More on Food

This year I have read a few books  about the agricultural and food system in our country including Fast Food Nation, Food Inc., and Recipe for America.  With every book I read, I become more passionate about our country's food system.  Here are some of the ideas in my head after absorbing all of this information:

• The food people eat is causing them to be sick instead of healthy.
• The method that food is grown and produced is harmful to people, animals and the planet in general.
• The chemicals used as fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides are not good for human consumption.
• Conventional (as opposed to traditional/organic) farming methods deplete the soil of nutrients which causes food to have fewer nutrients.
• Cow are not being fed the right types of food for their digestive system which makes them live their whole lives in pain and battling sickness.
• Animals are generally kept in small cages that literally drives them insane.  Chickens are debeaked to keep them from attacking themselves or other chickens.
• Animals are slaughtered in a brutal method.  Many cows are skinned alive.  Many chickens are scalded while still alive.  This also endangers the humans who are skinning a cow that is kicking at them.  Plus, it seems like this would be a mentally damaging incident as well.
• Factory and farm safety conditions are not well-regulated, and if they are regulated, there is often little accountability.
• Animal waste from factory farms is not managed, and it winds up in the water supply which can cause issues.
• All of the dangerous chemicals used on plants can (and do) end up in the waterways.
• The methods used to grow food (like chemicals), raise animals (like feeding cattle corn-based diets which increases E. coli risks greatly), and prepare food (like in the slaughter house where workers work at a feverish pace which increases the chances of contaminating meat with fecal matter and therefore E. coli) are creating health risks and problems.
• Not the fisherman's fault, but many fish are high in bad stuff like mercury.  I used to think that this was just normal for fish composition, but I just recently learned that it is because of human waste that has caused mercury to end up in the waterways and thus the water animals.  Additionally, though, we are overfishing which is kind of bad news.
• Many farms and meat packers hire illegal immigrants which makes for cheap, abusive labor situations sometimes to the point of slavery.  
• Our system is not making is easier for people to eat well.
• Subsidies are poorly distributed, and so there is overproduction of many grains.
• The most cost-effective thing for people to eat is generally processed corn or wheat.
• Fresh foods are not available in many neighborhoods... especially in non-wealthy neighborhoods.
• Our system is making it difficult for small farms to remain viable.
• Big business (*cough* Monsanto *cough*) is making it hard for some small, local farmers to continue to exist.  Monsanto has been known to sue the bejeebers out of a farm that has Monsanto GMOs (genetically modified organisms) on their farm without buying the seeds from Monsanto.  The problem is that the farmers don't even want the GMOs.  Rather, the seeds are blowing onto their land from nearby farms.
• Certain laws can make it challenging for a small farm to afford to exist.  For example, if tracking cows becomes required (to be able to trace E. coli outbreaks), some small farms will not be able to afford to satisfy this requirement.  Unfortunately, it is not generally the small farms that cause E. coli outbreaks.

I described last September how Matthew and I have changed our eating habits for our health, the health, safety and fair treatment of workers, the planet's health, and many other reasons.  We have continued on a $300 per month budget throughout the year, and we've had success.  We've also made some positive changes, I think.  We no longer buy any produce from Fred Meyer, and we now buy all of our produce from the co-op and the Farmer's Market or directly from the farm!  Our meat consumption has dwindled down to next to nothing since we buy maybe a pound of meat every 3 months.  We did this in part because good meat  is fairly expensive but also because we found that we were enjoying the vegetarian meals greatly.  I have made yogurt all year which is less expensive and uses less plastic.  As an added benefit to all of these changes (plus biking/walking more and driving less), I, without even trying, lost about ten pounds and got down to the weight that I was when I graduated from high school six years ago.  Not too bad for an almost 24-year-old woman! ;)

If you find that you are also upset by the food most stores have to offer, you are welcome to do something too!  I've worked my way up to being fairly "extreme", and I understand that.  There are a lot of different things you can do to change what you eat and help build a healthy food system.  Here are some ideas, if you are interested:

• Make one change at a time as you feel moved to do so.
• Create a food budget, and budget some of that money specifically to organic food, a co-op, or a farmer's market.
• Consider going to a farm and u-picking and preserving (freezing, canning, drying...) food!
• Consider eating less or no meat and buying any meat from a local provider or a provider that you know uses good methods.
• Know what you are eating.  Where did it come from?  What state?  What farm?  What practices are they using?  Is a big business involved?  (Sorry, Big Business, but you are often unethical...)
• Consider preparing more of your own food instead of buying convenience foods.  It will save money so that you can afford to buy better foods.  Plus, you are more likely to know what's going into your meal which is always a good thing.
• Buy BULK!  It's so much cheaper than buying packaged food!  Spices are phenomenally cheaper, and most other food prices can't be beat either.  This will again save you money for some good quality food!
• Don't be tricked by cheap food prices.... Remember that there is a reason that it is cheap.  It's either probably not really healthy and/or someone or something was damaged or abused to make your food cheap.
• Really, make one change at a time as you feel moved to do so.  This process was really enjoyable for us, and it can be for you too.  It has been a relief to finally react to the facts that I had tucked in the darkest corners of my mind.  Let yourself be moved by the facts that you find, and just do the best that you can! :)

There are places to go to get involved politically like the Organic Consumer's Association, Food and Water Watch, Consumers Union, and Food Democracy Now.  Also, some food blogs include La Vida Locavore, Food Politics, and U.S. Food Policy.  These are some of the resources given by Jill Richardson in Recipe for America, and I have not had a chance to look through all of them yet, so I am not quite sure what they all involve!

Thanks for letting me ramble a little bit more about food!  Feel free to leave comments if you have something to say or any questions!