Food, Inc (The Movie)

[bocajoes]

Has anyone watched "Food, Inc.?" I watched it last night and it really opened my eyes. If there is any area in our lives where we should be spending MORE money, not LESS money, it is on food. Yet, the goal of the large food companies (Tyson, Con Agra, Cargill, Smithfield) is to find ways to make it cheaper. I learned the differences between corn fed beef and grass fed beef. I learned how chickens are "raised." I learned that Monsanto is flat-out evil. I learned that "cheap" food isn't actually "cheap," because the money that you will spend on meds to undo the damage done by those cheap foods makes up for the food being "cheap." Do yourselves a favor and watch this movie...and patronize your local Whole Foods.

[Desertthorn]

Re: Food, Inc (The Movie)

I saw it awhile back and your right. I now only buy free-range eggs and chicken is really scary. I now have one cutting board that I use for chicken and I bleach it after every use cause most chicken is infected with some horrible germ and it doesn't matter what company, they are all bad.

Great post.

[bocajoes]

Re: Food, Inc (The Movie)

This week, my wife and I split our shopping between a conventional store and a Whole Foods. For the first time, we are reading the labels before we buy (not just nutritional info, but also ingredients.) We also went through our cupboards and read the ingredients in what we already bought. It was a scary experience; recognizing the ingredients as being nothing more than a chemistry experiment. You can't even trust foods grown from seeds because those seeds might be genetically modified (i.e., Monsanto.)

Our plan is to slowly replace everything we have in our cupboards now with organic, natural foods. We will cook everything from scratch; my wife loves to bake, which is forbidden in our world, but she likes it so I roll with it (but I don't eat the baked goods.) Everything (starting today) starts from scratch. Unbleached flour (whole wheat when possible), agave nectar instead of sugar (when possible), free range chicken and eggs, grass fed beef and pork products, and organic fruits and veggies. Our grocery bill will increase quite a bit, but I am confident that it will be worth every penny.

Oh, on an unrelated note, my friends took a look at me today and told me that I look slimmer and leaner. My post yesterday was all about being upset at myself for falling off the Atkins wagon. I guess I didn't do THAT much damage.

[not2late]

Re: Food, Inc (The Movie)

Has anyone watched "Food, Inc.?" I watched it last night and it really opened my eyes. If there is any area in our lives where we should be spending MORE money, not LESS money, it is on food. Yet, the goal of the large food companies (Tyson, Con Agra, Cargill, Smithfield) is to find ways to make it cheaper. I learned the differences between corn fed beef and grass fed beef. I learned how chickens are "raised." I learned that Monsanto is flat-out evil. I learned that "cheap" food isn't actually "cheap," because the money that you will spend on meds to undo the damage done by those cheap foods makes up for the food being "cheap." Do yourselves a favor and watch this movie...and patronize your local Whole Foods.

I read in one of my gardening/sustainable lifestyle magazines that Americans spend about 5% of their disposable income on food----which made me think two things:

1. Then why do we have an obesity problem if we spend so little on food?

2. What DO we do with the remaining 95% of our disposable income!

Anyhow....if you have a 10 x 10 foot space to plant veggies, you can save up to $700 per year on your grocery bill. Grow $700 of Food in 100 Square Feet!

PLUS, you'll be assured of the safety of your food source and you'll know what you're eating is truly fresh....not picked on Monday, shipped between Tuesday and Wednesday, arrived at the local distribution center on Thursday, shipped to the local market on Friday, sitting in the store room on Saturday, and put on the shelf on Sunday.

[Sarina D]

Re: Food, Inc (The Movie)

Yes we watched it recently and it was nasty and a real eye opener.

Very sad!
Sarina

[Aways2Go]

Re: Food, Inc (The Movie)

Just as a side note, agave nectar is not really a great choice either. Intense levels of fructose, I believe, after the processing and concentrating it goes through. Concentrated fructose is really bad in regards to how it is processed in your body/liver, effects on insulin, and in its quick conversion to body fat by the liver. It SOUNDS healthier, but mostly has benefitted from a lot of marketing help towards that end. As I remember, you are actually better off if you must choose a sweetener to go with dried fruits, stevia or honey to the extent possible (and in very moderate doses). You might want to check into that.

[bocajoes]

Re: Food, Inc (The Movie)

Thanks for the advice about Agave Nectar. I was reading that it was just the opposite - it sweetened without spiking insulin levels.

That's what's so frustrating about the food business (both big and organic) - how do you separate the marketing hype from fact? Who do you believe? Frustrating...

