Archive for the ‘health’ Category

I’m fairly certain this will be allowed to stay up on YouTube, given the fact that it’s been copyright tagged but not taken down (so far), but in case it doesn’t, look up “Food, Inc.” and have a look. It’s being shown on PBS in the US and while I can’t confirm from the UK, it should still be available on their website.

Food, Inc. is a film directed by Robert Kenner and involving investigative journalist/author Eric Schlosser, who wrote the highly impactful books “Fast Food Nation” and “Chew On This“, among others. While it contains a lot of the same information that Schlosser’s books cover, there’s no doubt about the impact that visuals have when you’re telling this kind of story. (Here’s an article about Schlosser from the Times, done ahead of the film’s release.)

I understand that a lot of vegetarians and vegans choose their lifestyle out of disgust for the food industry’s practices and I can relate to that, but as someone who knows the alternatives first hand, having eaten good, healthy food, including meat, at my grandparents’ farm in Argentina, I know that you don’t have to brutalise or mistreat your animals to produce meat and would encourage those who do not choose to omit meat from their diets to seek out meat from a farm that grows ethically and will happily show you where and how the animals are kept and how they’re slaughtered. There are hundreds dotted around the world and you can help support them, honour the animals you’re eating and benefit from healthier food. You’ll pay more for it when you buy the meat, but you’ll save on healthcare and all of the associated costs involved in yo-yo dieting. Besides, you’re laying money down for a piece of meat that came from a living creature. Should it really be as cheap as it is in the supermarket?

I should note that this film isn’t depressing. It does deal with some distressing things and it should make you feel shocked and appalled at those segments, but there are some truly inspiring parts here and it genuinely gives you a way out of what can often seem like a helpless spiral, a life under the control of huge corporations that are engineering your food to keep you on their cheap and nasty programmes. This film will absolutely offer alternatives and give you a realistic starting point to do what you can to change your life and ultimately change the way food is processed across the entire world. While it’s definitely depressing to hear what the problems are, it’s important not to stop there, but to offer alternatives and solutions that you can implement straight away. This film does that perfectly.

Additionally, UK superstar chef Jamie Oliver has been doing things in the US in an attempt to open the eyes of those who control what kind of food goes into the bodies of their families. Very practical, straightforward advice is given. You can sign his online petition on his Food Revolution website and see his fantastic TED Prize wish speech below. (22 minutes long.)