Food INC.

[WB2WIK]

by a government oversight committe.

It would work kind of like this example here:

Once upon a time the government had a vast scrap yard in the middle
of a desert. Congress said, "someone may steal from it at night.." So
they created a night watchman position and hired a person for the job..
Then Congress said, "How does the watchman do his job without
instruction?" So they created a planning department and hired two
people, one person to write the instructions, and one person to do time
studies.

Then Congress said, "How will we know the night watchman is doing
The tasks correctly?" So they created a Quality Control department and
hired two people. One to do the studies and one to write the reports.

Then Congress said, "How are these people going to get paid?" So
They created the following positions, a time keeper, and a payroll officer,
Then hired two people.

Then Congress said, "Who will be accountable for all of these
people?" So they created an administrative section and hired three people, an
Administrative Officer, Assistant Administrative Officer, and a Legal Secretary.

Then Congress said, "We have had this command in operation for one
Year and we are $18,000 over budget, we must cutback overall cost."

So they laid off the night watchman.

[K3XR]

Did the PBS show talk about the number of lives saved by the improvements in crop growing by BIG FOOD, or was it all BIG FOOD ....bad??

I don't watch PBS for reasons this forum will not allow me to elaborate on, I would be interested in knowing when they do a story on the number of deaths caused by Rachel Carson after her book resulted in the banning of DDT.
http://network.nationalpost.com/NP/b...lifesaver.aspx

[AD7N]

Here's some good quotes from the show:

"the irony is that the average consumer does not feel very powerful. They think that they are the recipients of whatever industry has put out there for them to consume. Trust me it is the exact opposite. "
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"When we run an item past the supermarket scanner, we are voting for local or not, or organic or not."
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"At Walmart we made a decision about a year ago to go through a process to become rBST free in our milk supply. We made that decision based on customer preference. "
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"Individual consumers changed the biggest company on earth. And in so doing, probably put the last nail in the coffin for synthetic growth hormone. "
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"You have to understand that we farmers we are going to deliver to the market place what the marketplace demands. If you want to buy $2 milk, you're going to get a feedlot in your backyard, its that simple. People have got to start demanding good, wholesome food of us, and we'll deliver, I promise ya. We're very ingenious people, we'll deliver. That's all I have to say. "

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Did the PBS show talk about the number of lives saved by the improvements in crop growing by BIG FOOD, or was it all BIG FOOD ....bad??

They did in fact admit that that factory farming has increased food yields. One statistic they noted was that an average acreage of corn produced something like a dozen bushels decades ago. However, today it can produce nearly 200 bushels thanks to research, breeding, technology, etc.

From what I got from the show is they recognize the enormous benefit "Food Inc" has had on food availability and cheapness. Still however, they lay out (in excruciating detail I might add) how this efficiency isn't all great and shiny, like E. Coli outbreaks because of contaminated meat, the endemic of Diabetes because of the intrusion of sugar (mostly High Fructose Corn Syrup) in almost every kind of food, etc. And they point out, that it all comes back to the consumer. It is consumers that are buying the sugary, fatty foods these companies make. There is no one party to blame, govn't oversight, corporations and consumers are all to blame for some part.

They're laying out ways Food Inc can be made better.

[AF6LJ]

Obesity, Diabetes... from fat and sugar spikes. Diabetes is endemic in our society:


source: CDC

Growing one's food is pretty darn healthy, and seed stock is relatively cheap. (Don't give me Monsanto excuses! Go to your local farm store and buy a bag of seeds.)

Heritage seeds are a little harder to come by however they are available.
I'm allergic to BT corn and BT tomatoes. Soy was one of the very first crops to be genetically modified. Keep in mind that crossbreeding is not the same as genetic manipulation. You have tomatoes out there that have been infused with cockroach genes in order to give them longer shelf life.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffre...wstudyconfirms

While I am not a hamster what do you think this is doing to the human population.

[AD7N]

Heritage seeds are a little harder to come by however they are available.
I'm allergic to BT corn and BT tomatoes. Soy was one of the very first crops to be genetically modified. Keep in mind that crossbreeding is not the same as genetic manipulation. You have tomatoes out there that have been infused with cockroach genes in order to give them longer shelf life.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffre...wstudyconfirms

While I am not a hamster what do you think this is doing to the human population.

