yvonne's story: Reaction to Food Inc

According to Wikipedia, Food Inc. is a documentary film examines corporate farming in the United States, concluding agricultural business is unhealthy and harms the environment. (Wiki) It was my first time watching Food Inc. There are overwhelming information about different segments such as vegetables, meats and regulations.

Have your ever wonder where you foods come from? I never care about this before, but now I do. Now, start to think about it, you might not know the answer and the answer can be found in this film. I realize that we can’t separate our life with food. Foods are so essential that greatly influence our health and quality of living. In the states, I usually shop at Kroger and Asian Market. When I look back at what I eat in my country, Malaysia and compare it with what I have now. In my hometown, people usually shop in wet market, or “pasar” in Malay, meaning to say vegetables and meats are fresh and not being processed or repackaged. In contrast, I get food from grocery store here where meats are being repackaged. I realized that the wet market’s environment might not be that pleasant and air-condition, but all the foods are fresh!

Pasar Besar Siti Khadijah

The technology development brings pros and cons. In my opinion, pro is that we can get our food easily and in cheap price, when we are rushing on time, bacon and egg is good to go. But, we simply ignore the inhumanity of using technology to grow these foods. After watching the chicken falling down as they can’t even afford their own weight, I feel that we are not going in the right way. It is not like what I see in my grandparent’s small farm where there is a great space for them to walk around. I agree that conventional foods are still healthy food and cheap; however, they harm the environment and go against the nature. Cows are not supposed to be fed directly through their stomach and are not supposed to eat corns. All these innovations are created to produce higher amount of meat products.

Chicken is inserted with hormones, in order to have a bigger chicken breast.

Cow is fed through stomach not mouth.

On the other hand, in terms of going organic, I just can’t afford it. I know that there are no chemical pesticides, but they are just too expensive. What I can do is to buy conventional fruits and vegetables, wash and rinse them for few times. However, if budget allows, I will choose organic food. I understand that if there is a high demand of organic food, the price will eventually lowers. I start to think what I can do to save the environment, I think my dad is doing a great job as he plants our own vegetables at a little garden and my mum is a vegetarian. They are my role models. I hope that we will not forget our moral values and ethics even if we are living in a high technology society. Take a look at these 10 things you can do ! I am going to start with meatless Monday.