart sells.

My favorite movie quote has always been from Death to Smoochy, "You can't change the world but you can make a dent." I've always tried to live by that in everything I do, knowing that small changes will bring the big changes. However, when it came to food I could never stick to it. I always thought, "If i were to be a vegetarian it's not going to change the food market because someone else is just going to eat the food that I'm not." Which, I still believe is semi-true. However, this flick made me see the impact it does have, in not being a vegetarian but for eating healthier. Eating healthier isn't just eating fruits and veggies, it's eating the fruits and veggies not treated with pesticides or genetically altered, it's eating the meats from animals that have eaten grass and been raised as they should be, not like the beef that comes from any of our fast food chains where the animals are pumped with corn which is what causes E. coli in the cows and thus giving it to us. Obviously, not all of these animals end up with E. coli.

I'm not saying that we should cut fast food out of our diets - I would die without my greasy, bad for me hamburger from Tommy's Burger. But I've realized my efforts to eat "healthier" are not, in fact, much healthier for me. So I think I shall start shopping at Whole Foods and the Farmer's Market. I'll try my best to be involved in this movement toward better farm conditions for both the animals AND the workers (Exploitation is my biggest pet peeve). In doing all of this, by just making small changes, I can do my part in diminishing this exploitation and even, help end the diabetes epidemic. If organic food is more available, the number of people developing diabetes will diminish in some way, although it is a lot to do with personal choice.

I just found this an interesting topic. If you want to read more about it, of the websites I've discovered:
http://www.foodincmovie.com
http://www.foodincmovie.com/get-involved.php
http://www.takepart.com/
http://www.takepart.com/lists/hungry-for-change-get-involved/17056
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/

4 comments:

  1. Uncle Ray and I have started gardening again, in a large part, because we want to know that the food we are eating is real food. Good thing he's a good gardener, I kill things~ but he is able to make plants and their veggies grow w/o the addition of chemicals.

    I like this topic....

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  2. I thought you would enjoy it!! I thought of you while i was writing it, and all of the times we'd go to the farmers market together!

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  3. We're starting to plan our winter garden. You're welcome to come dig in the dirt in exchange for part of the bounty. :)

    Remember, too, you can garden in containers so don't let the lack of a back yard keep you from growing your own food. It's pretty cool to eat stuff you made grow. :)

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