Food Inc.

I have watched this video many times in different classes, and it always makes me so mad. Sure I hate to see the cruel treatment of animals that is shown, which is what I'm guessing what makes most people upset about this movie; but I don't like it because it paints a very bad picture of the typical Midwestern farmer. I come from a rural area where many people farm, and my family has a small pig farm. Now our pigs are bred and raised right on our farm, but for the purpose of showing in 4H show circuits, state and county fairs, etc. However they do end up, as just about all pigs do, as pork. So I have experience first hand being on a farm, around farmers, and yes even a slaughterhouse (at least dropping pigs off, not going inside or seeing exactly what happens). So anyway, back to my point, this video does point out some terrible things that I am not denying happen very often (treatment of animals, living conditions, etc.). I just want to point out, because I don't think the video does clearly enough, that what is portrayed in Food Inc. is NOT want happens on a typical farm! A huge reason why I hate this video is because people who have never stepped out of the 'burbs, see this video and get a bad taste about farms and farmers.

I am not in any way denying that bad things don't happen to animals, I am wanting to point out that the scenes in the movie are from CORPORATE FARMS, who only care about $$$. A typical, family farm does not have anything so cruel or awful going on. My family's farm, for instance: in the winter, the pigs are all inside, the barn is WARMER than my house, animals are bathed, their pens are cleaned everyday, and new bedding is put down. Come to just about any small farm in the Midwest and you will not see cattle being speared by forklifts, thousands of chickens trampling each other in dark buildings, or animals covered in manure. I can't stress enough, CORPORATE FARMS are the ENEMY, NOT YOUR TYPICAL FARMER! A real farm is not like a CAFO.

Corporate farms don't care. They are not farmers, they are businessmen only considered with producing the biggest animal as quickly as possible to make the most money! Corporate farms (Tyson for example) are awful in my opinion.

However we are not going to be able to change where our food comes from.
1) the government is double-fisted in that the people in office/charge have ties to these large "factory farms."
2) Your typical small farm cannot keep up with the demand

I would love for our food to come from these small family farms, who treat animals nicely and feed them properly, etc. But in reality this isn't plausible because the demand for meat is too high, thus corporate farms do what they do to create as much meat as possible in the shortest time.

Now, my main point: farmers are not evil, money-hungry, small town hicks that create hostile, unsuitable living environments for their animals. These corporate "farms" (factories) are where the problem lies. I just want to make sure people understand the difference between the two.

Next, I was shocked at the gasps when an animal was killed in the video. Surprise! Yes animals are killed for food! Duh... And again at these corporate farms they probably are killed in disgusting ways, but it is an instant thing, they usually are not played with or tortured. Animals such as cattle, pigs, chicken, are meant for food. In order to get that food, yes they have to be killed. (Sorry for the news flash folks)