It's What's For Dinner!
Tuesday, June 16, 2009 Edit This 19 Comments »
As we prepared to venture on what is to be the final leg of our road journey we felt an intense anticipation, tainted with a bit of dread.
That dread came from knowing that before we found the clean, crisp air of the mountains, or even the ruddy, sunny beauty of the desert canyons, we had to cross West Texas.
The memory of this same crossing continues to be clear in our minds. The heat was oppressive and thick and hung with the sick odor of misery created the many cattle feed-lots that make up those highway miles.
The whole thing was so depressing that three adults (us and a courageous photojournalist) and two children fell into a deeply depressed silence that couldn't seem to be penetrated by anything.
Now, as a food activist, I have seen many disturbing images of industrial agriculture, animal abuse, etc. Somehow, witnessing these place with my own senses was different. It was as if we could feel the utter misery of the animals.
Seeing them standing, seemingly lifeless, on dry dirt and mountains of their own feces... not a blade of grass in sight... dust blowing through the stink of the air...
it moves you in a different way.
This year, we just couldn't bare the thought of doing it again and we ventured as far north as we could on our westbound trip. The landscape was much more beautiful and the state parks were fantastic, yet still, the air hung with the scent of invisible feed-lots. Thousands and thousands of cattle, crammed side-by-side on the dry, sparse land.
As we neared the border we drove past our last lot of cattle... for miles. I felt compelled to capture the image for you.
Where does our food come from? Where does our meat come from?
22% of it comes from this one producer alone. There are no rolling hills of grass, no pristine ponds and no shady trees where this life-giving food source comes from.
I tried to look up a list of all of the products or brands supplied by Cargill, but could not find a single one. What I found was that Cargill is the largest privately held company in the United States, claiming revenues of $120 billion and earnings of over $3.64 billion USD in 2008. It is responsible for 25% of all US grain exports, 22% of the US meat market and supplies all the eggs used by McDonald's. The produce products for pharmeceuticals and every thing between food for shrimp larvae and "natural sweeteners."
They also operate a large financial services arm.
Like it or not, we are all made of food. What are you made of? How about your children?
These days it's just plain hard to know. Even when you want to.
These are the days that we need to demand something different. These are the days to begin digesting information when it is available.
Dare I say, these may two of the most important films of our time. We owe it to ourselves and our children to bear witness. To not look away, to not claim emotional or stress frailty and at least become educated. Then decide if we will do anything about it.
We are working to settle into a house, but as we can afford it we will begin buying and giving out copies of Food Matters. If this is something that you want to see, want to share, but can't afford... please leave me a comment and I will get a copy to you. For everyone else, I'd love to hear from you. Have you seen these films? Read Fast Food Nation, Diet For A New America or Ominvores Dilemma? Something else to share?
This is a topic close to my heart and always on my mind.
What's on yours?
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19 comments:
hey--aimee--anja here. i have your birth video is there some way to get it back to you
I have been to West Texas and have seen those same depressing, endless miles of CAFOs.
The time for change is now! I hope that lots of people see this movie so that we can begin a serious dialogue about our future.
I've posted the NPR interview with Food, Inc.'s Director Robert Kenner and author Michael Pollan at http://ediblearia.com/2009/06/16/food-inc-attention-must-be-paid-to-food-supply/
doing my best to shop organically AND locally at the moment. xxx those images are horrible.
And if you want a book that's not quite as depressing as Fast Food Nation, but still helps make the switch to healthier, real food, read "In Defense of Food" by Michael Pollan. His thesis: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.
I've enjoyed following your journey. Best wishes as you settle for awhile.
We haven't bought meat in a grocery store in over a decade. We raise or hunt ALL of the meat we consume.
Most average people have no idea where their food comes from or even that *gasp* it used to be an animal. We get visitors with children who cannot even identify a chicken, much less that they are what those McNuggets are.
My advice? Support your LOCAL farmers and small producers. There are a lot of us who raise extra pigs/calves/lambs/chickens to sell each year. You can actually SEE where your food comes from and how it is raised.
Plant a garden. Even folks in an apartment really have no excuse not to have some greens or herbs. I saw some older folks in an RV with an amazing container garden!
Thank you for posting this! DH and I are so with you on this issue. We would really love to see either/both of these movies. If you sent us a copy, we could also have a viewing at our church, which has many Real Food enthusiasts. I am also interested in spreading the word in other ways. I believe I have 3 extra copies of Fast Food Nation, if you'd like me to send them to you (or someone else).
