"What's That You're Eating?"

Shusli and I decided to go see a movie yesterday. We wanted to see "Sunshine Cleaning," but upon find the two theaters we wanted to go to were closed for the evening, we headed to Cinema 21 in hopes of catching "Food, Inc.," a Robert Kenner film. We were running late as the other film was showing at the same time in a theater some 7 miles across town. We found good parking and got there about 10 minutes into the film.

The premise of "Food, Inc.," is basically showing folks what they are eating. It shows how animals get treated in industrialized farming. It explains how food gets processed. It explains briefly how the meat packers union grew into a powerful union to being busted by the big agri business and how they EXPLOIT alleged "illegal immigrant" labor, often working hand in hand with immigration cops to have their employees (some having worked for the company for years) deported.

Here was an interesting point Shusli brought up. The film shows a meat farmer who grows his cattle, pigs, and chickens naturally. In one scene, they show he and his workers placing chickens upside down in a cone shaped tube then cutting their throats. As the chickens are getting placed in these things they scream in what sounds like the word, "NO!" People gasped at this scene all around us (what little audience there was considering the day). Seeing the chickens throat cut and hearing them scream seemed to be too much for such soft hearted folks. However, we didn't hear anyone gasp at the downer cows getting forced to their broken legged feet via fork lift. Nor did they gasp at the film footage of cows who spend most of their lives standing ankle deep in their own shit. Nor did they flinch at the industrial butchering of chickens. Nor did audience wince at the sight of the industrialized chicken round up. Nor did the audience stir in their seat at the disturbing sight of the chicken rancher going through thousands of chickens in a coup and gathering those left dead on the coop floor. Didn't even breathe heavy at the sight of the chickens with breasts so big they could only take a few steps before they fell back to the ground in their own feces. It did bother them, however, to see a natural farmer cut the throats of screaming chickens and prepare the meat for sale.

The weirdest thing was watching this factory that made hamburgers for 70% of all fast food restaurants. The end product did not look like meat. I've eaten some of this stuff, just a few days ago, in fact.

It is also pointed out how it is easier and cheaper for folks to buy these cheap heavily subsidized foods in the form of $1 hamburgers at your local chain. It is cheaper than buying vegies and fruits but it has a high price in health as it is predicted 1 in 3 people will develop diabetes. It's cheap, but it has a hidden price.

That said, Chrissie and Koorosh have been growing poultry for a few years now.

I first read about them in a FoodDay at a laundry mat. I usually don't read the newspaper insert, but I was bored and it was there so I read an article about them and thought they were the coolest people.

They worked in high tech, but since they were in Love and got married, the company frowned upon that, so they started a naturally grown chicken farm, called Kookoolan's. Through trial and error, they learned the way to do it right and have brought the people their wonderful business.

They have a store outside of Yamhill and Shusli and I are making plans on visiting it sometime in the weeks to come. They grow their poultry the way they were meant to be grown and thus, cost more but have FAR LESS of the unseen costs to our health that industrial farming causes and not just through the ingestion of industrial food products.

I bought a chicken from these folks when they were at People's Food Co-Op Farmers Market a few years ago, which they don't do anymore. The chicken looked totally different. Much longer, less fat...far less fat. You really have to see the difference. There is a completely noticeable difference. I also bought a dozen duck eggs and a dozen chicken eggs. MOST EXCELLENT!

Because of prices, like most folks, food like this seems frivilous and we don't always have a food budget that makes food like this common for us. However, after watching how a fella travelled 300 miles ONE-WAY to purchase meat from the natural grower featured in "Food, Inc.," I'd have to say the hour or so journey ONE-WAY will be worth it once we have the food budget.

There is a certain type of strawberry only found this time of year, the Hood Strawberry.

Today in a sudden urge, Shusli and I went to a local farmer's market and bought two flats of them. It is late in the season, and won't be available soon. We plan on making jam.

T'is the season for farmer's markets, and "Food, Inc.," and so many other sources say that it is best to buy from the farmers themselves. Here here!

We are so disconnected from our food sources. Shusli brings wild foods home from time to time (cattails, recentlyy) and they are excellent. Seeing the folks who grow your food...EXCELLENT. There is a TREMENDOUS DISCONNECT between us and our food which allows folks like Monsanto to do medical experiments upon our bodies with some of the crazy shit they are doing to and putting into our foods.

So, go pick your own food. Buy food directly from the folks that grew it. Buy meat that is grown naturally. Etc.

This may not be a magic pill that suddenly changes the whole world, but "what's that you're eating?" It might as well be something good for you bought from someone who doesn't want to perform medical experiments on you OR YOUR CHILDREN without your knowledge or consent.

For more information read Shusli's post about "Food, Inc." We wrote our posts at the same time, but both our posts expand upon the film together in a way we find...tasty.

Something to think about.