Food, Inc: An Eye-Opener

As part of the quest to educate myself on how our food choices affect others, I watched Food, Inc. today. The movie touched me more than I thought it would.

I’ve seen SuperSize Me, I’ve driven by CAFOs, I’m vaguely aware of the environmental issues of megafarms. I know that fast food and meat purchased at the supermarket is full of e coli and other cooties that can kill us and that corn production is subsidized and makes junk food cheap. And that Monsanto is par with Wal Mart Yeah, Yeah, Yeah.

What struck me about this movie is that it not only focuses on how poorly modern agriculture treats the animals, but how it treats the farm workers and the farmers.

I’ve mentioned before that my Dad was a farmer when we were growing up. The primary farm workers I knew were both white and Mexican. The Mexicans were legal immigrants and long-time employees. When my Dad’s farm split into two when one of the partners left, some of those went to the other farm. And that’s when the farm started to hire people whose citizenship was questionable. I remember my Dad agonizing over it, saying it is illegal to hire illegals but also illegal to directly inquire about citizenship. Originally he and his partner tried to hire relatives of those immigrants we knew, but those were few and far between. Brokers would come and offer cheap labor. Those were in the last few years that the farm was in operation, and I was in college. All I knew was that my Dad was talking more and more seriously about selling the farm and getting out.

In that way, I feel that I was sheltered from the scenes depicted in Food, Inc.; where the agricompanies advertise jobs and bus in immigrants who are later deported. It doesn’t seem fair that the workers are penalized and not the large companies. I wondered when I was watching that, whether the illegals even knew they were illegal.

One of the scenes that hit home was when a seed cleaner was in court. They were asking him whether he was helping people save seeds illegally. He reminded me a lot of the older farmers in my hometown, who would give you the shirt off your back if you needed it. They showed other farmers who were being sued, and how it didn’t matter who was right, they didn’t have the money to fight the charges so they settled out of court. For people whose honor is a high societal value, this seems like torture; so unfair.

I posted on FaceBook how Food, Inc. made me feel so angry at how large corporations treat farmers. My cousin replied “We sure watched our dads go thru the ringer, especially with Frito Lay!” Which is true, I do recall the farm having to buy all kinds of equipment. How even though they were producer of the year for quality their contracts were always being threatened for some reason or another. There was much consternation in our community when they demanded Sunday shipping, as most of the potato and onion farmers are Christian Reformed and do not believe in working on Sunday.

A lot of those memories I had repressed, but they were resurrected by this movie. I felt so helpless back then, and much of the movie makes me feel that way again.

At the end of the movie, though, they say that you vote with every meal; every purchase at the grocery store or farmer’s market. It made me glad that I’m doing this project, even though I’m learning things I’d rather not know.

I intend to explore the other side, of course. I realize that movies like this are not known for being impartial and balanced. I plan to interview my Dad, to get his perspective on things, and to do further research.

If you have any links or resources to suggest, please post them in the comments.