Long term studies, from what I understand are almost nil. Although there is some research done to ensure it's not an obvious disaster, there's still a LOT of unknowns. Certainly more unknowns than knowns

[W5INC]

Did the PBS show talk about the number of lives saved by the improvements in crop growing by BIG FOOD, or was it all BIG FOOD ....bad??

I don't watch PBS for reasons this forum will not allow me to elaborate on, I would be interested in knowing when they do a story on the number of deaths caused by Rachel Carson after her book resulted in the banning of DDT.
http://network.nationalpost.com/NP/b...lifesaver.aspx

Actually a very balanced show that gave big food companies credit with producing vast amounts of food and their innovations in the farming sector.

The show also pointed out the pitfalls to the large corporations approach to the food sector. When feeding cattle corn their manure must be disposed out of the feedlots. Cattle are herbivores and when eating grasses that are supposed to be in their diet, the waste generated actually becomes fertilizer and seed stock for the grasses to grow back. The cattle don't bulk up quickly as if they were fed corn, but the E-coli problem isn't generated by feeding the cattle corn meal.

The amount of anti-biotics and chemicals rendered into chicken meal is also at a very high rate. 1 chicken farmer who was brave enough to speak out against the industrial chicken farming techniques has become allergic to all anti-biotics. Since her interview with the producer of the show, her chicken farming contract has been nullified with Tyson chicken. The reason why Tyson cancelled her contract was because she would not update her farming equipment up to Tyson's standards. Tyson's farming standards can change at any time according to the Tyson contract that the woman singed.

The cost of building 1 chicken house is around $250,000.00 to 280,000.00 dollars apiece. The chicken farmers are so upside down in their contract with the large corporations that the farmer is forced economically to tow the company line. If not, his contract is cancelled too. The complete debt piled up by the farmer is his alone to bear. The chicken farmer only owns 1 thing in the whole process. That is the chicken sh*t, which is his problem to dispose of according to EPA guidelines. The average chicken farmer makes $18,000.00 according to the PBS show.

The Monsanto company has a team of 75 people, mostly retired police officers and military who actually conduct surveillance on farmers to see if the farmers are stealing Monsanto's seeds. A 1 800 phone number is also available so farmers can tell Monsanto if any other farmer is stealing Monsanto's seeds. Monsanto pays a bounty for such information. Farmers have tried to go to court to get Monsanto and this dubious trade practice stopped. Every time the farmer pockets are nowhere deep enough to take on the corporate giant. 1 soybean farmer spent over $400,000.00 in legal fees and was told to go to court it would cost another 1 million dollars. The justice system seems to be broken in this matter also. What is really scary do a Google search on the vegetable laws in this country. You just thought you have freedom of speech in this country, big food says no you don't. Oprah got a taste of the power of the food industry. Oprah spent over 1.5 million of her own money defending herself against big food. How many farmers in this country have the same war chest as Oprah did to fight big food.

Upton Sinclair in the early part of the 20th century wrote a book about the American food industry and it's trade practices. (The Jungle) The food companies have refined their methods since Upton's book, but they still use the economic leverage they command to keep farmers in line and tow the company line. The American public are like sheeple in this matter. Not caring what the cost is to your own health, environment and the rest of God's creatures to have a $1.00 menu @ McDonalds

[AF6LJ]

In that post you have touched on what amounts to tens of thousands of pages of material. I have been a long time listener of Derry Brownfield who is an Ag reporter going way back. Thee is a racket regarding the chicken industry which Tyson is the lead producer in. Brownfield had done whole shows on Tyson and their control over poultry in this country.

Don't get me started on NAIS which is designed to put the small producers out of business.

[N0WVA]

Did the PBS show talk about the number of lives saved by the improvements in crop growing by BIG FOOD, or was it all BIG FOOD ....bad??

I don't watch PBS for reasons this forum will not allow me to elaborate on, I would be interested in knowing when they do a story on the number of deaths caused by Rachel Carson after her book resulted in the banning of DDT.
http://network.nationalpost.com/NP/b...lifesaver.aspx

All big food is bad when the end result is control of all food sources. And that is being done intentionally.

GM food has not been adequately tested, especially in the long run. Not to mention the destruction of normal plants by cross pollination.

It is a crime against humanity that all this is going unchecked.

[N0WVA]

I rented Food,INC from the video store. It was a good documentary on the current state of affairs.

[N0SYA]

"The justice system seems to be broken in this matter also."

justice is bought and sold in America today

if you can meet their price you can have justice