(Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures)
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It wasn’t five minutes into the film before I wanted to walk out. Honestly, the images presented before me were revolting. Flayed skin, entrails hanging everywhere, individuals in hunger and misery – I couldn’t believe that such conditions exist on this earth, much less in a country calling itself civilized and progressive.
Of course, I’m not talking about people. Though people have also experienced horrific atrocities, the independent film, “FOOD, Inc.” portrays an opinion that is often heard but seldom taken to heart – the rights of animals. Before I watched this film, I sought to limit my intake of animal flesh as a health initiative. Now, I refuse to eat meat altogether because of the horrific conditions endured by the animals before death and processing.
“FOOD, Inc.” deliberately seeks to present the processing of meat in a truthful and unbiased fashion. However, when one is documenting the revolting processes utilized by meat-packing companies, it becomes difficult to present information from both sides of the issue. Overall, here is what I’ve learned from “FOOD, Inc.” and the reasons why we should think twice before we buy at the seemingly innocent local supermarket.
1. The meat you buy is not locally processed. Also, if you buy ground meat, you are buying meat processed from over 100 different animals. That’s right – every hamburger you bite into has at least 100 different animals combined into a single patty – talk about stretching your dollar.
2. The meat you eat is raised in horrific environments wrought with disease and infection. Hundreds of animals die before even reaching the slaughterhouse due to insufferable conditions and lack of proper conditions. To put it bluntly, the steak you eat was once coated in feces and dirt. The only protection between your steak and the hoard of bacteria was a thin layer of the animal’s skin and hair.
3. The animals are unnaturally raised by being stuffed with artificial hormones, making their average growth weight up to 30 percent faster than that of an average animal. If we were to compare this to humans, it would be like saying a 14-year-old human would be the height and weight of a 20-year-old if he/she grew up on growth hormones.
4. Finally, the sad reality that eating unhealthy is often more economically feasible than eating organically. The film portrayed a low-income family forced to eat regularly off the $1 menu at McDonald’s, as this was cheaper than buying produce from the local grocery store. This point should particularly be of concern due to the probability of socialized health care. If we hope to provide health care for everyone in our nation, shouldn’t we make preventive health care a priority and promote fruits and vegetables rather than Happy Meals?
I confess I was once a proud meat-eater along with the best of them. However, I cannot sink my teeth into cooked flesh without thinking about both the health and ethical implications behind the practice of eating meat. “FOOD, Inc.” is an illuminating documentary, and I’m positive no one will be able to walk away from this film without having thought twice about the next burger they will buy. At any rate, I won’t be able to ever look at orange chicken or a Happy Meal the same again.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Chelsea Komlo at Chelsea.komlo@colorado.edu.
2 comments
I knew about this many years ago. It is one reason I eat meat only about once a month, when I need more protein, And I buy only organic, i.e. raised properly.
I was a vegetarian for around two years. I, sadly, had to give it up because I was feeling light-headed often and I was chronically tired. Now I eat meat like you, Marvin: organic, free-ranged and very rarely.
Another important consequence to the country’s insatiable appetite for meat is the environmental cost – direct greenhouse gas pollution, land conversion, and over-fertilization (with feces entering streams). Additionally, energy derived from animals requires, on average, around ten times the amount energy inputed. This is obvious when you consider that animals are heterotrophs/consumers: they must eat other organisms to survive, and so much of that assimilated food is merely wasted by the inefficiencies of biology.
One thing that FOOD, INC did was terrify its audience. The movie made corporations these huge and frightening monsters that destroy our very livelihoods. Nonetheless, as the movie pressed on, the positive ending finally came and made a good point I’d like to reiterate. We, as consumers, have the power. Think about an extreme example.
We, the buyers, have decided that we will never buy meat that was improperly raised. If we actually followed through, the businesses that maltreat their animals would go out of business.
More realistically, we are simply making a vote. Every time we buy free-range eggs we are stating that humanely treated animals are very important to us. Every time we buy an apple instead of chips we are saying that healthy, natural food is our preference.
That’s a lot of power. We can use it all of the time. I hope we use it while in the stores.