Food INC

This morning I watched the movie Food INC., as part of my action project around food consumerism. It opened my eyes to what we pump into our bodies 3 times a day. It actually made me disgusted, and made me not want to eat ever again. It definetly hit home for me as my family use to be dairy farmers and now we are just beef farmers. I found myself comparing our style of farming to the ones that were displayed in the movie that worked for the production companies. I would not be able to live with myself if my family treated our animals as badly as they were. It makes me sick thinking about all the chemicals and toxins that we eat at every meal. It hurts thinking about all the people who have gotten sick or have even died because of all the diseases that form in our meat during production. It makes me upset to think that these companies can get away with it because they are so powerful. This movie has made me re-think the way I have been living, and I want to help be the change in food consumerism. Food Inc. also has a website that provides further information about the movie. Here is the trailer for this movie.

King Corn

I watched King Corn today and it made me be more aware of the things that have corn in it. I came to realize that there were not very many things that do not contain corn. It was crazy to think that so many farmers grow corn and that when they harvest it there is so much that it does not fit in the elevator, so they have to create new areas to put it. I always thought when I drove past a field of corn that it would taste like the stuff that I grow in my garden, but instead it tastes like sawdust. It actually does not tasted like corn until it is processed. You would think that everything would be healthy when you see the name corn in the ingredients but instead it is not corn it is actually just a pile of sugar. It was interested how when these guys first started out with growing their acre of corn they wanted to track where it went after they harvested it, but seeing that it is impossible to do they changed their direction. It is hard to believe that some of it goes for food and is processed and the rest goes to feed lots to be fed to the cows and fattened up so that they can be butchered quicker. King Corn also a website that you can go to that provides more information about the movie and things that you can do to help. Here is the trailer for the documentary. I highly recommend everyone to watch it.

Organic on the Green Blog

Here is a blog that I found in my searches. It is a great blog that points you in the directions in great resources and things that you can do to eat healthier. The name of the blog is Organic on the Green. I hope you enjoy the blog.

Fight Poverty- Quit Drinking Corporate Coffee Article


Want to know if you are drinking sustainable coffee?
http://www.coffeehabitat.com/2007/05/top_5.html

Do we ever stop to think where our coffee comes from? Do we realize that our daily caffeine fix is fueling a vicious poverty cycle in our world?

These 2 videos got me motivated to take action on this issue.





My goal is to create awareness on the issues surrounding the coffee industry and discourage people from buying “corporate coffee” and move to the Fair Trade movement. As consumers we have the power to control the market and if more people demand fair trade coffee this will have a positive impact globally.

A Rationale for a Prairie Diet

For years, the way I eat has been weighing heavy on my mind.  I have multiple food allergies  so it is necessary for me to know exactly I am eating.  For years, each meal was meticulously planned and I cooked nearly everything from scratch.  It all seemed so easy, living in rural Saskatchewan away from the temptations of fast food.

When I moved to Calgary to teach, it seemed like I spent most of my life commuting.  Too often I found myself far from home and hungry.  Slowly my good eating habits were replaced by what was fast and easily available.  Not surprisingly my health suffered as a result.

This past spring, I suffered from constant allergy-related migraines.  Although most likely caused by airborne allergens, my diet certainly did not help.  On one of my many doctor's appointments this past spring, I came across this quote in a magazine called Allergic Living:

My life since I was diagnosed with celiac is not focused on what I have to live without. My life is focused on everything I have now – great food, good health, a new life – everything to which I can say yes. -  Shauna James Ahern, GLUTEN-FREE GIRL, The Diagnosis: Life After Bread, Allergic Living

It was sort of a light bulb moment for me: I need to eat to be nourished instead of eating to fill my stomach.  What is the point to dulling the hunger if we are not giving the body the nutrients that it needs? I had been filling my stomach with junk and defeating the true purpose as to why we eat.

In recent years, the news has been filled with food recall horror stories.  In our globalized marketplace, it is difficult for government inspection agencies to assure the source, contents and safety of our foods.   Additionally, most of our food comes from large companies:

As the agricultural and food industries in the U.S. have consolidated under a profit-over-all, "get big or get out" mindset, fewer and fewer players have come to dominate our food supply, especially in the area of eggs and meat. As such, a single outbreak of a contaminating agent in the system of any of these huge producers can rain down salmonella on all four corners of our country and beyond. Eating food from smaller, less remote establishments is a worthy goal... because we are all safer if one outbreak can't sicken millions. -  Katherine Gustafson , Food Recalls Highlight the Dangers of Farm Consolidation, Sustainable Food

Even if I cook all of my food from scratch, I do not know exactly what I am eating if I do not know the food source.  I am concerned about the resources consumed when food is shipped from far away but scares me the most is the uncertainty of the quality and contents of my food.

Without a doubt, I have been influenced by movements like the 100 Mile Diet and No Impact Project.  I have heard many criticisms that such things are not possible in Saskatchewan. I know it is possible because I grew up with two living examples: my maternal grandparents. My grandfather is a retired dairy farmer and my grandmother is a master gardener and probably the best cook I know. My grandparents would be more accurately described as living on the "10 Mile Diet".

Living in the city, I need to expand the range of my food sources a little more than my grandparents. I want to work towards a prairie diet but it will take some time and research to get to the point. My idealistic goals for the future (adapted from Amy Jo Ehman's Home for Dinner: A Food Adventure Close to Home):

• grow my own or buy Saskatchewan produced food
• eat what is in season and preserve for another day

In the months to come, I'll update on more specific goals and they are progressing. I'm glad to have you along for my journey :)

Food packaging

Here is an awesome link about wasteful food packaging and environmental impact!!

http://www.ift.org/knowledge-center/read-ift-publications/science-reports/scientific-status-summaries/editorial/food-packaging-and-its-environmental-impact.aspx

Welcome to Food for Thought
I am so excited to see all of the groups ideas, resources and links!