OUR FOOD KILLS US SOFTLY

I went a little short of a mad woman the other day when I cannot retrieve my ‘Super Size Me’ file which I schedule for a view this evening in my Food Anthropology class. Since I was technologically challenged and literally can do nothing about it since it was (I hate this word) deleted, I have to find an alternative film.

So surfing’ the information highway was the best thing I can do. As always this human marvel never cease to amaze me. I stumble on this documentary that confirmed my brewing idea of going back to eating greens. I’m talking about Food, Inc.

Food, Inc. is a 2008 American documentary film directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Robert Kenner. This film examine large scale agricultural food production in the United States, with a bold conclusion that the meat and vegetables produced by this kind of economic venture leads to the decline of family farms, bury farmers in debt, nix ethics, whilst inexpensive it also purport unhealthiness and environmentally-harmful food.

The first half of the film tackles the industrial production of meat (chicken, beef & pork), corn and vegetable. The way people treat these animals that goes to [y]our mouth, is callously inhumane, one of the farmers even said, ‘this is not farming it is mass production, putting these animals in the assembly line.’ (which made me think one more time, stop being carnivore, Vernz!)

The last part tackles about the economic and legal power of the major food companies, which even influences policy of the State, 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.

You may ask me why this film when it only talks about the American food and economic system? Here’s what I have to say;

Number 1. Since I got married in 1999, I had been a weekly constant of this fave grocery store of mine I saw it happening under my nose, how these American products (not only US, but China, SKorea, Japan, Indonesia, Taiwan etc.) had flocked this local grocery, and how it filled the shelves overpowering the local ones, well, this is what we call globalization or if some may say it Americanization.

Number 2. Our AVR only have films on eternally elusive peace, heroes and more American Films.

Number 3. Not even one in the Philippine Film Industry have tried to come up with some sort of investigatory films of this sort in relation to food, we only have sex, abortion, politics etc.

Number 4. People doesn’t care, we will all die anyway, so why the hell bother! Eat, live and die.

Let me tell you a short story (just keep reading) I grew up in farm where chicken, goats and cows feed on grass, we ate roasted chicken and not fried ones, (I only got an idea what fried chicken was when Mcdo opened its first store here in Davao back in 90’s, I mean the Mcdo-style), we ate organically grown corn and I truly admire my late grandfather for his indigenous knowledge about choosing which seed is best for the next planting season. No fertilizer, no chemicals. It’s only lately I realized I was lucky back then for not eating chemically-treated food.

Until one day, farm technicians of our good government, brought with them hybrid seeds and introduced fertilizers and pesticides, after some 20 years of farming using these implements, farmers only sigh in great desperation, their land became acidic, so dependent with hybrid seed that cost them more than what they harvest, farmers got nothing but debt.

This situation had brought me some reckless thinking, can we reverse society and culture and start all over again and get rid of these greedy people that runs economy? Maybe Yes! We can, (I just hope I can be one of those chosen passengers of the ark #3 back in China) cleanse the world with water. But Oh No! Those big rats are afraid to die they were even the first to arrive in that ark. Haay!

Seriously, this human system of ours was adaptive from the very start but eventually became mal-adaptive that it will bring humanity to its demise.

Thanks for reading, see you again for another experience in this side of town.