Corporate Food Culture

Corporations Control Our Food..

• In the U.S. four companies pack 83.5% of beef, 66% of pork, and crush 80% of soybeans
• Two companies sell 58% of all seed corn
• Corporations produce 98% of poultry in the U.S.

Which Promotes Industrial Agriculture..

• In 2006, farms larger than 2,000 acres made up 4% of all farms receiving government aid, but they got 27% of the money
• In 1935, the average farm was 135 acres. In 2002, average was 441 acres, median was 2,190
• 2% of farms produce 50% of all agricultural products in the country

Corporations Also Control Our Farming Methods..

• U.S. farmers use 2 billion kg of pesticides per year. World-wide use is 10 billion kg
• Genetically engineered herbicide-resistant crops have led to a 122-million pound increase in pesticide use
• In 2000, 25% of corn and 54% of soybeans grown in the U.S. were genetically modified. In 2008, the numbers were 80% and 92%

And Control What Foods We Eat..

• Iceburg lettuce, frozen and fried potatoes, potato chips, and canned tomatoes make up almost half of U.S. vegetable consumption
• In 1967, U.S. per capita consumption of high fructose corn syrup was .03 pounds per year. In 2006, it was 58.2. Total consumption of all sweeteners went up 23% in the same period.
• 75% of the world's food is generated from just 12 varieties of plants and five animal species.

Making Us Sick and Creating Food Insecurity..

• In 2007, before the current recession, 36.2 million people in the U.S. lived in food-insecure households, including 12.4 million children
• Global food prices increased almost 50% in 2008
• Americans generate roughly 30 million tons of food waste each year
• 66% of adult Americans are overweight or obese

And environmental Disasters.

• The "dead zone" at the mouth of the Mississippi River is now 8,000 square miles - about the size of New Jersey
• 38% of agricultural lands worldwide are designated "degraded".
• Livestock production creates 18% of greenhouse gases globally.
  

Facts compiled from Yes!Magazine

FOOD INC

It is a shame, yet not surprising, that this film is only playing in the "underground" theatres here, and in most places around the U.S. This means that only the open-minded, non-mainstream, (most likely)non-fast food eating people will see this movie; those that may already know a bit about the information discussed in the film. In fact, when I went to see the movie, I saw a bunch of my environmentalist friends in the row behind me, and there were only about 20 people in the theatre to begin with.

Such is the case with many great films that all people should see. It's those movies and documentaries that no mainstream theater will ever show that need to be seen most by those same mainstream consumers in order to wake them up and make sure they are at least aware of their choices while giving them the freedom to choose. Eating certain foods is a choice, and we all have the right to know where our food comes from. If we all knew what happened behind closed doors, we'd be demanding a change. For those that don't want to know, or those that choose to eat McDonald's every day- that's fine- it is everyone's right to choose. However, some of us, like one of the families featured in the movie, are making that choice because it is the cheapest caloric investment we can make to feed our families; it is the only option that's affordable and easily available, that we know will fill us up.

And that is a crying shame.

And of course the mainstream theatres aren't playing this movie. Their consumers would never visit the concession counters again after watching it and finding out that 90% of what's behind the counter is made from corn; corn that's being forced down our throats and the throats of animals that were born to eat grass, or algae (yes we are even feeding corn to fish these days) because of the surplus of this crop that we are subsidizing like crazy, a crop that is pretty much owned by Monsanto, an over-farmed crop that is hurting our farmers, our land, and our climate.

Please go see this movie. Even if you have to hunt it down in the alternative theatres- ask your mainstream theatre why they aren't playing it. Pay attention to what you put in your body, where it comes from, and how its production is affecting our environment, our health, and our animals' health.