Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Food Inc.


My husband and I had the opportunity to watch the movie Food, Inc. last night. Wow! If you haven't watched it already and would like to know more about where the food from the grocery store is coming from, I would highly recommend it.

It really explains everything well and makes you want to make your food choices carefully and diligently. I grew up in a home very health minded and have tried to do the same for my new home. Now after watching this movie I'm going to be much more *picky* on what we get.

You can find more about this movie here and watch the trailer:
Official Food, Inc. Movie Site - Hungry For Change? - Trailer and Photos

Chipotle is the only fast food restaurant that uses *real* meat and veggies.

10 Simple things you can do to change our food system:

1. Stop drinking sodas and other sweetened beverages.
You can lose 25 lbs in a year by replacing one 20 oz soda a day with a no calorie beverage (preferably water).
2. Eat at home instead of eating out.
Children consume almost twice (1.8 times) as many calories when eating food prepared outside the home.

3. Bring food labeling into the 21st Century.
Half of the leading chain restaurants provide no nutritional information to their customers.

4. Tell schools to stop selling sodas, junk food, and sports drinks.
Over the last two decades, rates of obesity have tripled in children and adolescents aged 6 to 19 years.

5. Meatless Mondays—Go without meat one day a week.
An estimated 70% of all antibiotics used in the United States are given to farm animals.

6. Buy organic or sustainable food with little or no pesticides.
According to the EPA, over 1 billion pounds of pesticides are used each year in the U.S.

7. Protect family farms; visit your local farmer's market.
Farmer's markets allow farmers to keep 80 to 90 cents of each dollar spent by the consumer.

8. Make a point to know where your food comes from—READ LABELS.
The average meal travels 1500 miles from the farm to your dinner plate.

9. Tell Congress that food safety is important to you.
Each year, contaminated food causes millions of illnesses and thousands of deaths in the U.S.

10. Demand job protections for farm workers and food processors, ensuring fair wages and other protections.

"The film's first segment examines the industrial production of meat (chicken, beef, and pork), calling it inhumane and economically and environmentally unsustainable.[2][5] The second segment looks at the industrial production of grains and vegetables (primarily corn and soy beans), again labeling this economically and environmentally unsustainable.[2][5] The film's third and final segment is about the economic and legal power of the major food companies, such as food libel laws, whose livelihoods are based on supplying cheap but contaminated food, the heavy use of petroleum-based chemicals (largely pesticides and fertilizers), and the promotion of unhealthy food consumption habits by the American public."*

Just spreading the word! Lets get 'Kevin's Law' past.


All these opinions are my own and Food, Inc didn't provide me with any compensation for this post.

*Taken from here.

7 comments:

TexaGermaFinlaNadian said...

It is really amazing how people have NO idea what is in their food. Now, I don't claim to be the healthiest eater, but I always know what I am eating.
I just wanted to also say real quick thanks for linking up to the Hump Day Blog Hop! I am really glad I will now get a chance to look around your site :)
http://texagermanadian.blogspot.com/

Joy said...

We watched this last year (my parents gave it to us), and it made us both mad! :)

I already knew much of the information, as I've been "into" health food and eating organically since I was 18 (long time ago!). But it's only getting worse. My dad is a food scientist (that's what his degree is in, and he worked for the dairy industry for around 30 years), and he is now getting into sustainable, organic farming. I'm so proud of him for being willing to change and learn new things! :)

We're still looking for a clean, reliable source of raw milk. I'm thinking we should get a goat. :) I prefer cow milk to goat milk, but goat milk is healthful, and with our limited acreage would be better. I've been trying to talk my parents into getting a cow, but they'd have a lot to do to prepare for that. They are planning to get chickens in the spring, though, and I'm grateful for that!

Marissa said...

I've heard this movie is intense! I need to watch it and I bet it'll turn me into a Vegan!

Great blog by the way :)

Marie said...

I've heard a lot about this movie lately. We eat at home a lot as it is since our budget is so small -- so that part is not a problem :-)

I'm a new follower from the Thursday blog hop!

Unknown said...

Great blog & wonderful tips for improving our eating habits! It's hard to break old habits, but so worth it!

Following from the hop. Hope you can stop by www.magicalmouseschoolhouse.com, where Disney IS school. FREE T-shirt to new followers all month!

Naturally Creative Mama said...

I've been seeing this one on Netflix... I think I might actually watch it now... sounds interesting!

Thanks for stopping by the hop today!
Katy
www.kdbuggie.blogspot.com
Mingle Monday!

Anonymous said...

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