Food, Inc. thoughts

Just finished watching Food, Inc. because I was concerned by some of the fearful comments I saw in a discussion some friends (mostly moms) had about the movie on FB. Here were my thoughts as I watched it:

What about the government? Aren’t they one of the biggest purchasers of food, especially given military needs? Why didn’t they mention them along with McDonald’s as the biggest customers of the food industry?

No one wants to see people, especially children, hurt. But here is a news flash---we are mortal. Children drown in swimming pools and die in car accidents every day. Should we ban swimming pools? Or cars? Or require that everyone wear a life jacket in a pool and drive no faster than 5 MPH?

If you can’t afford fresh fruit, buy frozen or canned! Just as good and cheaper! And why does that lady keep her kids “on the run” from 6AM to 10PM? Perhaps she should look into adjusting their schedule so she has time to feed them better.

Are you willing to give up the amount of land we will need to give up to have all grass-fed beef? Do you want to see Seattle ringed by farms, live in 50-story high rises and have rationed food, because that is what we would have to do to all “buy local”?

Animals don’t use toilets---they walk in their feces all the time, whether outside or inside. How much do you want to bet that raising cows and chickens indoors came from environmental laws that were designed to keep their feces out of groundwater?

Junk food calories are cheap because the consumer knows they are “superfluous” calories. If they were more expensive than fresh food, no one would buy them, so they are priced accordingly.

The obesity and diabetes epidemic is absolutely related to parents not being at home to supervise their play or the amount of after school snacking they do as much as it is due to the quality of the food kids eat.

If we deported illegal immigrants, the food industry would mechanize more of their process. Sounds good! I bet the Democrat party and unions wouldn’t like this, though. They want those people exactly where they are for their dues and their votes.

Hey, at least that guy from Stonyfield admits that what he supports is a form of religion! Good for him!

Oh goody, let’s take advantage of the fact that few people understand what a gene is or what it does, and the fact that if you eat it, it does nothing to you. Nothing.

Sounds like the Montsano thing is a good example of crony capitalism, since they can’t arrest or prosecute anyone themselves---the government has to do that. Who supports that? No one. Isn’t this an example of too much government? Nice---passing the word “evil” across the screen while talking about Montsano before rearranging it to say “veil”.

Labelling would be fine if it applied to everything. For example, if you are going to require McDonald’s to post calorie content, you should also require it of the French Laundry in SF because most of their meals probably have more fat than a Big Mac.

Food problems in other areas of the world is due mainly to wars and distribution problems, not industrial food production.

What does the movie want me to do? I guess demand things that have no scientific basis, like demanding rBST-free milk. Or demand things that would be economically illiterate and result in food shortages, like put price controls on carrots. I don’t think they are interested in my freedom. They just want to use me just as much as they claim workers and animals are used by the companies they vilify.