A Cows Tale

Sustainability Week is in full blast as of today, hump day :) Hello all, Happy Wednesday!!! I hope everyone is having a great week! Last night I was blessed to meet and eat with the Director of Food Inc., Robert Kenner. The dinner was catered by our GSU catering and was all local and organic... it was nothing less less than a perfect dinner for our guest! Our table of 12 was filled with students and faculty from just about everywhere around campus, a well-rounded welcome for Mr.Kenner. As we ended our night with bananas foster, we laughed as he told us his most recent documentary was about online dating. Such a light-hearted man. We all went on to hear him talk about his film Food Inc. and how it changed the documentary industry... I had seen the film at least 4 times before I met him and I still was shocked to hear some of things he had to say!


Now if you have never seen or heard about the movie Food Inc., it will truly change the way you view your food and where it comes from.
These are the issues: 1.Find organic, local foods. 2. Kevins Law: Food borne Illnesses 3. Diabetes and Obesity 4. Putting Nutritional Labels on Restaurant Food 5. Factory Farming 6. Genetic Engineering 7. Pesticides 8. Farmer Work Protection 9. Enviromental Impact 10. Cloning 11. The Global Food Crisis


He emphasized more than ever to buy local! When you know where your food comes from you can not go wrong. Kenner says that food has become so centralized that before it one farmers beef was tainted, sent to the market and a consumer got sick, they would just never buy from him again. Now, it is so commercialized that one farmers meat could be sent out nation-wide and get hundreds if not thousands sick! This way, you have no idea where your food is coming.. So he made a point to try and buy local whenever you could. Also, it supports your local economy and you get to know your local farmers as well!


Corn was another hot topic of his. Corn is most of the most heavily subsidized products in the US. I have  not figured out why we dont subsidize fruits and veggies... but hey thats just me. Here's a list of what products contains corn. Please try and contain yourself.

Adhesives (glues, pastes, mucilages, gums, etc.) Aluminum Antibiotics (penicillin) Asbestos insulation Aspirin Automobiles (everything on wheels) xxx- cylinder heads xxx- ethanol - fuel & windshield washer fluid xxx- spark plugs xxx- synthetic rubber finishes xxx- tires Baby food Batteries, dry cell Beer Breakfast cereals Candies Canned vegetables Carbonated beverages Cheese spreads Chewing gum Chocolate products Coatings on wood, paper & metal Colour carrier in paper & textile, printing Corn chips Corn meal Cosmetics C.M.A. (calcium magnesium acetate) Crayon and chalk Degradable plastics Dessert powders Dextrose (intravenous solutions, icing sugar) Disposable diapers Dyes Edible oil Ethyl and butyl alcohol Explosives - firecrackers Finished leather Flour & grits

Frozen foods Fructose Fuel ethanol Gypsum wallboard Ink for stamping prices in stores Insecticides Instant coffee & tea Insulation, fibreglass James, jellies and preserves Ketchup Latex paint Leather tanning Licorice Livestock feed Malted products Margarine Mayonnaise Mustard, preparedPaper board, (corrugating, laminating, cardboard) Paper manufacturing Paper plates & Cups Peanut butter Pharmaceuticals - The Life Line of The Hospital Potato chips Rugs, carpets Salad dressings Shaving cream & lotions Shoe polish Soaps and cleaners Soft drinks Starch & glucose (over 40 types) Syrup Tacos, tortillas Textiles Toothpaste Wallpaper Wheat bread Whiskey Yogurts

I mean I don't know about you... but since when did toothpaste, mascara, licorice, and syrup have CORN in it? This is how it breaks down-- Corn is cheap stuff. Farmers can grow it for cheap, cheap, cheap. Corn can also be broken down into many different things such maldodextrin, sucralose, and everyones favorite these days HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP!!! Which is found just about everywhere... turn your cookies or Yoplait yogurt around and you'll most likely see those 4 terrifying words :( Now of course we can not all be perfect and avoid this at all times, but its best to try and cut it out when possible!
HFCS has been classified generally recognized as safe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration since 1976. Hmm, what exactly is "Generally recognizable" again... thanks FDA! WINNING.


Something that really bothered me was farmer work protection. My sociology class is also touching on this as well (were studying poverty and race right now). In the film it documented one particular town which was home to a LARGE SCALE pork slaughtering/distributing/all-in-one center. The (migrant) workers here were bused in from all different areas and worked all hours of the day. Keep in mind that this is not your typical work. These workers are dealing with swine... the remainings are getting caught under their fingernails, bacteria is rampant, and cuts are infected. The turnover rate for these workers is 100%!!!! But they fill the positions again, day in and day out.. because someone always needs a job and someone will always do that work. WIth the illegal status of the immigrants they are afraid to go to the authorities to A. Report the conditions B. Get their medical conditions taken care of. Its just all one big vicious cycle. But at the end of the day, with such little pay offered,  who is actually willing to do this work, other than the illegal immigrants?

This is just 3 of the issues...(not even in depth) if your interested, watch more of Food Inc.!!!!

Well, on a not so serious side haha Today Jordan and I carved Pumpkins :) and i teach kickboxing and awesome abs tomorrow at 5:30! come see me!!!

have a good night! 

Brianna