Where Is The Love?

There are countless things that stuck with after watching Robert Kenner’s Food Inc. (2008), but what stood out the most wasn’t a certain number or statistic or anything that can be measured. There is still an image in my mind of enormous slaughterhouses, animals and workers being treated inhumanely, farmers being stripped of jobs they have maintained with pride for hundreds of years, and all for the sake of profit. I understand that there is an economic wheel in motion that will not easily be stopped but there was a time before we were born in which we lived without these mass-produced products and humans were happy. We don’t need everything that is handed to us. We don’t need to give these companies money, especially when they represent the maltreatment of humans and animals. Think about it in everyday situations. Let me put it this way; there will be times when I won’t be hungry (and this will be a rare occasion) but when the situation does present itself I will usually not eat, that is of course until someone places a plate in front of me. Then I will gladly dig in, like anyone would, but feel sick a few minutes later due to the fact that I wasn’t really that hungry. Just because these multinational companies put all these products in front of us using advertisements and low prices does not mean we have to take them. In fact in most cases we probably shouldn’t.

I am essentially suggesting a way to fight back against these companies that treat their workers and animals in such poor conditions. It won’t be easy (I myself enjoy a McDonalds hamburger once in a while), but think about it: wouldn’t it be much better to buy beef from a local farmer, get your family together and enjoy a barbeque with homemade burgers? I for one vote yes. There is so much from which we can benefit by endorsing things such as local farmers, worker’s rights, and animal rights. I know I won’t change much. It takes more than just one person writing stuff down to make a change. I might even forget about this issue after a while, but it’s just food for thought (pun intended). It’s a complicated subject, I understand that. If it were easy to manage these situations there would be little to discuss. All I’m saying is that next time your mom gives you a homemade anything and tells you she made it with love, think about how it was really made. It probably wasn’t pretty, but if we all do our part we can put the sugar, spice, and everything nice back into our food.

photo credit: http://hiphappy.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/food-is-love.jpg