You are what you eat
Entirely copypasted from Experience Project today. I'm feeling a little lazy and this is what I wanted to write here, anyway.
Given what's in our food these days, that's a horrifying thought. It means we're all mostly corn. Corn oil, corn syrup, corn-fed beef, chicken, or pork. I feel so grainy and unbalanced. So much of what I can buy in the supermarket aisles leaves me feeling unhealthy, a little bit dirty.
I never put much thought into my food when I was younger. Never had an urge to go vegetarian or vegan - I can accept food has faces. I am okay with that concept. Grew up in the country, family occasionally raised bottle calves for slaughter. My burger was once cute and cuddly. Acceptable.
My thought process began and ended there. I assumed, like so many do, that the food industry operated, if perhaps not in our _best_ interests, at least decently. Hah.
Then I picked up Fast Food Nation at a college bookstore. I was bored and needed a book, it looked interesting, carry on. Yeah, we can both see where this is going. Eric Schlosser yanked my eyelids back and made me work, a la A Clockwork Orange. I read the book cover to cover, anger and depression mingling with a tinge of futility.
The entire system's rotten, top to bottom. Between ignorance on our end and heartlessness on the CEOs' side, it suddenly feels like poison. They have the task of feeding so many, what should be an honorable, nourishing role, and instead they'd happily feed us preformed garbage patties if we'll pay.
I've never been naive enough to think fast food is healthy. No, not even the salads. Tasty, in it's own way, but not healthy. Yet here's the idea that no only is it bad for my arteries, it's bad for my heart. Soul. Conscience. How can I eat this food, knowing countless farmers, immigrants, and impoverished have been screwed over to produce it?
Then I heard the name Michael Pollan. Picked up Omnivore's Dilemma and felt angst over my food all over again. It's not just the burger or McNuggets. This nation's food industry as a whole is warped beyond belief. Go, watch Food, Inc if you haven't already. You'll want to weep. I'll admit, I did.
Gone is the idea of happy, independent farmer sending his wares to market we were told of in grade school. Farmer John is indebted and struggling to keep alive. Big business owns him, or stomps him like a bothersome insect.
Despite fighting against monopolies in the past, that's what our government allows to control our food. The idea of variety on supermarket shelves is deceptive. This company owns that and has a hundred different faces. All smiling, saying it's safe, eat this, and hiding fangs.
There's something deeply flawed with the industry when families have to choose between a $1 burger or $2 a pound for fresh produce, if not more. It's cheaper to eat ourselves into an early grave. So many lack the luxury of making the healthier choice. The working poor needs to eat. I've had to choose between a home-cooked meal or gas money. Sometimes the McDouble feels like it's saving you.
I wish I could afford to eat locally grown everything. Dinner without the guilt is a wonderful thing. Budgets are tight, wages are low, and we have to keep eating. still, make the effort. Show big business that we care what we put in our bodies. We are changing how the country eats, bit by blessed bit. Bring Big Food tumbling down.
Given what's in our food these days, that's a horrifying thought. It means we're all mostly corn. Corn oil, corn syrup, corn-fed beef, chicken, or pork. I feel so grainy and unbalanced. So much of what I can buy in the supermarket aisles leaves me feeling unhealthy, a little bit dirty.
I never put much thought into my food when I was younger. Never had an urge to go vegetarian or vegan - I can accept food has faces. I am okay with that concept. Grew up in the country, family occasionally raised bottle calves for slaughter. My burger was once cute and cuddly. Acceptable.
My thought process began and ended there. I assumed, like so many do, that the food industry operated, if perhaps not in our _best_ interests, at least decently. Hah.
Then I picked up Fast Food Nation at a college bookstore. I was bored and needed a book, it looked interesting, carry on. Yeah, we can both see where this is going. Eric Schlosser yanked my eyelids back and made me work, a la A Clockwork Orange. I read the book cover to cover, anger and depression mingling with a tinge of futility.
The entire system's rotten, top to bottom. Between ignorance on our end and heartlessness on the CEOs' side, it suddenly feels like poison. They have the task of feeding so many, what should be an honorable, nourishing role, and instead they'd happily feed us preformed garbage patties if we'll pay.
I've never been naive enough to think fast food is healthy. No, not even the salads. Tasty, in it's own way, but not healthy. Yet here's the idea that no only is it bad for my arteries, it's bad for my heart. Soul. Conscience. How can I eat this food, knowing countless farmers, immigrants, and impoverished have been screwed over to produce it?
Then I heard the name Michael Pollan. Picked up Omnivore's Dilemma and felt angst over my food all over again. It's not just the burger or McNuggets. This nation's food industry as a whole is warped beyond belief. Go, watch Food, Inc if you haven't already. You'll want to weep. I'll admit, I did.
Gone is the idea of happy, independent farmer sending his wares to market we were told of in grade school. Farmer John is indebted and struggling to keep alive. Big business owns him, or stomps him like a bothersome insect.
Despite fighting against monopolies in the past, that's what our government allows to control our food. The idea of variety on supermarket shelves is deceptive. This company owns that and has a hundred different faces. All smiling, saying it's safe, eat this, and hiding fangs.
There's something deeply flawed with the industry when families have to choose between a $1 burger or $2 a pound for fresh produce, if not more. It's cheaper to eat ourselves into an early grave. So many lack the luxury of making the healthier choice. The working poor needs to eat. I've had to choose between a home-cooked meal or gas money. Sometimes the McDouble feels like it's saving you.
I wish I could afford to eat locally grown everything. Dinner without the guilt is a wonderful thing. Budgets are tight, wages are low, and we have to keep eating. still, make the effort. Show big business that we care what we put in our bodies. We are changing how the country eats, bit by blessed bit. Bring Big Food tumbling down.