Kati
Contact me at: kateana2 at yahoo dot com
Hi aimee, have you seen the documentary film, King Corn? It covers the feedlots as part of an expose on gov't subsidized yellow corn harvested for corn syrup and feed for livestock. I designed the website for it... great people, great movie, informative and entertaining in spite of its depressing content.
Susan
I'm sorry that your once-fascinating website, the story of a family searching for a meaningful life, has become a diatribe all about food. I've been reading since the NYT article, and rooting for you, but have been less happy with the blog since it started thinking it HAD all the answers and stopped searching for them. I know I sound harsh, and I don't mean to - I'm frustrated with the blog the last few months but have nothing but respect and good wishes for you and your family. You are a brave bunch, and I hope things work out well for you!
Michele,
I'm sorry that you've been frustrated about the blog, but this is a place for me to write about what moves me, about what I care about and what inspires me. Where our food comes from is one of the most motivating things in our life, as well as our journey. The purpose of our journey has always been to end up in a place that allows us to have near complete control over where our food comes from and what is in it. It makes a huge difference in how our lives work, how we feel and my general ability to be a healthy participant in life rather than an invalid.
I have never professed to have all of the answers and the general tone of my writing has not changed between writing about living simply or writing about the issues with our food supply. I take the same tone with my thoughts on parenting as well. This is who I am (in part) and this is how I write. If it does something for you, I am glad, but if it no longer is then there are many blogs out there which speak of only one topic.
Thank you for your well wishes, as well as your support.
Namaste
Susan,
I actually have not even heard of King Corn until now! However, I have done some reading about the corn industry and it's interaction with our food supply and government as a whole and it sounds like this film might be right up our alley. Thanks for the rec.
I totally agree! Growing your own and supporting others who are growing anything is where it's at!
We are hoping to be settled onto some acreage around the first of the month and I am looking forward to posting more about the process of continuing our simplicity efforts once we have more space, but also of exploring how much gardening, aquaponics, greenhouses, and establishing relationships with fellow growers can further our efforts to simplicity and getting back to the basics of what we should all have.
xo
Oh Aimee... Your blog entries about food have been VERY inspiring (both yours and Ren's). The way me and my family think about food, the food sources, and ways to cook it has changes tremendously since I started reading your blog. So please, PLEASE keep writing.
Much love,
Elya
Hi Aimee, Sorry i've not been by for a while but i'm back now and enjoying catching up with you all. I believe that one of the basic rights we should all have is to decent, natural, fresh food not the processed, fat laden junk that so many peoples diets consist wholly or partly of these days. There are more health problems today than there have ever been which considering the progress made in modern medicine surely points to something being severely wrong in our lifestyle today. Thankfully more people are catching on and demanding changes in food production, going back towards the way nature intended instead of man fighting against nature and getting it horribly wrong. Sorry this turned into a bit of a waffle but it's a subject close to my heart too. keep well and besafe, good luck in the next stage of your adventures, i look forward to reading all about them xXx
After getting married to a brit, I moved to england about six months ago. It was pretty hard to leave my family and friends behind, but I considered many things in my decision. One of these quality of life factors was the amazing availability of good organic produce and free range meat in the UK.
I don't think they even think about it; how lucky they are to live in a place where it's pretty unheard of to find a corporate meat farm anywhere around. It's cheaper for me to buy veg right from the farmer's market than it is in the store - something that was absolutely untrue at home, where organics from the market were three or four times the price of what was full of chemicals at the store.
Thanks for the photos. I will happily show them to people here when they raise an eyebrow at my enthusiasm for their groceries here.
"Earthlings" from 2006, you can watch it online. If anybody wants a copy leave me a message.
This is wonderfull (in a disturbing way), important work. If you are going to give copies of anything away, please consider giving it to that person's local library instead, That way, it can reach more people and supports the library as well.
Thank you, Deanna
That's a wonderful idea!
Hi Aimee-
I saw your youtube video on healing fibromyalgia, and I am wondering if you would be willing to write to me to let me know how you did it? I'm 28 and I've had fibro for almost 3 years. I've tried everything I've found so far - but I'm still stuck on the couch in horrible pain. Your blog is amazing - I too have dreams of traveling with my partner before we settle down in an intentional living community. I just need to get well first! How'd you do it?
xo,
Amy
email: oliveira458@aol.com
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