Food...ick! First musings on Food

Out of curiosity, I rented Food, Inc. from Netflix. I had caught a few minutes of the author/movie producer being interviewed by Oprah. I had no idea that once I popped that DVD in the player, I would join Alice down the rabbit hole.

I grew up on a farm, surrounded by animals and crops. Mom even had a large garden. I thought I knew where my food came from (from the fork to the grocery store to the farm...). I was shocked to see the cattle holding pens...animals deep in mud waiting to go to the processing plant. Some animals so sick they couldn't stand being rolled down the lane with a forklift.

Sounds funny, huh? Have you ever seen, let alone tried to knock down a 1,200 lbs. holstein? Top of the line in dairy cattle, these girls are made to produce milk in large quantities. Their enormous stature and girth make them excellent producers, but they are fragile creatures. A slip and fall that injures a foot could prove disastrous to a heavy cow that can't regain its feet. Standing knee deep in mud can lead to foot disease that takes the cow off her feet. Breech births and birthing overly large calves can also be harmful. And then there's mastitis. Did I mention that I grew up on a farm?

Anyway, back to my original thought...what if you were 1,200 lbs. and you fell down...how would you get back on your feet? How would you like it if the EMS worker decided it was easier to roll you to the Emergency Room with a forklift? Not so funny now, is it?

And why these acres and acres and acres and acres of crazy pens? All because a certain restaurant chain (which will remain nameless) can have hamburgers that taste the same, no matter if you buy one in Milwaukee or London.

Look at the labels of the food you are buying in the supermarket. What do the pictures portray? Beautiful scenes of farmland, etc.? I bet you didn't know that the family farm here in Wisconsin is almost extinct. Driven out by industrial "Mega Farms" of giant pole (loafing) sheds, which stink. The WI DNR has set rules in place as to how much "poo" can be hosed onto surrounding farmland without disturbing the local water table. Yeah...hate to tell you...if you have well-water and live close to one of these monstrosities, you probably are drinking liquid poo. All the good stuff they feed the cows: fermented silage, corn, antibiotics, growth hormones, etc. It goes in the mouth and comes out the other end. Great.

Who is to blame? Oh, it gets better. Stay tuned.

Want to know more? I mean, BESIDES my opinion? Rent the DVD; read the book. The cover is a pretty black-and-white holstein cow covered by a bar code. The title remains the same for both: "Food, Inc."