Forget the Food

Based on a referral from a good friend, Chris and I watched a video called Food Inc.

It portrays some of the realities of the food industry in America today.  Some of you may have seen it?  Or maybe you never want to see it?  That's fine ... either way.

For me, I already knew a tremendous amount of this stuff about the foods we already eat.  So that part wasn't much of an eye opener.

What was, however, ABSOLUTELY dumbfounding was the legalities behind the scenes of this industry.  I had never heard most of them.  And, to be honest, I was quite blown away.  Actually, a better way to say it ... I was scared.

Here's why ...

Check out this brief comment from Food Inc producer / director Robert Kenner, as posted on Amazon.com:

What was the most surprising thing you learned?
Kenner:  the thing that really became most shocking is when we were talking to a woman, Barbara Kowalcyk, who had lost her son to eating a hamburger with E. coli.  But when I asked her what she eats, she told me she couldn't tell me because she would be sued if she answered.

Or we see Moe, a seed cleaner who’s just being sued for amounts that there’s no way he can pay, even though he’s not guilty of anything.  Then we realized there’s something going on out there that supersedes foods. Our rights are being denied in ways that I had never imagined. And it was scary and shocking.

Yes, if you've never seen this show, you should read through that paragraph again.  These people are being sued for stating their opinions about ...   wait for it ....  FOOD.  What's scary, is that if you or I were sued (like these people) we would be toast.  In the video, there was a story about Oprah, who was able to fight them in court and win.  But, you or I or any other normal person, would be dead in court.

This video, more than almost anything else I've seen recently, really pointed out how politics and big business are in bed together.  You can't trust either of them.

Anyhow ... this is a really good flick.  Eye opening about food.  And even-more-stunning realities of the way the American legal system favors those with money.  This is definitely worth watching.

I came out of this thinking ... where is Robin Hood and all those down-and-dirty good guys who are supposed to save the underdog in our society?  Oh, I was thinking of a movie I saw.  

Al