Food Inc. and Me

I saw Food Inc. today and if I had to describe it in one word I would say - emotional. I have been on a voyage of food discovery for about two years but the machine of corporate food is something I haven't delved into very deeply. I think it was an intentional blind spot. I knew it was bad, in the same way I knew Big Papi cheated, but I didn't realize the level of manipulation and deceit there is in the food industry in this country.

Two and a half years ago, I gave up a 2 pack a day smoking habit after smoking for 15 years of smoking. I loved and hated smoking. I loved the mentality of smoking. Of being a smoker. An outsider. Blue collar all the way. A Non conformist. On the other hand smoking makes you feel powerless. And sick. And weak. Not to mention what it did to my body. To this day I still miss it.

Anyway, at that point in my life I had the food knowledge of a 3-year old. I knew nothing of nutrition and never made anything more complicated than mac 'n cheese. So I substituted food for smoking and gained 20 pounds. My cholesterol was literally a joke. I had just quit smoking in part because I didn't want to die only to find out I was killing myself with food.

Now when I say I knew nothing of nutrition, cooking, exercising, or anything involving healthy living, I mean I knew nothing. It was like learning a new language or more than that, like joining a new civilization. I was blind and now I can see. I learned a lot from magazines like Men's Health and Food and Wine and from the Food Network (especially Good Eats), but I also owe a lot of credit to my much-better-read brother. We share a desire to learn, a willingness to experiment, and a new found enjoyment in the creativity of cooking.

Two years later and I feel like I have a rudimentary knowledge both of art of cooking as well as nutrition and the role it can play on a person's quality of life. But there is so much more to learn and this movie offered me the next step.

This documentary shines a light on the amazing power the food industry wields in our country and how it all rests in a few companies. These companies are driven by the capitalistic goals of efficiency, profit, and market share. (And not in the health of the people it feeds.) Here are some of the tidbits that stuck with me most:

- the top 4 meat companies account for more than 80% of the meat we eat

- that the fast food chains and their business model is a huge contributing factor to the overall decline in quality of our food over the past 30 years

- how much genetically altered food products are in our diets (even including cloned meat)

- how unfairly the companies treat farmers and workers in meat processing plants

- how absurd the role corn plays in our diets (and the diets of our food)

- how utterly feeble the regulatory agencies are at protecting us

- how sad the lives are of the genetically mutated animals

...and lastly, how genuinely angry I was at seeing all of this laid out before me. Deep down, I feel like I knew all of these things. It was hidden from me partially because of the veil drawn by our society, our government, and by the influence of the corporations behind it all, but also because I wanted it that way. We all do.

1 in 3 children born after the year 2000 will suffer from diabetes. E coli outbreaks are more rampant every year. Soda is cheaper than water. School lunches are a joke. Maybe it's time we all pull the veil back a little bit.