[Aways2Go]

Re: Food, Inc (The Movie)

I agree - trying to sort out any type of processed food item and whether or not it is good for your health, neutral or bad is nearly a part-time job sometimes.

Here is a cut and paste I managed to locate from one of the articles I have read. It is from the alternative health website run by Dr. Mercola. Granted some of his ideas are kind of out there at times, but in general I think he has some great ideas. He too advocates for whole unprocessed foods and the near elimination of added sugars in the diet.

"Ideally, I recommend that you avoid as much sugar as possible. This is especially important if you are overweight or have diabetes, high cholesterol, or high blood pressure.
In fact, I believe that the positive health impacts of breaking the country’s sugar addiction would be even greater than if everyone stopped smoking, because elevated insulin levels are the foundation of nearly every chronic disease known to man, from cancer and arthritis to cardiovascular disease.
I also realize you don’t live in a perfect world, and following rigid dietary guidelines is not always practical or even possible.
If you want to use a sweetener occasionally, this is what I recommend:

1. Use the herb stevia
2. Use organic cane sugar in moderation
3. Use organic raw honey in moderation

Avoid ALL artificial sweeteners, which can damage your health even more quickly than HFCS.
And I don’t recommend agave syrup since it is a highly processed sap that is almost all fructose. Your blood sugar will spike just as it would if you were consuming regular sugar or HFCS. Agave has gained meteoric popularity due to a great marketing campaign, but any health benefits present in the original agave plant are processed away.
Be sure to eat your sugar with fiber ... as in a piece of fruit. As Dr. Lustig says, “When God made the poison, he packaged it with the antidote: fiber.”
Wait 20 minutes before second portions at meals, giving your brain a chance to receive satiety signals.
And exercise regularly. Dr. Ludwig recommends you “buy your screen time with physical activity.”
Exercise is important for several reasons, some of which might surprise you:

• Exercise improves skeletal muscle insulin sensitivity (insulin works best in your muscles)
• Exercise reduces stress and lowers cortisol, which decreases appetite
• Exercise suppresses ghrelin, thereby decreasing appetite
• Exercise speeds up metabolic cycles, reducing citrate levels, thus reducing fat production
• Exercise can make you sharper, reduce arthritis, lift your mood, strengthen your bones, and even slow down aging

Avoid so-called energy drinks and sports drinks because they are loaded with sugar, sodium and chemical additives.
Rehydrating with pure, fresh water is a better choice."


The original full article, which is about how new research is showing why fructose as a form of sugar is so much worse for you than other forms of sugar (namely high fructose corn syrup, absent of fiber and added to such a huge percentage of processed foods) -

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/01/26/Sugar-May-Be-Bad-But-This-Sweetener-Is-Far-More-Deadly-Part-2.aspx

[Desertthorn]

Re: Food, Inc (The Movie)

Great article Aways, Thanks for posting it. While in my heart I know that artificial sweetner is bad, I just can't do stevia except with yogurt which I love.

[Aways2Go]

Re: Food, Inc (The Movie)

re: stevia

I find it works great in some things, not so much in others. Also that there is a difference among brands and how well they sweeten or they don't. And that in the case of stevia, more is not better - if you overdo it, it seems to get bitter instead of sweeter.

[not2late]

Re: Food, Inc (The Movie)

Great article Aways, Thanks for posting it. While in my heart I know that artificial sweetner is bad, I just can't do stevia except with yogurt which I love.

Lynne, I'm not a great fan of stevia in packets---because all the brands I have tried have a nasty, bitter aftertaste. But last summer I purchased a stevia plant and used the leaves fresh in herbal teas and lemonade and it didn't have that nasty, bitter aftertaste. I dried some leaves and have used them ground up, again, no nasty bitter aftertaste (and it gives everything a pale green color lol.) Bonus: take 1 stevia leaf and roll it with 1 chocolate mint or peppermint leaf and you have a pretty tasty garden "breath mint"!

I can only guess that it is the processing of the stevia into the white powder that brings out the aftertaste.

[dyjack]

Re: Food, Inc (The Movie)

I've done some research on Agave Nectar as well. It is natural in the same way corn syrup is natural. It's derived from a plant. After that the processing is very similar to the processing that goes on for HFCS. Some of the companies talk about how the agave plant has been used for centuries - that's true but not in the sense that they are using it. I've decided to avoid it even for my family members not on this WOE. For them honey and sugar will do the job.