food inc.

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Everyone should see it.

Looks interesting, but nothing new. I might check it out just because it was you that recommended it. Personally, I empathize more with the environmental issues and the pesticides-in-health issue, but think that the forced nutrition facts on restaurant food and such is a poor replacement for responsibility in actually paying attention to what you put in your body. Simple, locally grown or harvested meats, fruits, and veggies, or packaged and processed 'mystery-meats' from halfway around the globe? Hmmm, wonder which one could be better for you....

Definitely a lifechanging film. Almost wished I didn't watch it, haha. Ignorance is bliss!

Can somebody shed some light on the part of the movie where the soy companies were cracking down on seed cleaning/washing? I didn't really understand that part.

word

I predict that the slow food movement will eventually make it's way to house building and death and dying. Two areas of our culture that have been too far removed from "organic" experience.

What?

It seems like you really did want to convey something here, but just fell flat on your face somewhere along the way.

Sure - I'm not an expert but this is what I've gathered from my reading on the topic.

Monsanto patented their Round-up Ready seeds (the seeds can grow even when doused with loads of pesticides - which Monsanto also sells). Additionally, Monsanto requires that farmers who purcahse these seeds purchase new seeds every year. That keeps Monsanto in business, and increases the costs for the farmer.

Because of how pollination and nature works, it's entirely possible that someone (let's call him Farmer Bob) who chooses to not purchase GMO seeds from Monsanto will still end up with some of Monsanto's seeds in their crops. At the end of the season, farmers traditionally re-used seeds to plant the next round of crops. (I don't know what the 'cleaning' is that is done, but it's done for this purpose, I believe). IF some of Monsanto's GMO seeds had blown into Farmer Bob's crops - even though Farmer Bob has no desire to use them, and probably actively DOESN'T want them, as some people market their products as non GMO - Monsanto can sue, thanks in part to a ruling by the Supreme Court.

So, if someone is helping someone clean their seeds to replant, Monsanto assumes that they are helping those people clean and plant seeds from Monsanto that they got illegally (because they didn't buy them from Monsanto).

At least, that's how I understand it.

I finally saw this today. I'm always infuriated when Monsanto is discussed in books and film. I wonder if the non-GMO farmers have ever sued Monsanto for the GMO seeds getting mixed in with their non-GMO seeds? It seems like that should be a two way street of litigation. If Farmer Bob makes money off of his non GMO products, and some GMO gets in there, shouldn't Monsanto be held resonsible, if Farmer Bob can be held responsible for the same act of nature?

Let me reframe my thoughts for those who can't read minds... The "Slow Food" movement (or any other term you want to use that embodies local produce, grass fed meats, whole food eating) is a response to the industrial food system that we've been living with. 50 years ago, people were not considering the negative consequences to our health, the environment or our happiness. Now, there are some options available if you want them. I spend more time and effort to eat this way, but I'm willing to give up other things to do that. I have found that "cheap and plentiful" is not a value for me (hmmm, sounds like another interest in my life). Likewise, I believe that there will eventually be similar movements that address how we build and pay for our homes, and how we die. There are already beginnings for this, but I think that eventually they will be more mainstream issues. My home cost 600K, but I'll pay much more than that for it over 30 years. If I was willing to put more time and effort into building my own home I could greatly reduce that amount and probably avoid most of the financing. I have friends that have done it, using 'green' building and have great houses with personal history. I also just watched someone die in a hospital and I'm not going to go into it, but all modern medicine did for them was gave them a drawn out and impersonal death. I'm not really up for debating the pros and cons of these examples and can acknowledge that they are more complicated than just grabbing some organic carrots off the shelf, but hopefully this will at least move the questions from wtf? to indifference or disagreement.

^I'm assuming you mean grass fed not grain?

MsMcGillicuddy Thanks for the clarification!

yup-fixed.