Food, Inc.

Just watched the movie "Food, Inc." I don't want to inject politics into this blog site, but suffice it to say that the movie strengthened my resolve to grow and raise as much of my own food as possible. The movie chronicled the industrialization of production in the United States. It showed factory meat processing, concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO's), and the shenanigans of the mega seed and pesticide companies. The thesis of the movie is that it is that it is becoming increasingly difficult for us, the consumers, to see where our food comes from. It is becoming harder and harder to eat real, healthy food.

All is not lost! We can vote with our forks! We can choose to eat locally grown, sustainably raised meat and vegetables. More and more people are making this choice by supporting farmers markets, CSA's (community supporting agriculture), and eating local produce in season.

What we don't yet raise or grow ourselves we try to purchase locally. We just recently bought a butcher weight pig from a student agricultural coop at Washington State University. Buying an animal that was raised as a 4-H project is another great option.

We haven't achieved a total break from the corporate food system by a long shot, but we've taken significant steps in that direction. Each small step we take brings us closer to the reality of a healthy, sustainable lifestyle.