Food Inc. Review

Oh. My. Gosh.

If you haven't seen Food, Inc., you need to buy it, rent it, borrow it, whatever it takes.  I'd heard sooooo many people say how good and how important this documentary is, but I just couldn't justify the $25 to buy it.

I was an idiot.

Seriously, this will change the way you look at food and at your family's health.  I was already into eating healthy.  And I'm pretty well-informed about the food industry.  However, they put it into such a neat little package, that I think it's really easy for anyone to follow and really "get it."

They condensed an amazing amount of information into it, and kept it interesting.  And I have to say that I'm impressed with the quality of the graphics they used, particularly with the opening credits.  It's not a blockbuster or anything, but I felt the quality of it was a step above the typical documentary.

One thing that will really impact you is how our food industry treats animals and the planet.  I do not consider myself an environmentalist or animal activist by any means, but I do believe that God gave us the animals and the planet to sustain us, but with that sustenance comes responsibility.  Plus, to be frank, you just don't poop in your nest.  Meaning that if we want the animals and plants to sustain us, we need to sustain them.

Don't worry, there aren't any overly graphic scenes, a la PETA undercover videos.  The producers did an excellent job of walking the fine line between lifting the veil on the inhumane treatment these animals get, without going to the extremes of grossing people out and making them tune out.  It was just sad, really.  My heart ached for those poor creatures.  And the workers aren't treated much better. 

For me, it was really an eye opener, because I've gotten really lazy with my eating lately. One thing I've learned is that the healthier you eat (at least in my case), the harder you fall "off the wagon".  Then it becomes REALLY hard to get back on.  This movie was just the push I needed, to remind me how bad the SAD (Standard American Diet) way of eating is.  It's not really food, people.  It's chemically processed fake crap that will kill you.

Which explains why I've felt so cruddy lately.  Which I already knew.  But the film really brought it home for me.  I'm spending the next few days coming up with an affordable meal plan.  I am the absolute worst meal planner in the history of mankind.  Which means I spend too much on stuff I want (but don't need) and forget to buy what I do need...leading to waste.  Not to mention the convenience foods I eat when I'm not eating healthy.

So I will be doing a series of posts about eating healthy, what we can do to change the system, frugal recipes and menu plans, as well as addressing common complaints about why we think we "can't" eat healthy.

Please leave a comment with your suggestion of what your own complaints or challenges are to eating organic, local food, and I'll try to address them and/or come up with solutions. I'm also considering doing a one-time linky party for cheap, easy organic recipes.  Let me know if you'd be interested in that.

In the meantime, buy this movie!  Or at least rent it.  I rented it, but it's so important that I feel I really need to buy it now, to be able to watch it on occasion when I need a kick in the pants!

Borders and Barnes and Noble stores usually carry it, and I think Netflix does.  I also believe you can rent it off of iTunes.

Please Note:  One of the links below is a regular DVD, one is a BLU-RAY, and one is the paperback book that followed the movie.  Be sure you're choosing the right one.