Some of the ideas that I found most important while watching
Fresh, were the lack of knowledge in regards to the food we eat,
Americans obsession with cheap convenience, and another case of big business
vs. small business.
The first two ideas mentioned go hand in hand. In order to satiate our desire for cheap,
convenient food, these industrial farms go to great lengths to mass produce
these food products. “Part of our
responsibility as stewards of the Earth is to respect the design of nature.” I am pretty sure that packing live-stock into
extremely cramped conditions was not the design of nature. I was alarmed by the
amount of medication used to treat these animals in order for them to survive
in these “monocultures”. I was even more
disturbed to hear that a lot of diseases we fear when preparing our food were
the result of factory farming and their insistence on non-traditional farming
techniques. Anything to pad the bottom line, right? I cannot say that I will
make sweeping changes to my diet, but after watching Fresh I feel like I owe it to myself and my family to at least re-evaluate it.
It is a shame to see economies of scale creep into our lives
on our dinner plates. However, anyone
who has ever taken an economics class knows that big business will almost
always justify the means by the end product.
The end product in this case being convenient, inexpensive food. Although sad, it is not surprising that these
industrial farms have taken the same models used to produce general merchandise
and applied it to the farming industry.
It was refreshing to see that these smaller farmers have counter acted
the comparative advantage of industrial farms by forming co-ops. Perhaps it is our duty as consumers to
support these healthier food products even if it means paying a little more at
the register. As suggested in the movie,
if it is not paid at the register, it will be paid somewhere.
My final thought is how much I enjoyed hearing the smaller
farmers discuss the differences in their products. While they informed you of the dangers of producing
and consuming mass quantities of live-stock, they seemed more interested in
championing their methods rather than condemning industrial farming. It was nice to see people so passionate
about what they do.
I liked the first paragraph. I agree that we really do not know what we are eating when it comes to big farms that are incapable to produce healthy livestock to feed to the nation, but instead feel that profit is more important, and good comparison too.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. Its ridiculous that the large scale farms are a cause for the diseases we fear. You would think that when they first started having these problems they would go back to their old ways to solve it, rather than turn to medications. I also agree that we as consumers need to buy our goods from the small farms and co-ops rather than the large farms.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree. I think that the agricultural business should move more towards the small farm co-ops. Even though they cost a little more, it is worth it in the long run. Good essay!
ReplyDeleteI agree with the lack of knowledge that a lot of us might of had while watching this film. I totally agree with your last paragraph. The farmers gave so much information about their products which really want to make you switch to all organic products after watching and hearing about it.
ReplyDeletePeople today need to spend a little more and make time for eating instead of cramming and going.
ReplyDelete