Food Inc.

[matt770]

The wife and I watched this last night and would highly recommend it. I was aware of some of it, but learned a lot more about where food comes from in this country and it was pretty disturbing. The beef and chicken industries in particular made me cringe, in fact it has prompted us to change how we buy meat from now on.

 

Beyond the inhumane and unsanitary conditions for the animals that you may already be aware of, the business practices of these companies are downright disgusting -- from bullying local farmers and exploiting workers to lobbying Congress for subsidies that have had a devastating impact on nutrition in this country, particularly among the poor who often can only afford fast food and are suffering the health consequences as a result.

 

For those interested, I found this site which shows where you can buy natural, grass-fed meat and why you should consider it.

 

I am not remotely the tree-hugging type, but this issue is something that any intelligent and enlightened person cannot ignore.

[westvirginia]

The problem is that grass fed beef doesn't taste as good as corn-fed - so the masses won't like it. There's a huge difference. But my Grandfather has raised grass-fed for years and we're comfortable with it. And the simple country farmer is going the way of the dodo if the dept of ag has anything to do with it. They wanted (this was last year, haven't kept up since I heard about it) to force everyone who sells animals or crops to implant RFID chips in the animals and put bar-codes on the crops to combat the evil terrorist food-poisoning plot.

[Square]

So is corn fed beef not as good for you? I know it tastes good. Just never heard that grass fed is "better" for you.

[Egret]

So is corn fed beef not as good for you? I know it tastes good. Just never heard that grass fed is "better" for you.

Do you know what factory-fed animals are eating? As the industry continually seeks less to lower feed costs, truly astonishing materials are finding their way into our food chain. According to Sapkota, et al, (2007) “In 2003, the U.S. rendering industry produced > 8 million metric tons of rendered animal products, including meat and bone meal, poultry by-product meal, blood meal and feather meal. Most of these products were incorporated into animal feed.” Since the advent of "mad cow" disease, the U.S. has banned the feeding of protein sources from ruminants to other ruminants. However, under current law, pigs, chickens, and turkeys that have been fed rendered cattle can be rendered and fed back to cattle—a loophole that may allow mad cow agents to infect healthy cattle. Other legally permitted ingredients include rendered road kill, dead horse, euthanized dogs and cats, animal waste, antibiotics, byproducts of drug manufacture, arsenicals, copper compounds, urea, ammonium chloride and ammonium sulfate, enzymes, preservatives, nutraceuticals, and plastics.

 

Factory-raised animals are given antibiotics and growth hormones. In an effort to manage the effects of grain-based feeds in ruminants and to protect against the potential spread of disease, CAFO operators tend to administer antibiotics – including penicillin, erythromycin, and streptomycin -- routinely. Robinson reports that “an estimated 70 percent of all the antibiotics used in the U.S. are now being given to healthy animals to improve their growth and performance.”? Moreover, cattle CAFO operators use growth hormones or steroids to help the animals gain the maximum amount of weight on the least amount of time; in fact, nine out of 10 U.S. calves are given growth hormones, including estrogens, progesterone, testosterone and others.

 

Grain-fed animals may be promoting food-borne diseases. Raising animals in such close quarters creates concern about the potential spread of disease (not to mention increased vulnerability to terrorist attack.) A study by Cornell University determined that grain-fed animals have approximately 300 times more E. coli than grass-fed animals. This proliferation may be due to the fact that when cattle are grain fed, their digestive tracts become acidic, which promotes E. coli growth. E. coli 0157:H7, a strain first isolated in the 1980s, is now found in the intestines of most U. S. feedlot cattle. In the U.S., this bacteria is estimated to cause infection in more than 70,000 people a year. In October of 2007, it sparked the second largest food recall in the history of the U.S., when nearly 22 million pounds of frozen beef patties were recalled due to E. coli concerns. Other bacteria are also causing alarm. In a 2003 study of food-borne pathogens, Australian researchers found that campylobacter – a bacteria that can cause nausea, vomiting fever, headache, muscle pain and potentially serious long-term effects -- is carried by 58 percent of cattle raised in feed lots versus only 2 percent of cattle raised and finished in pastures.

 

Just giving up beef in my diet years ago put a huge dent in my cholesterol numbers. I figured if giving it up for a bit did that, I didn't have much of a reason to go back.

[cliaz]

When in doubt, buy your meats from the local Amish market.

[matt770]

Just giving up beef in my diet years ago put a huge dent in my cholesterol numbers. I figured if giving it up for a bit did that, I didn't have much of a reason to go back.

 

Nice avy.

 

Funny coincidence, the Food Inc. DVDs were given away Saturday at the Spectrum to the first 2000 Ten Club members to pick up their tickets.

[BeeR]

bump

 

Watching this now (I have a free link, PM if ya want it). You really, really should IMO. And it should be mandatory viewing for schools too. Capitalism at its worst.

 

I had a vague clue about some of this and also far from a "nature boy"/hippie/whatever too, but I don't know how anyone with even modest IQ can watch this and not be affected. And this is from someone who knew about hot dogs and would occasionally have one anyway.

 

Somehow Soylent Green doesn't seem quite so ridiculous to me any more. There isn't much I'd put past the industry giants.

[BeeR]

have had a devastating impact on nutrition in this country, particularly among the poor who often can only afford fast food and are suffering the health consequences as a result.

This is a bogus misconception and so far the only part of this that I think is bogus reasoning. Fast food is NOT a cheap way to eat; you can eat (far far) healthier for less per day. Fast food's appeal is its convenience to our increasingly spoiled, lazy society and the misperception by idiots like the ones they showed in this film that it is cheaper. They used the "dollar menu" as an example, but how many people get just $1 worth at these places? You could buy (for ex) a box of pasta and some cheap sauce and it'd be both cheaper (over more than one day of course) and a truckload healther.

 

Just some amazing stuff in here though. Like how McD's is the country's largest buyer of not just beef but potatos and more, how there are basically (count em) only FOUR companies controlling most (I think like 80%) of the meat (not just beef) in this country, etc.