Thoughts on the Documentary Food Inc.

I posted some thoughts (here) a while back on what we eat and how it is related to the Kingdom, to being Shalomers (see what I mean by "Shalomer" here).  I just watched a very interesting documentary called Food Inc., and it had a lot to say about this very issue.  The basic premise of the movie is that we as Americans have become very separated from our food.  Agriculture used to be part of our lives, whether we worked the land ourselves or knew those who did.  We used to know where our food came from, but today is a different story.  Most of the food on the shelves of our grocery stores is processed beyond recognition, making it terribly unhealthy.  So this movie will make you think about what you eat, and making some changes in the foods you buy.


What it did not convince me of was the need to buy only "organic" foods, which seemed to be one of the goals of the movie.  For a long time I have questioned: what exactly IS "organic," and who defines it, and how do I know someone hasn't just slapped organic on the label to make me think it's healthier so they can charge me more?  These are all still valid questions in my mind after watching the movie, but I would say while I do not feel obliged to buy organic now, I do have serious questions about the quality of the food I'm buying.  Is the chicken or beef I am buying terribly unhealthy because of the terrible practices of the few huge, multinational food companies who control the meat markets?  Some of the images regarding how these companies raise chickens or cows in order to pump out the meat were absolutely disgusting, but so important to see.  Those images, and understanding such practices, will certainly make you think about the foods you buy.


This was the most helpful and challenging part of the movie to me: I am much more aware of my ignorance about where my food comes from, my utter separation from the production of my food.  And I don't think our current model is the way it is supposed to work.


Beyond this, there was a quote in the movie that I really appreciated, and I started nodding my head and saying, "Now you're talking like a Christian!"  They were interviewing a remarkable farmer, a guy named Joel Salatin.  He has refused to sell out to the multi-national corporations, and is passionate about farming and raising chickens and pigs (even slaughtering them) in humane ways.  He said, "A culture that just views a pig as a pile of protoplasmic inanimate structure to be manipulated by whatever creative design the human can foist upon that critter will probably view individuals within its community and other cultures in the community of nations with the same type of disdain and disrespect and controlling type mentality."  You have to watch the movie to understand what it is that these corporations have been doing to animals (and us, by extension) in order to increase profits, but it was disturbing to watch.  


And I think Joel is onto something here.  Now anyone who knows me knows that I am the farthest thing from a PETA advocate.  Don't have pets, don't want pets, etc.  But when it is acceptable in a culture to treat animals the way they have been treating them, it is not too big of a leap to assume that such a selfish way of thinking will bleed over into the ways we view and treat other humans.  In fact, the movie did show that it was not a leap at all for these corporations, who have made a business of recruiting Mexican nationals to come and work in their meat-packing plants.  Then when the government began cracking down on illegal immigrants, they helped the government round up and arrest their own employees, taking no responsibility for what they had done.  Further, they made a deal with the government that they would hand over 15 illegal immigrants a day, so that things at the plant could keep running smoothly and profits would not be affected.  Wow!  It sounds to me as if they had indeed made the leap, viewing HUMAN BEINGS working for them as nothing but "a pile of protoplasmic inanimate structure," in Joel's words.  (I don't think he has a medical degree in his future, by the way).  :)  


Here's the point: each action we take says something about the condition of our hearts, about how we view and value life.  What we eat and what we are okay with in the production of our food also makes a statement.  I encourage you to watch this movie, if only to educate yourself.  But more, I encourage you to not let the ends, whatever they are in your life, justify unwholesome, unhealthy means.