Would You Like Ammonia With That?

Last night, I went to see "Food, Inc." at the Belcourt.  While I'm not one to write movie reviews, this movie brought up some important issues that need discussing.

First, let me say that this movie was enough for the girl who loves a filet mignon and can make a mean teriyaki-glazed pork chop (yes, I'm Jewish.  Why do you ask?) to briefly consider going vegan.  My parents had gone out for Chinese right before I left for the movie and had brought me back some chicken skewers for my dinner after the movie, and I honestly had a hard time eating them.  I'm not going vegetarian--ultimately, I like meat too much for that--but the movie was thoroughly disturbing in every way possible.

In a nutshell, we're led to believe in this country that the food we buy in the grocery store comes "fresh off the farm" as it was back in the olden days.  But in reality, it's all coming from a few large corporations, who want to produce food as cheaply as possible.  And all too often, "cheap" does not coincide with humane, nutritious, or even remotely safe.

The corporations ensure that the farmers who supply them remain in debt and wholly dependent on them for a living.  They bring in undocumented immigrants to work in the meat processing plants and treat them horribly, but they're not the ones who get in trouble whenever there's an immigration raid.  They keep cows and chickens penned up and living in their own filth.  If you see the conditions, it's really no wonder why we've had so many high profile e. coli outbreaks over the last few years, and it's amazing that there haven't been more.

The most telling moment for me was when they showed some of the "high-tech" solutions for improving on food safety.  After one e. coli outbreak, one of the largest beef processing companies came up with a particularly creative fix.  Rather than making systemic changes (like, I don't know, not keeping cows in conditions that pretty much guarantee the spread of disease), they invented an ammonia-based filler to put into ground beef to kill the germs.  Yes, your burger has ammonia in it.

And I've only described a fraction of the problems described in the movie.  So what can we do when faced with such a dangerous food supply?

A large chunk of this problem cannot be solved by the government.  The government has utterly failed here.  Part of that was a deliberate failure, caused by a constant eroding of the FDA's authority over the last few decades and putting agribusiness executives in charge of the departments that regulate their own industries.  But even if not for that, agribusiness still has both Democrats and Republicans wholly in their pockets.

So it's going to take a consumer revolution.  Corporations need to be shown that it is in their economic interest to invest in and sell organic and sustainable food.  They interviewed Gary Hirshberg, CEO of Stonyfield Farms, the third highest-selling yogurt brand in the U.S. and the biggest organic one.  His brand did so well that it was eventually snapped up by Dannon and is now sold in Wal-Mart.  He pointed out that for every yogurt sold, it's a profit that allows organic methods to grow and prosper.  This ultimately has to start with consumers deciding that we want beef from grass-fed cows, not beef filled with ammonia from cows that spent their lives ankle-deep in their own manure.

But that raises another problem--how can you possibly convince consumers to buy organic (or even non-organic) fruits and vegetables and meat when it is infinitely cheaper to buy chips, candy, and fast food, especially in this economy?  No matter how concerned you may be about your health down the line and what that may cost, it's entirely understandable that you'd be most concerned about stretching a dollar now.  And that's something that cannot be fixed without a complete overhaul of our agricultural policy in this country.  We heavily subsidize large corn growers, which goes into producing junk food and fast food, keeping it cheap.  That's ultimately the biggest problem, but I don't see Democrats or Republicans as having the political will to do anything about it.  That's why the first changes will have to come from consumers.

My biggest worry about this film, though, is that it's only going to be seen by those who don't need convincing.  It's a riveting hour and a half, and other than Harry Potter and Bruno, what other good movies are coming out anytime soon?  Go see it!