What’s Good for You is Good for the World

journey to the green side

- Beth Beauchemin (Read About Beth)

I went to see Food Inc. this weekend.  Have you heard of it? If you haven’t heard of it, look it up, and even better, go see it.

Food, Inc.

I don’t even know where to start.  The basic underlying premise of the movie (according to me – this may not be the main goal of the movie) is how much agriculture and the creation of our food has changed in the past 50 years.  The number one culprit? Big business, specifically the big businesses that have gained a monopoly on our food system.  The result? Nothing good.

As I already mentioned, this movie brings up so many points that it is tough for me to know where to begin, but I think I will start here…  I have lived what the movie discusses. I grew up on a small family farm.  We had a big garden overflowing with vegetables, and my father and my uncle happily grew canola, barley, and alfalfa, along with a small herd of beef cattle.  As I grew, a constant phrase in our home was how “our farm wasn’t big enough to pass on.”  We had enough land and cattle to keep us fed, clothed, and entertained, but with the way agriculture was changing we weren’t big enough to survive.  Our family farm is still alive, but we are very much the exception.  Sadly, though I had always dreamed of taking it over, I am now living in the heart of Toronto (about as far away from the Prairies as you can be!) and my brother is running the farm best he can on top of another full time job.

Food Inc. discusses the decline of small farming operations and traces it back to the point when corporate America (and the corporate world, as this is not just a North American problem) began to reach in and take over.

I won’t go into all the points that the movie brings up; I can’t.  We would be here for days and weeks, and perhaps months.  I will, however, tell you what it has spurred me to do:

• I am making my voice heard with my money.  Every time I purchase a particular product (or choose not to), I am letting companies and the government know where I stand;

• I am buying organic and local.  If I can’t get them both together, then I’m buying local, then organic;
  

  The stuff that's best for you is best for the world...

• I am going to farmers’ markets more often – every week if we are in town.  Toronto has farmers’ markets almost every day of the week, so I have no excuse!

• I am looking into joining a food co-op.  Luckily, there is one not to far from my house;

• I am talking about it!  While not everyone will share my viewpoint, I think that everyone should see both sides of the story.  Inexpensive meat and out-of-season produce have hidden costs, and you should know what those are.

For more information you can go to the Food Inc. website.  Better yet, go to the movie (stay away from the popcorn and candy if you can!)

It’s so cheesy but it’s absolutely true:

It’s up to us to make the world a better place for our kids.