Friday Favorite: Food, Inc.

“Imagine what it would be if, as a national policy, we said we would be only successful if we had fewer people going to the hospital next year than last year?” says owner of Polyface Farms, Jole Salatin. “The idea then would be to have such nutritionally dense, unadulterated food that people who ate it actually felt better, had more energy and weren’t sick as much… now, see, that’s a noble goal.”

Featured in the film Food, Inc., Salatin lets his livestock graze on grass, the way nature intended, his animals are healthier, he uses sustainable, eco-friendly farming practices and Polyface Farms meat tastes better.

Directed by Robert Kenner, Food, Inc. was recently nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary and is a must watch for anyone that cares about their health and wants to learn more about the food system. In the past 60 years, food has been produced at a rate much faster than we have ever seen in history – at a cost of our health.

Global food production is primarily controlled by a handful of multinational corporations with a stronger emphasis on business than health. These corporation’s goals are to produce as much food as possible at the lowest cost and largest profit margin. Putting health as a number two priority has led to 1 in 3 Americans born in 2000 developing early onset diabetes; among minorities, the rate will be 1 in 2.

To change our current food system and improve our health, the public needs to demand healthier food and fix our current systems. In 1972, the FDA conducted 50,000 food safety inspections. In 2006, the FDA conducted only 9,164.

Gary Hirshberg, founder of Stonyfield Farms says “When we run an item past the supermarket scanner, we’re voting.”

Want to know why a fast food hamburger costs more than a head of broccoli? Rent or buy Food, Inc. Visit FoodIncMovie.com for more information, watch the trailer.