Food, Inc. - Kelli's Thoughts

So, Rob and I settled down yesterday and watched the movie. I must say that I watched with an open mind, knowing that this was a source of media and bits and pieces were placed together to make my mind think what the producers wanted me to think. It's like that with all media. Unfortunately, some of the 'good guys' go down because of it and the truth is never REALLY told. Anyway, 'What did I take from the movie?' you may ask. Well, I took away these things:

1. I knew that slaughter houses existed, but not in such harsh and sad conditions! The way they kill pigs is by putting them all in a 'box' and smashing them together!!

2. Chickens CAN NOT be healthy the way I saw them raised. They are living in their own fecies!!! Most of them are pumped with so many hormones that they can no longer walk. They sort of slump around. A bunch of them just die.

3. The American public (and around the world for that matter) is completely blinded by how we get our food!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't state this enough. Furthermore, our government is doing a darn good job of keeping us from knowing where it comes from (i.e. labeling laws...not having to label things properly, telling us where our food is really from). I acutally called one of our local, organic healthfood stores and THEY were unable to tell me where their oats came from.

4. People that are raising chickens are becoming immune to certain antibiotics because they are constantly around these harmful pesticides. They are getting sick.

5. Farmers that are raising organic animals (animals that aren't given harmful steroids or hormones and are free-roaming, pasture-fed animals) are looked upon as 'unclean' because they slaughter their animals out in the sunshine and free air and have a more natural approach to cleaning and preserving their beef/chicken/pork.

6. Many families that say they can't afford to eat healthy are the same families who have health problems (diabeties is just one) and have to take medications that are more costly than if the family just ate more organic fruits and veggies. I know some are turned off by the word 'organic'. I sounds expensive and unnecessary. Not everyone cares to know where their food comes from and my saying is 'To each his own'.

7. Cows are not naturally supposed to eat and digest corn as food, but that's what beef production farmers are feeding them to get them fat quickly. (Not to mention lots of hormones.)

I'm not some crazy, hippie tree hugger mom/wife. I just want to know where my food comes from and I want to feel comfortable giving it to my family. I live in a city in Florida where Doritos and Coke are 'normal'. I'm not bashing Doritos or Coke. I like the taste of them, BUT recently I really feel that the Lord has laid upon my heart a strong desire to give healthier foods to my family. It's my New Year's resolution.

My goals this year are to:

- Expand my own garden with more of a variety of veggies and fruits (Dad got me a Navel

Orange tree for Christmas...whoo hoo!)

- Try growing the following: wheat, limes, strawberries, papaya, kiwis, grapes, blueberries,

blackberries, watermelon, corn and a bay tree. Bay trees are inexpensive and you can order

them online, but a bottle of Bay leaves in the store is like $4.00 for just a few leaves!

- raise these chickens to where we're getting plenty of fresh eggs

- cull/cook a chicken (I think Rob may be appointed to do this one)

- learn more about where our food comes from

- buying local, fresh, non-pesticide fruits and veggies

- buy more in bulk items (gotta love Sam's Club)

- cook/bake more things from scratch

- acquire some nut trees (pecans)

- try raw, unpasteurized milk

- learn how to make butter, cream and icecream

- cook with meat substitutes (beans, lentils, etc.), instead of eating so much meat. I'm not saying

Kelli is going vegetarian!! I love meat and believe God put it on this beautiful earth for us to

eat. I'm just not going to base my meals around it every night. It's also expensive.

I'll start with those and see how it goes. Hopefully, these goals will make for some interesting posts! =)

Did you rent the movie and watch it? I'm interested to see who did and what you thought.