Food, Inc. took me back to the ideals of Ishmael and humanity in the rest of the world. The Fall marked the beginning of man's grasp on the earth; the ability to bend the environment to suit our own needs. We tilled the land to feed a growing population that would only keep growing, rationalizing our actions as sustaining the population. We as humans gave ourselves permission to tamper with lifeforms and form them to support our populations with the help of science, technology, and the might of the human race. And what are we left with? Now we genetically modify chickens and cows and plants to be bigger, better, and less susceptible to disease and we mass produce them. Animals aren't born. They're manufactured to our needs. They're manufactured to make money. This is what has become of the hunter-gatherer societies of the Stone Age. Well done.
Another angle to this situation is that our new agrarian practices make us richer. Food is made cheaply and efficiently and is engineered to give utmost satisfaction. The fast food industry is now booming and more and more people have grown to rely on it. Also, science has helped us make our food safer and more nutrient rich so that we may receive vital vitamins and minerals.
Although it is difficult to accept our current food situation, it is important to realize that the progression of our society has led to increases in population, and we must feed this population cheaply. However, I don't have to accept the horrors of this situation, but I can accept that maybe green and organic initiatives will continue to grow and hopefully our newly developed food technologies will be used for the better.
I also saw this movie, and found that it really affected my perspective on the food industry. I really like how you used this to pull from freshman year; the idea of how this is related to Ishmael and the Fall of the world was really an astute observation. I agree with you that the increases in population have led us to take drastic and terrible measures, and I think that it's ridiculous how having more people on the planet have decreased our humanity.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I haven't seen this movie, I've heard a lot about it and it actually sounds interesting. I think it's cool that you related it back to Ishmael, and I see the parallels. The idea of us ruling over all other life and being able to manipulate it for our own good is a little disturbing.
ReplyDeleteAs you said, the way we produce food does have some benefits. In the end, people get more food and it costs less to make. But I think at some point we have to set a limit as to how far we're taking all this.
I absolutely LOVED this movie, as I am super interested in the exploitation of our food. Lots of it I've heard before, but I love that it's getting a stage that it hasn't in a long while. This is the reason I became a vegetarian...our food doesn't even start out as an animal anymore...people manufacture it from before it was born to become a Chicken McNugget.
ReplyDeleteIf this interests you, read or listen to some of Michael Pollan's stuff. He writes a lot about issues with food like this and other things (like "organic" food and how it actually impacts the environment...surprising).
Lauren,
ReplyDeleteYour post was very enlightening, and while although I have not seen the movie, I once read an article about food manufacturing.
Because society feeds off this manufacturing industry, it’s sometimes hard for us to realize how corrupt and inhumane it really is. However, I liked how you were able to identify it, and relate it to Ishmael.
I remember that we talked about the fall of mankind being marked by the introduction to agriculture. While it brought prosperity and wealth for awhile, we are just now beginning to realize all of these long-term problems it has also produced. It’s very unfortunate.
I also recently watched Supersize Me, which skimmed over huge, industrial manufacturing businesses, like McDonalds. I was equally as disgusted by their means of production. It seems the richer and larger the company, the more vulgar and greedy.
I also liked the point you talked about in your last paragraph. With increasing populations, companies have to find ways to produce things even faster and cheaper, which, unfortunately results in these appalling and inhumane ways of production.
Great job Lauren!