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Food Inc. – Get Your Head Out of the Sand

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July 22, 2009
	Jo Wehage : Head Operations Ego

Last night I saw Robert Kenner’s new film, Food Inc., at Cincinnati’s Esquire Theatre. I’m pretty well informed on this topic, but can I just say “Dear God”? This is one of those topics that many of us prefer to bury in the sand. Aren’t our lives complicated enough already? Do I REALLY want to know more about where my dinner comes from?  Yes and freakin’ YES!

Trouble viewing video? click here

Food Inc. does a fine job at looking at the issues and real ‘comprehensive costs’ of our current method of food production that will shock and surprise you. This issue is of prime importance if you care about yourself or your family, even a smidgen.

 If rising healthcare costs and the healthcare debate does mean something to you, this issue should be front and center. More than half of the 2.5 TRILLION dollars we spend on health care costs in the U.S. go directly to treat preventable conditions linked to diet.

 You may think processed boxed and bottle foods are cheaper, but they’re not. You pay in forms of government subsidies and in third party brutalization of workers, the environment and animals. Just in case sacrificing your health and the health of those you love wasn’t enough for you.

 We have to ask ourselves, why do we allow OUR government to subsidize the least healthy foods in the supermarket while turning their backs on obvious solutions? I know they’ve added flavored chemicals that literally cause addictive tendencies to this crappy food, but it’s time to start your own rehab program. Get your head out of the sand already. Buck up. Go learn more about this issue. Change your plate and change the world!

Here were some of the more compelling issues that caught this viewer’s attention:

• You think Microsoft had monopoly tendencies? Wait until you learn how close your beef supply is heading toward the control of just one major corporation who lives behind an iron curtain.
• The insanity that chicken house owners have found themselves – make note of that investment vs. income figure.
• Meet 2-year-old Kevin’s mom and find out why she is now an advocate for Food Safety and Kevin’s Law (bring tissues).
• The simple solution to rid the great majority of e-coli from the guts of our meat supply. Not to mention the odd choice big business went instead.
• Hear the hysterically sad reason the industry rep used as the reason corporations feel they should NOT label cloned meat as such when sold to consumers. (Did you know there was cloned meat?)
• Meet a family of four who struggles with the financial issues of choosing fast food that they know is deteriorating their health vs. their ability to buy a few pears at the market. (Fast food meal for four $11. Total monthly prescription costs countering poor food & lifestyle choices $500.)
• Why 1 out of 3 kids born after the year 2000 will develop Type 2 diabetes, and why the number is 1 in 2 for minorities.
• Learn how the FDA and the USDA have essentially become toothless regulating agencies and how its actually more of a wolf guarding the hen house scenario.
• Guess what my least favorite “M” word is – and it’s not meat or man or money or makevelijughuyokiiuuijbu for that matter. (Which is apparently Gaelic for “What’s up?”)
• See the change that’s already in place and how you can accelerate that motion. (Did you know that more and more farmer’s markets accept food stamps?)

 Personally I think it’s largely the mother’s out there that are going to lead us into the light, so if there is some kind of mommy Bat Call beacon to point towards the sky, someone warm that sucker up!

 Eat good stuff.

 For more information visit:

http://www.foodincmovie.com/

 Click here to see when it’s playing in your town.

Added note:

While producers claim they eliminated much of the graphic stuff, there was more than one time I had to look away from the screen. Maybe I’m just a wuss, but find a spot to veer your eyes, just in case.