A few weeks ago, as I know I briefly mentioned in a previous post, a friend and I watched Food, Inc. This movie gave me a lot to think about. I'm sure that's the main objective of these Shock and Awe type movies - give you something that disturbs you enough to think about things in a new way. Watching Food, Inc. made me feel almost the same way I felt when watching An Inconvenient Truth: that while I was not unaware of the problems at hand, the problems were much, much larger and more complex than I realized. In fact, both movies made me feel a sense of helplessness, if I'm being honest. The problems are so big, and I'm just one small person. What can I do? At least each movie had some suggestions at the end. That made you feel a glimmer of hope after the message of DOOM. Maybe I can't do that much to impact the whole problem of massive commercial agriculture and food culture, but eventually a bucket will fill even if it's only a drop at a time. I can do little things. I can be a little more conscientious. I can educate myself and my family. I can try to get the word out. I can make little changes.But I doubt that I'll get the image of a fistulated cow out of my head. It was one of the most horrible sights I've ever seen. A fistulated cow basically has a hole cut in its side to access one or more of its stomachs so the farmer can assess how it's digesting food. Or something like that. But it's a hole in the side of a cow. The hole is typically ringed with a plastic or rubber collar. But it's a hole straight into their stomach! And there are lots of photos in Google Images showing people who are reaching inside the fistula all the way up to their shoulder. Shoulder deep inside a cow! Disgusting! I'm sure the fistula doesn't really bother the cow that much, after it's initially put in. It's sort of like any stoma. Just keep it clean and it will heal and be fine. But...still. That's a pretty extreme way to monitor your livestock. And then we end up eating said livestock. Bleh.
Anyway, I highly recommend checking out the movie. Just to get you thinking about food and where it comes from. Be part of the change!
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