Good evening hope this finds you well. Tonight, instead of bits of news for you I wanted to just offer my best Roger Ebert impression. Last night I watched the film Food Inc, which I must recommend even if you think you know about the (depressing) state of the food industry and the extent the corporate hold has over our food supply and supermarkets. Much of what I learned in the film was information I’d already read elsewhere but the ability to tie in the ‘progress’ to our actual risk in real terms was quite fascinating. The film also did a great job looking at the matter of corporate farming and lack of sustainable practices in an industry that has changed beyond recognition. Sadly the theme I took from the film was two-fold – 95% of the changes in the industry have been based around cost savings and convenience. What we seem to be missing is although bad food is far too cheap (which it is) we are only being conned – the long term costs in terms of diabetes and outrageous health care costs will impact us all even though perhaps we don’t realise it now. Every single item on the ‘Dollar Menu’ at fast food outlets is only a bargain for 10 minutes – it kills off your hunger but has all the nutritional value of a bowl of sugar laced with salt.

As I’m sure you’re aware ‘corn is king’ and simply put over 85% of the items in your typical supermarket contain corn in some form and it’s simply not good for you in the methods and quantity we now use it. Nor were cattle designed to eat corn, they are meant to eat grass. The film actually left me feeling a little pessimistic, traditional farming is all but dead, organic companies prosper for 5-10 years and then sell out to Kraft or Kellogg, price drives decisions before safety. While the film did a great job explaining the pickle we now find ourselves in, it failed to really show many solutions until the very end titles (too late??). Farmers markets, buying local, demanding more choice, and such were all suggested – what few people want to hear is that eating well and in a sustainable way does cost more – and depending on where you are – quite a lot more. The main reason is that lobbying and subsidies have made junk food so disastrously cheap that we don’t pay for food what we should – and haven’t done so for decades. It’s over 30 years since corn was sold above the cost of production – that’s disgusting and unethical. Chicken and cattle production/productivity is 2-3 times higher than it was 30 years ago and yet the average cattle/chicken farmer makes a salary that would make you lose your appetite. When I was a kid you only could buy tomatoes, bananas, strawberries and much more at certain times of the year. We now can buy anything at any time – but the genetic modifications made to many fruit and vegetables are working visually but not in terms of taste.

I know the issue is not limited to the USA, it’s changing everywhere. I remember being a kid (lucky enough to grow up in the countryside) and going to the butcher, then the baker and then the fishmonger was the normal drill with my mum on a Saturday morning (don’t recall a candlestick maker). Food wasn’t always so corporate – nor so dangerous. The most alarming fact during a film that was full of them – the outrageous reduction of inspections made by the USDA over the last 30 years. I won’t spoil it – see the film – you’ll think it’s a misprint. Please see the film, it might not change the way you eat, it should help change the way you think . As with so many issues we now face in 2009 – we have to believe that every time we reject fast food, every time we ask where our food comes from, every time we refuse to eat an animal that has been genetically modified so much that it can’t support its own weight (but we only like white meat on our chickens!) we can make a difference. The film made me angry and frustrated. My passions as far as what I read are history and economics – both of which show us what happens when we cut corners to convince those who are earning less and less each year that they aren’t becoming more impoverished. Making everything as cheap as possible (especially food) has consequences that are as deep and dark as they are obvious. If that wasn’t the case diabetes rates wouldn’t spike upwards based on the nearer you are to the poverty line. We’ve got a long way to go – but films like this should be shown in schools and living rooms as often as possible.